Inspiron 710m Review

Ive been lurking around these forums for a couple of months now. Thought that i would make my first post a review of my new 710m. Ive always been a desktop guy but this fall i decided that for classes at University it would be nice to have a laptop to take to classes for notes as well as to take to the library for research, assignments and writing papers. I wanted something small, lightweight to take back and forth to campus. I already have a pretty decent gaming rig so video card was not one of the more important features i took into consideration. I had already bought a few dell desktops so naturally i looked first to dell. Sony and IBM were considerations but much more expensive that the dell lineups. My first two choices i had narroed down two were the 630m and the 710m. The 6000 and 9300 were a little too big for my tastes so they were eliminated and i cut out the 2200 and the b130 also because i had money to spend so i wanted to get something decent. I should also mention that im from canada since we have had the 630m and 710 for a couple months now.

I got this laptop for Christmas so i have been playing with it for a few days now and would like to put in my few cents and give you guys a review.

Ill Start off with the specs so you guys have an idea what im working with.

PM 1.7
1GB RAM
80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
8 cell extended battery
Free 512 Memory Key
Dual layer DVD burner/player as well as CDRW
Total including taxes was $1909 CAN
This may seem a little high for you people in the US but we do not get the same coupons up here in the North that you guys do.

Screen: Im sure that you heard this a million times but the screen is beautiful, quite crisp and clear. Definately a stand out amongst its peers.

Size and Weight: It weighs a little bit more than some of its ultraportable counterparts but the fact that it has a 8 cell battery with the 5 hours of life and a built in optical drive helps eliminate the loss with extra power. Some do not like the small screen but i have no problems with it as of yet and it is very portable to me and very light. Althought the extended battery does stick out of the back about an inch or so it is not a problem and i hardly notice it when moving around my house with it.

Sound/Speakers/Headphone Jack: The speakers leave something to be desired but it is a small laptop so they are just about what i expected. The headphone jack works quite well and it sounds great with good headphones so that is not even a problem for me.

Hard Drive: I got the 80 so thats plenty of room for me, especially since i wont be storing movies or many mp3s on this machine. More or less options were
available in terms of space but the 80GB came with the deal i had choosen so thats what i got.

RAM: Once again us up here in the north do not have access to newegg and some of those sweet deals so i just got dell to put the ram in for me because buying it here would only have been about $15-20 cheaper so i decided to just let dell do it and save myself the trouble. For my uses 1GB might as well be and infinite amount of ram so i felt that i wouldnt need anymore than that and have not had any ram related issues.

Processor: What i can say that hasnt already been said, fast and quick and i havent had any problems with CPU power or speed

Durability: I havent even taken mine out of the house yet because iam home for winter break so i havent had much chance to test the durability but it seems quite sturdy and i dont think i will have any problems with that. Im sure as times elapses i will get some scratches and nicks, thats inevitable, so im quite pleased with that.

Keyboard: Im writing this review on my new laptop in from of the tv and im typing about 100 wpm which is about what i type on a normal sized keyboard. The only problem that i have is the smaller size puncutation keys which i have had a couple problems with but the more and more i use it that will become less and less of a problem. My hands are probably about normal so unless you have gargantuan hands you wont have a problem with the slightly shrunk notebook.

Heating: I havent had any problems running it for extended periods on AC current or with the battery, but then again ive only had it for a few days so far.

Gaming: I myself do enjoy playing some games now and then but i have a desktop for heavier gaming like BF2 and the like but i have installed a few games onto my 710m. Its not going to handle anything terribly intensive, clearll, because of the integrated graphics card. I have, however, sucessfulling installed and played GTA Vice City, Rogue Spear and a few other games from around the turn of the millenium mark. As i stated before i wantedit as a report, lecture taking and research machine so this wasnt a factor but everyone needs a break so its nice that i can fire up a game or two in the library after a 4 or 5 hours or work and relax for 30 minutes or so. If you want something to scream then id suggest the 9300 or XPS m170.

Final Comments: Bottomline, I couldnt be happier, nice and portable and tonnes of power. Great screen and the keyboard is not as much of a problem as some people make it out to be. If you are looking for something small and portable with great power then this is right up your alley. I dont have any pictures but there was another review ofthe 710 done recently with some good pictures so i suggest taking a look at those posts for some pictures.

If anyone has any questions they need to ask about it or are looking a picking either a 700m/710m up let me know and i would be more than happy to answer your questions

 

Hey Morton, welcome to the site. Im kinda new here also but been contributing as much as I can.
I was also looking at the 700m before I decided on the 9300 since I also needed a desktop replacement and not just small computer to take around with me when I am working.
I might pick up another laptop sometime in the spring and if I do then it will probably be the smaller 630 or 710.

 

Morton,

Welcome to NBR. Nice review by the way. I am glad to hear you are enjoying the 710m. Yeah, newegg is nice and wish they would ship to other areas.

 

Hi, I just returned my Toshiba M50 MX5 because I saw an add for the 710m. I really liked the Toshiba a lot and would recommend it but it was a 14 inch and I never thought I could afford anything smaller. It was way more advanced than the 710m (PM 750 – 1.86, intel 915 chip, 100 gig hd 5400, intel 900 GPU, gig of ram) but once realizing it still can’t play recent games I couldn’t figure out what people need all that power for. Seeing this Dell made me think I could get the best of everything, as I would like a small laptop, and 14 just doesn’t cut it. Battery life on the Toshiba was good at about 3 hours, but incomparable with what the 710m can give me on the 8 cell.
So before I order this notebook, I just need some reassurance. I figure a lot of people by dell so I’m not alone. Its weird since you rarely hear good things about dell.
I can get the 730 with a gig of ram for 1499 plus (only!) 40 for the 8 cell, CANADIAN dollars. Is extra warranty as important as I think it is? Is this a good deal? Are there any magic coupons in Canada?
Will I notice any performance difference from my M50?

 

does anyone think upgrading later on in a year or two, to 2 gigs of ram will do much for me? I think it's max upgradable to 2. Will it improve boot time, run later games?

 

The 700/710M was not designed to play games but the type of game your trying to play will determine if you can use this laptop at all.
This is more of a harware limitation on it and adding 2 gigs of ram will not cure that.
Now adding 2 gigs will make your computer run much better especially if your running certain applications or love multitasking alot.
Boot up times I dont think it will help much since it should take the same amount of time for your computer to load up your OS and other background programs onto the RAM during initial startup and having 512 or 2 gigs wont matter.

 

Nice review! I agree with Popcorn - adding more RAM would help in everyday apps., but not too much in gaming though.

 

What is the difference between the 700m and 710m?