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dell 700m

E

EvanAdams

Senior member
I read that cnet did not like the keyboard. Other than that this is THE notebook I have been looking for. Mainly small size and widescreen.

Its main competition is IMHO the sony S series. And the dell beats it hands down in price.

Thoughts?

I am adding the HP DV1000 and Compaq X2000 as competitors. They are larger but still in same class IMHO. I think I am going to pull the trigger on the DV over the 700m because of the keyboard issue
 
I think it's pretty good, considering the price. It's a nice size, has a good screen, a fast processor and good connectivity.

The only significant problem I see is that the standard battery gets under 2.5 hours, according to the reviews. Of course, you can get an extended battery, but I'm not sure if it sticks out the back or makes the machine heavier.

It's also generally a little heavy for it's size and compared to it's competition, but it's not bad.

On balance, I think it's good and worth a closer look.
 
I think Wistron makes it. It is also sold as the AOpen 1551AW1, which sold rebadged by various resellers in Europe (and maybe elsewhere). Hitachi also sells this model under their brand in Japan.

It has been out for quite a while in other countries, maybe since near the beginning of this year. Dell's release lags behind the others by a few months at least.
 
Originally posted by: manko
I think Wistron makes it. It is also sold as the AOpen 1551AW1, which sold rebadged by various resellers in Europe (and maybe elsewhere). Hitachi also sells this model under their brand in Japan.

It has been out for quite a while in other countries, maybe since near the beginning of this year. Dell's release lags behind the others by a few months at least.
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Thanks for the info. Damn I'm drooling I'm getting the itch.
 
This machine is very nice, but I can't believe there is no port replicator for this laptop. That just kills this from my picks.
 
I am looking at the same laptop. I am not sure. I went to Microcenter to check out the small Vaio and I liked it a lot. The 700m has a better processor and has more configuration options.

Has anyone bought this laptop?
 
I would say this is a competitor to the gateway 200x. they both have low battery life and both require an extra $100+ extended battery.
 
Nah, it stinks. It's heavy for the size and doesn't have a modular bay. Wide screen isn't everything-- the resolution is quite low. The advertised high-capacity battery will stick out the back, making it look strange and increasing the weight even more, and the standard battery sucks.

For a laptop that's of a comparable size, will let you fit WAY more on a screen, has a very bright award-winning screen that's viewable outdoors, and a modular bay in which you can carry an empty weight-saver module, an extra battery for up to 8.5 hours of computing time (or over four hours with the single battery alone), or an optical drive, look at the Fujitsu-Siemens S6220. About its only drawback is that it doesn't have a dedicated graphics card, but then neither does the 700m! If you order from a reseller like PortableOne, you can upgrade the hard drive at time of purchase to a 7200 RPM model (for a decent price too), something you won't find on the 700m or 600m from Dell. You get higher build quality, considerably less weight, waaaay more screen real estate, a much better-sized keyboard, and almost four times the possibly battery life without increasing the dimensions-- not much of a choice. The laptop wins the CNET Editors' Choice award time after time.

The poor battery alone makes the 700m a stinker. If I had to get a small Dell laptop, I'd pick the 600m any day.
 
Originally posted by: jvarszegi
Nah, it stinks. It's heavy for the size and doesn't have a modular bay.
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Yes it does. You can check the online manual and there is a Travelite module that reduces the weight by 0.4lb.

Wide screen isn't everything-- the resolution is quite low. For a laptop that's of a comparable size, will let you fit WAY more on a screen,
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Widescreen isn't everything, but the 700m has a higher resolution screen than the S6220 (1280x800 versus 1024x768).
 
Yes it does. You can check the online manual and there is a Travelite module that reduces the weight by 0.4lb.
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Okay, does it actually reduce the weight or just keep it at 4.1 pounds? I'm curious. I thought at first that the 700m was a successor to the 300m which has been discontinued, but that was before I reread and noticed above that Dell isn't actually the manufacturer for this one. That's also why I assumed (sorry) that the extended battery must poke out the back. Does it, or does it fit inside the modular bay completely? If it fits inside, that's a plus, but it's still bound to make the laptop even heavier. I wouldn't even consider buying this laptop without the extended battery.

Widescreen isn't everything, but the 700m has a higher resolution screen than the S6220 (1280x800 versus 1024x768).
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You're right. I don't know how I misread the specs before. I still greatly prefer the Crystal View (glossy non-reflective coating, very high brightness) screen at 13.3" for a smallish laptop; the size fits 1024 X 768 perfectly, it fits into places like an airline tray fine from all accounts, etc. Just personal preference. I also prefer all of the other attributes of the S6220 as well: thinner, lighter, better battery life, etc. Which keyboard is bigger? (And better? This isn't a Dell keyboard but an AOpen or other one, right?)

I'm not trying to come off as a Fujitsu salesperson. I just wouldn't buy the 700m-- I'd buy the 600m or a Latitude if I were going to buy a Dell laptop right now; otherwise I'd consider a Fujitsu or an IBM T42. I'm working off of an Inspiron 8200 right now, and my girl has a 300m; I'm not a Dell hater, although I sure do hate their customer support. The pluses of buying a laptop from them are that they're pretty cheap, pretty fast, and usually offer later-model graphics and GREAT keyboards. The support really sucks, though. Really.

