Dell Inspiron e1405 and Inspiron 640m Review (pics, specs)

by Kevin Giberson

The Dell Inspiron e1405, a recently released portable notebook that includes the relatively new Intel Core Duo CPU, seems designed for those who value a combination of significant processing power and portability but don't want to spend a lot of money to get it. This model, also named the Inspiron 640m on Dell's Small Business website, replaces the non-business XPS M140 (which, by the way, was named the Inspiron 630m when sold as a business model), and its primary advantage over its predecessor is the dual core option. Like the Inspiron e1705, a large desktop replacement notebook that I recently purchased and reviewed, and the Inspiron e1505, a mid-size entertainment notebook, the e1405 can be configured with a glossy screen and comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition, which includes a host of entertainment and multimedia features that appear to target those who desire a computer that will readily and capably handle the ever-increasing entertainment possibilities of our world. One significant difference between the e1405 and its older and larger siblings is the absence of a dedicated graphics option that would allow for intensive gaming. But you can't have everything, including portability, for a mere seven or eight hundred dollars, which is about what a well-configured e1405 will cost you if you're careful about your purchase and do a little preliminary research.

Dell Inspiron e1405 (view large image)

Dell Inspiron e1405 Specs:

• Processor: Intel Yonah Core Duo T2300 (1.66 GHz/2MB L2 Cache)
• OS: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Hard Drive: 80 GB SATA @ 5400RPM (manufactured by Hitachi)
• Screen: 14.1" WXGA+ UltaSharp Widescreen with TrueLife (1440 x 900)
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• RAM: 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM @533 MHz (2 x 512MB)
• Optical Drive: 24x CD-RW/DVD-ROM
• Battery: 6-cell lithium ion
• Wireless: Dell 1390 Mini Card 802.11 b/g (54 Mbps)
• Weight: 5.3 lbs
• Dimensions: 1.5" (H) x 13 " (W) x 9.6" (D)
• Ports/Slots: 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire), 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0), 5-in-1 removable memory card reader, VGA monitor out port, S-video out, RJ-45 Ethernet LAN, RJ-11 modem, ExpressCard 54mm, headphone/speaker jack, microphone connector

Reasons for Buying (if you're buying)

Actually, I didn't buy this laptop; it is a review model. But as noted, I did recently buy an e1705, and will therefore be viewing this e1405 within that context, paying particular attention to portability, an area in which the e1705 is decidedly lacking, and performance, where the e1705 really shines. And although I have no plans to buy an e1405, I often recommend notebooks to friends and family. As I use the e1405 I find myself wondering whether it would be a good option for them. I would definitely recommend this notebook if someone were to say the following:

"I want a notebook that's pretty easy to carry around and can even be used on a plane. I'm on a tight budget and don't want to pay more than eight hundred dollars or so, but I really don't want to sacrifice performance. I have no plans to play the latest games, but I want good multimedia capabilities and a pretty high resolution. I'd also like it to be sturdy."

The key here is the price; which is, admittedly, what often enhances the appeal of Dell notebooks. In the case of the above-stated requirements, I consider the e1405 to be an excellent choice now that I've tested it fairly thoroughly with particular emphasis on word processing, audiovisual performance and the Internet.

Initial Impressions

Several things struck me when I first looked at the e1405 and picked it up:

1. It was very tiny when compared to the e1705 but otherwise looked very much like it, playing Mini-Me to the e1705;
2. It felt solid;
3. Although fairly small and light, it wasn't exactly thin; and
4. The silver with white trim looked pretty good in a smaller package.

To elucidate, I found, and still find, the e1705 to be somewhat bold and garish in appearance, and though this is of no particular concern, the e1405, being so much smaller, simply looks more tasteful to me. Now for the thickness: I was reacting to the difference between the e1405 and an IBM ThinkPad T40 I had previously used as my primary computer. In the end, however, the e1405 is not all that thick, and its weight is comparable to that of the T40. There is something visually appealing about a very thin notebook, but in practical terms, a half inch or so doesn't make that much difference when the overall dimensions and weight are taken into account. On a long plane ride, the real issues are depth and width, not height.

