Dell 600m Vs. 6000

[NightOtter]

One thing: I DO NOT plan to play GAMES on this machine.

I own a 600m, but I am selling it to a friend.

Even though I wont be playing games there may be some need for multimedia on certain occasion, so some punch will be needed. Some hi-end design programs may be used (Photoshop, etc)

Here are the SPECS I plugged in at DELL. Keep in mind that the higher price includes an update for a carrying case and a few other things. I am not so concerned about the prices than the EXPERIENCE.

600m

1.6 PentM 725 400MhzFSB
14.1 SXGA Display
64mb video
512 MB RAM (1 Dimm)
80 GB Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner

$1818

6000D

1.6 PentM 730 533MHzFSB
15.4 UltraSharp WUXGA
64 MB ATi RADEON
512 MB RAM (1 Dimm)
60 GB Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner

$1738


What is interesting, is that the 6000D is less expensive. Perhaps it's the discount. Also, the 600m does not mention the video card manufacturer. This didn't come to mind until now. I wonder if they are the same?

As I said, I know about the 600m, but the 6000 looks sweet, so I thought I would ask around here to get some opinions.

Any comment would be appreciated.

Otter.

 

[furie27]

I believe the 600m's graphics are integrated, whereas the 6000 has an option for the ATI x300 series dedicated graphics. The 6000 also offers a better looking screen.

 

[NightOtter]

thanks - I guess it's the smaller size that inflates the cost.

 

[randumb]

the 6000 is more powerful, the 600 is more portable

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: randumb
the 6000 is more powerful, the 600 is more portable

:thumbsup:
I've setup a 6000 and several 600m's. The 600m's had a bit of a cheap feeling to me. The 6000 was rather well built, I was surprised how sleek and well built it was.

If you need portability, go with the 600m; or better yet a Latitude D610. Latitude's are built much better than Inspiron's.

If you want mediocre portability and a better screen, get the 6000.

Regardless of what you do, upgrade the memory yourself. Also, Dell I think is running coupons right now that should take a chunk out of your total there.

 

[niggles]

I have a straight 6000, no D and am loving it even with the integrated graphics card. Gaming is the only place that I've had any sort of concern with this machine and to be honest for the most part it's really impressive for how much I paid. I went with the 15.4 WSXGA instead of the WXGA and I have to say that it's really worth the upgrade. RAM, Hardrive size can all be upgraded yourself, the monitor can't. I say get a WSXGA or even the WUXGA if you can afford it (although I think you can only get the WUXGA if you get the 6000D, to me it wasn't worth getting the D).

 

[dannybek2]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: randumb
the 6000 is more powerful, the 600 is more portable

:thumbsup:
I've setup a 6000 and several 600m's. The 600m's had a bit of a cheap feeling to me. The 6000 was rather well built, I was surprised how sleek and well built it was.

If you need portability, go with the 600m; or better yet a Latitude D610. Latitude's are built much better than Inspiron's.

If you want mediocre portability and a better screen, get the 6000.

Regardless of what you do, upgrade the memory yourself. Also, Dell I think is running coupons right now that should take a chunk out of your total there.

I second fbrdphreak about the 600m's "feel". I purchased one around three months after they had been introduced and there where two aspects of the notebook which I resented.
1. The LCD hinges felt weak. If I were to constantly open and close the notebook I believe the screen would come right off!
2. The whole keyboard moves with a press of a key. Unlike the T40, the 600m's keyboard isn't screwed down onto the computer. There is a gap between the keyboard and the components below. So whenever you wouls press a key the whole keyboard would move, give this cheap feeling to it.

I don't know if they have fix these so called problems, but I can tell you if you don't care for the build quality of the notebook it is a great bang for your buck... at least it was back then.

Cheers

 

[furie27]

If you're serious about the 600m, either look at the 700m which is much better or go to an HP DV1000, very similar in size and specs with a better design. Tested quite a few before this last purchase.

 

[Traire]

Just bought a 6000 for my little bro. The widescreen is really killer. Watching movies and having all that screen real estate for apps is very nice. Makes me really want to get one of the 2005fpw for my desktop. Definetly glad I got him that over the 600m.

