700m - First Impressions are Disappointing

First, I own a i8600 which I like and use everyday.

First 15 Minute Impression of 700m

Nice, cute size, but white trim looks a little, cheap & plasticky. Opening it, I notice the shiny screen. (Why do people like "shiny" objects?) Oh my, I read that the keyboard was small, but I as touchtyper (45-55 wpm) I would how fast I can type on it because the period and comma keys are about 1/2 the size of the already reduced-sized keys and in an ackward position or cramped in. More plasticky white trim. I noticed a fit & finish problem: the keyboard is skewed in the keyboard hole of the base top. I put my hands on the touchpad and the palmrest area around the touchpad flexs. It raises a durability question.

Pros
Nice small size (maybe too small?)

Cons
Small Keyboard, especially 3/4 sized keys (of already reduced-sized keys): period, comma and arrow keys.
Flex in the touchpad/palmrest area
Plasticky looking white trim --- reevaluation: washing machine white trim.
Poor fit & finish in mounting of keyboard

To be continued...

Second impression -

I opened it up at 2:00 a.m.

With everyones glowing praise, I was given high expectations. I take back the white trim looking plasticky. I looks kind of like the white enamel paint on appliances, like a washing machine. Maybe Dell should have used another color.

On the rightside of the touchpad, there is more flex or give, when compared to my other laptops, ibm, toshiba (used for 1st post), of course they are bigger machines and of course, their other models might be different. They have no flex or give. My 8600 (using now) has a very slight flex/give.

I would have to say the 700m's biggest flaw is the keyboard. The 700m is the same length as 12" ibook or was it the G(?). But apple's keyboard covers the length of it, which means that it has better/normally placed and regular-sized period and comma keys.

Dell could have made the keyboard a .5" wider on each side to have given the 700m a wider keyboard, but not quite as wide as apple's. That would have given it similiar sized keys for the . and ,. I like to use the arrow keys and to use them I have to mush my fingers together The keyboard is for the hands of a 4 or 5 yr old child If your a 6'2" football player or a 6'5" bballer, you ain't gonna use the 700m, but then you're strong enough to carry a 9300 or a xps2 everyday to school.

Then its not a "lapdog"? (Okay, bad pun)

Gee, if you're 6'7" I figured you would have big hands, but maybe you don't. Can you palm a basketball? Or maybe I have fat fingers

The point of "complaining" is to make companies make better products. If people stop buying poor quality or designed products, then companies would get the picture. But, by convincing ourselves that we are getting 750 off that we are getting a deal, then we start to put up with imperfections and poor products. Rationalization.

Take your 700m and go look at a ibook/g. Like I said the length of them are the same, but apple designed a better keyboard. Or again, Dell could have added 1/2 inch to each side of the keyboard and have a keyboard with more space. How hard could it have been to do either?

I have not checked Dell's Latittudes, but does their small business notebooks have a scrunched keyboard? I would guess not, because "business" people would not put up it. I'll have a look.

Small imperfections can make a difference. Look a diamonds. Small imperfections that most people can not see with the naked eye, but there is a price and psychological difference. Ask your wife or gf, if she would want a flawed I1 L or flawless IF D diamond. (There are several grades. Most diamonds people buy are flawed.) But, then some girls might not care.

Upon bootup the cpu fan is on at high speed for a few seconds and thus a little noisy for 5-6 seconds and then it is nice and quiet.

Is the keyboard a deal breaker? It all depends on the user. But, I urge people to demand better products.

With normal typing, my right ring finger hits the gap between the . and / keys. You have to make a conscience adjustment of your normal typing.

I have been thinking about getting a 9300 for gaming and checking out the 14" when it comes out...but the white enamel trim is giving me pause. The white on the 9300 must make it look like a big refrigerator??? I think that another color would be look better.

I wonder why did not Dell make the battery the width of the notebook? There is not a reason for allowing access to the two screws back there. Since if you are going to take apart the notebook, you would remove the battery. It would give the 700m a sleeker look. It makes the 8-cell really stick out...as it is.

Being Goldilocks, what does everyone think about a 6-cell battery the width of the notebook? That might have been a nicer size/form factor and giving a decent battery time.

I wish that they would come out with a 13"er, that seems like a good compromise in screen size and weight and stick in a decent vid card like sony did with s360.