Design and Build

Above view of Inspiron e1405 (view large image)

While my favorite notebook design is solid black, the e1405 seems attractive enough, for what that's worth: it doesn't look or feel cheap and it's not screaming for attention, despite making some effort to be visually appealing. More importantly, at least for me, the e1405 is solid, has good hinges, and the plastic of the palm rests and LCD cover feels quite strong. One very minor complaint is that there's a little play in the latches when the notebook is closed: not much, and not enough to affect my overall view of this notebook, but the latches of the e1705 offer no play and provide a very snug fit, which is certainly preferable. Overall, however, fit and finish are good, particularly given the price.

Dell Inspiron e1405 front side (view large image)

Left side view of Dell e1405 (view large image)

Right side view of Dell e1405 (view large image)

Back side view of Dell e1405 (view large image)

The Screen

Dell Inspiron e1405 screen (view large image)

The TrueLife glossy screen is well beyond adequate: bright, sharp, and easy to work with at the native resolution of 1440x900. I definitely wouldn't want to go any higher than this resolution on a 14-inch screen, but I'm surprised that I don't find myself wanting to go lower.

e1405 Screen (view large image)

Yes, the screen is a tad shiny, and if you set your Windows desktop to black, you can use the LCD to help you comb your hair, floss, brush your teeth or put on makeup, But more and more notebook sellers are limiting the availability of matte screens in their non-business lines, and whether it's called BrightView, XBRITE, TruBrite or, in this particular case, TrueLife, the glossy option does make for very nice video. Moreover, everything on the screen appears sharp and well defined. I chose the matte display for the e1705, but now see that the TrueLife LCD would have been fine too, had it been available at a lower resolution than 1920x1200. As it stands, watching a movie on the e1405 is a real pleasure, nicer, really, than watching one on the e1705, despite the bigger screen of the latter, provided the lighting doesn't cause excessive glare and reflection.

Small amount of light leakage displayed on the e1405 (view large image)

Because a number of purchasers of the e1405 have complained in this sites forums of excessive light leakage, I thought I should address this issue and therefore devoted some time to unearthing the problem in this particular machine, both with the naked eye and the digital camera. Waiting patiently for nightfall to come, I turned off all the lights, got rid of the Windows Taskbar, and looked as closely as I could at the screen, then took scads of digital pictures. At the risk of appearing to be a sensory dullard, I must say that at first I could really see no problem when using eyesight alone, though the camera did reveal light leakage at the base of the LCD. Subsequently there were occasions when I noticed some leakage, but only when the background was dark or when I used Dead Pixel Buddy to set the screen to black. Having said all that, I should add that during my actual use of this notebook, I never once noticed a problem. Of course, others may well be more sensitive to light leakage than I am, and certain screen configurations might be more affected.

Dell e1405 Screen on the left compared to e1705 on the right (view large image)

Graphics

The Intel GMA 950 graphics have performed without a hitch and will apparently run the more graphics-intensive features of Windows Vista when it finally becomes available. Having now used GMA 950 for the first time, the only caveat I can think of is this: Don't expect the e1405 to run the latest high-powered games. Which really isn't much of a caveat at all, given the adequacy of the GMA 950 for watching movies, surfing the Internet, general office work, etc.

Sound

Despite a somewhat tinny quality and limited bass, which is to be expected from notebook speakers, the audio is decent: loud and clear enough to watch a movie or listen to music without headphones, as long as there isn't a lot of background noise. As I've found to be the case with every notebook I've ever used, even inexpensive headphones improve the sound considerably.

Processor and Performance

For anyone who has ever tried to run several demanding programs at once, the Intel Core Duo is a real treat, and this T2300, which at 1.66 GHz is the slowest of the T2XXX Yonah series, performs exceedingly well and seems to offer very little trade-off when compared to the 2.0 GHz CPU in my e1705. I continue to be amazed by what two cores will get you, though it makes perfect sense that they will handle multiple applications much better than a single-core CPU. As with the T2500, I tested this T2300 by running several programs at once, including a virus scan and Super PI to 32 million digits. With these fairly demanding applications running, I still managed to watch a DVD and open several Internet Explorer windows, together with OpenOffice.org Writer, and everything ran quite smoothly. Because purchasing a Dell computer invariably involves a very careful selection of components, if price is any concern at all, I would now find it easy to suggest the selection of the Yonah T2300, rather than one of the higher priced Core Duo CPUs; it performs exceptionally well and the premium paid to get a T2400 or higher may be better spent elsewhere, on an upgraded warranty, for instance. Or simply save the money.

