How good / bad is the keyboard on the Dell Inspiron 600m?

[mshan]

Also, how does this compare to an IBM Thinkpad R51 or Apple iBook?

 

[tata]

i have a r51. a little bit strong feedback and quiet.enjoy it

 

[vcv1122]

 

[vcv1122]

The keyboard on 600m has a very cheap feel. My experience's with it are that it lost it's wireless connection frequently, the hinges on the display became very loose, requiring service and the motherboard, after 1 1/2 years, developed a common problem (among 600m's) causing frequent shutdowns and finally thermal slowdown, causing the cpu to run at 600 mhz all the time. Aside from these problems, really a fine notebook.

 

[trungthiendo]

will vouch for the hinges becoming loose...after 6 months tops...keyboard sucks as with all 600m. wireless is starting to take longer to connect...but don't drop once connected

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I'm typing this on one that's almost 6 months old. It has been used as my only computer during this time. So far so good. The keyboard is a little insubstantial but not too bad. I have not experienced any physical or performance problems with it, even after it once fell about 3 feet (cat knocked it off the table). I have Intel 2200 BG wireless, which has been perfect. I don't look forward to the performance issues vcv1122 describes, but then, that's why I got the extended warranty!

 

[uOpt]

I find it unlikely that the quality of the wireless ethernet hardware degrades over time.

Maybe you are smoking too much and need to air out your apartment

 

[vcv1122]

The 600m I purchased for $1200.00 in june 93. I had purchased a full warranty for only one year, which I used twice (loose higes on display and keyboard breaking). The wireless connection was never good (tried updating drivers)..but the other 5 computers on the network had no problems. The mouse always had problems, freezing up on boot up about 1 in 10 times. Last month, the system fan began running at full speed all the time. Also, when any pressure was put on the bottom of the system, the whole thing would power off!
The system now runs, intermittently, very slow. To the best of my knowledge, I have a bad motherboard, which I've read is common with 600m's from 2003. Cost to fix... approximately $400-$600. Moral, spend the extra $$$ on an extended, long-term warranty when buying a Dell.