E1505 first impressions 1657

You can buy the restore CD at the time of purchase for $10 but probably not for that price if I try to get it now. Anyway, as I said, since I imaged the drive before I even booted Windows (that initial setup crap), I'll be able to sell it in exactly the same software state as the first time I turned it on, without the CD, except I'll be able to restore it a lot faster than using the CD. If the next person buying it wants a restore CD, they can get it from Dell themselves.

I'm going to try the regular battery first. I'd heard it lasted about 3:30 - we'll see. I expect it to degrade over time. I've been using it over an hour on the battery so far and Windows thinks there is about 2:37 left; that would be about right but I don't necessarily trust Windows' battery monitoring, either.

Yep, I am seeing that at this very moment, at a Starbucks where the sun isn't even out yet there's a significant glare from the windows. Sometimes you simply can't avoid it. I did crank up the LCD brightness a bit, but of course that will reduce my battery life. With the larger battery maybe I won't care.

One other little annoyance: the screen shakes a bit too much when I type. I don't remember what my Toshiba was like new, but I don't remember it doing this. The screen itself is solid open and requires quite a bit of force to close the lid with just one finger, but it still jitters when I type. I hope I will get used to this.

As for the media direct thing, I think the best application is using it on an airplane when you just want to use it as a DVD or MP3 player and want to minimize battery use. We'll see.

Andrew -- ******************************************************************* *******************************************************************