Just got the Inspiron 700m (Review/Question)

I recently got the 700m notebook (Pentium M 1.6 GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB 5400RPM, DVD-ROM), I really only needed the base model, because I have a powerhouse desktop. Anyways, I really like that this notebook is very light. The screen is wonderful unless youre sitting with a window or light behind, then the glare starts to get a little annoying. The only other things that I dislike, besides the battery life and glare, is the small keyboard, clunky click buttons, and all the crappy software Dell pre-loads on the computer. It takes a little getting used to the small keyboard if you have bigger hands like I do. However, I would say that the positives by far outweight the negatives with this little notebook.

My questions are...
1. When I use AIM and drag a IM window from one place to another, I get a little choppy lag. It doesnt happen with the buddy list itself, just the conversation windows. I use an older version (5.5395) with DeadAIM. I thought maybe it was DeadAIM, but I also used the newest version without DeadAIM and still got the choppy lag. Anyone know why that might be?

2. In the near future I may be thinking about upgrading this computer to make it fun faster. I have been reading and it seems as though upgrading to a faster HD (Hitahchi 7200RPM to be exact) would give more of a boost than a CPU or RAM upgrade. Anyone have an opinion about that?

I appreciate any comments or replies!

 

1.if you only got 256ram, then that is the problem. Winxp needs at least 512ram just to run basic stuff.

If that is not the problem, try an different instant msger like trillian and sell if you have that problem still.

2. I think RAm upgrades are the best. 256 to 1gig is like night and day.
Upgrading the harddrive will only make transfering big files go faster, and making some apps boot faster. nothing to major, just make sure you get 8mb cache. 2mbcache is the real problem.

good luck, let me know if you have any problems with your dell 700m. i am consider the dell 700m and the Fujitsu S6210 right now, cant decide on which

~RaNDoM

 

well i do have 512 MB RAM, so I dont think thats really the problem. I used to have 512 on my desktop and never had such a problem. anyways, on deadaim i switched it to tabbed aim windows and it doesnt lag anymore. so who knows what it might have been.

anyone else care to comment on the upgrade?

 

A question for you JrDave... How do you like the screen size? Do you find it too small at all?

 

no i really do not find it to be too small at all. it has a very nice display as long as you dont have a lot of lights behind you, then you get a little reflection. but i havent had any problems with that yet.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by JrDave2304

 

I think its just the Way the messanger works.I wouldnt really worry about it unless something else is effected.

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I TRY TO HELP PEOPLE WITH LITTLE or NO REPLYS TO THEIR
QUESTIONS. If you need more help AIM me at IMPERNUCKLE

 

no i didnt reinstall the OS, so it must just be the way the program is. ah well, not a big deal i guess