got my dell 600m....

[BlazingSaddles]

this thing is very impressive, I like it a lot better than the 8200 that I had previously. It is quite light, and looks good. The cpu is speedy (1.3 centrino), faster than my 1.7p4m in the 8200, and the lcd is very clear.

I have noticed the rippling effect on the lcd occasionally, but it isn't that bad, as it only happens in the upper right corner of the screen, and very minorly. The effect goes away within seconds and there needs to be significant force on the lcd itself (it doesn't happen when i type or bang on my desk).

overall this is quite a nifty laptop, and it was a steal at $1400 (1.3ghz, 14.1" SXGA+, CDRW/DVD, 40 gig HDD, dell truemobile 1300 (802.11b/g), 512 meg of ram). highly recommended

 

[Bateluer]

I've got an Inspiron 8200 with a 2Ghz P4, I like it alot. The Centrinos did not come out until after I bought mine.

Whats it got for video?

 

[BlazingSaddles]

whoops, it has ATI radeon 9000 64meg

 

[dinde]

howd u get all that for so cheap? i price it out on dell.ca and i get around 3 grand =\

 

[NeoMadHatter]

there's like some rebates and coupons so it gets the price down. mine was around $1200. btw, the processor is a pentium-M processor not a centrino. you're laptop isn't a centrino as you have the dell truemobile 1300 wireless card and not the intel 2100 one. Centrino consists of 3 pieces of hardware: a Pentium M processor, Intel 2100 wifi card, and Intel 855 chipset.

 

[Derango]

Not that it really matters about being a centrino or not. the Pentium-M is the important thing

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: dinde
howd u get all that for so cheap? i price it out on dell.ca and i get around 3 grand =\

I got everything he's got, save for the Centrino processor and mine was around 2 grand.

 

[Smbu]

Yeah, a short while back there were some coupons/MIR and free upgrades on the 600m laptops. I ordered one, but I just went for the base unit, for $1050. It was the 600m with 1.3 P-M, 14.1" XGA, 30GB, 384MB (free upgrade from 256mb), dvd/cd-rw combo (free upgrade from dvd drive), 32mb ATI Radeon 9000, Intel wifi (802.11b). Original price would have been $1400, but there was a $100 off coupon and there will be a $250 MIR, plus free shipping and no tax. I should have it sometime next week.

edit: oh and mine is a centrino laptop because I got the Intel wireless card, but now that i think about it I should have gone for the dell truewireless one for $20 more to get the 802.11g functions as well. Oh, well....

 

[BlazingSaddles]

i think the week i got mine, there was a good sale going on: free cdrw/dvd, free upgrade to 40gig hdd, and 200 dollars off (instant).

i know centrino is the three hardware parts together, but it seems that 'centrino' is more synonymous with the cpu itself, so thats how i use it.

 

[MNDrew]

I've been searching online, talking to people, and trying [unsuccessfully] to find the BEST laptop for me. I think I want a machine with the Centrino chip set for future wireless work, but beyond that nothing seems to be perfect. I need something for small business work (lots of word processing, Excel, Quickbooks, Acrobat, etc...nothing too graphically stressful), something decently portable (I lack frame of reference for what's "too heavy," but I think 7 lbs is the higher end), VERY rugged for lots of travel, and good customer service/parts. I've narrowed it down to either Dell or IBM, from what I'm told and have read.
1) Inspiron 600m - the only bad thing I've heard is that the screen/casing are a bit flimsy - will they hold up?
2) Latitude D800 - it's chock full of great stuff, but a bit heavy - still a decent choice for travel?
3) IBM Thinkpad T40 - I hear they're rugged, but seems like I can get more for my money with Dell.

Am I missing something important? Acer Travelmate 800LCi? Toshiba Tecra M1? I need a bit more advice before I can make the leap. I'd like to keep it under 2500 or so.

 

[gleong]

I got my dell 600m on friday.

Specs:
1.3 centrino, 384mb ram, 64mb radeon 9000, dvd/cdrw, 30gb HD

This is my first laptop, and so far, i'm very happy with it. I did have a problem where the wireless connection dropping every few minutes, but disabling the "802.11b authentication" seems to have fixed that.

I haven't noticed any rippling effect. When does that happen? When you put some force on the screen?

 

[dannybek]

Can people post their 3dmark2001se marks for their laptops.
Please give us the full spec. run down for your computer.
Model number
cpu speed
ram
Hdd
video card model & ram*important*

I am looking for the actual difference in speeds for the radeon9000 32mb Vs the 64mb.
I know that the bus is twice as high on the 64mb but does that play a heavy factor?

