Desktop Replacement? Desktop Replacement!!
Written: Sep 29 '02
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Pros: Great price, dell support, it looks pretty friggin stylish.
Cons: Only one USB port, screen a tad small, weak graphics card.
The Bottom Line: Portability, functionality, with acceptable sacrifices made screen size, video card. Good stuff.
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| MirageTM's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 4150 Series Notebook Computers |
I shopped around for a laptop computer for a looong time. I really wanted to have it all in my system, a DVD/CD-RW combo drive, a 15 inch screen, a killer 64 mb nvidia graphics card, 40gb hard drive, etc, etc. I essentially wanted my desktop as my laptop. Models I considered we're Dell's 8200 series, and the Toshiba 5105-S607, all very powerful machines, and both quite expensive.
And that was the problem, I didn't have the money. So, sacrifices must be made. The 4150 fits a very unique bill in the laptop world, and in a way it seems almost tailor made for me. It packs economic choices into a solid and strong system, giving me what I want. To start with the P4 1.8ghz processor is perfect, you really can't ask for better, at least not for a year or two. No complaints there. 256 Mb of system RAM is nothing to sneeze at either, although some of the other models do go up to 512 mb. But again, I'm happy. 20GB HD is suitable for my needs, and anything really big I'll just burn to a CD for later. Oh wait, there's a problem. I couldn't afford the DVD/CD-RW combo drive, so I have just an 8x DVD drive. This seems to be one of the weak areas, but when your on a budget you can't have anything. Also, I really wanted a 15'' screen on this baby, but I must say, the 14.1'' is just fine, and at least for me the extra $200 or so I would spend for a 15'' just wasn't worth it.
In fact, the only really serious drawbacks to the 4150 is its one USB port (which I use for my optical mouse) which limits connectivity in the future, unless I buy a hub. The second problem is the graphics card an ATI 7500 with 32mb of RAM. This is approximately the equivalent of a GeForce 2 card, or about 2 generations behind the latest powerhouse from nVidia. It handles current games like Wolfenstein pretty well, but I worry about its performance in upcoming titles.
Now for the upsides, the machine just looks really cool. The sleek black and silver case is small and powerful looking. I've noticed a lot more people looking at me recently, and sadly I don't think I can attribute it to my looks. Also, the integrated modem and network card make hooking this baby up to the net easier than ever. It even has an S-Video output if you want to do computing or watch a DVD on your TV.
While sacrifices had to be made, I still came away very satisfied. And you can't beat dell for support. Oh, and it should be noted that the options I got my computer with can be changed based on your preferences through dell.com, so if you really want the combo drive, go for it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1580
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
MirageTM
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Member: Travis
Location: Oregon
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 5 members
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