Do Not Buy This Laptop Unless....
Written: Nov 07 '00
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Pros: Fast as can be, great graphics, you get a lot for your money
Cons: Faulty parts, customer service
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| hwz1's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 5000 R600LG |
Wait! Someone is going to take a shot at one of epinions "Highest Rated" products? Yes, I am going to shot at the Dell Inspiron 5000 R600LG. Do not get me wrong; I like it and think that most of what the laptop has to offer is quite good. However, there are a few negatives that you might want to consider before purchasing the product simply because of the name and all the other epinions recommending it.
My girlfriend has had one for a few months now and I use her R600LG fairly frequently. Most of the time we are satisfied, but on occasion we both run into difficulties. Now, I am not talking about problems that will drive you crazy. No, I am simply talking about problems that become annoying after numerous instances. First of all, some of the product specifics.
THE PRODUCT:
* 64MB, SDRAM
* 10GB Hard Drive
* 24X Variable CD-ROM Drive
* Pentium III Processor
* Internal 56K Modem
* 8MB ATI RAGE Mobility 128 Video
* 15" Monitor, 14.1 SGA
* Microsoft Windows Millennium
* Norton Anitvirus 2000
* AOL Internet Access (One year and included in the price)
I like what I see and I think most would agree that the R600LG offers a lot of product for the money. The screen presents great color and is always clear as can be. More importantly, the R600LG is quite fast. Most of us have experienced the frustration of being to walk to Alaska while our machine boots up. You will not be able to walk to the bathroom in the time it takes this one to boot.
I also find that the sound is quite good for a laptop. No, you will mistake it for one of annoyingly good Bose wave machines, but you will not get the all to usual cheap sound that you get with many laptops. Other positives include: ease of use, excellent instructions on setup and use, and customer support.
OOPS! Time to get into the not- so- good and there is no better place to begin than with customer support. Dell has a wonderful standing in the customer support polls, but I am not sure why. My girlfriend needed a replacement DVD drive (Surprised us that it would need anything so early into it's life) and made the call to customer support.
The support person was friendly and knowledgeable and the call did not involve three or four years on hold. However, the company promises three next business day delivery on parts- anywhere in the world. Well, she lives in this world and the DVD drive took a week to arrive. She was not pleased. I was even less pleased since my parents had a similar problem with Dell in the beginning of the year. Their problem also resulted from a faulty part that had to be replaced. We eventually found out that Dell had been using "cheap" parts in an attempt to keep their costs under control.
In my mind, Dell and other company box makers will continue to do this as the market for PC's continues to slow. Why? The answer is the stock price. Most of the box makers do not have a plethora of product lines and in order to keep investors (i.e. Michael Dell) happy and wealthy the companies will continue to try to be sly in their cost cutting. Hopefully, I am wrong, but...
Another problem that we both have is the track pad. The track pad is nothing special, but it seems to be more jumpy than others that I have used. What I mean is that it is difficult to move in a slow consistent manner without jumping all over the place. Yes, the problem does become less and less noticeable as you become more accustomed to the track pad, but this takes quite a bit of time.
Finally, the R600LG is larger than most laptops. I know, this is supposed to be a positive since it means you will be able to see more on the screen and the machine itself will have more capabilities, right? Well, yeah. But, this also makes transporting the R600LG a lot more difficult. First of all, my girlfriend did not buy the carry bag with the laptop. She figured she would use the bag from her previous laptop and that would save a few bucks. OOPS! The R600LG turned out to be too large for the old bag so she had to purchase a bag separately. Not a big deal, but annoying. And, yes, it is a little bit heavier than most laptops.
THE RECOMMENDATION:
I would not shy away from buying the Inspiron R600LG, but I would take into account some of the problems I mentioned above. Most importantly, realize that Dell has been found to occassionally use mediocre parts. Hence, the odds of a problem are increased. Yes, you do have a warranty (three years), but I do not get a kick out of the inconvenience of waiting on a part in order for my laptop to work.
I would not shy away from buying, but I think that there are better laptops out there for the money.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2350
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 15"
RAM: 64
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12
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Epinions.com ID:
hwz1
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Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 845
Trusted by: 924 members
About Me:
Just got a big promotion that will move my new wife and I to Atlanta.
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