Recently, I went on a hunt for the perfect laptop. I searched websites, talked to techie friends and read epinions on several kinds of laptops. I decided on the Dell Inspiron 4000 and have been very happy with my choice.

To find a laptop that fit my lifestyle, I considered many factors. First, the laptop had to be lightweight since I would be carrying it around with me most of the day (I work without an office most of the time). Second, the laptop had to have a decent battery life since I frequently would not be near a power source. Third, the laptop had to be powerful since I would be using it for various work and home functions.

The Dell Inspiron 4000 exceeded my expectations on all these conditions. At only 5.5 lbs, the Inspiron was easy to carry around throughout the day. I purchased the more powerful (and expensive) battery and found it well worth the money. The battery had a life of about 4 hours which was enough time between chargings for me to get my work done. Finally, the laptop was very powerful; I was able to run several applications at once with great performance.

A few other positives:

Performance The screen delivered a nice crisp image, which was useful for the bit of graphics work that I worked on.

Customer Service I found tech support at Dell to be extremely helpful when I needed to call them (never had any technical problems, just needed to get a serial number). The laptop shipped within a few days, despite the rush of the holiday season.

A few negatives:

Color Panels This really didn't turn out to be a negative for me, but I have to say, what is up with those color panels? I never ordered them. I left the gray panels that came with the laptop in and they were fine, but the color panels seem ridiculous on laptop such as the Inspiron 4000. I suppose if you need some color in your life they might be useful though.

Slightly Slow Performance Although it doesn't move at a turtle's pace, the Inspiron doesn't exactly work at lightening speed either. Some applications took a while to load up, and booting up wasn't particularly speedy. The speed of performance was never enough to bother me, but I have seen laptops that ran more quickly.

Alas, my Dell Inspiron 4000 was a little bit too perfect. Somebody found it too enticing and swiped it while I accidentally left it unattended. Although distressed about the theft, I will not hesitate to replace it with another Dell Inspiron 4000. The laptop is well worth the money and perfect for somebody like me who is always on the go. Of course this time, I will purchase the anti-theft device.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1850
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium II
Processor speed: 601-700
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20