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3013
July 27th, 2003 15:00
new 600m review
just got my new 6oom yesterday, here are the specs and a review:
600m: 1.6 PM, 512 ram, ati 32mbvid, intel/PRO wireless (centrino), xp home.
ran great out of the box; 1st boot took a while, but due to initial settings of xp. later boots average 20-30 secs. later after uninstalling some junk and defragging, boots are ~5 secs faster. percieved processing speed is blazin'. there were a LOT of fragmented files, so make sure you do this. total hd capacity with everything but aol/earthlink and streets and trips and a couple others removed is about 75%--i got the 30gb hd and have 22.5 gb free, which honestly is a ton of space.
set up netgear .11b wireless router from bestbuy, $59 with a $20 mail-in rebate. it was an open-box special, and someone had already named the router which caused some minor confusion and frustration, but then i got it worked out by plugging the laptop into the router via patch cable and configuring it that way. the router has dropped out a few times, so if it remains unstable i'm taking it back tomorrow.
design: great. the keyboard is quiet and under ordinary use and so is the fan. when playing a game etc. gets much louder due to drive sounds and fan rampup. i notice loud HD sounds during these type processes but not a big deal. speakers sound surprisingly good but of course no bass. volume and function keys work well and are well laid-out. this is my first laptop, and i don't have much trouble typing on it. i plugged in my desktop usb optical mouse and it went "bing!" and worked with no problems. very nice. also i unplugged it without changing anything and this caused no problems. touchpad works very well, i find myself going back and forth between the mouse and pad depending on what i'm doing.
display: sxga+. looks fantastic. like a desktop lcd. very high resolution. i noticed that photos and other things looked bad and blocky at first, but i changed a setting:
rtclick on open space/desktop; properties; settings; advanced; change dpi to 96. fonts get smaller, but you can change them to be larger in rtclick open space/desktop; properties; appearance; change font size to "large fonts." this made everything look much much better.
bottom line: i'm very satisfied with the 600m. it's my first laptop, but it compares favorably with a friend's VAIO. price before adding a port replicator, warranties and accidental damage protection (a must, in my opinion. i mean come on, you carry it in a backpack) and a few other extras was about $2000. looks great without quicksnap covers--i can't imagine why you'd want that when the cover already looks so stylin. any questions, let me know!
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JohnM025
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877 Posts
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July 28th, 2003 11:00
Glad to hear that you are enjoying your new system.
Thank you for choosing Dell.
djz
2 Posts
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January 4th, 2004 04:00
I just registered to this forum and I read your problem with the Netgear MR814 (.11b) router dropping your 600m wireless connection regularly and although this is several months since your posting the following might have resolved your problem:
The NetGear 11b wireless router doesn't support IEEE802.1x authentication, so for your wireless networks (wireless connection only, not your local PC lan port connection) you need to turn off 802.1x authentication. Go to Control Panel and the Wireless Connection icon under Network Connections. Go to General then Properties. Under Wireless Networks, select the specific Preferred network "name" and then go to its Properties where under the Authentication tab you can deselect "enable IEEE 802.1x."
I also set my MR814 to identify the specific 600m wireless MAC address and to use WEP 64 (128 didn't work) and entered the appropriate network key on my 600m for that network (under Associations, next to Authentication tab, enabling Data Encryption and Data Authentication). You should also look on the NetGear site for the latest firmware to download since it is quite easy to implement.
It took a while for me to figure all this out, so it might save others with the same problem.