Review Update: Dell Inspiron 11z

[mamber-m]

A bit off topic (sorry), but i am still undecided among...

Dell 11z
HP DM1
Acer Timeline 1810tz
Lenovo U150

I don't want larger than 12 inch (I mostly use on the airplane (Economy class!) and even my m1330, U405, and X200 are too big).

If there weren't your article and the touchpad problem, i might have purchased 11z already... I am less confident about the quality of Lenovo and Acer. I am waiting how DM1 turns out. I like the design at least. But I am afraid HP again gives us that ugly big 6 cell battery which stick out.

[Mycanid]

Now I actually LIKE the batteries that lift a notebook (or netbook) up off the table like that, so that wouldn't be a problem for me personally

But the touchpad ... is it just me or is the touchpad one of the more common areas that mainstream producers seem to be slacking on in the realm of smaller notebooks? (Say 10 - 13" screen laptops)It is almost as if they are already assuming that folks will use an external mouse.

That being said I personally do use an external mouse, but sometimes I am not able to and a trackpad is necessary....

Best trackpad I have ever used on a smaller machine is the one of the Sony TX770p ... don't know what Sony did, or if I just got a really stupendous model, but that thing is excellent!

[Aerows]

Originally Posted by Mycanid

But the touchpad ... is it just me or is the touchpad one of the more common areas that mainstream producers seem to be slacking on in the realm of smaller notebooks? (Say 10 - 13" screen laptops)It is almost as if they are already assuming that folks will use an external mouse.

The Acer 1410 is very similar to the Dell 11z. I had one for a few days, but it had a hardware issue that caused me to return it. I had no complaints with it's touchpad, and it was easily as nice as the one in my Sager m400a (yes, I know that's an older laptop, but it has great build quality for all that it is ancient in PC years ). IThe buttons tended to be "clicked" if the edge was rested against one's abdomen, but as far as responsiveness on the touchpad itself, it was very good.

I don't think it's a problem with all manufacturers, this is just a horridly designed touchpad. It's unfortunate, as well. I'm a fan of Dell portables; I own an M1710 and a Dell Axim x51v that still works great, I bought my mother a Vostro 16, and my father an E1705. All of them are great laptops. Lately, however, Dell has not been innovating and producing the types of products I've come to expect from them.

[mamber-m]

It's unfortunate, as well. I'm a fan of Dell portables

Me too! I really want to be convinced with 11z. One of my best laptops ever in my life is Dell 700m. I still love that little baby.

[McDaniel]

nice review; well i was trying to upgrade my laptop & saw a notebook hard drive at micropartsusa, now, is there anything more that i should be care about?

[nlel1975]

I can recommend the Acer 1810tz, I have disabled all of the touchpad gesture features as they are more of an irritation to me then usefull (I have been using laptop trackpads since 2000) and I can wholeheartidly recommend this machine... the CPU scores 4.0 in Windows 7 and a normal 1.66ghz Core 2 Duo notebook chip scores 4.4 so the SU4100 is only 0.4 slower which is fantastic seeing as I get about 6.5 hours web surfing over wifi with the machine (and the battery does not stick out) quality is great only some extremely minor marks were noticed on the machine when brand new... really they are not worth even mentioning I am just nit-picking.

[Serg]

Which on is th 1810tz?? Because there are some Acers that are quite loved...

[mamber-m]

If I remember correctly, it was 1410 in the European market. Maybe some small details were changed.

[ndroo]

I was considering the dell 11z but the trackpad prolems have put me off too much

I think I am going for the Acer 1810tz unless the new 11" HP gets some good reviews

[Serg]

The DM1? Seems to be a good contender and the IdeaPad U150 is already out too.