You Can't Go Wrong With a Dell Inspiron
Written: Dec 20 '99 (Updated Apr 05 '00)
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Pros: Beautiful display, long battery life, a true desktop replacement
Cons: Heavy weight and weak built in speakers
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| pogomom's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 7000 C366LT |
As a member of a web design team, I needed a notebook computer. My clients often do not have Internet access so showing sample sites is impossible without something to use as a presentation tool. Last summer I made a well-researched decision to purchase a Dell Inspiron 7000. The newer 7500 series was not yet available but appears to be identical to the 7000 series with a few added options.
Dell maintains a wonderful web site that is easily navigated. After struggling with sites belonging to Micron, Gateway, Compaq and Hewlett Packard, I found the simplicity of Dell's site refreshing. I had compiled a shopping list of exactly what I had to have and up until that point, had not been able to locate everything on one system. Dell's configuration options allowed me to play with a variety of components resulting in an affordable notebook that met my exact specifications. I placed the order by phone and received my Customer ID Number. I was able to track my notebook's progress throughout the building and shipping processes on their web site using the ID number. They also sent email progress reports. On the date my order shipped, I received an email with tracking information and the delivery date. My Inspiron 7000 arrived one day early.
A short informative video simplified setting up the notebook and becoming familiar with its features. The keyboard is large enough to be comfortable. The touch pad became my best friend once I adjusted to what I first considered a "lack of mouse!" The function keys are well defined. No swapping of drives is necessary thanks to the piggybacking of the CD-ROM (DVD was available but I scrimped a bit) and floppy drive
Due to the size of the display, (15" but it appears much larger) the weight of the Inspiron 7000 is around nine pounds. That is about three pounds heavier than most notebooks. I feel the quality and size of this display is well worth the extra weight. Those who travel for business on a regular basis might feel otherwise. For me, it is ideal!
Do not expect stupendous sounds from standard notebook speakers. If purchasing an Inspiron as a desktop replacement, get the additional speakers and sub-woofer. The highly accessible input jacks allow utilization of both headphones or speakers and an external microphone.
The pc-card slots are also wonderfully accessible. Obviously, the design team considered accessibility to ports, slots and other input areas high priority.
The first time I booted up the notebook, I noticed a few pixels appeared broken. Tiny little white, green and red dots appeared on the black boot up screen. I was very dismayed. I called Dell tech support and was pleasantly surprised to have a human being respond within moments of my inputting various numbers to reach the technicians dealing with notebooks. Ready for an argument, I launched into my complaint with fervor. The technician asked me to hold and returned to me very shortly thereafter. He informed me that he had ordered a new notebook built and shipped within the next two weeks. He told me to swap the one I had for the new one and call FedEx to pick it up, at their expense. He then apologized! We hung up and I thought that was an unusually painless tech support experience.
One week to the day, my new notebook arrived. It was and is perfect. I have had only one other instance when I called tech support for assistance. This time my quest was to find out if there were any particular modem strings they could suggest resulting in better connections to my ISP. Again, the technician gave me the right answer and I am connecting at 53.3 every time.
A real plus with the Inspiron 7000 series is the extremely long battery life. I have run the notebook on battery power for up to six hours. Five hours is the average. That in itself is reason to consider this notebook if you plan to use it on the road. I also noticed no battery drain when transporting or just storing it for a day or two with no use.
I doubt if my experiences with the Dell sales and technical support staff are unique. I did discover that since my display problems were resolved, Dell's Asian Headquarters has placed a "five damaged pixel minimum" as their guideline regarding whether to replace the computer or display. To my knowledge, this is only the policy in Asia. I am hopeful that Dell’s policies for computers purchased within the United States still cover any problem without restrictions. The Asian policy was particularly distressing to me. A friend living in Indonesia experienced a similar problem with broken pixels. Asian Dell was refusing to remedy the situation. I wrote their offices about my experience and noted the fact that my friend had purchased his Dell Inspiron 7000 as a direct result of my recommendation. The computer is in the process of replacement but we did have to pull some strings and cut through some red tape.
From my experiences with Gateway, Hewlett Packard, Sony and Compaq (as an owner of at least one of each of their systems,) I can honestly say that Dell's treatment of their clients surpasses the other support services by miles. Gateway seems to have become complacent. Stump their tech support and they tell you to do an fdisk, format and reinstall your operating system. A friend called Gateway tech support to find out why her system would not boot up. The inept technical support person told her that her hard drive was "fried" and to do an fdisk, format and reinstall. Fortunately, she had the sense to nicely hang up and get another support person on the phone that resolved the problem by going into safe mode and changing a few settings. Hewlett Packard will do all they can do to help once you get past the first layer of supervisors. To be honest, I never had a problem with the Sony system that required assistance so I cannot comment about the quality of their support. Compaq appears to have one answer for all technical problems: Quick Restore! In comparison, having trained technicians on the other end of the phone gives Dell the advantage.
I will buy another Dell and possibly several more in years to come. I highly recommend making a list of precisely what you want in a notebook, doing your research, checking out the competition and then visiting Dell last. If you want a solid, reliable system with a good warranty and trained tech support you cannot do better than Dell. I believe you will buy Dell every time once you check out the competition!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2347.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: 301-400
Screen Size: 15"
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 4-6
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pogomom
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Reviews written: 193
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About Me:
Web/puter person who, disguised as mild-mannered Pogomom, offers unsolicited opinions to all she encounters.
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