Excellent all-around do everything laptop with good portability
Written: May 01 '05
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Pros: Superb features and configuration options--Dell delivered on time exactly as requested
Cons: Not a featherweight or small sized laptop if that is your prime criteria
The Bottom Line: No reason to pass this up if you need a all-around use laptop--very highly recommended
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| stealthfixr's Full Review: Dell Inspiron™ 6000 (i6000L1) PC Notebook |
I bought a Dell 6000D laptop 2 weeks ago, and I was sufficiently impressed with it that I had to write this review. I bought the laptop to do a little of everything: portable but powerful, digital photography, desktop replacement during military moves, teaching for my wife’s college courses and professional military education activities for me. I configured the 6000D with 1GB RAM, 1.6Ghz Pentium M processor 533Mhz, 80 GB hard drive, DVD DL burner, the upscale WUXGA (?) 1900x1200 screen, Intel Pro wireless internal, and the 9-cell Lion battery.
Favorable Impressions:
- Pentium M 1.6Ghz is faster than I thought it would be—fine for my uses
- Screen is awesome—I debated this upgrade due to expense, and in use, it is fantastic; I seems to get as much desk space with this screen as my 19” desktop LCD
- Very easy setup and stability as delivered—it was up and running in minutes, and no problems at all so far
- Easily configurable screen brightness and wireless on/off gives many power options
- Not as heavy as expected for its size; it looks like a substantially sized laptop
- Nicely sized keyboard for a mid-sized laptops—easy to type on
- Lots of internally incorporated features, such as 4 USB ports, Ethernet and modem all available without PC cards
- Excellent screen scrolling (top to bottom and left to right) options on very nice touchpad
- DVD movie playback is awesome—no ghosting or blurring that I can see, and the widescreen is superb
Criticisms:
- Battery life requires dim screen and little processing to give you the 4-5 hour life; full brightness and intensive CPU use cut battery life to about 2.5 hours (still not bad at all)
- Wish some of the trial included software was not a trial—like Norton Internet Security (something else to buy in a couple months)
- Touchpad could be a little bigger—requires multiple touches to cross the screen
- High resolution settings can make some writing hard to read; I don’t need reading glasses yet, but I would imagine this would be an issue for those who do
- I should have bought an extra battery with the laptop; price is much higher when bought separately
- Widescreen distorts desktop background pictures that are “stretched”
- The bottom does not get hot, but it does get warm with extended use—makes me wonder about thermal implications for hard drive and such (may buy a coolpad for this reason)
All in all, I am fantastically happy with the Dell 6000D—very highly recommended. Most of the criticisms are nit-noid at best. If you need an all-around laptop, this is an excellent option. I was swayed a little by rabid Powerbook users claiming highly superior laptops. After using both (Powerbook a little, 6000D a lot), the Powerbooks are certainly good. But, the 6000D is fantastic too, and you get much more bang for your buck with the 6000D. Enjoy!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1732
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
stealthfixr
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Reviews written: 3
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