Need help choosing a new notebook

Question

I've had my Inspiron 4000 for five years, and it's time for an upgrade.

I've been browsing the Dell site and I've noticed they don't tell you how heavy or light these notebooks are. This is an important factor for me because I travel a lot... My current notebook has served me well but it's way too heavy.

What I'm looking for is a powerful notebook (for graphics/animation applications) which is also portable... and..

Wifi enabled (do the cards come with the computers or should they be ordered separately?)
Min 14" screen
Ample hard drive space (60gb..?)
Min 512 mb RAM
fast processor
CDRW and DVD combo drive
min 2 x USB ports
do any Dell notebooks have SD memory card slots? this would be perfect.

I'd love to hear your recommendations or any suggestions, or if I'm being too idealistic.

Which Dell notebook do you use?

thanks in advance!

mattcowger · Answer

I would agree - the 600m sounds like the lapto for you. Though no Dell comes with an SD slot....

mikesd · Answer

When on the website click on a notebook then click in tech. specs and that will give you the weights. It sounds like the 600m is one of the laptops you might want to check out.

viper11885 · Answer

I agree with the 600m suggestion.

Get the WSXGA+ screen as well. It'll make working in your applications easier. You can also get a built-in wireless card for wireless connection. The 600m pretty much fits all your criteria.

lilic · Answer

@viper11885 wrote:
I agree with the 600m suggestion.

Get the WSXGA+ screen as well. It'll make working in your applications easier. You can also get a built-in wireless card for wireless connection. The 600m pretty much fits all your criteria.

thanks for all your help! This has saved me a lot of time. Looks like the 600m is the most portable model.

Viper - Is there a built-in wireless card anyway, or is this an option I need to select when customizing the computer - ie, which box to check? (I'm not set up for wireless internet yet, so I'm not sure what card I should get)

mattcowger · Answer

Yes, you can get builtin wireless. I would advise you to choose the TrueMobile 1350....

Matrix-2002 · Answer

Actually the Latitude X300 and the Inspiron 300m both come with an SD card slot. :-)

lilic · Answer

thanks again for all your help! - I've ordered the 600m and it will be here in a week. (Too late for the 300m & its SD slot!)

Not knowing any better I didn't pick the TrueMobile wifi option ... Is there something I should know about the Intel Wifi card? I've just done a search and have come across several posts about its unreliability and something about missing drivers. yikes...

Wifi is a whole new game to me. Any advice for the 600m?

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Need help choosing a new notebook

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