Inspiron 630m Review (XPS M140)

I finally received my I-630m. This is a short review of this system.

SPECS:

1.73Ghz Pentium M (533Mhz FSB)

256MB PC2-4200 RAM (Upgraded to 1GB RAM from Mushkin)

40GB Harddrive (Upgraded to 60GB HD 7200RPM)

14.1" WXGA w/ TrueLife

Windows XP Home (Reinstalled w/ Windows XP Pro)

Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG (Installed the 2915ABG)

Bluetooth 350 (Installed separately from initial order)

6-cell Battery

Price before upgrades $739 w/discounts & before handling & tax: Total -- $807.55

It is a snappy and rather light machine, it weighs about 1.2 pounds more than the I-700m, after picking them both up, the difference in weight is not that great.

I have mixed feelings about the build quality. It definately is not the same material used on the bottom of the XPS Gen 2. It is still durable but does not feel like the metal base of the XPS Gen 2. The lid does flex but not enough to cause ripples on the screen, but when you push the lid from the bottom from behind the LCD assembly, the bottom bezel (where Dell logo is) does flex out considerably.

The system runs quiet, but does get really warm on the palm rests, especially the left side, not hot but more noticable than the 700m & XPS Gen 2. Also, if I put my ear close to the system there is a noticable whine, not too bothersome.

System is very fast, loads and installs programs really quick and doesn't freeze or slow down when running multiple applications.

Now the dealbreaker. This screen is IDENTICAL to the Samsung screens from earlier 9300/XPS G2 (mine has Samsung). This means that while bright, it has the same drawbacks as those aformentioned systems: BAD light leakage, grainy looks to light colors (not sparkles but pretty grainy), and washed out colors, especially towards the bottom of the screen.

PowerStrip determined this is a SEC3157 display, so it's definately a Samsung. Now Dell might have another screen it uses for the 630m/M140, but we won't know until someone else runs Powerstrip. Here is a link to another post where I have pictures showing the lackluster colors & viewing angles of the Inspiron 630m as compared to the Inspiron 700m: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=119788

That is all I have for now, if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up. In the meantime enjoy these pictures comparing the Inspiron 630m (XPS M140) to the XPS Gen 2 and the Inspiron 700m.

I haven't anyway of really testing it. Oh, wait... I might use the audio out dongle I got from the XPS G2 and hook it up to my Dell 5650 5.1 surround sound speakers to test it out later during the weekend. As far as what comes out of the speakers, its pretty clear and crisp, lacks bass. So it sounds kind of like the XPS G2 with the sub turned off, not the best but still good for music and movies, considering it does get quite loud.

I only have $20 Sony headphones, so not sure if I'll notice much improvement with them, but will definately let you guys know how good they sound.

Hey guys, just an update to a request about the soundcard on this new system. I must say my $20 headphones listening to AOL XM Radio never sounded so good.

Without hooking it up to my desktop speakers, I can tell the sound is much clearer and richer than they did on my 700m.

At least Dell got the soundcard right

LOL @ the cross-promotion... "More Power XPS M140" and above it, is a picture of the Inspiron 9300 LOL.

Power supply is the size of other smaller Inspiron/Latitude systems:

65W 19.5V.

Dimensions (H x W x D): 1.1-inch (28mm) x 2.28-inch (58mm) x 5.40-inch (137mm)

The only place the M140 (630m) gets warm is the left palm rest due to the CPU being in that area.

magbarn,

No the 630m (M140) uses a completely different battery. It's similar to the 700m in that it attaches to the back of the laptop. The 6-cell is flush while the 9-cell sticks out about an inch like the 700m's battery.

You're welcome digitalx0. Hope it helps fellow forums users when comparing the sizes of Dell's various notebook computers. Happy holidays.