Great Workhorse (But Outclassed)

Dell's XPI CD is my favorite laptop of all times. However it's not as nimble as it would like to be any more. So unfortunately there's only reason to keep this baby around: if you want the easiest typing experience available in a laptop.



== The Good ==

The trackball in this machine is by far the best pointing device I've ever used. You can drag/click and drag/right-click across the whole screen without contorting your hands or wrists into carpal tunnel syndrome candidates.



The keyboard is good very good - good action on the keys tactile feedback and relatively easy to clean.



It's wonderfully solid. I dropped mine any number of times without suffering screen keyboard or other problems.



== The Bad ==

At 166 MHz and 64 MB max RAM it's not suitable for anything past Win98 (I recommend the most recent Win95 if you have disks).



The optical drive is read only (no burning) and is painfully slow compared ot more recent versions.



2.1 GB of storage doesn't leave room for much (this will not be your MP3 storage device).



For modern internet you'll also need some type of PC Card ($40-100) and there's no USB built-in.



== The Ugly ==

As much as I love this machine it's not worth more than $50 in my opinion. You can get a 30 gig iPod for $250 which will allow you to store more pictures music and even software files. If you're willing to part with $400 you can get a Vista-ready laptop that's lighter speedier and more versatile.



== Conclusion ==

There is one overwhelming reason to buy the XPI: for the trackball. If you can't deal with trackpads this is the machine for you. If you only need the machine to write the great American novel while you're at the beach... and you don't need to logon to the net you'll be fine with the anemic features. (Make sure you have a home computer that you can synch up with often to keep this machine from being too cluttered.)



== [A note about Dell] ==

I have bought about 8 Dell machines over the years (for myself or as gifts). I've never experienced significant problems except for the first machine which was a nightmare (the Texas-based tech support misdiagnosed the problem on the first call and it took a half-dozen calls and about 30 hours of my time to get it right). However the company recognized they had sold me a lemon and eventually replaced the machine with a faster version with more memory upgraded the hard- and optical-drives.More detail ...

good value

It has served me well the few weeks I have had it now. The wi-fi is keeping me connected as I'm typing this from a hotel room. The processor is nice and fast. There are four high-speed USB connections. The unit is solidly built (perhaps a mite heavy).



My only criticisms are as follows:



The screen resolution doesn't look quite as sharp as on my desktop monitor. I'd say maybe 85% as sharp so it's usually barely noticeable. The other thing is that the soundcard doesn't have all the mixer capabilities you might expect to find in a desktop. I don't know if this is common in laptops and I sort of stumbled upon the issue. But I got around it by purchasing an external mixer from the Guitar Center.



I initially intended it only as a travel companion but have since begun using it in my recording studio (with Cakewalk Music Creator). Oh and to play SimCity (which doesn't work on Vista!) All in all I am quite satisfied with it.



The seller shipped it out immediately and it arrived by FedEx or UPS (I forget which) in a matter of days (two or three as I recall -- it was quick).More detail ...

Non-transerrable XP License

I bought one of these laptops two months ago. It has been working just fine. Today Microsoft told me that the license is not valid. It has a valid certificate of authenticity on the back but does not have a second "refurbished" CoA. When I look at the internal System Properties/General tab it says "XP Corporate" which means it was covered under a volume/site license which can not be transferred or sold. I will probably have to buy a fresh copy of XP ($150) and re-install.



Before I made the order I checked to see that the advertisement specified "Genuine Windows XP". I also checked the CoA when it arrived. When the Microsoft updater offered to run "Genuine Advantage" to check the authenticity I confidently thought "sure go right ahead." Now every time I restart I get a big message that says I am a victim of software piracy. I expect the operating system will eventually simply stop running.More detail ...

NC6000

Clean and no scratches for refurbished unit. Operates as expected however battery life was less than one hour.It would be helpful if unit came with a little written literature a manual or something. Overall I feel it was a good value for the price paid.More detail ...