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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
2.5 stars
"Everything but a Quality Screen"
Pros: Feature laden, Fast Upgrade Options, Full Spectrum of Ports, Nice Keyboard, Battery Life
Cons: Flakey Touchpad and Screen has serious issues
Summary: I ordered a custom, spare no expense model because I need the best for my business and work remotely quite often, also because I want to watch movies while flying. Because I multi-task significantly online, I ordered the fastest Pentium M (760) though would have liked the 770, Dell does not yet carry it. The 60 GB 7200 RPM HD was available, and I added 1 GB RAM. It's nice and fast. I will say that one does hear it when the HD engages, not a big noise, but still noticeable. The IBM/Lenovo T42 was absolutely silent in comparison. I like all the ports, and many features such as the hybernate and suspend options, which allow one to extend the already excellent battery life without interrupting tasks. Pretty machine as well and the keyboard is excellent, just the right size and also half-stroke for speed. The touchpad is average and while neither terribly responsive nor accurate, works. However, the screen is a problem. I had no idea there were any screen issues with Dell until I came here to write a review. My PC is a Dell purchased in 2000 and still a great machine. However, I do note now that there's been a problem with Dell screens as reported on CNET. What I find is that the colors are washed out, unacceptable because I do a great deal of digi-photography and editing. Plus sometimes a line of writing on a page will appear fuzzy and or sketchy, as if it did not completely load. This happened on websites that I am familiar with so I know its unique to this machine, plus I ordered the top of the line 15.4" wide screen WUXGA LCD panel with their only dedicated memory option, 128MB ATI dedicated graphics...the full label is "128 MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300 Video Card, for Inspiron 6000". The latter may be the problem, and I would guess ATI's other products are just fine. I've only had it a day, but while surfing on CNET, it also went completely dark and then the screen flashed on and off a few times, with spotty resolution. Fortunately, it came back to full function so that I could write this review before I wipe it clean, turn it off, and box it up for the return via UPS tomorrow. The quest continues.
