New 600m, issue with case: lid closes in a bizarre way

Question

Hi All,   I would like to hear your opinion on this.   My son has bought me (as a birthday gift) a brand new Inspiron 600m from Dell: Pentium M 745 1.80GHz, 400MHz 1Gb 266 MHz RAM 80Gb HDD Intel PRO Wireless 2200 Win XP Home Edition SP2 $1226.42 ( includes tax and shipping)     One thing that bothers me about this system: when you close the lid (the one with LCD) it's somehow shaped so that there is a 1/8' gap between the lid and the base. It's wide enough that I can insert a thin magazin in between. The laptop resembles a car after a head-on collision, which warped  its hood so it does not close nicely. I inspected the lock and there seem to be no way to adjust it to make the lid close without this gap.   Dell's customer service gave me 2 options:      1) return it with a complete refund (I have to pay for the shipping) and then face the          arrgavation of going though another purchase      2) send the system back for repairs (I am not sure it can be repaired at all and I am not that fascinated to send a 'virgin' system immediately for repairs).     NOW QUESTIONS:       a) has any of you experienced something like this with your laptop cases ?       b) am I overreacting and may be the best option is to leave it as is ?         what's your opinion on how to deal with this ?       c) do you think the price of $1226 for this system is a good deal ?   Thank you in advance !     HM5410.       P.S. I am more inclined to return this system. When I tried to speak with Dell's salespeople about purchasing an identical system they could offer me a price $130 more than what my son payed for it a month ago.   Dell's customer service is an aggravation: poor voice over IP with India, only one in 3 calls succeeds (two others get disconnected in the middle of a conversation). On-line chat with tech support frequently disconnects (I have an almost perfect cable modem service at home).

Steve1077 · Answer

I would send it back for a refund, my i1150 only lasted 10 days and after I got it back it looked a real mess, the thing looked like it had been cleaned with a dirty rag, so I dont think much of the people who repair Dell computers, if Dell dont want your custom then get one from another maker

iKlaatu · Answer

Price is probably okay, that $130 difference might be from special offers at the time of the buy. That amount of difference sounds like the maximum it usually changes month to month, but it does happen.   Your notebook cost around the same as my 8200 I'm typing this reply out with now, which I got over two years ago. It has a 2GHz CPU (and had 512MB memory) but the processors have progressed since then, in other ways than that 'clock' speed, so yours is fine.   Now, about the screen closing gap... well, that's been an issue brought up many times in the past, as I recall, and not of any one model. For instance, this 8200 might have what you'd call a gap too, but I never notice it, since it is a mere 1/16 inch. Actually is widest on the left-hand side (front left corner). But what was often mentioned about these larger screens, such as the 15.1' LCD, was how the bezel, or frame, overlapped the main case. You could easily hook a corner on something and get it yanked out of your hand/arm, if not careful about it.   I'm not going to be of much help as to whether or not to return the notebook, because I'd need to witness it first-hand to decide if it is really bad enough. Like I said, a bit of a gap doesn't matter to me. DELL sells these things cheaper than I could get elsewhere and I do believe the quality reflects that. But it has worked for me, my first non-Radio Shack computer was a DELL Dimension in '93, and later after an IBM and Compaq I went back to DELL again. Of these, I haven't experienced enough difference to prefer any one over another really. I'm just not likely to buy expensive Sony's or Toshiba's or questionable 'unknowns'.   That's my take on it, right or wrong.   P.S.   If it seems that the LCD is affected, by all means make an exchange-- but take heed that you'll probably get a refurbished notebook if you do that. Return could then be best and watch for another good price. OOps, yeah, I agree with Steve, there... exchange means potential for trouble with time lost for getting a refund instead. Once you pass that time you're out of luck and everything is under warranty (and become refurbs). I didn't mean to suggest exchange would be smart at all, just came out that way I guess.   Message Edited by iKlaatu on 05-16-2005 10:55 PM

hermanmonster54 · Answer

Thank you All for you responses !   I'll sneak two more questions:      1) I would like to understand a difference between various Dell's laptop lines,        i.e. Inspirons vs. Latitudes etc. I mean principal differences. Would it be a true statement        that laptops offered for businesses are overall of a better quality and reliability than those offered        for home consumers ?       2) My understanding from your posts and some others that I've read on this forum is that Dell's         laptops are not among the best. My family members owned (and still own) HP laptops and these         seem to be much worse.         Now that's my question: could you please suggest what in your opinion are the top 3 or 4 brands         (criteria: quality and long-term reliability).       Thank you !

jdtice · Answer

That is strange. The only complaint I have about my 600m is the creaking it makes when moving it around. Other than that, it seems to me like you may have gotten a poorly built one and I would have it looked at.

rickmktg · Answer

@hermanmonster5410 wrote:

Hi All,

I would like to hear your opinion on this.

My son has bought me (as a birthday gift) a brand new Inspiron 600m from Dell:

Pentium M 745 1.80GHz, 400MHz

1Gb 266 MHz RAM

80Gb HDD

Intel PRO Wireless 2200

Win XP Home Edition SP2

$1226.42 ( includes tax and shipping)

One thing that bothers me about this system: when you close the lid (the one with LCD)

it's somehow shaped so that there is a 1/8" gap between the lid and the base. It's wide enough

that I can insert a thin magazin in between. The laptop resembles a car after a head-on collision,

which warped its hood so it does not close nicely. I inspected the lock and there seem to be no way to adjust it to make the lid close without this gap.

Dell's customer service gave me 2 options:

     1) return it with a complete refund (I have to pay for the shipping) and then face the

         arrgavation of going though another purchase

     2) send the system back for repairs (I am not sure it can be repaired at all and I am not that

fascinated to send a 'virgin' system immediately for repairs).

NOW QUESTIONS:

    a) has any of you experienced something like this with your laptop cases ?

    b) am I overreacting and may be the best option is to leave it as is ?

        what's your opinion on how to deal with this ?

    c) do you think the price of $1226 for this system is a good deal ?

Thank you in advance !

HM5410.

P.S. I am more inclined to return this system. When I tried to speak with Dell's

salespeople about purchasing an identical system they could offer me a price

$130 more than what my son payed for it a month ago.

Dell's customer service is an aggravation: poor voice over IP with India, only one in 3 calls succeeds (two others get disconnected in the middle of a conversation). On-line chat with tech support

frequently disconnects (I have an almost perfect cable modem service at home).

I own a 600m and the gap is a result of the rubber bumpers on the top lid if you look carefully. This allows the keyboard to NOT rub on the LCD as did my I8100. Therefore, it's a good thing.

Shame on you for trying to see if your son got a good deal, and trading it in for a better deal... :smileyvery-happy: He would never do that with a gift you gave him, would he?

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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