A New Purchase To Support the Folks in Austin, Tx & India

[larryziegler]

I decided to splurge on a new computer today and purchased a new Dell Inspiron 9400, which should add to the economy to Austin, Tx and India.

1 Inspiron 9400, Intel Core Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz FSB) $1,638.23
1 17 inch Wide-screen WXGA+ Display for Inspiron 9400/E 1705 $0.00
1 1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm, for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 90 Watt Spare AC Adaptor, for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 Image Restore $0.00
1 Dell Media Experience 3.0 Basic $0.00
1 Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2, English, for Inspiron $0.00
1 DELL SUPPORT 3.0 $0.00
1 Windows Media Player 10 $0.00
1 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access $0.00
1 Dell Direct Download $0.00
1 Internet Search and Portal $0.00
1 Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron $0.00
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0, for Inspiron $0.00
1 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 CyberLink PowerDVD v5.7 Decoding Sofware for DVD Drives $0.00
1 Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps) for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 Network Associates McAfee 7.0,English,90-day Trial $0.00
1 Primary Battery, for Inspiron 9400/E1705 $0.00
1 AOL BSD/SMB $0.00
1 NETZERO ISP $0.00
1 Corel WordPerfect 12 plus Trial of Quartro Pro and Presentations $0.00
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 $0.00
1 Backup media for XP Pro $7.77

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I'm sure glad my XP Pro is coming in English rather than Arabic or Chinese I should get it in about 2 weeks and can't wait to test it out.....especially on my trip to Florida next month. Some might say I should have purchased a larger hard drive, but I've yet to fill up any computer of mine past 25gb, so my money was spent on a better video card and RW DVD instead.

[mrbeetlebrain]

Isn't that SATA drive a bit on the slow side?

[boblamb58]

Must be just that kind of day... I shot a little lower, though

1 Dimension E310 Series, Intel Pentium 4 Processor 521 (2.80GHz) and 1MB cache $579.00
1 512MB DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz $0.00
1 Dell USB Keyboard $0.00
1 Dell USB 2-button mouse $0.00
1 17 in (17 in viewable) E176FP Flat Panel Display $0.00
1 Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelator 900 $0.00
1 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7 $0.00
1 No Floppy Drive Requested $0.00
1 Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, English without Media, for Dimension $0.00
1 Image Restore $0.00
1 Dimension Dell Support $0.00
1 Windows Media Player 10 $0.00
1 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access $0.00
1 Complimentary courses: Look for EU icon $0.00
1 Dell Direct Download $0.00
1 Internet Search and Portal $0.00
1 Mouse included with Keyboard purchase $0.00
1 Intel Pro 100M Integrated PCI NIC Card $0.00
1 56K PCI Data Fax Modem $0.00
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 $0.00
1 16X DVD+/-RW CD-RW Combination $0.00
1 PowerDVD Software Decoding forDVD Drives $0.00
1 Integrated Audio $0.00
1 Dell A215 Speakers $0.00
1 Network Associates McAfee 7.0,English,90-day Trial $0.00
1 NETZERO ISP $0.00
1 Broadband Icon for Inspiron $0.00
1 AOL for Broadband $0.00
1 Netscape ISP $0.00
1 Corel WordPerfect 12 plus Trial of Quartro Pro and Presentations $0.00
1 Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year $0.00
1 1 Year Limited Warranty $0.00
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 $0.00
1 Banctec Service Agreement $0.00
1 Warranty Support,Initial Year $0.00
1 Thank You for buying Dell $0.00
1 Thank you for choosing Dell $0.00
1 PC Restore Recovery System by Symantec $0.00
1 Paint Shop Pro Standard $0.00
1 Basic digital Music,Photo and Game experience $0.00

[VW2.0Driver]

Originally Posted by mrbeetlebrain

Isn't that SATA drive a bit on the slow side?

It's a Laptop and Laptops are notorious for having 5400 RPM Drives, even if it's SATA. My coworker and I have been trying to figure out why they do this, and our only reasons are a heat issue, or something to do with the size of the drives that use and their ability to use 7200 + RPM drives. Seems odd, but they must have a good reason.

In fact the discussion got started because we were looking at new MacBook Pro's for testing, and we saw they had 80 and 100 GB 5400 RPM SATA drives. Seemed like such a waste of technology on such a slow drive.

[mrbeetlebrain]

Cheers, I didn't realise it was a laptop and as you say it must be for heat - I swapped out a 5400 drive in my old iMac for a 7200 rpm and got heat related crashes up to the day it died.

It was notably faster accessing data however.

Seems a waste to have SATA and such a slow speed though.

[larryziegler]

Originally Posted by mrbeetlebrain

Isn't that SATA drive a bit on the slow side?