 

[Derango]

My Inspiron 600m scores:

Inspiron 600m
1.3ghz p-m
384MB RAM
40GB 5400 RPM drive
Radeon 9000 64MB

~6800 3dmarks (2001SE)

 

[BlazingSaddles]

Originally posted by: MNDrew
I've been searching online, talking to people, and trying [unsuccessfully] to find the BEST laptop for me. I think I want a machine with the Centrino chip set for future wireless work, but beyond that nothing seems to be perfect. I need something for small business work (lots of word processing, Excel, Quickbooks, Acrobat, etc...nothing too graphically stressful), something decently portable (I lack frame of reference for what's "too heavy," but I think 7 lbs is the higher end), VERY rugged for lots of travel, and good customer service/parts. I've narrowed it down to either Dell or IBM, from what I'm told and have read.
1) Inspiron 600m - the only bad thing I've heard is that the screen/casing are a bit flimsy - will they hold up?
2) Latitude D800 - it's chock full of great stuff, but a bit heavy - still a decent choice for travel?
3) IBM Thinkpad T40 - I hear they're rugged, but seems like I can get more for my money with Dell.

Am I missing something important? Acer Travelmate 800LCi? Toshiba Tecra M1? I need a bit more advice before I can make the leap. I'd like to keep it under 2500 or so.

i think you should probably go for the T40 if you need ruggedness, as the 600m does give a lot for the money. however, i don't plan on moving around TOO much, and it seems you need portability. i've heard t40 build quality is top-notch. however, you definitely are paying for it, as an ibm laptop with similar or even a little less specs is about $600 more...

 

[Avatar26]

I've been searching online, talking to people, and trying [unsuccessfully] to find the BEST laptop for me. I think I want a machine with the Centrino chip set for future wireless work, but beyond that nothing seems to be perfect. I need something for small business work (lots of word processing, Excel, Quickbooks, Acrobat, etc...nothing too graphically stressful), something decently portable (I lack frame of reference for what's "too heavy," but I think 7 lbs is the higher end), VERY rugged for lots of travel, and good customer service/parts. I've narrowed it down to either Dell or IBM, from what I'm told and have read.

You might want to look at the Dell Latitude D600, similar to the 600m in weight and specs, but the case is tougher, and it comes with less extra junk (i.e. underpowered graphics and music software, etc...) They are several hundred $ less than the IBM.

 

[NeoMadHatter]

Originally posted by: Derango
My Inspiron 600m scores: Inspiron 600m 1.3ghz p-m 384MB RAM 40GB 5400 RPM drive Radeon 9000 64MB ~6800 3dmarks (2001SE)

for vid card comparison, mine might be about all you need. i have 256mb ram instead and the 32mb radeon. i get around ~4800 in 3dmark 2001se. see sig for more indepth details on laptop.

 

[dannybek]

Wow so that's approx. 2000 point difference! Is it possible to overclock the radeon9000?

 

[dinde]

how come the intel wireless card sais its only 802.11b? according to intel its supposed to be a/b

 

[bigshooter]

The intel wireless card only supports 802.11b right now. They'll probably expand that to g wants the standard is finalized, and to a if demand calls for it.

 

[jeffmin]

Anyone try installing Win2K on this thing? Got mine today and am having a few headaches.

Edit: NM, got everything working. Love it!

 

[HokieESM]

I'm posting from my (very new... about 2 hours) i600m at the moment. So far I am pleased..... the 1.3 P-M seems snappy for my needs.... and the SXGA+ screen is awful nice. And the battery life seems quite good. For a $1150 notebook, I couldn't be happier (I got a 1.3 with 512MB of RAM, a 30GB HDD, and the 32MB Radeon 9000... and the Intel wireless card).

As far as build quality--its not up to IBM standards, but its LIGHTYEARS ahead of my gf's i8200. Not to mention a LOT lighter.

 

[jeffmin]

Originally posted by: jeffmin
Anyone try installing Win2K on this thing? Got mine today and am having a few headaches.

Edit: NM, got everything working. Love it!

One last problem, as a warning to other 600m users. There is no SpeedStep applet/driver for Win2K for this model laptop. I will try to install the drivers from other laptops but I don't know if that will work. I might have to reinstall XP after all

Edit: Hehe, . The driver for the 500M works. w00t!

 

[dannybek]

I got my 600m yesterday and I am quite pleased. Yet I have one problem. The when I press a button on the keyboard the whole keyboard moves. Is it possible there is an lose screw? Can I fix it myself?

 

[HokieESM]

Originally posted by: dannybek
I got my 600m yesterday and I am quite pleased. Yet I have one problem. The when I press a button on the keyboard the whole keyboard moves. Is it possible there is an lose screw? Can I fix it myself?

Mine does this too, danny. Well, its very specifically the Ctrl and Alt keys on the left side..... the rest of the keyboard is fine for me. I think its because there aren't any local supports.... but I don't know.

 

[Derango]

What I did, was press down on the escape key. Give it some pressure. It'll snap into place, and the left hand side of the keybpoard won't feel loose like that anymore.