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       Centrino Pentium M

The thin-and-light Inspiron 600m series, based on the new Pentium M processor, marks the start of an ambitious new corporate look for Dell. The notebooks also carry the very latest components, including Pentium M processors and Intel's new 855 chipset. The 600m series is a true-blue Centrino.

The silver 600m is a smaller, sleeker version of the gray C600, measuring 1.2 by 12.4 by 10.1 inches and weighing an easy-to-tote 5.3 pounds. It still includes an internal swappable bay that houses a second battery or one of various drives: CD, DVD, CD-RW, DVD/CD-RW, floppy, or a second hard drive.

The Inspiron 600m series includes both a pointing stick in the middle of the spacious, comfortable keyboard and a touchpad centered in the wrist rest. There are four mouse buttons: two below the spacebar (you're supposed to use these with the pointing stick) and two below the touchpad. Three handy buttons for volume--Up, Down, and Mute--are located in the upper-left corner above the keyboard.

The Inspiron 600m has all of the standard ports and slots required for everyday business applications. Headphone and microphone jacks, an IrDA port, and one Type II PC Card slot line the left edge. The slot includes an embedded smart-card reader that lets employees store and read their passwords and other info on optional smart cards (the cards are available in a number of sizes and prices from various third-party manufacturers). Two speakers with middling sound occupy the front-edge corners. Two USB 2.0, S-Video-out, 56Kbps modem, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, parallel, VGA, and serial ports stretch out across the rear edge.