Benchmarks

I have now gotten fantastic Super PI results (running pi out to the standard 2 million digits) from two separate Dells using Yonah CPUs:

Super Pi Results:

Below are the Super Pi result calculations for crunching the numbers on 2-million digits of accuracy for Pi:

Notebook	Time
Dell Inspiron e1405 (1.66 GHz Intel T2300)	1m 22s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Intel T2500)	1m 12s
Sony VAIO FS680 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 53s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
IBM ThinkPad Z60m(2.0 GHz Pentium M)	1m 36s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000(1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
Asus V6Va(Pentium M 1.86 GHz)	1m 46s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s

While the 3DMark05 results are indicative of this notebook's gaming limitations, the integrated GMA 950 should be fine for most uses:

3DMark05:

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Dell Inspiron e1405 (1.66 GHz Intel T2300, Intel GMA 950)	5693DMarks
Apple MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB	2866 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Intel T2500, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
ThinkPadT43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics)	727 3DMarks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410(1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,2733DMarks
HP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)	2,536 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi(2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,157 3DMarks

PCMark04 yielded 4370 PCMarks overall, with the T2300 performing very well, and not too far off the T2500, in all but the graphics-based tests, where the x1400 of the e1705 was bound to do considerably better than the integrated GMA 950. Compared to a single-core Pentium M running at a comparable speed, the multithreaded results were roughly double, attesting to the efficiency and performance of the Core Duo:

PCMark04

PCMark05: .

Below is the overall PCMark05 score and comparison to other notebooks:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell Inspiron e1405 (1.66 GHz Intel T2300)	2,879PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410(1.66GHz Core Duo)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60)	5,597PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Panasonic ToughBook T4(Intel 1.20GHz LV)	1,390 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400)	3,646 PCMarks
Toshiba Satellite M70 (Pentium M1.86GHz)	1,877 PCMarks

Below are detailed results for PCMark05

The HD Tune performance results of this 80 GB Hitachi drive are slightly better than the 100 GB Toshiba drive in the e1705, and overall performance seems to fit well with the e1405 taken as a whole:

(view large image)

Keyboard and Touchpad

Keyboard and touchpad view of e1405 (view large image)

Although I prefer the keyboard of the e1705, which seems almost as good as that of the ThinkPad T40, the e1405's keyboard is fine, if a little noisier than the other two. I can't possibly count the number of different keyboards I've used over the years, but each one takes a little getting used to, and the keyboard of the e1405 is no exception. Nonetheless, the feel is good and the noise really is minimal. If pressed to compare this keyboard to the countless others I've used, I'd say it ranks in the 90th percentile in terms of comfort and usability. The touchpad is also responsive and easy to work with, though I doubt I'll ever prefer a touchpad in place of the pointing stick of the T40. But just like matte screens, pointing sticks are becoming increasingly difficult to find in consumer-oriented notebooks.

Battery Life

I consistently got just over 3 hours out of the 6-cell battery. This rate of discharge seemed a little disappointing, but during these 3-hour periods I was frequently accessing the hard drive and always running the LCD at maximum brightness, with the wireless card enabled as well. With lighter use, the battery lasted for a little more than 4 hours, though the wireless card was still turned on. I find that power savings features are largely a matter of personal preference and tolerance, as well as usage, so some people will undoubtedly be able to squeeze a little more time out of the battery, while others will get less.

Heat and Noise

The e1405 ran quite cool, much cooler than the bigger and bolder e1705. When I did use this notebook on my lap, I could feel the warmth, but only a little, and never to the point of discomfort. The palm rests stayed relatively cool too. This computer is also very quiet. The fan kicked in a number of times, and I noticed it when it did, but it never seemed to stay on for very long, and even when it was running, it was not loud enough to be a bother, though a noisy computer is one of my pet peeves.

Wireless

The Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini Card performed well, though, interestingly, before letting the built-in Dell utility take over management of wireless from Windows, the wireless connection was dropped several times. This has never happened since switching to the Dell utility and I have no idea why the change of wireless management utilities made such a difference. This seems to be a non-issue, really, but is something to keep in mind. I also don't know why the Dell utility was not set to manage the wireless in the first place.

Service and Support

Fortunately there has been no reason to contact Dell tech support about this notebook. Duringthe build stage of the notebookthere was a needed change to the shipping address, this was done via Dell.com onlinechat support and things went smoothly and quickly with that process.

