Dell Inspiron 710m

[chevelle]

Is this a good computer for LS?

If anyone has it...is it quiet? I have an older Dell laptop and the fan is annoyingly loud. If I took it to a class with me, people would hate me for the whooshing sound it would make the whole time.

[lkny]

It's quiet and very lightweight. Great laptop. There is one big negative though. The keyboard is smaller than most laptop keyboards. Makes for a lot of typos.

[chevelle]

It's quiet and very lightweight. Great laptop. There is one big negative though. The keyboard is smaller than most laptop keyboards. Makes for a lot of typos.

Yeah...I have heard that. I have pretty small hands though, so I am thinking it might be okay for me.

Is 1 GB of RAM and a 1.7 Ghz processor good enough for LS? I just want something that will last me three years, and I want to spend between $1500-$2000, more than that seems excessive.

[krumanadi]

It's quiet and very lightweight. Great laptop. There is one big negative though. The keyboard is smaller than most laptop keyboards. Makes for a lot of typos.

Yeah...I have heard that. I have pretty small hands though, so I am thinking it might be okay for me.

Is 1 GB of RAM and a 1.7 Ghz processor good enough for LS? I just want something that will last me three years, and I want to spend between $1500-$2000, more than that seems excessive.

If you're looking to spend that much, you should get yourself a thinkpad.. Lenovo is having an anniversary deal right now and there are some good deals.. I got a Z60t with 1.73 ghz, 1 gb ram, 80 gb harddrive and dvd burner for 1400..

[crainjd]

yea, Dell is always running deals, you can get that 710M for around $800

[lkny]

$1500-2000?!
The 1.7GHz 1GB RAM 710m is $1000.
I wouldn't spend more than $1200 on a laptop.

512MB RAM is sufficient for today's needs but I would recommend 1GB for futureproofing.
1.7GHz is fine unless you're doing some major video editing, encoding, or postprocessing.

[flydog]

I have one and its the best I have notebook I have ever owned. I have never heard the fan come on. As far as the keyboard its 3/4" narrower than a full size keyboard. People whine because the question mark and period key are half size. It sounds worse than it is and I never have problems with mistyping or missing those keys. The only downside to the 710m is no bluetooth. I paid less than $900 and got the extra hi capacity battery. Lenovo is crap and I would stay away from them.

FYI Dell is introducing a replacement in a couple of weeks. The XPS M1210. Its basically the same but with dual core chip, built in webcam, bluetooth, and full size period and question mark keys which makes it the same width as a regular keyboard. The battery life is supposed to be over 7 hrs.

[kmpnj]

I'm on one right now and I have to say this computer is awesome.  As a test, I used it exclusively to finish up my last semester of undergrad and it performed remarkably well.  Its very quiet and my average sized hands (I guess) maneuver around the keyboard well.

[KitK]

I have one and its the best I have notebook I have ever owned. I have never heard the fan come on. As far as the keyboard its 3/4" narrower than a full size keyboard. People whine because the question mark and period key are half size. It sounds worse than it is and I never have problems with mistyping or missing those keys. The only downside to the 710m is no bluetooth. I paid less than $900 and got the extra hi capacity battery. Lenovo is crap and I would stay away from them.

FYI Dell is introducing a replacement in a couple of weeks. The XPS M1210. Its basically the same but with dual core chip, built in webcam, bluetooth, and full size period and question mark keys which makes it the same width as a regular keyboard. The battery life is supposed to be over 7 hrs.

Rats! I wish I would have know this... I just bought the 710m. Oh, well. I like the 710m so far. My last laptop was also a Dell (Inspiron 2500) and the screen died after 5 years. The fan was loud, too, but only after several years.

Edit: I got a free upgrade to 1GB RAM last week when I bought mine online. I also got free shipping and some other good discounts.

[chevelle]

I guess I will wait to see the pricing on the XPS M1210...I am guessing it'd be pretty expensive.

I know you can get the basic 710m for a little over $1000, but I was going to get one with a warranty that would at least have some kind of at-home service instead of mail-in service.

My brother recently got an Inspiron that didn't start up when he received it and he had to send it back, it took awhile, and it turned out to be a bad motherboard. So I am a little wary.

I used to have an IBM and I didn't think it was as good as my Dell, though.