Disappointing screen, keyboard, and body
Written: Feb 21 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Fast, fairly priced, excellent return policy
Cons: Big, ugly, heavy, poor screen, disappointing display
|
|
|
| Jag1820's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 7500 G600VT |
After months of shopping around to find the best laptop deal, I decided to go with the 7500. Aside from winning a PC Magazine Editor's Choice award (Jan 2000), I've heard mostly great things about these models. I also considered the new Inspiron 5000, but it was just too new to get a read on -- I couldn't find anyone who had one. Interestingly, the 5000 was reviewed by PC Mag as well, and got only 3 stars, compared with a 5 star review for the 7500. The reviewer said that the 5000 just wasn't all that much lighter than the 7500, and the bigger model was the better performer.
Okay, I plopped down almost $3400 and gave it a shot. I configured my 7500 with a 600MHz PIII, 128MB SDRAM, a Zip-drive module, and a 15" SVGA+ display. It sounded great on paper, and the salesperson I talked to told me that I would be more than happy with my configuration.
And I was really disappointed.
First the good. Everything worked. The instructions were clear, the machine fired up just fine, and I had no problems getting things set up quickly and easily.
More good: the thing was real fast. Whether booting, powering down, or launching apps, the machine really cooked. I use laptops for word processing, page layout, and some screen captures for computer magazines and books. While my graphics work isn't that CPU-intensive, a fast processor helps, and the 600 PIII didn't disappoint. All of my Office 2000, WordPerfect 2000, and graphics applications loaded quickly (darn near instantaneous in the case of the Office apps).
However . . .
At the end of the day, 90% of my use is for word processing. For this, there are two features that can make or break a laptop for me: screen and keyboard.
When I say screen, I mean that I need the brightest, crispest, clearest, and whitest display I can find. The best I've ever seen is on the Compaq Armada M300 -- super white and bright -- you can stare at it for days without a problem. The 7500, unfortunately, isn't all that bright. Even after playing with the brightness settings, and the RGB controls included with the ATI 8MB Mobility AGP card, I couldn't get the display bright enough for my tastes. In my experience, the 2.5 MB NeoMagic card in the ThinkPad 600E display does a better job in terms of whiteness and brightness.
As for the keyboard, the Inspiron keyboard is large and easy to use, but it's a little too soft and spongy for me. I like a clickety-clackety keyboard that responds as you type. Again, the ThinkPad kicks the Inspiron's butt in this regard.
On a more shallow, totally aesthetic note, the 7500 is one ugly mother. It is big, boxy, and bulky. Worst of all, the 15" screen is larger than the rest of the unit, and hangs over the base on all four sides. Ugghh! It's as if Dell simply slapped a bigger screen on an old model without any regard for how it would look. From an engineering perspective, it is also bad in that the screen overhang causes the laptop to rest on the display when you put it in a travel bag. All that weight on one edge of the screen can't be a good thing. Mostly, it's just ugly, though.
The bottom line is that I returned the 7500 to Dell after 8 days of use. Their return policy is fair -- you have a 30 day 100% satisfaction guarantee. I called them, they accepted my return after only a few minutes of trying to accomodate my concerns, and I quickly had a full credit to my credit card (less the shipping costs, which is fair).
I applaud Dell for their customer service, but I was disappointed in their top-of-the-line notebook. Although it was fast, easily configurable, and easy to use, it failed in the two most important categories as far as I'm concerned.
Next, I'm going to buy either an Armada M700 (I've heard their displays are super-bright, like the M300), or a new ThinkPad 600x (which ups the video card to 4MB). I won't have the benefit of the 600+ processors, but a 500PIII will be more than fast enough for me.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 3375
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 501-600
Screen Size: 15"
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: Zip Drive
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Jag1820
|
|
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.