A light, affordable Centrino laptop with great performance and rich graphics.
Written: Jul 24 '03
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Pros: Incredible screen clarity/sharpness, full keyboard, fast, great options available.
Cons: Can get pricey, screen is a bit thin.
The Bottom Line: A light, affordable Centrino laptop with great performance and rich graphics. Get the XGA screen for web-friendly resolution, or SXGA+ for small fonts but CLEAR, RICH graphics.
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| stonecutter2's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 600M (600MBS1) PC Notebook |
At first, I seriously considered returning this laptop when I received it. It was not quite what I expected. Now, after really looking it over, I'm really happy with it. I did some extensive reading online about this laptop before purchasing it. There are a few things I'd like to address, which stood out to me while considering my purchase. Hopefully my experiences and opinions can help you a bit in your decision.
Here's a quick summary of my 600m:
1.3Ghz Pentium M
64MB ATI Radeon 9000 Video
14.1" SXGA+ display
40GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
Intel PRO Wireless 2100 miniPCI card (802.11b)
384MB RAM
First of all, I've only had this laptop for a few days. So, I can't really give an opinion on durability until I've had it for awhile. I will say that the screen (mine is a 14.1" SXGA+) is rather thin, and yes it is just a bit flexible. The picture may become "wavy" when the screen is messed with, i.e. lid opened/shut or slightly twisted. This has not caused a problem, nor does it worry me. The image comes right back, perfect as ever. The screen itself is pretty quality aside from being a bit flexible. Just don't use the laptop for a door mat, or grab it by the screen and play helicopter, and I think it will survive normal wear and tear. The "flimsy" (as some call it) screen probably cuts a pound or two off the weight of the system - worth it, to me.
Second, in regards to the SXGA+ screen, I'm very pleased with my decision to get the higher resolution screen. Initially this was the reason I considered returning this laptop. The difference between the SXGA+ and XGA screens on the 600m is that the SXGA+ runs at 1400 x 1050 (high-res, small fonts) resolution, and XGA runs at 1024 x 768 (more web-friendly, easier on eyes) resolution. If you shift the 1400x1050 resolution down to 1024x768 on the SXGA+ screen, fonts will be just a bit muddy. 1400x1050 is the native resolution for the SXGA+, so it looks best set to that. Personally, I like having the option of setting the resolution down to 1024x768 for web browsing, dealing with the slight muddiness, then boosting up the res for image browsing or editing.
If you keep the resolution on 1400x1050, the fonts will be quite small. The small fonts aren't that big of a deal, now that I've really worked with the system. Though they're small, they're incredibly sharp - fonts and images looks like they're in 3-D. I really like the crisp text and detailed images on the web. Some websites can display a tiny bit weird here and there, but in general web surfing looks amazing. Images look like you can jump right into them, and the details in graphics are outstanding. I would recommend the XGA to my parents (i'm 27) since the fonts would most likely be way too small for their tastes at 1400x1050 resolution. But, I think I can handle the smallness of everything for the sake of having such incredible graphics on the web. As I said before, I can always drop the resolution to 1024x768 without much of a problem.
Next, performance-wise I haven't had the troubles described by some folks. Whether plugged in or on battery, the laptop performs quite well. Battery life is around 3-4 hours or so. The battery life goes down when using the DVD/CD-RW drive a lot, which is to be expected - but the standard battery should get you through the average movie with some life left to surf the web afterwards. I suggest turning down the brightness a bit to save battery power.
The wireless card has functioned perfectly. I've got the Intel PRO Wireless 2100 miniPCI card, it's an 802.11b wireless card. I live in a house built in 1890, and it goes through 2-3 walls while still getting Excellent to Very Good reception. Downstairs, and at the opposite side of the house from where the router is, I get a signal strength of Good. That's still really fast. It suits my needs perfectly. Eventually I'll try it in the backyard and in the basement to really push the limits of performance. One thing, when I first got the laptop, I tried to hook up the wireless through the Intel card's application - PROSet - and I couldn't connect, it said another program was using wireless. I had to configure the wireless through windows to get things going - see Network Connections in the Control Panel. Not a big deal, you can tell windows not to control wireless connections, and use the Intel card's utility - the choice is yours. It just confused me for a bit.
The Touchpad is something I've never been fond of, but using the pad's shortcut features helps. The scroll feature lets you use the right and bottom edge of the touchpad to scroll vertically and horizontally. I have noticed that sometimes the touchpad/buttons don't respond, but it only lasts a couple seconds, and it's not too annoying. I suspect it's the sensitivity option I need to mess with a bit more.
The 64MB video card is great. I highly recommend getting the best video you can afford, it pays off. This thing should let you do some gaming without much difficulty.
I gave Support a 3 star rating because I haven't used it yet. I know it's there, though - from what I hear, they're best used for returning a system or a piece of defective hardware. Their troubleshooting skills aren't the best, according to most people on the Dell forum. I recommend using the Dell forum and searching that. There ARE other people out there with same problem you're having.
Final Thoughts:
Do you surf the web a lot? Are you really used to 800x600 resolution or 1024x768, and love it? Then get the XGA screen. If you're willing to deal with small (but INCREDIBLY sharp) fonts, and want an amazing graphics/image experience, get the SXGA+ screen for the 1400x1050 resolution. I think the small fonts give the laptop a much more high-tech feel or something. At first glance, people respond with "wow, that's tiny." After about 5 minutes on the web, it turns into "Wow, these pictures look so rich and vibrant! It's like 3-D." Very quickly, the small fonts aren't so bad. Just give it a chance.
Also, one other thing, don't spend your cash on Dell's RAM - it's extremely overpriced. Upgrading RAM in this laptop is a breeze, and you'll stand to save up to $150 - $250 by visiting Crucial.com and searching for compatible RAM for the 600m. Use the drop down menu to find compatible RAM. Buy it and install it yourself - it takes 5 minutes at most to install. More like 5 seconds, but I'm also adding in the need to read the instructions.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1430.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
stonecutter2
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Reviews written: 6
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