Well, I just ordered the 700m from Dell. My company has an EPP with them, and they were offering an additional $750 off the price of the computer (over $1499) plus the EPP discount and reduced shipping. After configuring I ended up at $1502. 1.8Ghz, 512MB RAM, DVD burner, an extended warranty, etc. In the end, including shipping, taxes, etc. I'm paying $809. I can live with that.

I like the ThinkPads...but I just can't see paying the premium price on something that in the end works exactly the same. An X4x of similar spec would have run $1700-$2000. No way can I justify that.

I saw that $750 off coupon (I can also can use an EPP, although most online rebate sites give more money back than the EPP discount) and almost used it. Dell seems to be having those somewhat regularly now (every couple of months). Decided not to because I don't need one just now (my Gateway works just fine, and I do want to wait for the new Windows, assuming it isn't delayed again) and Dell now has the habit of adding all these little charges. Only a 90 day warranty, charging for restore CDs (the first thing I do when I get a computer is reformat, partition the HD, and only install the stuff I want on the HD), and their handling charge (although I still would have come out with like a $675 discount).

It's been a while since I've had an IBM, but I don't think they're worth the premium. With most electronics (and computers), they either work or they don't. Sometimes a crap part will slip through but a one year warranty should catch it (provided you know what you're looking for). My parents have an emachines since 1999. Thing still works wonderfully (although I did make them reformat and install a firewall two years ago).

I'm with you acregal...as soon as it arrives the drive will be scrubbed, reinstalled and imaged. Too much extraneous crap loaded on PCs coming from manufacturers these days...I wish you could order them with a bare drive.

I have a 12 in Mac Powerbook and it is the most reliable machine I have ever worked on. I have yet to have problems exchanging info with PCs either

I really do need to become more tech savvy. I'm happy if it turns on without any problem when I take it out of the box. The thought of scrubbing, reinstalling or imaging is a little bit intimidating to me.

I agree. Next to my previous dual USB iBook, my 12" PB G4 is my favorite notebook. I also run VPC for the time I need to run Windoze specific programs from work at home.

I own a 700m too but I didn't think its battery lasted as long as 5 hours. 3 hours at the most. Could I have been charging it wrongly? Running at 1.8Ghz, 512MB and only a mere 30GB, I paid close to an equivalence of $1300. :eek:

Oh well, I drool over another good, lightweight, travel-friendly laptop though. The Sony Vaio T27 at about 10.6 inch screen.

Do you have the standard battery or the 8 cell battery? The two 700m's I configured for my inlaws have the 60GB drive, DVD burner and the 8 cell battery.

I have the 8 cell battery, which is giving me the 5 hours. That was one of the minimum things I wanted in a new laptop, as my last one got about 2 hours battery life.

Ahh, so that was where the problem is. Mine is a standard battery, I would think. Perhaps when the battery life is about to go, I will get the 8-cell.

i agree!! its a great little machine

Lance Armstrong
 

The new super-notebooks are the LiveStrong line of notebooks from HP/Compaq. With the 12 cell battery, they weigh 5.4 lbs, last 7 hrs (3.5 playing a DVD) and are the fastest things I have ever seen under $1400.

As a former MS employee, and a current owner of a Computer Consulting company. I am constantly evaluating new technologies for my cleints. I can't reccommend this thing enough. (A great configuration is avail from CompUsa for $1399 - $150 rebate)

Extra benefit, add the 2lb Valence NchargeII (external battery, with the expansion pack (1lb) and you wind up with almost 40hrs of battery life.

I just got a Toshiba Satellite M55S135 Widescreen Notebook a few days ago. So far I like it a lot. It was 550$ after a large rebate. It's got a 14" LCD Screen, 80 Gigs on the hard drive, 1-2 hour batterie (buy a better one for flights), and it is considerably lighter than other laptops i've used. One can get it from Circut City or Office Depot.

one more vote here for the Fujitsu lifebook P7010D. I was shocked at how much faster it was than my old notebook with the same amount of RAM (512mb). and the screen is great. but most important for me is the keyboard, and I really like it. (the keyboard on the fujitsu p2010 however, SUCKED)

Thank you Dell!!!

My new 700m arrived Wednesday evening. I'm in the process of reloading the OS (I can't stand all the crap Dell loads onto these things), installing my necessary software and imaging the drive. So far, I absolutely love this thing. Super light, great screen. I've read some complaints about the size of some of the keys on the keyboard (trying to keep it small they shrunk some keys down) but I've got nothing bad to say about it...it works for me. I can't believe that all-in I only paid $800. That's a steal.

It's actually funny when I pick up my "work" laptop and then my new one.