The new Intel Core Duo Processor is the difference as it allows faster multi-tasking compared to the previous Pentium series M processor. According to the reviews I read, this processor was as good as it gets as a desktop replacement (2.0 was used instead of my 1.83). Its heavier weight of 7.7 lbs was its only real negative. The new processor is also suppose to enhance battery life as well, depending on the usage. We'll see when I actually put it to use.

[VW2.0Driver]

Originally Posted by mrbeetlebrain

Seems a waste to have SATA and such a slow speed though.

Agreed, the benefit of SATA is it's ability to transfer at higher rates than the old ATA 100/133 ribbon cable. It's best comparison would be when USB went from 1.1 to 2.0. Transfer rates went up, and the amount of possible storage skyrocketed.

However, if the drive only spins at 5400, what's the point of a fast transfer if the platters don't spin fast enough to access it at the increased speed.

[larryziegler]

I did forget to mention a 60gb SATA 7200 rpm hard drive was an option on this computer......but to get it required a different configuration of this model that added another $750 in comparison to the specs on my purchase....an amount that exceeded my budget. I'm no techie when it comes to specifics, but I do know that the way all these parts and pieces that are installed only work as fast as the slowest component......much like attaching a garden hose to a fire hydrant. The review below is from About.com
Guide Review - Dell Inspiron 9400
1/23/06 – Dell is one of the first companies to release a notebook based around the new Intel Core Duo mobile processor. This is the first processor developed for notebooks that features a dual-core design that helps improve multitasking performance. The Duo T2400 (1.83GHz) processor in the Inspiron 9400 should be able to keep pace with the fastest Pentium M processors yet still conserve battery life. The processor is matched up with 1GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 that should let it run all applications smoothly.

Storage for the Inspiron 9400 is a bit lacking. While the 80GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive provides very good performance, it is disappointing to see Dell ship the base system with an older 24x CD-RW/DVD combo drive over a DVD burner. The system does feature a 5-in-1 media card reader and six total USB 2.0 ports to allow connections to portable storage and other peripherals.

Graphics on the Inspiron 9400 are quite strong. The large 17” wide screen LCD panel has a 1680x1050 resolution that is an excellent compromise between resolution and workspace. This is matched up with a high end NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 graphics to give this excellent 3D graphics performance

I'll followup in a couple weeks after I have this to say how satisfied I am.

[ursabug]

That's a nice system. Enjoy it... my daughter has been wanting some sort of portable computing - something like what you got... She constantly eyes Mrs. Bear's iBook G4, though...

[larryziegler]

Originally Posted by mrbeetlebrain

Cheers, I didn't realise it was a laptop and as you say it must be for heat - I swapped out a 5400 drive in my old iMac for a 7200 rpm and got heat related crashes up to the day it died.

It was notably faster accessing data however.

Seems a waste to have SATA and such a slow speed though.

One other thing I found in my research of this was that there is signicant difference in performance in going from a 4200 to 5400 rpm hd as opposed to going from a 5400 to 7200 rpm hd. In real world numbers this translates to a 3 sec vs 2.6 sec opening or bootup of an application of the 2 upper speeds. Given these 2 configurations, costwise, it was determined that money was better spent to go from 512mb RAM to 1gb RAM than by adding the extra $400 cost in the SATA 7200 rpm hd, except in cases where the computer is used for video editing purposes that needs as speedy a hd as possible, then you need to have both. I'm sure this will change as technology improves.

[mrbeetlebrain]

I think what VW2.0Driver and I are talking about is the benefits of SATA vs IDE and if you're using slow drives you might as well use IDE because SATA is obviously the pricier technology.

[larryziegler]

Originally Posted by mrbeetlebrain

I think what VW2.0Driver and I are talking about is the benefits of SATA vs IDE and if you're using slow drives you might as well use IDE because SATA is obviously the pricier technology.

When it comes to ordering and configuring laptops, they don't give you many options.....it all seems to have gravitated top SATA and for upgrades, you can go to the 7200 hd....at a cost. I didn't see many IDE hard drives except in the cheapest of lapstops.

[larryziegler]

Oh man, am I enjoying this machine. It is fast.....it has decent sound for a laptop (has built in subwoofer), but is even better with headphones. I watched The Wedding Crashers on this and can't wait to watch more dvd's on my trip to Florida later this month. The wireless connection is better than I ever expected. On the frontside of the machine are all the multimedia buttons. I also bought wireless laser mouse that works great. There are only 3 downsides to this machine, 2 of which I went in knowing full well what I was in for.....it is a heavy beast for true mobility (17in screen and 8 lbs).....it uses battery power like a frat brother at a beer chugging contest, and is too powerful for use with any cigarette lighter adapters (uses 90w whereas the adapters only accept 75w max). On that side, I bought a larger capacity spare battery and my purpose for buying this machine was as a desktop replacement with capability of being mobile. The 2 batteries should give me approx 4 hrs of usage. The batteries do charge quickly though......definitely no buyers remorse for my first laptop purchase.