 

[Octave]

Originally posted by: Traire
Just bought a 6000 for my little bro. The widescreen is really killer. Watching movies and having all that screen real estate for apps is very nice. Makes me really want to get one of the 2005fpw for my desktop. Definetly glad I got him that over the 600m.

I agree, having that widescreen is more usefull than most people think. Id take a 6000 over a 600m ANY day, especially with the WUXGA screen (1920x1200 res)
See sig for config..
heh, that rhymes...
Portability and no games = 700m or that hp DV1000,
games AND portability = 6000D
games and TRANSportability = 9300
or if you want to throw money at things, the XPS2

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: furie27
If you're serious about the 600m, either look at the 700m which is much better or go to an HP DV1000, very similar in size and specs with a better design. Tested quite a few before this last purchase.

:thumbsup: Second the dv1000, great machine

 

[unarmdragon]

don't meant to jack your thread, but can someone here tell me if the 6000D i got for $805 is a good price?

pentium m 730 1.6 2mb 533fsb
WSXGA+ lcd
256mb ddr2
x300 128mb pci-e 16x
40gb
8x dvdrw

i was thinking about either getting the 600m,700m or 6000, but since this one is the cheapest, i got this.

 

[dannybek2]

Originally posted by: unarmdragon
don't meant to jack your thread, but can someone here tell me if the 6000D i got for $805 is a good price?

pentium m 730 1.6 2mb 533fsb
WSXGA+ lcd
256mb ddr2
x300 128mb pci-e 16x
40gb
8x dvdrw

i was thinking about either getting the 600m,700m or 6000, but since this one is the cheapest, i got this.

Good job with the price.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: unarmdragon
don't meant to jack your thread, but can someone here tell me if the 6000D i got for $805 is a good price?

pentium m 730 1.6 2mb 533fsb
WSXGA+ lcd
256mb ddr2
x300 128mb pci-e 16x
40gb
8x dvdrw

i was thinking about either getting the 600m,700m or 6000, but since this one is the cheapest, i got this.

Very good price. Add your own RAM and new HDD & that is one kick ass machine

 

[CptTripps]

Go with the 6000 unless you really really need to smaller machine.

I'd get the 128MB version of the X300 since you won't be able to change this later (I think the $70 upgrade will help with resale in the future).

On another note, I have to disagree with the D610 being a better built machine than the Inspirons. We just deployed ~1200 D610's at my work during a PC refresh, compared to the 6000, the 9300 and the XPS2 they just look\feel cheaper.

6000 is a great machine. Go you!!!

 

[hellfire88]

Unarmeddragon: You got good price, congrats!

NightOtter: OMG, PLEASE do NOT pay that much for either machine lol. Dell often has $750 off $1499+ coupons (they just had one that expired on 3:59AM PST Today or around then!!!) I've used both the 600m and 6000d for a significant amount of time. They are both very nice machines if you buy the for under $1000, which you can if you get the right coupon. I'll just toss in some of my opinions/experiances:

The 600m is a pretty nice machine, some compare it to the IBM T-series in that they are both about ~5lbs, have 14.1" LCDs that can do XGA/SXGA+ (of course, the T-series now come in 15" LCDs), and have decent dedicated video. Of course, the build-quality of the Dell 600m is inferior to the T-series, being more than half the price and all LOL. Yes, the build-quality of the 600m leaves a bit to be desired, and the left palm rest does get quite warm (they designed it so that the HDD is right under the left palmrest....go-figure), but it's not that bad at all! They come with an ATI Radeon 9000 Mobility with dedicated graphics RAM (32mb/64mb). I've personally played Counter-Strike: Source (based on HL2) at medium settings at 1024x768 res with no problems on my 600m, which is pretty nice. It's also quite portable at ~5.2lbs with battery and CD drive. I took mine to class every day for a few semesters with no problems/complaints. Note that the 600m is based on the "older" Intel 855PM chipset with 400MHz FSB. If you decide on the 600m, definately get the SXGA+ LCD and 64mb video card upgrades, as IMHO, they are the best upgrades you can get! Of course, get the cheapest RAM option and upgrade youself (I think a 512mb stick of RAM goes for about $50 nowadays)

