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Hi
I'll be going over to Das Island very soon for work and my company has told me that for security reasons UAE authorities will under no circumstances allow any type of camera to the island; this includes camera smartphones and also laptops with a webcam. So on the lookout for a 10-13" well spec'd laptop without a webcam preferably from the likes of Dell, Sony, Asus, Toshiba etc. Budget is up to 1k. I'm having a lot of trouble finding one. Any suggestions? Thought the Dell Latitude E4200 was ideal but this has been discontinued being an older model (don't want to buy a second hand one on ebay)
Cheers 
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There are a few around but tend to be at the cheaper end of the market such as this one:-
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/507...
Just a matter of searching through them all I guess............
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Thanks but was really looking for a higher spec model with a smaller screen (10-13"). However i think trying to find a high spec 13" Dell or Sony laptop without a webcam is a bit like trying to find a Merc or a Beemer without Aircon! Guess i may just have to buy a bog standard cheap laptop to take to the Island.
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I reckon. The problem is that all good spec'd laptops have a webcxam as far as I can see. I can't see a 10-13" of any spec without a webcam.
Sooner or later that island will have to change it's rules!!
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try emailing HP or Lenovo UK online stores for business laptops without cameras ?
Phil
MaxDSL - goes as fast as it can and doesn't read the line checker first.
MaxDSL diagnostics
Are your kids pirates ? Limewire, Bearshare, Kazaa, BitTorrent, eMule are all tools of the trade. |
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It may be more than you're willing to spend, but you can add/remove features to suit your budget;
Lenovo T420i
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might also be worth looking at the dell e5420, where the webcam is a £12 option.
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/latit/...
but its a 14 inch machine too
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Why the explicit requirement for no webcam? If you are concerned about it being automatically activated etc then disabling it through device manager should be enough to put your mind at rest. They have become somewhat the standard so I doubt they have any influence on prices really.
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Zen 8000 Active
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I have a Dell Latitude E5500, from their office / small business range, which is just the sort of spec laptop that you require.
As I purchased it about 15 months ago, I am not sure if it is still available. However I'm sure you won't mind checking for yourself. 
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100% Linux and, previously, Unix.
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Why the explicit requirement for no webcam? I think the original post explains this pretty clearly?
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What about the Lenovo Thinkpad X220? This has a 12.5" screen and amongst the customize options is "No camera". If the quality of Thinkpads is still what it was in IBM days you won't be disappointed.
You might want to look at the whole Lenovo range as many of them can be ordered without a camera.
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Thanks for the replies guys, i'm leaning towards the 13" Dell Latitude 13 which can be purchased without a webcam...it also looks stunning being very thin. However not so sure about its processer: Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500(1.4GHz,800MHz,3MB)? Would this be suitable for running programs such as Autocad? (just standard 2D drawings, not the fancy 3D visualization). I won't be using the notebook for gaming or anything, just for work.
Alternatively if i went for the Lenovo Thinkpad X220 (which has Intel i3 processor and again available without webcam), would this be as good as the old IBM notebooks in terms of quality? IMO IBM notebooks were arguably the best you could buy (they were expensive though) but not sure if Lenovo have maintained IBM's legendary quality after they bought them out. Ermmmm...decisions, decisions!
Edited by deleted (Tue 06-Sep-11 09:22:55)
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There's a review here of the Lenovo, for what it's worth. They seemed to like it, the only real flaw being the "flaky webcam"!
I can't speak from recent experience about the quality of Lenovo vs Dell, but when I dealt with that sort of thing, about six years ago, there was no contest - Thinkpads oozed quality in a way that Dell could only envy. And Lenovo do consistently well in those consumer surveys that you see from time to time.
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There's a review here of the Lenovo, for what it's worth. They seemed to like it, the only real flaw being the "flaky webcam"!
I can't speak from recent experience about the quality of Lenovo vs Dell, but when I dealt with that sort of thing, about six years ago, there was no contest - Thinkpads oozed quality in a way that Dell could only envy. And Lenovo do consistently well in those consumer surveys that you see from time to time.
Thinkpads and Quality that is a real Oxymoron.
The quality of Dell leaves Lenovo standing and for reliability I would choose Dell everytime.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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Find the Dell you want - go for a Latitude if you can and then down specify it to remove the camera.
You will have a NBD warranty - normally three years (although mine is just coming to the end of a 5 year warranty) and you can transfer the normal location from UK to UAE quite easily. The Dell warranty is truly worldwide unlike most others.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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You may be right. Although I was responsible for several hundred Thinkpads and Dells, that was a few years back now. Dell quality was terrible in those days. And current surveys do show that Lenovo owners are more satisfied than Dell ones (and even happier than Apple users). But I don't have direct experience of recent examples of either make.
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I have been using Dell personally for over 20 years and have never had a significant problem except one where there was a BIOS corruption and Dell support in the USA called me on Boxing day (by agreement) to fix it. I have only ever seen one or two colleagues with major problems and they were always sorted rapidly.
The other brands, IBM, Toshiba, HP, Compaq, Acer, Lenovo &c &c all appeared to be a lot less reliable and took longer for support.
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M H C
taurus excreta cerebrum vincit
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Not my experience of managing hundreds of laptops, but I'll grant that it is your personal experience.
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So it does. Apologies to the OP for not reading properly
______________
Zen 8000 Active
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No prob. Mind you I find it incredible that the place he is going doesn't allow laptops with cameras in this day and age given that it appears to be inhabited by oil and gas industry personnel as suggested here:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Island
That said, I see there are no photos logged at all for the place on Google Earth - and the dating site has only one inhabitant of DAS Island - and that has no photograph!!:-
http://www.loveawake.com/free-online-dating/United-A...
Presumably a few managed to smuggle a camera there and there are a few official photos of the sewage works :-
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&pq=sdas+island&...
What an odd place!!
Edited by Garyilka (Tue 06-Sep-11 16:43:32)
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As Das is the UAE's main oil hub (offshore), any attack on it would have a major impact on the UAE economy hence why it is classed as "Critical National Infrastructure". So rightly or wrongly, they don't allow things such as cameras. They even scan USB pen drives at Abu Dhabi airport upon departure for Das. Though i do partly undertstand their paranoia considering that Iran has "occupied" some of UAE's islands in the region.
http://www.abudhabi.ae/egovPoolPortal_WAR/appmanager...
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I wish you the best of luck there - it sounds pretty barren...... Virtually all male (perhaps all male?), presumably no bars/alcohol, few (if any) places of entertainment?
How long are you there for?
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Thanks! Yes it's all males on the island (females are strictly banned LOL). I'll be there for a couple of years at least on a 28 days on/ 28 days off rotation with paid leave/flights back to Blighty. Sure its not gonna be a holiday camp, but it'll pay off the mortgage back home so can't complain too much
Edited by deleted (Tue 06-Sep-11 18:12:20)
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2 years - Yikes! I have a neighbour who was working in Saudi for a while on the same 4 weeks on 4 weeks off basis and he managed, but didn't like it too much - however as you say it paid off the mortgage
Best of luck - maybe post in FC and let us know how you're doing?
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Having read a few reviews of that Dell, I'm not overly impressed. All of them comment on poor performance and battery life (2.5 hours as opposed to 7 for the X220). Another feature that would worry me is that the battery isn't replaceable. It is very lightweight, but you seem to sacrifice a lot for that. Bear in mind that neither of these machines sports an optical drive.
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