I bought the Inspiron 700m a year back and I have fallen in love with it. I possess an extra 8-cell battery to supplement my 4 cell one which came with the laptop. There is no other brand which offers a full-feature ultra-portable at this price.
I have not had any problems with this laptop till now. The popularity of the shiny tru-life screen is still sharply divided, but I love it. It makes the pictures and colour more life-like. And the screen resolution is the BEST in any laptop in the WORLD. Remember, these guys have fitted 1280 X 800 pixels into a 12.1’’ screen , which would usually be used in 14-15’’ screens. That means more pixels per unit area and the picture is AMAZINGLY lifelike. A HD (High-definition) video seen on this screen will blow your mind. I repeat, THIS IS THE BEST SCREEN IN THE WORLD!!!!
For all the people who think this is too small, for goodness sake, please understand what a laptop means!!! This is one laptop which you can shut and put it in any bag and take it anywhere without feeling the size or weight. Take it to bed with you to watch movies or use it in-flight to enjoy your favourite movies or videos. The size and weight makes it possible to use this as a portable media player!
Unless you sit on a desk all day long and don’t carry your laptop around, I recommend the Inspiron 700m. An extra 8-cell battery is a must as the 4 cell one does not last long. Or you could choose an 8-cell battery as standard instead of the 4-cell one.
To sum it up, the portability will spoil you and you will find even a 14 inch laptop too big for your liking once you get used to the 700m. After all, the 700m is all that a laptop is supposed to be. Small, light, reliable and utterly lovable.