Good Ultralight laptop Buy
Written: Dec 18 '02 (Updated Dec 18 '02)
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Pros: Lightweight, Good Performance and Works!
Cons: Might be pricey, Not as sleek as some other laptops out there.
The Bottom Line: X200 is a great ultralight notebook especially if you can get a good deal at Dell refurbished. The lack of optical drives will be offset by the excellent connectivity options.
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| kullan's Full Review: Dell Latitude X200 PC Notebook |
I was looking for a good ultralight laptop. I looked at different machines out in the net and the only choices I had were a few. Sony Vaio 505, Toshiba Portege 2000 and the Dell X200. I did buy the X200 finally because of one big deal! Dell refurbished laptop sale. At the price they were giving away, it was too good to be true.
Laptop Specs
The machine I had ordered came with 800Mhz PIII, 256 mb RAM, 30 GB HDD, external CD-ROM, Wifi PCI card inbuilt, 2 USB 1.1 port, 1 Firewire port and a VGA video out port. All in all a good combination. It came with Windows XP Professional and a 90 day antivirus package. Pretty meagre in the software department. The weight was about 3 lbs.
Looks
The laptop looks great close up. I was pretty worried whether I would like it since I had never seen it, far less used it. But the machine is pretty thin and amazingly light. I am easily able to hold it in one hand without worrying about whether I am going to drop it. However, I should state that the case looks a little thin. And Sony Vaio takes top honors for sleekness.
Performance
Windows XP was zippy. No delays even with all the eye candy turned on. The 830MG chipset with shared video memory did not seem to cause any problems. In fact it was faster than the Athlon 1 GHz desktop I have. It is a very capable PC that can do everything a typical user would want of a ultralight. I can not vouch for games. (:-) yet)
Usability
The keyboard seems firm and easy to use. But after using a desktop keyboard all my life, it is taking a bit of time to get used to this new laptop keyboard layout.
The touchpad seems responsive. Only thing is that when typing really fast I accidently touch the keypad making my cursor land at some random location and I continue typing on there without noticing. The machine runs reasonably hot, but I have been able to use it for a while without getting scorched. The Wifi card works great with my Linksys wireless accesspoint/router in my home network and I find that the ability to use the internet anywhere in my house is itself such a freedom. The battery life is so-so. About 2 hours max. But it doesnt bother me too much as power outlets are easier to come by than phone lines.
The laptop was also very stable, switching to standby and restoring worked without any hitches.
Overall, I find that this laptop does what it sets out to do. Its a very competent ultralight. Highly recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1234
Operating System: Windows
Processor speed: 701-800
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
kullan
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Reviews written: 1
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