I don't own one, but my friend does. I borrowed it for a week, so I know how it performs. It was a PIII 800mhz Inspiron 4000. I would have to say, I was very impressed with its performance (especially when it uses the a/c adapter instead of the battery--as you know, the CPU goes into speed-step technology by lowering the CPU clock speed when it goes into battery mode.) I also really love the sharp screen of the 4000 Inspiron. The dual pointing devices are also a plus. Overall, I would have to say it performs equally well compared to a pIII 650-800mhz desktop.
Yes, I have also read in some recent articles that the services hasn't been so great lately. If that is a real concern for you, maybe you should look elsewhere.
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