The Dell 6000/6000d is a newer model that runs on the newer Intel 915GM/915PM chipset or "Sonoma". It runs at a 533MHz FSB. I had a 6000d, and to me, it weighed significantly more than my 600m. I think the 6000 with integrated graphics weighs about 6.6lbs, and the 6000d with the ATI X300 64mb/128mb weighs more like 7lbs. Now the 1.4-1.8lbs might not be a lot to you, but I guess I'm just pretty weak because I felt a bit more weary of lugging my 6000d around campus lol. I had the 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050 res) LCD, and it was BEAUTIFUL! The text was a bit hard to read at times, but then again, I don't have perfect vision. Just make sure you're ok with the WUXGA on a 15.4" LCD, some people say the text is a bit small, and that WUXGA is best for a 17" LCD. The choice is up to you though. In any case, the build-quality is much improved on this generation (700m, 9300, 6000, XPS Gen2) over the previous generation of Dell Inspiron laptops (600m, 8600, etc.). My 6000d was a nice, solid machine, albeit the plastic did feel a bit "cheap", but it felt nice and solid. I played Counter-Strike: Source at 1280x1024 at mid-settings and Guild Wars at medium-high settings at the LCD's native resolution of 1680x1050! It looked great!

So in the end, the decision is up to you. The 600m is more portable, but performs slightly less and feels cheaper/lesser build-quality. The 6000d feels more solid, and is a real nice machine, but weighs 1.4-1.8lbs more and is overall a bit more bulky due to the 15.4" widescreen LCD. Either way though, I feel that you can get a nice configured 600m or 6000d for LESS than $1000. Good luck!!!

 

[ender11122]

I have owned both, and I would recommend the 600m over the 600dagainst what everyone else is telling you. The integrated graphics in the 600m are very strong for integrated and the system itself is very snappy. I was not impressed with the 6000d, and the graphics were not good at all (the X300 sucks)

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: ender11122
I have owned both, and I would recommend the 600m over the 600dagainst what everyone else is telling you. The integrated graphics in the 600m are very strong for integrated and the system itself is very snappy. I was not impressed with the 6000d, and the graphics were not good at all (the X300 sucks)

First of all, integrated graphics do not compare to discrete (unless we're talking the Radeon XPress200M chipset which has X300 capabilities). Integrated graphics eat up some system performance and provide nil for 3D performance. Mobility X300 is about equal to the Mobility 9600, which isn't too horrible. Not the best for new games, but duh.

No one is disputing the 600m's performance. You can stick a huge engine in a Geo Metro and it'll have lots of horsepower. Same as if you stick a 2GHz P-M in a 600m or 6000. The difference is the build quality of the 600m; frankly its very disappointing. The keyboard sucks, the chassis doesn't feel very tight; I wouldn't want to own one without same day on-site support

 

[Carl Uman]

Have a 600m and I agree the build is not great. I would not even consider paying > $1000 for the machine you speced. Wait for a $750 off deal they run. Having said that I have had mine since Oct 2004 and paid around $850 for a refurb (was loaded for that time 512mb, 80gb, dvd/cdrw, 1400x1050 w/ 64mb M9). I've had an 1100 and a number of older Dells and other brands. This is the lightest one I have had and I love it. Like hellfire88 said that little bit of extra is lot and I don't even move mine that much. I would not buy a laptop much over 5 lbs but that is just me.

I will likely sell my machine before the warranty is up and get something else because I don't trust the quilty. For what I paid I wont lose much.

 

[CptTripps]

Originally posted by: ender11122
I have owned both, and I would recommend the 600m over the 600dagainst what everyone else is telling you. The integrated graphics in the 600m are very strong for integrated and the system itself is very snappy. I was not impressed with the 6000d, and the graphics were not good at all (the X300 sucks)

He dosen't want to play games. The reason he should get the 6000 is becuase it is the better built machine and looks nicer. I don't believe you called a machine with integrated graphics strong and snappy and then turn right around to say the X300 sucks. The X300 is not a high end card, but it's definitely faster than an integrated solution.

And yeah, Dell has 600 off 1499 right now. I speced one at $901.00, with the X300 128MB version and an ok warranty. They had the $750 off of $1499 but alas, they are gone already.