Love my 600m
Written: Sep 07 '03
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Pros: Light weight, smaller size, most things built in. Good price when on sale and/or coupons/rebates.
Cons: Touchpad
The Bottom Line: Would recommend to anyone looking for a solid laptop with most everything needed built in.
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| sdallnct's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 600M (600MBS1) PC Notebook |
Several years ago I bought a used IBM 760XL to use as my personal computer on the road. While it continued to work, it of course was slow and I was starting to use it more then just e-mail. Since I travel a lot, I felt it was worth getting a new laptop. But I want something fairly portable (but did not want to go down to a 12" screen), and didn't want a lot of parts to go with it.
I had bought 2 desktops from Dell for my kids and were very happy with them. So looked to Dell's line up of Laptops. After looking at all models and reading reviews (Dell's own forum is an excellent source of information for their stuff), I decided on the 600m. It was physically smaller then most laptops, lighter then most (except the sub-notebooks), had a 14" screen, optical drive built in and since it was a Centrino based laptop, had the wireless net card built it.
I watched the Dell site for a about 2-3 weeks before finally pulling the trigger. I had a self imposed budget of $1,000. I ended up getting it (aprox 8 weeks ago) for $1025.XX shipped after $150.00 rebate (using 2 15% off coupons). I configured as follows:
14" XGA screen
64mb video memory
30 gig HD
1.3 GHz P-M processor
Intel 2100 wireless network card
dvd-cdrw combo drive
blue tooth
floppy drive
Don't let the "slow" processor fool you. The new P-M chip is different then the P4's or P4-M. The 1.3 GHz P-M processor is = to about 1.7-1.8 GHz in a P4 or P4-M.
As mentioned I have had it about 8 weeks now. Taken it on 2 extended trips and a couple of plane rides. I love it. While it is probably overkill for my needs, I think it is a fantastic unit.
-Wireless network is built in which works great on my home wireless system and have used on the road(I stuck with the basic "b" card a 90% of my wireless networking is net surfing/e-mail, etc. So the b is plenty fast enough. If I did more computer to computer file sharing, I would not hesitate to go to Dell b/g card)
-Modem and eithernet are also built in. Use them on the road
-I stuck with XGA screen. I find it sharp, and even good for watching DVD's. I have never had a SXGA, so I can't compare
-My unit worked fine out of the box with no problems and no noted dead pixals
-My unit does not have the screen flex some have reported. The screen feels fairly solid
-My unit does not get hot at the wrist rest area as some have reported. Under my left wrist, it gets slightly warm on occasion, but nothing more. It is barely noticable
-Both fan and power supply on mine are fine. No noise at all on the power supply, and the fan hardly comes on and when it does, is not that loud
-I have had no need to call customer service. But you can use an on line customer service to find out information, updates, etc. There is a lot of good information there.
-Battery life is good for the type battery it is. The unit comes with a 6-cell battery to keep weight down (as opposed to a heavier 8-cell). I get slightly over 4 hourse of wireless net surfing on it, and slightly over 2 hours of DVD watching on it. I'm about to order a 2nd main battery. You have 90 seconds to hot swap main batteries. You can also get a special battery to put in the drive bay and run with 2 batteries if you don't need a drive.
-I have used the infra-red (again built in) w/my cell phone. Suprisingly fast.
The only thing I do not like is the touch pad. And I don't think it is anything to do with Dell. I'm use to the eraser heads on the IBM's. I recently bought a usb optical mouse, and prefer that over the touch pad. Tho that is something else to carry around.
The 600m is a great unit. To get the best deal from Dell you have to wait for Dell to offer the configuration you want, then maximize wth savings with a coupon(s).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1025 final
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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sdallnct
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Reviews written: 4
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