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700m Review Again - Page 2

post #21 of 32
6/2/05 at 10:31am
Quick questions needing answers about the 700m...

- How is the heating situation? I've heard that Dells are notorious for heating (i.e. 600m) but I also heard that the 700m is a notable exception. Can anyone confirm?

- How long is the battery life on the 4-cell and 8-cell batteries? I am a student and will be in class from 10am to 3pm (maybe more sometimes) and I need to know that I won't worry about not finding a plug in the wall in case the battery goes low. Basically, if anyone could put the battery life of both batteries into number of hours, it would be appreciated.

- Is the keyboard really that small? I heard it was 90% of a real keyboard and that sometimes you press 3 keys instead of the one desired. On the same topic, how loud are those click buttons? Loud enough for everyone in class to hear and become an annoyance?

- Can anyone elaborate on durability? Anyone drop their 700m recently? Again, I heard rumors that most Dells are wimps as far as durability goes and will dent and crack easily. The 700m being only 4 lbs or so doesn't really help either.

Thanks!
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post #22 of 32
6/2/05 at 12:14pm
1.) Not bad...the 700m rarely overheats, just "heats" occasionally...

2.) 4 cell is around 2 to 2 1/2 hours while 8 cell is 4 1/2-5 hours.....

3.) No, at first glance it may be, but as your using it, you get adjusted and its fine...there is some clicking on the keyboard, but depending on how many people are in your class and how many laptops are in use, it may or may not be an annoyance. So, if your the only one with a laptop typing away, it might be. 90% of the students in my classes have laptops, so the class is clicking away during the entire lecture and I barely notice my 700m making noise when compared to other people's laptops

4.) I've never dropped my 700m nor do i plan to.....what doesn't crack or dent easily if you drop it? It all depends on how hard you drop it, at what angle, etc.....just get a nice shock absorbing sleeve and/or a laptop bag and exercise reasonable care and you'll be okay...
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post #23 of 32
6/2/05 at 12:15pm

question about screen size

thanks for the illuminating review; i'm looking at various models right now, and the 77m is on the list. i have a question for you though:

i will mainly use this for graduate school, so mobility is helpful, but i am wary of the small screen size. i currently use a Think Pad at work, and it seems almost small as it is, and its screen is bigger than the 700m. what is your take on the screen size issue? i also do some design work, and am worried it will suffer on the small screen. this will be my main, and only computer for at least the begining of my grad school days, so it's important that it be more than merely an ultraportable.

thanks in advance.
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post #24 of 32
6/2/05 at 12:20pm
i myself go to graduate school and my first semester i used my old fujitsu 15" lifebook...i upgraded to the 700m this past semester and i love it, absolutely love it! The screen is not small or mini by any stretch of the imagination...i can easily have 2 screens opened up and not feel crammed...of course the screens are not going to be typical in size found on your desktop or any widescreen LCD monitor.....but the 700m is great considering its size...it is widescreen afterall....

the screen is not the size of your cell phone or pda screen at all...i highly recommend it, and if your uncertain or on the edge, check out your local dell kiosk and see it for yourself.....that's the best advice i can give if you really want to know how the screen is in real life
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post #25 of 32
6/2/05 at 3:00pm
I went out and checked the 700m in person at the local Dell store at the mall. So tiny! The screen is absolutely amazing, better than anything else they had on display. Anyway, can anyone tell me if there is a big difference in size between the 4-cell and 8-cell batteries? I play on getting the 8-cell but I don't want this huge 2 inch thing sticking out the back end.
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post #26 of 32
6/2/05 at 4:01pm
its actually more like 1- 1/2 inches sticking out the back...by far i think its worth it to have since it doubles your battery life..heck, even the regular 4 cell battery sticks out a little, so that's not flush either....
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post #27 of 32
6/2/05 at 7:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcherry
Well, the hl2 transfer failed because my 700m crashed after trying to install doom 3 and the cd drive acting up, then trying to play a movie to test it, then the movie being messed up and upon closing it destroying the display driver and being told i will need to restart so I'm left with 16 colors and 640x480 resolution. hl2 was minutes from being done but then I did something and the display blacked out, so i waited for a beep that I assumed meant hl2 was done, then reset and it all was ok, and the cd drive worked fine it seemed, but the hl2 file was corrupt. Oh well, I'll try again later, but I'm going to bed now.
lol thats really funny. I'm just going to transfer the .gcf files from my desktop to my new notebook so i don't have to download anything.
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post #28 of 32
6/2/05 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
ok, i'll answer questions posed one by one:

It can get pretty hot sometimes, but never too hot. It doesn't seem like it would overheat.

The 4-cell gets me 2.5 hours, the 8-cell gets me 5. Together that is 7.5 hours, more than enough.

It seems durable to me, but I havent dropped it or anything. Check the "The 700m and I took a header off the steps this morning" thread for more about durability.

The keyboard is not too small. I have had no problems whatsoever with it, even with the period and comma keys, and I am typing on it right now.

The mouse buttons click pretty loudly, and it would probably get annoying. But as I said in my review, you can avoid using them completely if you set the awesome Synaptics touch pad up correctly.

The screen is not too small at all. I have a nice 17" LCD on my desktop, which has always been pretty big and nice, and I really like it. The other day I went to a lan party, and when I got back i was too lazy to set my desktop up again, so I just attached the mouse and keyboard to my 700m and put it on my desk. Once I started using it, I didn't even notice that the screen was too small, even sitting 2 or 3 feet from it. It was great.

The 8 cell battery is not too big. Enough said.

Ok, and some new developments: My cd drive is pretty loud now, but it doesnt bother me that much. My hard drive has started some quiet clicking, but its not a big deal. I only notice it when I am reading stuff online in dead silence, if there is any other noise (i.e. everywhere you go) i don't notice at all, and if there is no other noise then no one would be there to mind me turning on my music, and then i still do not notice it. Not a problem.

Overall I have not been disappointed at all, this is a wonderful laptop. Oh, one more thing: The wireless is leaps and bounds better than the card in my desktop, it picks stuff up all over. Last night I had an hour long bus ride across the county, and I was never without a network in range, and three times was able to pick up a signal long enough to connect and get online, even driving by at 40-50 mph. That was fun. Also, from that ride, I have come to the conclusion that the best routers are linksys.
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post #29 of 32
6/4/05 at 10:46am
where are the pics?
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post #30 of 32
6/4/05 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 
as I said before, I have no digital camera. Besides. the thing looks just like every other 700m anyways.
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post #31 of 32
6/30/05 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stlee
and if your uncertain or on the edge, check out your local dell kiosk and see it for yourself.....


Well Dell unfortunately doesn't have one here..in Arkansas....hmm. the 6000 or the 700m...hmmm
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post #32 of 32
7/1/05 at 6:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guz Zekre
That seems like a fair assessment. I seems like the 600m is getting kind of older Tnx
Around the end of the year or early next yr, dell will releasing new 14" which will probably replace 600m. Might be worth waiting?

As for 700m keyboard, you have to try it for youtself and decide. I type 45-55 wpm, but not on the 700m.
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