This is a barely adequate business laptop from Dell. I wouldn’t buy it, but since this is an office machine, issued by corporate edict, I don’t have much choice.
Pros:
Price. Like most Dell machines, this has value for money written all over it. Dell specializes in meeting all the specifications required to compare favourably against the competition.
Performance: Thanks to the Intel Core Duo processor, Windows XP runs(when it runs) at a decent clip.
Big screen
Cons:
- Creaky.
When you type on this machine keyboard, it creaks.
And moves.
And creaks.
In a most disconcerting fashion.
The(only) good news is that in around 3 months on banging on it, none of the keys have fallen out as of now.
Poor build quality. The machine has edges here and there which seem sharp enough to cut.
Built in Bluetooth support is from Toshiba. The BT software is okay. You’re better off using this with the Windows XP BT support though. I rather expected the BT chip to be a CSR with the WIDCOMM SW
Hibernate/standby etc are unpredictable if 802.11 is switched on. This may well be a Windows XP thing, as are most SW problems in the PC world. But Dell supplies this combination, and has no fix for it. They upgraded the BIOS firmware, and that has made no change.
Bottomline:
Don’t spend your hard earned money on this thing. It’s okay for companies which are looking to save lots of money buying in bulk. I guess they can afford to keep a machine or two extra for emergencies using all the money they saved.