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Dell Inspiron 700m Q/A - Answered!
After having my review of the Inspiron 700m published, I've been getting tons of private messages about some particular issues and just didn't have the time to go through each one and answer them, partly because the same few questions were being asked over and over again. I mainly didn't want to answer to these because I'd like for others to benefit from the response as well. So, here we go, some of the FAQ's I've been receiving:
Q: I was unable to buy the battery with my computer at the time of purchase, so I'm shopping around for the 8-cell. One site asked if I wanted an upgrade from a 65 Whr battery to a 71Whr battery. I was wondering, what battery do you have and would you happen to have any idea what this is about? (from jean_havoc)
A: When ordering the 700m, Dell gives you two choices:
1) The 4-cell, 32 Whr battery, which provides approximately 2 - 2.5 hours of battery life. This is pretty weak, considering it's an ultraportable, so most people settle for 2)
2) The 80-cell, 65 Whr battery, which provides approximately 4-5 hours, depending on usage (e.g. wifi, screen brightness,...etc.)
To anyone looking into the 700m, I don't recommend the former - what's the point of having a tiny laptop if you need to lug the power adapter? (although pretty small, smaller than the power adapter of larger laptops). I would spring for the 8-cell.
As for the 71 Whr battery, I would not recommend it. If I am incorrect, please tell me, but Dell only offers the 4-cell and the 8-cell battery. Any other battery you find will be third-party, since it has not necessarily been approved by Dell engineers, I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps there is a maximum battery strength the 700m can - I'm not 100% sure,I'm not an electrical engineer. The point is, I've heard from several sources that third-party batteries are not 100% recommended for laptops, so in that case, I wouldn't go for it. I would just order the Dell one from their website, or you can call them up and they might give it to you cheaper for some reason since you couldn't buy it at the time. I am sure also that the majority of the people would be quite satisfied with the 8-cell battery that Dell offers - it gives superb life, when compared to the 4-cell. The battery life on the laptop is more than satisfying, so I would just call up/go online and order the 8-cell. You can also check e-bay, you could probably even get it for cheaper. Heck, you could buy 2 if the price is right!
Q: When I plug headphones into the laptop, I hear a "hissing" sound. How do I correct this?
Q: The 700m's speakers aren't good. How can I get louder, less distorted sound?
A: Simple. Dell loads this laptop with Sigmatel audio drivers. Strangely, if you install Intel audio drivers, the hissing sound is gone, and the sound is much clearer. Before you do this, however, check to make sure that your headphones work in other devices perfectly. Also, make sure you've secured the headphones properly into the headphone jack - if it's half sticking out, obviously it won't work. If that fails, most people would think they need a motherboard replacement (), but they don't. There is a way to correct this issue by installing drivers not necessarily recommended for the 700m specifically, but are on the computer nonetheless. Instead of selecting Dell audio drivers, there is a way to select other ones. Follow these instructions:
- Go to Start/Control Panel/System/ Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager. Go down to Sound, Video, and Game controllers and right click on SigmaTel. Choose properties.
- Go to the Driver tab and click on Update Driver.
- Answer "No" to the Windows Update question.
- Choose "Install From List or specific location".
- Hit next and then choose "Don't Search, I will choose driver I want to install".
- You will get a list of Sigmatel drivers. Uncheck the box that says "show compatible hardware".
- Select Intel, and then select "Intel AC 97 Audio Controller". XP replaces the SigmaTel driver with the Intel AC97.
- To reinstall the SigmaTel just select "Rollback Driver".
Enjoy your new sound system! The hissing sound should be gone, if not so negligable you will never notice.
Q: How do I configure the touchpad to work like you said it does?
Q: My FN keys are messed up, what's gives?
A:
1) We all know that the touchpad detects pressure/movement of your finger and works just like a mouse. I've commented in my review how the touchpad buttons (the buttons that sit right below the touchpad used for clicking) are very clunky and choppy. Instead, there is a way to configure the Synaptics touchpard to do some pretty neat things.
By default, the toucpad can be single tapped or double tap to emulate a single click or a double click. Or, by tapping the touchpad and dragging, you can select something. There are some nifty advanced features, however.
To customize the touchpad, you can use the mouse properties button in the control panel, or access the Synaptics settings from the start menu (Start --> All Programs --> Synaptics) From here, you will see on the left a few menus with little +'s and -'s and on the right an explanation. In this little application, you can increase/decrease the amount of pressure required to operate the touchpad (sensitivity) , you can adjust the speed of the toucpad, etc.
My favourite feature is "Virtual Scrolling". If you click this little button on the left hand side list, you can turn on this feature. Vitual scrolling emulates a scroller you would typically find on a standard mouse. However, the toucpad can do vertical scrolling ,for whizzing through long long documents, and it can do horizontal scrolling, which isn't as useful, but I'm sure some people can utilize it. You basically slide your finger along the right side of the touchpad (up to down) and the page will scroll down. For horizontal, starting from the bottom left, drag it to the bottom right across, and you'll see that you can horizontally navigate through something. I believe Synaptics included a "test" feature and some support if you can't figure it out - it can be tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll never know how you survived without it!