I've never yet had a wide-screen laptop, and I'm waffling on whether or not my next machine will be wide-screen. I thought at first that it would be really awesome, but now I'm not so sure. I'm a programmer, and for me to fit the most text on the screen actually doesn't require a wide screen; part of the screen at the side is always taken up by object browsers, etc. anyway, leaving a nice rectangular block at the other side for reading a file, the right shape for a document. For me, the higher the resolution the better, because I can pack more lines of text onto the screen at once; wider aspects would be wasted unless I wanted more small windows on the screen or something. I've found that I can get lots of work done at 1024 X 768, although at this exact moment I'm running 1600 X 1200.

All that said, I can understand wanting a wide-screen laptop if I were going to watch a lot of movies on it. The only case in which I'd buy something like the 700m, though, is if I were some corporate bigwig that did a lot of travelling, wanted to watch lots of movies on the plane and occasionally check my email, didn't have to do lots of typing, didn't mind toting a heavy bag, and didn't care about wasting money.
 
By the way, here are my specs for a perfect laptop. When I say a small laptop is awesome or crappy, it's pretty much based on how closely it meets these specs.

- Around a 13.3" screen, very bright and sharp (very noticeably bigger than 12", much bigger than the jump from 13.3 to 14.1). I could go as high as 14", but 12" is a little too small to actually get lots of work done. The small Toshiba convertible tablet actually has a 12" SXGA+ screen, I believe-- ludicrous.
- SXGA/SXGA+ resolution (although I concede that for certain work wide-screen might be more desirable)
- The largest, fastest hard drive available
- At least decent dedicated graphics (as someone else said, MR 9000 would be great, although MR 9200 is reputed to have power-consumption and compatibility problems)
- A modular bay, letting you take out the optical drive completely and replace it with a battery or weight saver. If you're not actually loading a program or running a movie off of DVD at the moment, the CD/DVD drive is a horrible waste of space and weight; it's a crappy design decision to have an unremovable optical drive in a small laptop. I'd never be guilty of such bad thought. Even in something like the Panasonic Y2 (I think that's one of the ones with the built-in drive inside the clamshell), they could've allowed for it to be switched out.
- A very light weight, three pounds or less
- Very thin, under one inch thick (lots of "small" laptops are actually quite thick)
- Great battery life, at least eight hours at a usable screen brightness
- A flash card reader. If you have to save your work, this is a great way to keep a 512MB or 1GB storage area for backing up your most important work, and in a way that doesn't drain the battery badly. It's also almost a must if you do lots of photography and want to easily transfer your files without Bluetooth (a battery waster).
- A responsive, well-laid-out keyboard, stretching all the way out to the sides of the laptop to maximize use of space, with around 3mm of key travel and the largest possible keys.
- Great wireless.
- Normal usability stuff, like the right number and accessibility of all I/O ports, quietness, ability to run cool, easy-to-use methods of controlling screen brightness, etc.
- A normal, clean style. Some of the Sonys are godawful ugly ("style", my ass). The current Dell Inspiron blue-and-grey color scheme also gets low marks in this regard; it could only appeal to a Civil War buff or the color-blind.
- Durability. The screen hinge has to stand up to thousands of openings and closings, the keyboard has to be able to take a beating, and the case has to be very stiff (making the new magnesium-alloy and other metal cases very desirable). From this standpoint, the IBM hard drive head-parking system is pretty cool too.

Almost all non-budget laptop models these days offer enough speed for any freak, and up to 2GB of RAM, so those attributes are no longer so important in a purchasing decision, except in how they affect the price.
 
Originally posted by: jvarszegi
That's also why I assumed (sorry) that the extended battery must poke out the back. Does it, or does it fit inside the modular bay completely? If it fits inside, that's a plus, but it's still bound to make the laptop even heavier. I wouldn't even consider buying this laptop without the extended battery.
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Has anyone been able to confirm the nature of the extended battery? Does it increase weight significantly and stick out behind the notebook, or is it modular?
 
Originally posted by: govtcheez75
I'm getting mine today! It's on the UPS truck out for delivery. I will post back with a short review.
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cool...i'll be looking forward to reading your review 🙂
 
well...I just picked it up, and my first impressions is VERY GOOD. The screen is awesome! Very similar to the Sony "XBrite" LCD's, with the clear coat. The keyboard seems a little cramped, especially the side keys such as enter, shift, , , . , etc...

So far so good. I'm doing some of the updates now, and will stick in the 512mb stick of ram, and test the puppy out over the weekend, and will get back with a full review on Monday! 🙂

...oh. And the only beef is how the battery sticks out a little at the back of the lappy. I got both the standard, and the extended battery, and they both stick out. It would look so much better if it was flush.
 
govtcheez75, if possible, please take as many pics as you can 🙂

i'm curious as to how the higher resolution looks on the smaller screen.
 
Originally posted by: iamme
govtcheez75, if possible, please take as many pics as you can 🙂

i'm curious as to how the higher resolution looks on the smaller screen.
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Will do. I think it looks GREAT! I just downloaded some cool desktops/wallpapers that utilize the widescreen, and it looks awesome. Word processing, and others also don't look as cramped as with a normal 12.1" screen, because it is so wide.
 
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