600m vs. 700m...

[Entity]

I mostly use my current laptop (IBM T40) for web surfing, playing poker, and some web design/programming. Looking into a 600m/700m as Dell has some great deals and I'm really pissed off at IBM right now (long story).

Any recommendations? I've heard that the 700m's keyboard is too small for some people. Would be interested in hearing about both, if anyone has any comments. I know that some people have complained about the build quality of the 600m's; is this the case with the 700? How does 1200x860 look on the 12" screens?

Rob

 

[Plester]

I just got a 700m from the last $750 off deal, and so far am happy with it. My biggest requirement was portability - I used to have a T23 but even it was too heavy if there was a lot of travel. Because of this, compromises are inevitable, but the 2lb difference between a 700m (w/ 4 cell battery and ac adapter, travel weight is still under 5lbs) and say a 600m or D610 (6.5+lb travel weight) isn't trivial.

it is well built - solid w/ no fit and finish issues. mostly plastic but again, it doesn't feel cheap. As many people have pointed out, it is thick. and at a hair over 4 pounds with the smaller 4 cell battery, it isn't ultra-light. It has a very crisp and bright screen that as long as you are content with a 12" screen is sufficient.

The keyboard is small, but the only annoyingly small keys are the arrow keys and some of the punctuation keys. I am an advanced 'hunt and peck' typist, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I got a 1.6ghz/256mb ddr/60gb system and bought an extra 256mb sodimm on the FS/FT here for $25 so w/ 512mb (16mb shared video) it has plenty of ram. The stock drives (40gb-80gb) are all 4200rpm, and mine happens to be a Fuji - I am swapping it w/ a 5400rpm 8mb cache Fuji drive, but the 4200rpm is pretty dang quick.

It runs very cool and quiet, and its thickness allows for what appears to be a fairly robust fan/heatpipe. I got the 4 cell battery because of weight, and when run in conjuction with Rightmark's Clock utility (allows you to set the max vcore and multiplier when on battery (mine runs stable at 14x multi = 1.4ghz and .940v vcore when under load or 6x and .7v when doing light work) = 3+ hours of battery with the screen dimmed 2 steps.

Also got the Intel 2915 Pro card (802.11 a/b/g) which works extremely well.

All around good machine for $800.

 

[herm0016]

i have a 600m i have been using for about 9 months. i am in college and i use it for lots of different things. i wanted the 600m because of the serial port. i use it to program robotics and control different sensors and things. i have few issues with it, the wireless seems to not work unless you are sitting next to the node. the build quality seems fine, my computer is not treated all that great, its a bit scratched up and i use it when i stage manage in the theater for notes and such. i run matlab 7, solid works, and mathematica perfectly, games like cs:conditon zero, halo 1 work well also. when under load (such as above mentiond programs) heat is a problem, i have a cooling pad that solves this issue, (hooked up to a usb hub that is hooked to a varible power supply, its running on about 4 or 5 volts and is nearly silent)
specs:
Pm 1.8 ghz 40 gig hd 4200rpm, 512 sodimm, 9000pro, xp pro. stock battery: i can get about 4.5 hours when screen is on low brightness and i am running 1 or 2 word files.
and all for around 5lbs.
over all i love my computer, though i know i could have gotten more for my money.

hope this helps.

 

[Rottie]

my roommate bought 700m 7 days ago and he have some issues because he thought it was big laptop and wide screen. He wanted i6000 I advised against it because of heavy size and other things. He thinks that the memory 256 and pm 1.6 is not enough for him. When I use his 700m I feel it was light weight easy to carry around but I am not get used to keyboard. The screen is good but the fonts are hard to read. I forgot my roommate said te battery usage is not good.
He got a 1.6ghz, 256mb ddr, 60gb system he optioned for dvd/cdrw drive and intel 2200 pro wireless built in. He paid for over 1000 and no rebate.

 

[RossMAN]

Dell Latitude D610 > *

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Dell Latitude D610 > *

Is it possible to get completecare on a latitude notebook? I know you have to purchase latitudes through Dell SB, right?

Now I just need a good SB coupon.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Dell Latitude D610 > *

Is it possible to get completecare on a latitude notebook? I know you have to purchase latitudes through Dell SB, right?

Now I just need a good SB coupon.

There are rarely deals on latitudes. I would suggest IBMs but some people have bad luck runs with them.

I don't think its called complete care for the business side, its called Mobilty plan or the standard plan for the D610.

There are some issues with D610 like headphones etc. No laptop is perfect. I would check out the notebook.com forums. Its really informative. The guys there actually keep their laptops to use, most people here jump on these deals to sell them etc so they can't give a good input or they use them for basic use so they aren't as picky.

