govtcheez75
Platinum Member
So my search for the perfect laptop continues:
It's the new Dell XPS M1210
Specs:
1.86ghz Yonah Core duo
1GB of PC-5300 DDR2 667 (upgraded immediately to 2GB of same speed)
nVidia 7400 TC
60GB 7200rpm 8mb (Seagate Momentus)
Bluetooth
DVD+/-RW
9 cell + 6 cell batteries
Initial Thoughts:
Looks badass!!! I'm glad that I didn't get the AV package (which includes a built-in webcam. I think the built in camera takes away from the smooth lines and I would have never used it. I have a webcam at home and have never used it...plus, I've been to certain "sensitive" areas where they forbid the use ot anything with a built in camera.
Very similat in size to the old 700m and similar screen but much more powerful processor and a dedicated graphics card (no more of that crappy integrated Intel graphics.
Screen:
Glossy WXGA looks glossy, but not overly glossy. I would say somewhere between the Sony and the Fujitsu in terms of glossiness (with Sony being less glossy and Fujitsu being more).
Speed:
Seems very quick. The first boot up did take a while, but once I popped in my 2Gb of RAM, and uninstalled all the dell software in favor of all my preferred ones (Dell Media > PowerDVD, Sonic > Nero, etc..) and uninstalled some of the stuff I don't use, as well as a little cleaning up on msconfig...it boots VERY fast now. I'll be doing some benchmarking later.
Wireless:
No problems. Picked up my router, plugged in the WEP and it's crusing along.
Sound:
Speakers seem better than most other laptop speakers. I turn the volume up and could hear the music playing loud and clear from a few rooms away.
Battery:
The 9-cell came completely charged. I plugged it in and noticed that it had 100% charge. I unplugged it about 4.5 hours ago and have been doing quite power intensive things (installing, uninstalling, music, running DVDs, etc...) with everything on and brightness set to 2 clicks below full (which is still plenty bright) I just got the "low battery warning stating that I have about 20 minutes left. That's AWESOME! I was worried that I wouldn't get more than 3 hours or so even with the 9-cell.
And now for the pics (Oh, and this is the only notebook I've owned so far that had a card reader built in that read XD cards and I'm using it to read the pictures off my card now to post these pictures!)
Pic1
Pic2
Pic3
Pic4
Pic5
[=Pic6]http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5731/dscf09526st.jpg[/L]
Pic7
Pic8
Pic9
Pic10
Pic11
So in summary:
The good:
Awesome looking
Very quick
Good screen (I got the AUO panel)
Good battery life
Good speakers
Quiet Drive (I have the Sony DVD Burner)
Good multimedia card reader
Good trackpad/responsive click buttons
Very quiet! (Fan noise is bearable, unlike most other "ultraportables")
Stays cool! (Was on my lap the whole time and barely got warm)
The Bad:
Don't like the "chrome" buttons and the trimming around the trackpad.
On the heavy side for such a small laptop (about 4.8lbs)
On the thick side for such a small laptop
The black backing is attracts fingerprints
The memory upgrade is a little harder than it should be (where one stick is under the keyboard
couple of Benchmarks added:
2068 3DMark05
1M 22S SuperPi
It's the new Dell XPS M1210
Specs:
1.86ghz Yonah Core duo
1GB of PC-5300 DDR2 667 (upgraded immediately to 2GB of same speed)
nVidia 7400 TC
60GB 7200rpm 8mb (Seagate Momentus)
Bluetooth
DVD+/-RW
9 cell + 6 cell batteries
Initial Thoughts:
Looks badass!!! I'm glad that I didn't get the AV package (which includes a built-in webcam. I think the built in camera takes away from the smooth lines and I would have never used it. I have a webcam at home and have never used it...plus, I've been to certain "sensitive" areas where they forbid the use ot anything with a built in camera.
Very similat in size to the old 700m and similar screen but much more powerful processor and a dedicated graphics card (no more of that crappy integrated Intel graphics.
Screen:
Glossy WXGA looks glossy, but not overly glossy. I would say somewhere between the Sony and the Fujitsu in terms of glossiness (with Sony being less glossy and Fujitsu being more).
Speed:
Seems very quick. The first boot up did take a while, but once I popped in my 2Gb of RAM, and uninstalled all the dell software in favor of all my preferred ones (Dell Media > PowerDVD, Sonic > Nero, etc..) and uninstalled some of the stuff I don't use, as well as a little cleaning up on msconfig...it boots VERY fast now. I'll be doing some benchmarking later.
Wireless:
No problems. Picked up my router, plugged in the WEP and it's crusing along.
Sound:
Speakers seem better than most other laptop speakers. I turn the volume up and could hear the music playing loud and clear from a few rooms away.
Battery:
The 9-cell came completely charged. I plugged it in and noticed that it had 100% charge. I unplugged it about 4.5 hours ago and have been doing quite power intensive things (installing, uninstalling, music, running DVDs, etc...) with everything on and brightness set to 2 clicks below full (which is still plenty bright) I just got the "low battery warning stating that I have about 20 minutes left. That's AWESOME! I was worried that I wouldn't get more than 3 hours or so even with the 9-cell.
And now for the pics (Oh, and this is the only notebook I've owned so far that had a card reader built in that read XD cards and I'm using it to read the pictures off my card now to post these pictures!)
Pic1
Pic2
Pic3
Pic4
Pic5
[=Pic6]http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5731/dscf09526st.jpg[/L]
Pic7
Pic8
Pic9
Pic10
Pic11
So in summary:
The good:
Awesome looking
Very quick
Good screen (I got the AUO panel)
Good battery life
Good speakers
Quiet Drive (I have the Sony DVD Burner)
Good multimedia card reader
Good trackpad/responsive click buttons
Very quiet! (Fan noise is bearable, unlike most other "ultraportables")
Stays cool! (Was on my lap the whole time and barely got warm)
The Bad:
Don't like the "chrome" buttons and the trimming around the trackpad.
On the heavy side for such a small laptop (about 4.8lbs)
On the thick side for such a small laptop
The black backing is attracts fingerprints
The memory upgrade is a little harder than it should be (where one stick is under the keyboard
couple of Benchmarks added:
2068 3DMark05
1M 22S SuperPi