Another feature acts like a little gizmo that eliminates the need to do a lot of navigating via the touchpad. Suppose you have several windows open and you want to return to the desktop. By configuring the touchpad a certain way (I forget the name of the title they describe this feature by), you can just tap, say the bottom right of the touchpad once and everything will minimize. Or to maximize something, you could tap the top left, or whatever you configure it to. You can also make a special command for opening the start menu, for instance. I don't want to go into too much detail because once you access the Synaptics app, it's pretty self explanatory. In that utility, you'll see the many other toucpad tweaks that might help you out. However, those are the only two I've found useful.
2) Ok, the FN keys. The 700m's keyboard is obviously smaller than a desktop keyboard (most laptop keyboards are slightly shrunk) To accomodate all of the keys, Dell had to make some 2nd function keys. It's like on a calculator. You'll typically see sin(x) having its own key, but arcsin(x) will be in the 2nd function, since you use it less than the former. A lot of people use the numbers on the top of the keyboard, not the keypad. I prefer the keypad, but unfortunately, those keys are tucked away as FN functions. You'll notice, though, that the FN keypad takes the shape of a keypad (sort of...) so it's not that hard to go about with this technique, but it's by all means doable. So, here are some FN key tips, in case you don't know how to set something up (or if weird stuff is happening, like only numbers are popping up on the screen when you select a letter!)
a) Each key on the keyboard has multiple functions. The keypad numbers and symbols printed in Blue on the keyboard can be inputted by holding down the FN key and the desired key. To enable the keypad, press "Num Lk". You should observe a little green LED with a lock on it indicating that you are in Number lock. Now, you don't need to press FN to access numbers, you can just type away. However, you must remember to turn off this function when you are done, or else your keys won't work since you've set them in number mode! To disable this mode, press "Num Lk" again.
b) To increase/decrease the brightness of the display, hold down FN and tap the up or down arrow to toggle the brightness.
c) The FN and F2 keys, when pressed simulataneously, will enable or disable the wireless radio. Just a shortcut here for those too lazy to go in the menus.
d) FN and the F6/F7 keys are volume controls. The 700m lacks dedicated media controls, but these do the trick.
I believe there is also an FN lock for all of your 2nd function needs.
Here is a question I received about the FN keys and the answer:
Q: For the keys 'U', 'I', 'O', 'N', 'P', 'J', 'K', 'L' and 'M' I get the Fn equivalent of the keys, for Eg. if I press U, I get 4, and I will have to press 'Fn + U' to get 'u' What do I do ?[/B]
A: You have accidently tapped "Num LK" The system thinks that you want to enter numbers only (this mode would be handy if you're entering spread sheet data). To go back to normal mode (so you would press FN + u to get 4) , simply press Num LK again. You should notice the disappearance of an LED below the screen.
If you plan on doing a lot of numberical work on the 700m, I would recommend getting a Targus/Belkin External USB number pad for easier input because using the small FN keys for a lot of work can be cumbersome.
Also, here are some general tips as for accessories/configurations that I would recooment:
1) Get a good case or sleeve! Your laptop will thank you when it is not all scratched up. I put mine in a school bad once without towels or anything and when it came out the lid was slightly scuffed. Get a laptop backpack or a good case to carry it in.
2) Get at least 512 MB ram, either from Dell or NewEgg (I've heard it's cheaper there). The 700m runs very sluggishly on 256 MB ram.
3) Processor Speed is very negligible when adding 100 Mhz or so. Lowlymarine's FAQ explains this. When debating over the 1.6 or the 2.0 Ghz systems, think about what your needs are. If you don't plan on doing anything particularly processor intensive, save the $$ and go for the cheaper one. Chances are, you won't notice the diffrence, and if you do, it'll be very minimal. Spring for a faster hard drive or more ram - those are upgrades you'll notice. About the processor - don't spend extra cash on the latest and greatest. Two months later, they'll have something way faster than your high end one so you won't even care which processor you have because it will be much weaker than the newly available one in comparison anyway!
4) You might want to upgrade the hard drive. Also, when you order, call Dell and ask for the 5400 rpm hard drive - a lot of people have tried this and got the faster one. Some are stuck with the slower 4200 rpm drive.
5) You might want to consider the screen protector I reviewed recently. The screen attracts a lot of dust, then when you try and remove the dust, you get fingerprints all over the screen and it gets pretty messy. The screen protector is nice as it protects from this. At the bottom I have listed some links where you can find the review for this protector.
Q: I've read recall700m.com and I am worried...what's the story with this?
A: There's been a lot of buzz lately about the 700m's microphone jack. A lot of people are reportaing a static-like sound and are angry. I don't use a mic like that, so I am 100% unaffected by the issue, but I know there's tons of people out there that use it. I'm not too sure if it's fixed or not - I've read on different forums that people's 700m's are free of this defect. I have also read that it still exists in some of the laptops - even the new ones! In that case, I really don't know what to tell you. A USB microphone works fine, but if that doesn't suit your needs, you could always return the laptop, but that's a huge hassle. Also, if you're shelling out big bucks for this machine, it should be perfect.
I hope this little Q/A has helped. I apologize for the length of this article, I just felt bad I was unable to answer all of the questions asked. I hope that others will benefit from this article as well. If you've made it to the end, thanks!
Here are links to some articles/sites that may be helpful to you:
If you have any further questions, ask them here. I'll try and answer to the best of my ability.
Thanks!
:dell:
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Looks great Queshy...very informative for the new 700m users
SG -
great info Quesy!!!!...i'm sure it would help a TON of people!!!!
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Inspiron 700m Q/A - Answered!
Discussion in 'Dell' started by queshy, Sep 17, 2005.
