Dell Notebook Computers

Dell 630m

The first 14.1-inch notebook from Dell, this product fills in the gaps between the thin-and-light 12.1-inch Inspiron 710m and the 15.4-inch Inspiron 6000.Though possibly the cheapest 14-inch notebook running on the Centrino Sonoma platform in the market, several upgrades are a must to meet its promise as a portable entertainment machine.

Though not as large as a Toshiba Qosmio F20, the Dell Inspiron 630m is no lightweight and tips the scales at 2.5kg with the six-cell battery. Compared with the svelte Samsung X1, the 206.8 x 49 x 24mm does not endear it to users looking for a sexy multimedia notebook.

The 14.1-inch display is an active-matrix widescreen LCD capable of a 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution.One feature we would love is the integrated power meter on the battery.The multimedia buttons located in the front allows easy control over volume and playback. With a push of a button, Dell's MediaDirect software boots up for quick access to video and music files on the harddisk and optical drive.

With the extended nine-cell battery, the unit had a runtime of 6 hours 25 minutes on productivity tests and 5 hours 15 minutes on the DVD playback test. For the mobile traveler, a single extended battery would probably be sufficient for almost an entire workday without needing the services of a charger.

Dell offers a one-year next business day onsite warranty which covers parts and labor.

Pros

bright widescreen display power indicator on the battery ample multimedia control buttons good speaker position

Cons

cant view far from angles no pre-boot DVD play heavy and bulky no ExpressCard slot integrated graphics chipset

The bottom line: The cheapest configuration is adequate only as a basic computing machine. Fortunately, Dell offers upgrades, at a price, to power users looking for a multimedia notebook. Dell (L12619) Latitude D610 BURNER

Specs:

* Intel® Pentium®M Processor740(1.73Ghz 2MB L2 cache 533Mhz FSB)Int graphic 14.1XGA 1024x768 * Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2 (NTFS)(+ Media) * 3Y NBD (Next Business Day On-site ) Service * 512MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2x256MB) * 6 Cell 53WHr Lithium-Ion Primary Battery * Business Support 3yr (incl. e-Learning Pack) * CompleteCare 3Y (NBD CC) Accidental Damage Cover from London General Insurance

Dell (L12819) Latitude D810 BURNER

Features:

* Intel Pentium M 1.7GHz * 80GB Hard Disk

Pros:

* Good battery life. * Top components. * Sturdy design * Excellent 3D-application performance * Fairly complete set of business ports and connections * Swappable bay * Extensive security features * Long three-year warranty.

Cons:

* Spacebar needs to be recessed, as it's easy to hit inadvertently. * OpenManage suite lacks integration.

Dell Precision M20 (M20MIN) Notebook PC

Engineers, designers, architects, digital artists and publishers who want to go mobile can run compute intensive applications exceptionally fast, create complex CAD models and assemblies, and develop dazzling special effects through the outstanding performance, 256MB OpenGL graphics, and high bandwidth memory architecture of the Dell Precision mobile workstations.

Dell Inspiron 8200 Notebook PC

The InspironTM 8200's potent combination of Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor-M, High-Resolution Displays and Double Data Rate System Memory packs cutting-edge mobile desktop technology into a fully-configurable notebook. Designed for notebooks, Mobile Pentium 4 processors-M generally allow cooler, quiet performance and longer battery life in notebooks.

Key Features

* Display: 15 in. TFT Active Matrix * Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition * Intel Pentium 4