Software

As with the e1705, the first thing I did upon receiving this notebook was to remove all the unwanted, unnecessary software that ships with Inspiron notebooks. And just as before, I simply used "Add or Remove Programs" in the Windows Control Panel, which in my opinion is generally an adequate cleanup. What really matters to me is good, smooth performance and error-free startup and shutdown, which has been the case since I removed all the undesired software, and might also have been the case prior to its removal, though I didn't wait to find out. Also important is ease of use, and I find that between Windows XP Media Center Edition and a few of the included Dell utilities, the e1405 does everything I want it to do without any particular difficulties. For the purpose of writing this review, I installed OpenOffice.org Writer, which, together with the pre-installed software, allowed for a reasonably full business, Internet and audiovisual experience.

Portability

Dell Inspiron e1705 on the left and Dell Inspiron e1405 on the Right (view large image)

As indicated, the e1405 seems like a good choice for those who desire genuine portability without paying a steep premium for that ease of movement. One of the first things that struck me when I received the e1705 was the reality that I would never be able to comfortably use it on a plane, should I someday decide to actually go somewhere when I have vacation. Conversely, as soon as I saw the e1405 under review here, I was struck by the thought that it would do just fine on a plane, in a coffee shop or on smaller desks and tables. While heavier than some notebooks, there is no feeling of heft or awkwardness when moving the e1405 from one place to another, and I know from actual experience that a five-pound notebook travels fairly easily. Going to a smaller screen and a lower weight would improve portability, true, but there would be some real sacrifice in terms of resolution and viewing pleasure, and the cost would either be very high or the components would likely be cheap and outdated.

Conclusion

The main charm of the Inspiron e1405 is that it manages to provide good portability, pleasurable viewing and high performance at a low cost. With this particular model, there were very few flaws, and none of these was sufficient to warn against this notebook. What impressed me most was the display, though I had recently made a decision to go with a lower resolution matte screen when actually purchasing a notebook for myself. I really enjoyed watching a DVD on the e1405 and found the display surprisingly easy to work with during normal usage, too. What strikes me about the e1405 is that it accomplishes so much in a small package and does so at such a low cost. There's no way I would purchase a non-dual-core machine, now that I've used a couple of dual cores, and though some people might think it's worth waiting for 64-bit dual core, for my own purposes I consider two years to be a reasonable life for a computer, and figure 32-bit is good enough for this period, provided multiple applications can be run with speed and efficiency, which the Yonah accomplishes. When looking to purchase a notebook computer, it can be useful to think in two-hundred-dollar increments, I find. While there are notebooks available for five or six hundred dollars, these generally have severe limitations and I wouldn't consider any of them, whereas the e1405, at the next step up on the price ladder, has very few limitations, especially when its portability is factored into the mix.

Pros:

• Excellent performance
• Nicely portable
• Decent build quality
• High but comfortable default resolution
• Bright, sharp display for video and text
• Good price
• Cool and quiet

Cons:

• No dedicated graphics option
• Latches have a little too much play when the screen is closed
• Minor light leakage at the bottom of the LCD
• Not as thin as some of its more expensive competitors
• Some glare and reflection when ambient lighting is strong

Other Reviews by this author:

• Dell Inspiron e1705 Review

 

14" or 13.3" is really the sweetspot for my liking with a notebook. Big enough for easy enough screen viewing, but light enough to carry with ease.

I can't say the e1405 looks sexy in any way, the Inspiron line design with the white trim is getting a little tired and it's time for a refresh IMHO. But, you can't argue with the ridiculously low prices for a Core Duo portable you can get with the e1405 right now. Great laptop for students heading to college next year I would say, and not one that'll break the bank.

Thanks for the review Kevin, just need to add the e1505 to the collection of Inspirons you have there to round out the family!

 

Great review, thanks!

I have question about your system though. You said you didn't buy it, it was a "review system". Does that mean Dell offered it to you for free. If that was the case, is it possible that Dell would offer a better screen for the "review system", in response to all the complaints out there?

The screen looks great in your pictures, though, thanks again!

 

One "Con" you forgot to mention: The UGLIEST Laptop curently in production.

 

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

As for the screen, my understanding is that the notebook was purchased through the normal channels, so I don't think Dell made any special effort to select a problem-free LCD.

Now for the appearance. My definite preference, when it comes to design, is black and businesslike, e.g., the ThinkPad T Series or HP nx9420, but I guess other people like something that stands out a little more, or all notebooks would be black and kind of plain. I wouldn't say I was thrilled with the look of the e1705, but I bought it anyway, just as I might buy an e1405 if I wanted good specs and decent portability without spending too much. But yeah, I too think a little redesign of this Inspiron series wouldn’t hurt.

