You can see from the Cnet rating on the Dell 600M that is is rated lower than the Dell 8600 which has the 15.4" widescreen and weighs 6.9 pounds. If you do decide to move up to the 15.4" widescreen (great for widescreen DVD's, wider viewing angle of the LCD from the sides, and the ability to see more of an Excel spreadsheet (more vertical rows can be displayed) then I recommend the Toshiba M35 series at 6.2 pounds or the Compaq X1000 series/ HPZT3000 series (same makeup) for 6.5 pounds.
Note, the 705 Pentium M CPU you have selected is the older 1mb L2 cache Pentium M. Choose the 715 Pentium M 1.5 (which Dell or HP don't sell) or higher (choose 725 Pentium M 1.6) to get 2mb L2 system cache (double) for only a bit more (if ordering custom only about $50 more).
The Dell 8600, Compaq X1000, and HPZT3000 all have 8.0 (recommended) or higher ratings and have the Pentium M for 3.5-4 hours of battery life using wi-fi.
The drawback to the Dell 8600 is it is heavier (and thicker) and its keyboard feel does not measure up to the Compaq X1000/HPZT3000.
Note: HP/Compaq has a $100 mail in rebate right now on all custom order notebooks through 9/1/04.
Check out the Dell and Toshiba offers on their websites.
Also, you can get a student discount in addition the rebate through HP/Compaq APP program (if going to college).
All of these will fit in a 15" Targus or equivalant student notebook backpack with no problem.
See X1000forums.com for discounts and best specifications to save money on those machines (like ordering 256mb RAM and getting more yourself later) and see notebookforums.com for Toshiba and HP.
Also, there are user reviews of each notebook listed above at Cnet along with the editor review (click user review tab at top).
32mb dedicated video is adequate but if ordering custom from either Dell, Toshiba, or HP/Compaq (and on some prebuilt machines like HPZT3380, Compaq X1480US or Toshiba M35S456 at Circuit City) you can get 64mb of dedicated video --and you can not upgrade this later so the $50 upgrade cost on a custom HP/Compaq is very little to pay for that).
With the student APP discount and $100 custom rebate you should be able to get a Pentium M cpu notebook with the other specs you listed (and higher 64mb video) for under $1500 after discounts easily.
I'm going off to school next weekend and I wanted a laptop. My main concerns were that i wanted a light weight computer which I could do my work on, and maybe watch a dvd every now and then on. Dell has a good deal going on these so I was wondering if it was any good.
Stats
Intel centrino Mobile techno
intel pentium M processor 705
1.50 ghz, 1mb cache, 400mhz fsb
14.1 in xga tft display
512mb ddr sdram
40gb hard drive
24x cd burner/dvd combo drive
32mb ddr ati's mobility radeon 9000 agp 4x graphics card
intel pro wireless 2200 internal wireless card(802.11b/g)
I don't plan on playing games on it besides maybe rollercoaster tycoon or maybe the sims. Besides that I just need something solid that I can take to class with me and thats dependable to play music and dvds.

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