Great Value for a real Laptop
Written: Mar 30 '03
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Pros: Good price, fast, excellent screen
Cons: Lack of legacy ports, heavy weight, few upgrade options
The Bottom Line: As long as the lack of legacy ports and the weight doesn't bother you, it's an excellent laptop with plenty of punch!
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| mojo_n's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 5100 (5100BS1) PC Notebook |
First, the cons. There are a few things about this laptop that would be nice to have, such as legacy ports, reduced weight (although I know this is not something they can easily 'fix') and more upgrade options.
I was a little concerned about getting this laptop seeing as how it didn't have legacy ports such as serial, parallel and ps2 ports. Fortunately, I haven't yet had the need the use these, but the ps2 ports would be nice since there are only 2 USB ports and with the mouse taking one of them, that only leaves one for a palm, digital camera or local printer. However, it is forward looking in that it's USB 2.0 (versus 1.1) and firewire 1394.
This thing is a little heavy, at about 8 lbs. It makes it just a bit cumbersome to lug around, but it is bearable.
Upgrade paths are a bit limited for this model. The media bay is fixed (it would be nice to be able to swap out for a floppy drive, a second battery, zip drive or other without needing a screwdriver). The video card options are 16mb or 32mb only and 30gb or 40gb for the hard drive only. This probably suits the needs of most, but I'm sure that some would like to have the option of a 64mb video card and/or 60gb hard drive.
Although this unit uses a desktop CPU (which lacks some power saving features and emits more heat over the M version), I've found it cool enough (the air from the fan which blows over the cpu and out the back is quite cool most of the time, getting hot when I do more intensive tasks). The extra power consumption is countered by the large battery which lasts over 3 hours.
The machine is pretty fast at 2.4hgz. I suggest upgrading the RAM at local computer stores though -- it's usually *much* cheaper. The screen (I have the 15" SXGA+) looks great. Words and graphics are extremely sharp and clear.
I paid CA$2300, which works out to about US$1500. I would definitely recommend waiting til there are good deals on Dell's website. I got $100 off, a 64mb USB Key and free shipping.
Overall, if you don't need a 64mb video card or a 60gb HD (or more), don't mind the weight and don't have a need for legacy ports, this unit provides excellent value for the price. Definitely Recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
mojo_n
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 2 members
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