 

Bravo, Kevin! Great review, and very well written from a mechanical (writing) standpoint. One of the best I have read in some time. Also very focused on the E1405s target audience. And I am making this statement as an established um, errr.. "Dell disliker", so I have no interest in the product being reviewed, per se. It is members like you who help to make NBR the best notebook review and discussion site on the web Thank you!

 

A great and fair review.

I purchased and reluctantly returned an E1405 because of the screen. I got the WXGA matte screen because I didn't think my eyes could handle to higher resolution. If the Truelife option had been available for the WXGA resolution, then I would have gotten it. Unfortunately, my screen had a fair amount of light leakage along the bottom (much worse than the reviewed notebook above), and the screen sharpness/contrast wasn't so great. Also, there was a constant buzzing noise from the screen/lid which varied depending on the brightness setting (a very "unusual problem," according to Dell tech support).

Other than the screen, I was quite satisfied with the notebook. Certainly, it was a great value (i.e., inexpensive).

 

Thanks for the review, was a great read. Awsome pictures of the light leakage. Could you find out what manufacturer makes that screen?

And wow look at that price and Super Pi mark!

Thanks agian,

MysticGolem

 

I coordinated ordering this notebook and having it sent to Kevin, it was purchased as any other person would and Dell had no idea we were doing this, so it's not a screen that's any different to any other person's that would do the ordering!

 

Another excellent review, great job!

 

seems like some people get worse light leakage then others ;/

 

As someone that has just returned an e1405 I agree with pretty much all of your review from the perspective of performance, features, value, appearance and build. My experience was exactly the same as yours right down to the very minor light leakage. I was very happy with this purchase and was more than willing to deal with the minor light leakage until my screen took a significant turn for the worse.

As you folks obviously handle and review many notebooks I would be interested in your perspective on light leakage in general.

- Do you see light leakage on many other manufacturers’ notebooks?

- With Dell, is it more found in the Inspirion vs. Latitude line?

- Is it this type of deficiency/ phenomenon considered acceptable for a mid-tier $800 - $1300 notebook purchase?

Personally I have never experienced light leakage with any notebook or desktop LCD I have owned and/or used before (I have been in the software business for 15 years). And recently I visited Apple, CompUSA and Best Buy stores and could not find this problem on any of the notebooks they had on display (even on the “budget” machines).

In my opinion, the screen is one of the most critical factors in the user interface. I would gladly pay a few more $$$ for a better product/ component. I am not so sure that anyone should have to spend time finding just the right angle, and ignoring what I feel is an obvious deficiency – light leakage; and the resulting loss of detail and contrast in the areas affected.

 

Thanks for the heads up hazel and abaxter!

 

Thanks again for all the comment, everyone. I wanted to mention too, MysticGolem, that I did try to determine the manufacturer of the LCD (which was readily available with the e1705), but just couldn't find it. Sorry I can't be more help with this.

 

Excellent review. I agree with you on most points, except the play in the latches when the notebook is closed really bothers me. Mine may be in fact worse than yours and I'm thinking about having it fixed. I actually ordered two E1405's, one for my friend, & there is actually no issues at all with her notebook when it is closed. It feels very solid.

As for finding out the manufacturer of the LCD, have you tried...
1.) Right click on your desktop
2.) Select "Graphic properties"
3.) Click the "Information" button
4.) Click the "Notebook" Tab
5.) See what it says under "Serial #"

Or entering the Service Tag # on the Dell Support Site?

 

This is probably an incredibly old review but...

Does anyone know if the screen brightness can be adjusted on the e1405? It's a little low when not hooked up to the wall.

 

Good review, I have one question. How would you say the 1405 stands against the XPS M1210. Aside from price, which obviously depending on how you configure, can be quite a bit more....and of course graphics, what do you think? I'm trying to decide between the two, and everyone keeps telling me that quality (even though they seem to have same features when I customize) is much better on the XPS models, as far as build factor (components that Dell puts in, etc...). Would you agree? You may not know, but thought I'd ask.

Thanks,
Stacey

 

Hello,

I have a little question,

I plan to buy a Inspiron 640m
my configuration should be: T2050, memory 1 GB, HD 120 GB,i950 for the video

could it play fluently the HDTV Movies (1080p, 1080i,...) ?

