700m or 8600?

Hello. I'm debating whether to purchase the 700m, or the 8600. I'm looking for some mobility, plus some power. I heard the 700m's video card is awful. I don't play games, will probably use it just for dvd viewing. Would the 700m be good for that? Also, is the 8600 pretty immobile? Any thoughts would be helpful in determining which one to get.

Thanks.

 

I'll cast a vote for the 8600; just got mine last week and I am very happy with it. The 1.6 M is plenty fast. I love the 15.4 widescreen SXGA display, which is bright and crisp...I do set the fonts to display at 120 dpi instead of 96 dpi, and at the office i hook up to a 19" CRT, but the SXGA is a good compromise between the XGA and UXGA displays.

I got the $500 coupon from about 2 weeks ago; the one they have on now is even better cause you only have to spend 1399 to get it. Whichever you decide, you might want to get in while the getting is good!

I am not put off by the size / weight of the 8600, but in fairness, my last lappy was pIII desktop replacement that weighed in at 7.5 lbs. My 8600 weighs just under that i believe. I certainly would not consider it immobile - I take mine from home to office and back every day.

Good luck

 

For your needs, I think the 700m would be a better fit. Get the extended battery because the regular battery is horrible, only 2 hours of battery life.

 

For your uses, the 700m is nice, but the 8600 is nice too. Go for the one thats cheaper, but for your uses the 700m should do you wonders. You are right, games and the 700m's graphics card is like water and oil...but they should do good for DVDs. Its up to you.

 

a good friend of mine has the 8600 and my roommate has the 700.

if you haven't seen the 700 in person, be forewarned that the screen is pretty small. i've been using an i2100 for 3 years now, but even i was surprised at the 700's screen size. as well, because its footprint is so small, the keyboard is smaller than 100%, i think 90% (similar to the i2100, note that i got used to the smaller keyboard pretty quickly).

the 8600 has a larger footprint and a larger screen, but i'd still consider it definitely portable (for example; my friend keeps hers on the dining table at her house and it gets moved around a lot; nobody ever says "this thing's a brick" or such).

other things you may want to consider:

1. the 700 represents dell's forthcoming design scheme (silver/white) and has things like a built in card reader. the 8600-type design (blue/grey) is being phased out as dell releases new models and may seem dated in form and function by comparison.

2. the max res on the 700 will be wxga (1280x800). if you want more, such as wsxga (1680x1050) or greater (19x12), you'll want the 8600.

 

I don't know what your budget is, but I think you'd be happier with this:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=34-110-134&depa=3

Fujitsu has much better qaulity, durability and service than Dell. I had a 700m. It felt bargain and the keybaord flexed a lot. I sent it back. Good Luck.





I know things, things that could get me killed

 

Thanks for everybody's input, it is very helpful. I've read that Dell came out with the 6000 and is coming out with the 9300. I think the 9300 is a little big for my purposes, but how would the 6000 be compared to the 700m or the 8600?

Thanks.

 

If you can afford it, the 6000 would be much better than the 700m, mainly because it has the new Sonoma, so you can do more with it, and it has the same screen as the 8600, but still has the less expensive, good for movies but bad for games, integrated card, so its like a 8600/700m combo. Just make sure you can afford it, it can be quite pricey if you want a P-M type.

 

Hmm, interesting. Now I think I've changed my opinions, I'm between the 700m and the 6000. Should I wait for more reviews on the 6000, or wait for them to get all the bugs out? Does anybody have the 6000 yet?

 

If you can wait a week or two from now before making your decision, Abaxter got a 6000, he said it was supposed to come on the 2nd or something like that (Feb.).