Hello i have had my 600m for a few months NOW and its great+fast with games(be sure to get the 64MB card), by games i mean HALO in 1024x768 w/full detail; Call of Duty, Simpsons Hit and Run, BF1942 in 1400x1024 w/full detail. I do have the SXGA screen Cause the XGA only goes up to 1024x768. Oh and those games i mentioned NO LAG (even on internet). I DO HAVE BROADBAND THOUGH.

These are the Problems THOUGH:

The keyboard keys were fine when i got the laptop but now some keys pop off mostly the a and 1 keys, some keys NEED TO BE PRESSED HARDER to USE as well but for me that is only the period key, 1 key and ~ key.

NO UPGRADEABLE GRAPHICS In two years a Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB will stink.

In BF1942 FIND SOMETHING TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF WITH DURING LOADING THIS IS THE ONLY TIME YOU WILL NOTICE HOW SLOW A 4200RPM HARD DRIVE IS.

 

PRO'S:

Fast

Up to 2Gigs of RAM

Really covers up the S L O W hard drive well(you wont notice the S L O W speed outside of BF1942)

SXGA is a high resolution for a 14"(1050x1400)

Speakers make Great sound and NO SKIPPING WITH SOUND OR VIDEO ON ANY CURRENT GAME.

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OVER ALL I WOULD SUGGEST IT TO YOU.

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@Sterlin254 wrote:

Hello i have had my 600m for a few months NOW and its great+fast with games(be sure to get the 64MB card), by games i mean HALO in 1024x768 w/full detail; Call of Duty, Simpsons Hit and Run, BF1942 in 1400x1024 w/full detail. I do have the SXGA screen Cause the XGA only goes up to 1024x768. Oh and those games i mentioned NO LAG (even on internet). I DO HAVE BROADBAND THOUGH.

These are the Problems THOUGH:

The keyboard keys were fine when i got the laptop but now some keys pop off mostly the a and 1 keys, some keys NEED TO BE PRESSED HARDER to USE as well but for me that is only the period key, 1 key and ~ key.

NO UPGRADEABLE GRAPHICS In two years a Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB will stink.

In BF1942 FIND SOMETHING TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF WITH DURING LOADING THIS IS THE ONLY TIME YOU WILL NOTICE HOW SLOW A 4200RPM HARD DRIVE IS.

 

PRO'S:

Fast

Up to 2Gigs of RAM

Really covers up the S L O W hard drive well(you wont notice the S L O W speed outside of BF1942)

SXGA is a high resolution for a 14"(1050x1400)

Speakers make Great sound and NO SKIPPING WITH SOUND OR VIDEO ON ANY CURRENT GAME.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OVER ALL I WOULD SUGGEST IT TO YOU.

---

I have a 600m also and what he says is very true.  Although I haven't had any keyboard problems.  The HD is definitely something you'll want to upgrade yourself later if you are a heavy gamer.  It really shows in BF1942, my game takes alot longer to load compared to my friends but runs perfectly once you load it.  Most games you won't notice this though.  Definitely get the 64mb card graphics card, it's worth it.  The battery life is average, it's about 3 hours or so from when i've used it (I mostly run off a power cord at my desk).  The wireless card is nice, very few problems setting up and running.  The SXGA screen is definitely worth it to get, I love the resolution for games and all around use.  Any other questions about the system just ask :D

 

I too own an Inspiron600m and it is awesome!

The battery life is decent. I get 3 to 4 hours. That is more than enough for me because I keep my notebook plugged in most of the time. However, in comparison to other Centrino notebooks, 3 to 4 falls a bit short. (I know my friend has an IBM Centrino notebook that can get 5 hours out of its battery.)

The notebook is also very light. I was used to working with a Sony VAIO desktop replacement notebook at first so it was a huge change for me. The notebook is very easy to carry around and yet also very durable. I've had no problems with it.

I'm going to assume your last question was about the design of the laptop. I love the design. The notebook is mostly silver and only has tinges of that (imo) overly bright blue plastic. The touchpad is just right. The keyboard is very solid (I have absolutely no problems with it...maybe the posters above received one of the very few that had problems?) My only problem is that the screen gets tiring for me. I'm thinking about hooking up a 19" LCD as well because I like a bigger screen. But the 14.1" screen may be great for you. And again, a smaller screen allows it to have a smaller footprint and a lighter weight! (as well as sap less battery life!)

Hope this helps!

I agree the keybord is FIRM AND PERFECT except for my keys that come off when i accendentally push my finger under them.

 

STILL THAT IS NOT EVEN A BIG WORRY CAUSE ITS HARD TO FIT MY FINGER UNDER THEM ANYWAYS.

 

GET THE LAPTOP

Its perfect for anyone who wants mobility and performane because: The 500m is NOT being made anymore but had integrated graphics(Which Stinks), 300m is too tiny for most features(CD drive without media base), 1100 is BOTTOM OF THE LINE w/ integrated Graphics(Which Stinks), 5100/5150(Weighs a TON) are really great but only get them if you carry humans and monkeys on your back 24/7 lol, 8600 is PERFECT your next choice would probably be this but its only PROBLEMS ARE that it's wierd to hold with the widescreen NOT as light as 600m for traveling but still ok(NOT AS HEAVY AS 5100/5150)

The only reason NOT to get the 600m is that the graphics CANNOT be UPGRADED TO A NEW CARD. But if you get the 64MB card it should serve you well for atleast a few more years of PLAYING THE NEWEST GAMES.

I never owned a 8100. So I can't compare keyboards.

As for the second battery, it depends how long you are gonna use it. I almost never travel with it (which actually defeats the purpose of owning a laptop in the first place...haha) so I don't need the second battery.

But if you are going to travel with it, (on an airplane let's say), I would get the second battery. One battery might not be enough to last thru one movie with the screen brightness set at the brightest setting.

The DVD-RW drive supports all media. As far as backing up a DVD movie, it is probably not worth it. I have heard that there is copyright protection and that some DVD's require two blank DVD-R discs to be copied. The hassle and the price just isn't worth it. As for me, I really don't have that much data to transfer or backup. So the CD-RW/DVD combo drive was just fine for me. (plus it saved me money!)

Thanks all,

I think i will get the Inspiron 600m.

I now own an Ispiron 8100, it's great, but the only problems, is that is too heavy, and my battery is dead, so I have to plug it all day.

I love the 8100 keyboard.  Does the Inspiron 600m have the same kind of keyboard?

I think the battery life is ok, 3-4 hours is good.  But you are right, the IBM and others centrino battery life is about 5-6 hours.  Maybe I will get the second battey, what you think?

Does anybody have the 600m with the DVD-RW?  What kind of media does it support?  All DVDs media?  Can I backup (copy) a DVD movie?  Should I get it or just buy the CD-RW?

 

Thanks again,

 

Agente 7

inspiron600m, you are mistaken.

Firstly, the DVD RW drive does not support all media. It only supports +R or +RW media. There is a firmware upgrade to allow NEC DVD RW drives to burn on both +/-R and +/-RW media, but chaning the firmware will void your warranty. Moreover, the reason as to why you would need two DVDs to back up on DVD movie disc is not because of the copy protection, but rather because of the fact that most movies are burnt on Double Layer Discs. Each layer will hold 4.7 GB of data. Thus, each movie would be filling a 9.2 GB Disc. Since double-layer DVD burners do not exist (yet), if you want the enitre movie including commentaries and special features, etc. then you need to burn it to two discs.

Or you could compress the data to fit on one DVD ... I do it all the time with DVDXCopy (the version before it was castrated) and/or DVD Decrypter with DVD Shrink (the latter two are free open source programs).