Dell Latitude D600 Notebook Computer for Business

Pros: price/features ratio

Cons: cheap plastic looks, flimsy keyboard, hot handrest

Summary: Let's go for the cons:
1-You've read already: the left handrest goes too hot and it feels VERY uncomfortable even with a 4200rpm HD 2- Depending on the colors used for the background, the screen shows several little spots, it's a flaw and I don't know if there is a fix for this. It is also a little uneven in brightness (this is for the 1400x1050 screen) 4- The standard power charger is TOO heavy and BIG. 5- The all-plastic case is poorly designed, the speaker grilles are ridiculous. 6- The worst apeakers I've found in notebooks, the loudest volume is still too low. 7- the "security" screw for the optical drive does not secure anything, just unscrew it and your optical drive is gone. 8- short battery life, even for the 6-cell 9- the black mouse buttons are cheap plastic with an irritating loud "click" 10- it needs 8 small rubber dots to prevent the screen to touch the keyboard when closed. I consider this a bad design and it adds to the notebook's height.
Now the good points:
1- After a lot of search, the best features for the price paid for a well known brand 2- 1400x1050 screen is great, you can see a lot of information in a small 14" screen; it is also very sharp 3- good wireless reception. 4- It's a dicontinued model at this point, I hope the new models does have a better design 5- very silent even with the fan running. 6- s-video out works well, you can use a s-video to RCA cable and it works with TVs without s-video in.
Overall:
I can't complain with Dell because I knew I was paying for the features instead of good design. My dream notebook at the time was the T42 (now it's the T43); IBM is better in every feature I listed above. If you can afford IBM's price, don't think twice, even if you don't fall in love with IBM's "all-black" design.