Brown delivered a new Dell Inspiron E1705 to my front door today. I cracked it open, plugged it in and fired-it up immediately. I'll have to say, I don't know how anyone with an macBook or any other laptop could have had a more pleasant experience than I did today, walking through the simple setup process for the Windows XP Pro system with everything working crisply and smoothly.
The only additional setup I did was to install IIS, which was not installed by default. Then I turned off the laptop and tucked it under my desk until I have time to work with it again, at which point I'll do the usual Developer duty of installing SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005. With a Community Server solution compiled and a site or two loading sweetly, I'll be a happy fellow.
One issue I'm dealing with is the size of this thing. It's a 17-incher. It's HUGE! James Shaw could've gotten a nice 15-inch laptop, but no, he had to get a 17-incher. So hey, I buy what James Shaw buys. It just seems obscenely large for a laptop. "Oh, poor baby! His new laptop is too big!" Yeah, I'll shut-up now. I think the quality of the WXGA+ Display is excellent, by the way.
Just think of it. I'll be going to a New England Code Camp in October without hauling a desktop in an accordion case! I'll feel like those people who get the canteloupe-sized growths surgically removed on the Discovery Channel.