It Comes In Purple!?
Written: Jan 23 '00 (Updated Jan 26 '00)
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Pros: Reliability, build to your own specifications
Cons: May be pricey
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| HoneyBee's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 3700 R500GT |
I couldn't decide whether to place this as a pro-Dell opinion, or an anti-Compaq, but I decided to try and be positive. Speaking of positive, I was positively disapointed with the Compaq Presario 1600 series, of which I purchased, and returned, 3. Almost got myself "blackballed" from J&R music world due to all the shipping and return shipping...
Each time the UPS truck made a highly anticipated delivery of a new Compaq, I would only be in for a great let down. Each of the three Compaq Presarios (two of them were 1690's and one a 1694) arrived with at least three dead pixels, and various other inconveniences including a faulty DVD drive, and random sporadic rebooting. Crazy. As a techie, (well, workin' on that anyway), I was extremely dissapointed, not to mention frustrated. It was certainly the hard way to learn a lesson about Compaq.
When I finally gave up on Compaq, (and J&R Computer world, who still won't reimburse me for shipping. Don't get me started.) I put in a few more hours of research and decided to splurge for the Dell.
I have been nothing but happy, for several months now, (and those who know me know how next-to-impossible that is, ha ha) with my Dell Inspiron 3700. It is quick, precisely what I ordered, and the "tahoe blue" sure looks a lot like purple to me, which makes it extra neat (hope that doesn't sound _too_ much like an imac user...). The customer service is exquisite, the coverage plans are extensive and fair, and the free color printer I received with my order was a marvelous addition (my kitten loves it too, can't keep his little nose out of there. That's actually the reason I needed a new printer in the first place, come to think of it). Also, regarding the printer, Dell began offering the HP DeskJet 610CL add-on two days after I made my notebook purchase, but when I later spoke to someone in Customer Service, they happily included me in on the deal. They were super nice about it. We had a good laugh about the little kitten nose thing.
If pressed to think of "cons", two would jump to mind after several minutes of thought (the preceeding was not a hypothetical situation). One, the modem hooks up to the phone line by annoying means, a sensitive cable jutting out of the left side of the keyboard. Two, since Dell is constructing the computer for you personally, it can definitely take a lot longer to have it assembled than to go down to your neighborhood CompUSA; for example, I placed my order around thanksgiving and wound up getting caught up in a string of non-delivery days. Just my luck!
Also, it's not the lightest of laptops available on the market these days, but it is, by no means, heavy.
Bottom line; if you are looking at laptops, look no farthur than Dell. In the end, they are the best bang for the buck.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2200(ish)
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 401-500
RAM: 64
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 12
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Epinions.com ID:
HoneyBee
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Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 25 members
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