Just saw the Dell 700m in person...

For a long time I debated on which new laptop I wanted to buy. At first I was convinced I was getting a Dell 700m, mainly because of the competetive pricing and I had also heard some good things about it, mainly the beautiful screen.

Well, a friend of mine bought it and was able to bring it over for me to check it out. My first impression was that it was very small, and well duh, 12" screen, of course it would be. Then she turned on the laptop and I was blown away by the screen! It was crisp and clear and vibrant, though slightly reflective which isn't a very bad thing.

But that was where the good things about the Dell ended.

I thought the over all build of it was too plastic oriented and it didn't LOOK good. It looked sort of cheap because of all the plastic and it didn't feel too solid either. Another gripe I had, which may just be a preference, but all the connectivity ports were located ALL ON the SIDES of the laptop, instead of the back, which is dedicated to the battery. This would be very cumbersome if you connected things to your laptop and use a mouse, which I do. I would have preferred the ports to be on the back. I don't know how much RAM or what processor my friend bought with the Dell but I thought performance was okay, just average for a brand new laptop. She still had all the crapware on it though from Dell.

Overall, coming as close as I did to purchasing the 700m, I'm really glad I didn't. I would have been very disappointed because it didn't really fit all of my needs. So over all, I guess, the lesson is SEE YOUR ACTUALY LAPTOP BEFORE YOU BUY IT. But then I'm being a hypocrite because I ordered a Fujitsu S2110 without seeing it in person (I'm due to get it by tomorrow!)

I don't mean to bash the 700m, it's a fine laptop if it's what you're looking for in terms of one; the screen really is quite pretty. And it's small and light.

 

just to play devil's advocate, i have to say that having all the ports on the side is really an advantage. you don't have to flip your notebook around or stand up to see the back of your notebook to plug stuff in. you can access all the ports of your notebook without having to move from the normal position that you or your notebook are in during normal usage.

aside from the screen, size/weight, i'd say having all the ports on the side is actually a really nice convenience.

 

I'm also peeved at the fact that all the ports are on the sides of the notebook. This is becoming common on several notebooks I've looked at, like HP's DV1000.

 

LOL, and I too prefer ports on the side as opposed to the back. I move around a lot and dislike reaching to the back to plug stuff in, on the sides I can plug in without having to swivel the laptop to look where the input needs to go. And if you have a wireless mouse, you definitely want a USB port on the side and not the back for better reception.

The 700m does have a beauty of a screen, but if you're real picky about build and looks, then you would want to check it out to see if it matches what you are looking for. A lot of consumers are just unaware of differences in build quality and ignorance is bliss until you tell them you think the laptop is poorly constructed or inferior to other options.

 

i actually think the build quality is well done. it's not sturdy as the ibms though. its power inside a little machine. the only bad side of the 700m is the video card but since i don't play games, it doesn't bother me.

i'm glad you got what you wanted.

 

The only thing that annoys me about the 700m is the battery, the 8 cell battery does stick out a bit, other than that I love it, I did get a Pentium M 2Ghz and 1 gig of ram though, it flies like a bird. Even with all the crap Dell loads

 

Haha, actually my friend has the extra battery and I saw how it stuck out and I didn't mind it so much. Made the notebook feel substantial when being held in a held while closed. Just me though.

 

Heh, about the battery. I blew it all out of proportion...I thought it was going to jet out like crazy, but then when I took the laptop out of the shrink wrap for the first time, I was so amazed with the size of the thing I never noticed the battery. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although the standard battery makes it look much sleeker. For those who are wondering what the difference is, check out the picture gallery in notebookforums.com, lots of people posted comparison shots.

 

The build quality seems fine, nothing too special though and having the ports on side can be a convinience. The screen is the most advantageous part of this machine by far.