As hyped as I was to get the 700m, now that its here im disappointed. I read every review out there, looked at it at a dell store once and waited forever for the right price. But even after all that then im just about ready to give it up bcause of a few problems that turned out bigger than i thought they would be.
-The keyboard-
That keyboard really is the main flaw on this machine. 90% the size of regular keyboards is small but workable IF the keyboard is layed out properly. I used an averatec and sony just fine and those had small keyboards, but this dell one is pretty bad. Why would they halfsize the period? Im always blazing through a sentence and once it comes to the period i either use a "/" by accident or have to lift my hand completely to see where the heck the period is.
Plus, shrinking the keyboard wasnt necessary. This is a widescreen notebook and they allowed about an inch on both sides of the keyboard. Why not let a fullsize keyboard stretch all the way across like they do with the 12" mac laptops?
-Screen-
I like Brightview but i can easily see how it could be considered annoying./ Outdoors then i see my reflection more than i see the screen. Its not bad though so i dont mind it. But what bothers me is the native 1280x800 resolution. I use 12x8 on my other laptop and desktop monitor and love it. but on a 12 inch screen its a tad too small. I have perfect vision but when i use this thing then im noticing im starting to lean into the screen when looking at icons or whatever. 12" is nice but i think for me 13" is the sweetspot for small widescreen.
-Battery/Weight-
I got the extended battery because everyone says you have to. Its great but the way it pushes out is just ugly. I bought this thing because i wanted to replace my 15" notebook with a smaller one. But with that battery installed then the thing isnt that much smaller than my old notebook.
Plus my old notebook was 6.2lbs and this with the battery is 5lbs. When i originally decided on the 700m i was thinking 4lb 700m vs my current 6lb notebook. It seemed like a huge weight difference. but now i upgraded that battery and with the added weight its a 5lb 700m vs my6lb system. The difference isnt that apparent anymore.
Anyway, im pretty sad that this didnt work out for me. So im going to dump it. Im hoping that a replacement to the 700m gets announced soon and they fix the problems. Every other complaint is just me being nitpicky, but that keyboard is the real issue i have and the primary reason im returning this.
-The keyboard-
That keyboard really is the main flaw on this machine. 90% the size of regular keyboards is small but workable IF the keyboard is layed out properly. I used an averatec and sony just fine and those had small keyboards, but this dell one is pretty bad. Why would they halfsize the period? Im always blazing through a sentence and once it comes to the period i either use a "/" by accident or have to lift my hand completely to see where the heck the period is.
Plus, shrinking the keyboard wasnt necessary. This is a widescreen notebook and they allowed about an inch on both sides of the keyboard. Why not let a fullsize keyboard stretch all the way across like they do with the 12" mac laptops?
-Screen-
I like Brightview but i can easily see how it could be considered annoying./ Outdoors then i see my reflection more than i see the screen. Its not bad though so i dont mind it. But what bothers me is the native 1280x800 resolution. I use 12x8 on my other laptop and desktop monitor and love it. but on a 12 inch screen its a tad too small. I have perfect vision but when i use this thing then im noticing im starting to lean into the screen when looking at icons or whatever. 12" is nice but i think for me 13" is the sweetspot for small widescreen.
-Battery/Weight-
I got the extended battery because everyone says you have to. Its great but the way it pushes out is just ugly. I bought this thing because i wanted to replace my 15" notebook with a smaller one. But with that battery installed then the thing isnt that much smaller than my old notebook.
Plus my old notebook was 6.2lbs and this with the battery is 5lbs. When i originally decided on the 700m i was thinking 4lb 700m vs my current 6lb notebook. It seemed like a huge weight difference. but now i upgraded that battery and with the added weight its a 5lb 700m vs my6lb system. The difference isnt that apparent anymore.
Anyway, im pretty sad that this didnt work out for me. So im going to dump it. Im hoping that a replacement to the 700m gets announced soon and they fix the problems. Every other complaint is just me being nitpicky, but that keyboard is the real issue i have and the primary reason im returning this.
But it's livable with. 