Thank you

 

great writeup you can see mine in my signature. Also my light leakage is much worse then yours. I photographed mine and you can see it here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=73052&page=2

I still think the e1405 is the best bang for the buck, and I dont see it with the naked eye, the light leakage can only be seen with a long exposure time.

edit, I also forgot to say that I bought two of them. My wife needed a new machine too!

 

Good review.

I purchased the e1405 and I must say this little guy/gal is a bursting ball of power. I max'd out my configuration except for the software add-in. First my likes (in order of importance) and second my dislikes.

Likes:
Powerful (2.13GHz/667MHz dual core is significantly powerful enough for all tasks)

Size/Weight/Heat Production (for me its the perfect size and weights next to nothing, also gets barely warm to the touch, except when do something intensive. Dell's heat exchange blows out the left side and when the processor is under heavy loads you definitely can feel the heat being extracted...keep the keyboard and palm rest nice and cool)

Screen (1440x900 is sufficient...wish it had 1680x1050, but oh well; for me the Truelife coating is the only way to go, never again will I go back to a matte screen; mine has significant light leakage across the bottom and it can be distracting but within the first three I come to accept it; greatest feature I found is Dell allows HDTV hookup through a separate adapter (purchased separately) to televisions with component input. Also Intel's GMA 950 has a custom resolution for HDTV's at 720p to remove overscan (but now it underscans)

Styling (I agree with some reviews on the tiredness of the current Inspiron styling, Dell could change some thing up a big, would have been nice to have a integrate camera and microphone on the lid; mine has significant play in the latch when the lid is closed...it concerns me but its under warranty too; this notebook has a much small power brick than previous notebooks...runs really cool too)

Battery Life (with the extended battery and the screen dimmed to minimum I can hit almost 8.5 hours of net surfing any other tasks reduce the battery much faster...I can transcode a full dvd movie to nero recode 2 on one battery charge)

Dislikes:
No DVI/HDMI (all notebooks sold today should include at least one or both of these interfaces along with VGA)

No Quick Snap Lids (I like this little notebook so much I would have been willing to customize it a bit)

Sound (sound and volume are the two areas of the notebook needing improvement...extremely distored and med-low to high volumes)

Overall:
Dell smacked a homerun with little notebook. When you take everything into consideration the only flaws that should keep a person from buying is the light leakage issue. Based on everything I like about the notebook I am will to accept this flaw. This is my second Dell. I like the first but it wasn't a dual core, but a P-M and it had a 17" screen. It ran very hot and was heavy. 14" is great to travel with and the dual core makes this a desktop replacement by adding a 20" widescreen flat panel, USB keyboard/mouse, and external USB hard drive and dvd burner.

 

I have just purchased a 640m; here are some pros and cons:
Pros:
- cost - I surfed relentlessly and this is by far the best performance bang for the buck, by about $300.
- there are really aren't any other pros relative to other top line manufacturers

Cons:
- while looking at the screen from straight dead on (perpendicular to the screen) the screen contrast/saturation is not bad, BUT the screen has a horrible top viewing angle which means that when you are sitting on a plane and you can't tilt the screen back, it will appear very washed out, to the point where you will not be able to read grey on white characters.

- screen glare is absolutely horrible, but there is no other way to get the higher resolution of 1440x900. If you have anything moderately dark on the screen, you will end up seeing yourself rather than the image on the screen. I'm right at the tipping point of returning this because of the screen. If you are using this strictly for business and use it where there are overhead lights, you should probably get the non TrueLife screen.

It is an extremely sad trend right now where the majority of the notebook screens are glossy - some dummy decided to make this horrible invention, and the rest of the dummies out there bought it. Hopefully in a few years manufacturers will realize how poor this is.

- as expected on a Dell (I purchased and then returned an Inspiron 600m 3 years ago), the overall quality is a bit shabby; the machine feels a bit cheap relative to those made by Sony, Toshiba, or Fujitsu, but then, what can you expect for the money?

 

Im about to buy this notebook and i have three questions:

Has anyone tried modding the cover or keyboard surface, because i am going to and want to know if anyone has experience (im thinking black with some logo, i just need to find some non stick paint).

should i choose truebright or not? i dont really want the glare and i dont think the increase in resolution is that great (or is it very noticable)? It would be for better contrast as i work quite a bit with photographs.

Should i get the extended battery? how long will the standard one last and what is the size and mass increase of the extended one.

Great review btw!