 

[dartworth]

What about the 6000 from Dell?

I would stay away from the 600m. It will be replaced by Dell soon.

http://notebookforums.com is a great resource too...

 

[Entity]

The 6000 looks too heavy. I'm looking for something around 5lb.

Rob

 

[KenSr]

I just weighed my 6000 on my postal scale, it weighs 7 lbs 5 oz.
It has the 9 cell battery.
I think having the 15.4 inch wide screen and long battery life is worth the extra couple of pounds.

Ken

 

[vegetation]

Didn't really like the 700m's keyboard, just too small for my fingers. Granted, I don't travel extensively but do take my heavier 15" screen laptop with me to school every so often. I prefer to lug the extra weight in favor of having a keyboard my fingers can really type on.

 

[loup garou]

I have no problems with my 700m's keyboard. It's easier to use than say an ultraportable (Sharp Actius line or the really little Fujitsus) or an iBook's.

Besides that, mine's been great, it comes with me to every client site I visit daily and get used constantly. It gets a fair amount of banging around, but no problems so far. The only thing is the screen gets noticably dusty easily, but it's no big deal to wipe it down.

 

[alm4rr]

the only thing i don't like about the 700 kb is that PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN require using the FN key... but I get around that by programming the touchpad to go PG/PD when tapping in corners...

I still have onl 256 ram (i will get 7xx in a bit) and it can do basics fine if you aren't expecting blazing speed. I gonna reinstall XP b/c I keep getting new hardware found messages all the time for wierd stuff (Performance Alerts and Logs among others), Quickset won't install for me (error writing to registry?)

8 cell battery doesn't weigh much and worth the extra time if you aren't sitting next to electiricty all day...

 

[alm4rr]

ps - i read reviews of the 600 b4 buying and every review said it got uncomfortably warm under right wrist...

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: alm4rr
ps - i read reviews of the 600 b4 buying and every review said it got uncomfortably warm under right wrist...

Great and mine is about to ship, fortunately I got it loaded for $748

 

[Parthian89]

any deals out there for 700m? how did you guys get these coupons...

I'm looking to get one, but they all are over $950

 

[Sukhoi]

Got a 700m two weeks ago and love it. With the large battery you get almost 5 hours of runtime on a charge. Unless you're blind and can't see small stuff, the screen will look very nice to you. I like the widescreen because I can dock Trillian on the right side and still have plenty of room for the rest of my stuff. Also I had no problem getting used to the keyboard after a day or two. And the build quality seems pretty good to me. The laptop is very rigid and doesn't flex much. Oh and Dell is shipping 5400 RPM drives with the 700m now. Well atleast my 40 GB drive is 5400 RPM. I can't vouch for the 30 GB and 60 GB.

 

[alm4rr]

my 700m, too is 5400 which was a nice surprise as I was expecting 4200... a new 512 stick plus 256 is definitely a lot perkier now

 

[her34]

how loud are both laptop under cpu load?

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

It's absolutely very quite even while playing 3D intensive games. For normal usuage, the fan usually doesn't run and the bottom is cool to the touch. Does anyone know how I can verify the 700m warranty and specifications based on its service tag number and express code? I just got one from Ebay, but I want to make sure the spec matches as stated by the buyer. A link for online checking is good (or any other method you know).

 

[Sukhoi]

Just a note that you're not going to be playing many 3D intensive games on a 700m. I would be surprised if it could even run CS 1.6 at a decent framerate. Unreal Tournament runs fairly well.

 

[6000SUX]

The build quality on the 600m and 700m is similar. The 600m offers better battery life (especially since you can install a modular-bay battery that doesn't stick embarrassingly out of the back), a better, bigger keyboard, a bigger screen, and a dedicated graphics card. The only reason I'd not get the 600m is if you really need an ultraportable, in which case the 700m is by far NOT your best choice.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I guess the good thing about the 700m is that it's supposed to be a portable/entertainment oriented laptop hence the widescreen format. The graphics isn't too good. For the average user who doesn't play Far Cry, Halo 2 or the likes, I think it does a good job. The keyboard is about 92% smaller with a few questionable choices unless you can afford a Thinkpad X40 (you can get a loaded 700m for around ~$1000-1100 - not from Dell thought). Yes, the extended battery lasts about 5 hours and sticks out noticeably, but I wouldn't describe it as embarrassing (just doesn't look "nice"). Make sure to get the extended battery.

Entity, maybe you should see if you can use the 600m and 700m before buying it??? I used both, but I like the 700m more because it seems easier to carry around and somewhat lighter.