An Easy Choice

For my new laptop, I wanted something that would serve as a part-time desktop replacement. While my desktop machine was always running, the amount of time I got to actually sit in the office and use it was minimal. While I liked my Dell Latitude C610, it was time recently to upgrade. Because of my experience with the Latitude C610, I quickly chose the Dell Latitude D600 as my next laptop.

My standard configuration Latitude D600 came with a ton of features, yet weighed in at only a little over 5 pounds -

• Intel Mobile 1.4GHz Processor
• Intel Pro 2100 Wireless Network adapter
• 14.1" XGA Display
• 256MB DDR SDRAM
• CD/DVD combo drive
• 20 GB 4200RPM Hard Drive
• XP Professional and Microsoft Office pre-installed
• Standard battery and power cables
• Built-in smart card reader
• 2 USB 2.0 Ports, TV out port, PC Card slot, Monitor port, Headphone and microphone jacks, and a LAN jack.
• Radeon 9000 32 MB video card
• Alps Touchpad and an “eraser mouse”

While there were certainly “bigger and better” laptops available (and even the Latitude D600 could be purchased with a larger hard drive, more memory, and a slightly faster processor) this fit my needs perfectly. With the final price around $1,400, it was a bargain compared to other laptops I’d looked at.

Style-wise, this new Dell Latitude was beautiful. While I enjoyed the black case laptops I had in the past, it was getting old. This D600 came in a gold-ish/beige colour. While the case was still plastic, it just looked more sturdy than the black plastic of my other laptops. The construction felt sturdy - the hinges on the screen were wide and not too lose, there were no plastic creaking sounds when the laptop was picked up, and unlike my old C610, when I gently closed the lid, this LCD screen didn’t get the rainbow of colours that the old laptop did from pressure being put on the screen.

The keys on the keyboard of the D600 were a lot nicer than those on my old laptops. They didn’t feel overly lose or unstable. Even the several times my son tried to “type” by banging on the keys did nothing, unlike my C610, which constantly required keys to be snapped back into place. Partially due to the size of the laptop but also due in part to design this keyboard was also well laid out, not too cramped even when typing more than website addresses. Unlike other laptops I’d used, the volume buttons (and a mute button) were easily reachable next to the power button above the keyboard. Also unlike many other laptops, fans of button mice and touchpads would both be thrilled. Each mouse style had their own set of left and right buttons, preventing awkward reaches to click.

In Use - The Good, and the Awful

As any mobile 1.4GHz cpu, this computer was more than fast enough to run all of the dozens of applications I tended to run at the same time. I was, however, surprised at something I didn’t find. Many older reviews of the D600 complained of excessive heat on the left hand side of the computer, near the touchpad. I can only assume that Dell made improvements to the case to shield the user from the heat from the CPU. Even the many dozens of times I’ve been running processor intensive programs for hours at a time the laptop has never reached more than “pleasantly warm” temperatures. While running the same programs with my Latitude C610 would result in the sofa being hot to touch if I was using the laptop on it, the D600 made the sofa surface barely warm.

The most amazing difference was in the LCD monitor. I was prepared for a slight difference, but the screen on the Latitude D600 simply blew me away. The colours were sharp and clear and the viewing angle of the screen was absolutely astounding. Even with sunlight coming in almost directly at the screen, it was still very viewable. While this wouldn’t be a good feature for the business traveler not wanting the person in the airplane seat next to him to be able to read the screen, the result for most users would be a screen that even looked amazing for higher end game graphics.

Like most laptop computers, the speakers were far from high end. While they were better than most other laptops I’d used, for any length of time listening to music or watching a dvd, the headphone jack would come in quite handy.

While the case design was absolutely great, a major drawback was quickly spotted by my 15 month old. In order to sense that the lid has been closed to take the action set in the operating system, there is a little stick of plastic near the seam, less than a centimeter towards the screen from the volume down key. Unlike other laptops, this positioning was simply bad - I even managed to hit it once when adjusting the volume and not paying attention, and it caught my sons eye like a shiny coin out in the son, just begging to be played with. Even setting the operating system to do nothing when the lid was closed caused a few second freeze when the stick was hit.

The battery life with the single main battery wasn’t impressive, running about 1.5 hours without dimming the screen completely or using less processor power, although a secondary battery and better power saving options would likely increase the battery life.

Unfortunately, however, the major downfall of this laptop was the “turning point”. The Dell Latitude D600 was one of the only computers they produced with the Alps brand touchpad. I predict this will be the last as well. Shortly after purchase, I started noticing the touchpad would often simply stop working. The left and right buttons would no longer work, occasionally I could move the cursor with the touchpad but other times I could not, and often even a Control-alt-delete wouldn’t get the touchpad working again. Other times I’d sit back from the computer, absolutely nothing touching it, and watch the touchpad sensor in the taskbar show that some invisible force was being applied to the touchpad. My significant other first heard my complaints and blamed it on user error. I applied all updates to the touchpad drivers hoping that it would clear up the problem, with no result. After several weeks of this annoyance, I finally started looking for similar reports. And reports I found.

The touchpad problem seemed to be more common than I’d have ever suspected. The Dell customer support forums were filled with D600 users who reported the same issue. Several people had sent back computers to Dell for new touchpads, only to get them back and have the same problem continually occur. Many forum users had simply been given a new, different model Dell laptop as they’d sent the unit in multiple times. Users of all operating systems were affected. Some with Dell telephone support apparently reported that the company was aware of the issue but had no idea as to when it would be solved, but most frighteningly of all, while Dell support online tended to reply to ever thread in their own support forums, technical support was absolutely silent concerning any Alps touchpad issue. While I was just a single residential customer, I was astounded that Dell allowed this issue to get out when it wasn’t a rare occurrence - people with dozens of the D600 experienced the same problem on every single computer.

Hoping to bypass the touchpad issue, I decided to use my optical USB mouse every time I got the chance. This Dell D600 simply didn’t like mice. While the standard USB mouse was simply supposed to plug in a work, my system crashed more times than I could count - completely freezing up upon plugging the mouse in. Back to the Dell forums I went, finding out, once again, this was a major issue. Not wanting to be without my laptop for them to run a repair I knew would not solve the issue, I just crossed my fingers that the company would soon admit there was a problem and actually fix it.

While I’d been a fan of Dell laptops in the past, this D600 had two such major flaws that I’ll seriously reconsider purchasing another Dell laptop in the future. A several times daily crash caused by hardware was a major pain for every day use, and would be an absolute nightmare for business use. If Dell finally admits there is a problem with the D600 and takes steps to correct it, I’ll be thrilled, but given their response so far, I’m not holding my breath.

Recommended:
No

Amount Paid (US$): 1400
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20