Dell Inspiron 5100 (5100RS3) PC Notebook

Pros: Much value for price. Fast, big screen and great tech support package.
Cons: No non-USB ports. Not built for rugged usage. Need USB port hub.

In the course of my work I review several laptops and computers on a regular basis, most of which are average to above average, but this laptop is perhaps the finest system I've encountered to date. Let me expound upon that thought: Evaluating a Dell p ...

Pros: Readily available parts, reliable hard drive, beautiful LCD screen
Cons: Hard drive is noisy and the CD-RW/DVD drive door opens too easily and without notice!

Love the on-board CD-RW/DVD player, easy access side mic/headphone jacks, port to hookup to a TV f or live presentations and 2 USB jacks! , hate all the problems I have had ! The CD-RW/DVD player has been great, but noisy and the door opens when I ...

Pros: Great display, responsive glidepoint, battery life, DVD drive great
Cons: Heavy, initial trouble with wireless, CD drive spotty

We needed a new laptop for our staff members that travel. It's been quite a workhorse for us on the road and in the office. If weight is a deal-breaker you might look elsewhere.

Since several people might use it in unknown locations I opted for the built-in Broadcom wireless option. This gave us some trouble initially because it would take a long time to hook up with our Linksys wireless router. I finally found a forum post that offer a couple of suggestions that cured the trouble.

The only other complaint we've had is transferring large amounts of data from CD. The combo CD burner/DVD drive seems to play DVDs or burn CDs with no problem whatsoever- but reading large files from CD will sometimes fail.