Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
"Kevin" <bastian@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:d41bd6$b4p$1@gondor.sdsu.edu...
> Tom Scales <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote:
>
>> "Kevin" <bastian@nowhere.com> wrote in message
>> news:d416k0$9vi$1@gondor.sdsu.edu...
>>> Harvey Gratt <hgratt@comcast.net> wrote:
>>>> I'm considering buying a D800. Any feedback with respect to runtime on
>>>> battery would be appreciated. Also any comments on performance and/or
>>>> reliability.
>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Harvey
>>>
>>> 1.6Ghz Pentium M with the 1920x1600 WXUGA 15.1" screen.
>>>
>>> Battery life is good. I generally get about three hours to a charge.
>>> Do NOT buy the 1920x1600 screen. The display is terrific but the
>>> eyestrain is terrible.
>>>
>>> Reliability is alright. The case has a few squeeky parts after a year
>>> and a half inside a backpack / on campus. The chassis looks like it
>>> is make of metal. It's paint in many places. The AC brick is the only
>>> part I replaced to date (warranty).
>>>
>>> Small nitpick: Dell used thermal labels for the underside spec
>>> stickers. The heat generated by the laptop has turned them all
>>> an uneven shade of gray. The service sticker and XP sticker
>>> survived.
>>>
>>> BTW, the only other mfr I would consider is IBM.
>>>
>
>> If they eyestrain is horrible, then you have not properly set it up for
>> your
>> needs. Don't give up on it just because you don't know how to configure
>> XP
>
> Well, first, you excel at giving random uninformed advice typically
> stolen off the web. I hope no one actually listens to you. Because,
> I'm 99.999% sure you haven't even seen a D800 at 1920x1600.
>
> As I said, I've used/owned my laptop for about 18 months. The fonts are
> way too small to read comfortably. If the fix is to magnify everything
> on the screen, what's the point??
>
> 150% sized fonts are better. But this does nothing to fix images.
> A good number of dialog boxes (Microsoft and third party) are designed
> around 100% sized fonts. Using 150% fonts make the dialog boxes draw
> incorrectly: wrapping text, overwriting text, and in some cases,
> pushing windows buttons off the dialog window. Run your system like
> this for a month and report back Skippy.
>
> Dell includes a utility to resize both the fonts and the graphics.
> Unfortunately, it dithers the graphics and it does so horrifically.
> It looks and feels like Windows 3.1. And the same issues mentioned
> above still apply (as this utility depends on Windows to resize
> the font).
>
> A few web browsers have zoom features. It doesn't help the overall
> system software obviously. If surfing the web is a full-time job,
> no problem. This will solve a lot of the issues. But few D800
> buyers are looking for a surfing machine.
>
> None of this addresses the issue of alternate operating systems of
> course. Windows 2000, Longhorn Beta, FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris
> will all have there issues. That's left as an exercise for you,
> dickhead.
>
Ah, yes, name calling makes me understand well. Perhaps I was a bit harsh,
but your response was over the top.
But what can I expect from someone that uses language like that