I had some difficulty ordering my 700m from Dell this past weekend. I saw a deal on Slick Deals for $700 off $1699 on Inspiron laptops, so I started pricing some. I was looking to buy a Dell 700m used for about $950 without the specs that I want, expecting to upgrade.

So I tried to use the coupon and they said it expired by the time I was ready to check out. So I corresponded with Small Business representatives, and they worked it out so that I could get the coupon applied to my order (very nice).

So the following are the specs I got with the Dell Inspiron 700m:
Intel Pentium M Processor 755 – 2GHz/400MHz FSB
12.1″ WXGA
256MB RAM
40GB HDD (4200rpm assumed)
24X DVD/CD-RW combo
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 for 802.11b/g
65WHr 8-cell Lithium Ion Battery
3 year Economy Plan Warranty

Regular Price: $1817.00
With coupon: $1117.00
Shipping: $0.00 (thanks Dell representative )
Tax: $60.29
Total: $1177.29

Expected ship date: 6/15/2005 (meh)

I plan to order 2 1GB RAM sticks to put the total up to 2GB instead of 256MB.

I’ll likely use the adding memory section of the 700m Service Manual to do this.

I found a good review of the 700m with pictures at osnn.net.

Summary – Pros/Cons:
+ Small, light and very portable
+ Beautiful design
+ Latest Pentium-M “Dothan” CPU
+ Widescreen, reflective display
+ Modular Dual-layer DVD burner
+ Outer case and keyboard feel strong and solid
+ Great battery life with 65WHr battery
+ IEEE1394/Firewire port

- Keys might feel small at first
- Weak graphics chipset: not for gamers!
- No internal Bluetooth/IrDA option

I don’t expect I will attempt to use it for gaming.

I look forward to getting this laptop .

Edit 6/29:
I have written a review of this laptop. You can find it here.

I really want one.

My current laptop is way too hot and broken… I need a new, light-weight (4lb or less compared to 12lb or more), small (12″ compared to 15″), long battery life (5+ hours compared to less than 2 hours) laptop.

I don’t care about being able to play games, that’s what my desktop is for. This is just for work and that which would qualify as “other”.

I’m really considering getting it. I can get a decent one for hopefully around $1,000.

Edit 6/29:
I have purchased this laptop and written a review. You can find the review here.

I have scheduled the following classes for Fall, 2005.

CS421 – Artificial Intelligence – 3 credits
CS443 – Computer Vision – 3 credits
CS480 – Senior Design Project Preparation – 3 credits
CS441 – Software Engineering – 3 credits
CS451 – Theory of Computation – 3 credits

Where I will most likely add
CS490 – Directed Study: Game Theory – 3 credits
It is pending the instructor’s approval and paperwork.

I may drop CS443 and take CS490 instead, or I might keep them both. I’ll see after a few days in class .

This semester was a very interesting one for me. It all started great, then I decided to add Networking, putting me up to 19 credits. Then a few weeks later I decided to drop it because the class was very homework-intensive and I didn’t have the time nor energy to work on it. I might re-try it this next year. About a month and a half after that (the last day to drop classes), I decided that this whole Math double major thing wasn’t working out for me, so I made my final revision of not only my Spring semester, but also the remainder of my 4 year plan.

So I started out 16 credits, then went 19 (had to get the Dean’s approval), then dropped back down to 16, then finally down to 13. It was getting really hard for me to concentrate as the semester neared its end. I put in too much effort at the beginning and as a result I was burned out much quicker than I usually am. Ne’ertheless, here are my grades.

CS 352: Programming Languages 3 credits A-
CS 392: Advanced Programming Techniques 1 credit A
CS 452: Compiler Design 3 credits B-
MTH 345: Number Theory 3 credits B+
MTH 404: Complex Variables 3 credits B

And lets not forget the classes I “potentially” took
CS 445: Networks & Internetworking 3 credits W
MTH 402: Real Analysis II 3 credits W

Where the big fat W stands for withdrawal.
This semester: 13 credits, 3.24 GPA.
Overall thus far: 120.33 credits, 3.44 cumulative GPA.