I purchased my Dell Inspiron 4150 w/ Windows XP Home Edition on February 18, 2003 online, and it arrived at my door on February 28, 2003. I use my laptop as a desktop replacement because it takes up less room.

I upgraded from a HP Pavilion N3438 with Windows ME.

I purchased the laptop for $3,467 Canadian ($2,356 US, but this includes 15% tax in Canada, so you can adjust this price based on your own sales tax).

Minimum Features I Looked For In My Laptop:

*Memory - More is better, but minimum of 128K when using any of the Windows O/S. (I got a free upgrade from 256k to 512k).

*Battery - Lithium is best.

*Hard Drive - More is better, but no less than 10gb (most systems come with much more today)

*Video Display - Active Matrix TFT is best.

*Video Memory/Resolution - No less than XGA (1024x768) which requires 4MB Video Ram. The order of worst to best is: VGA, SVGA,XGA, SXGA, Super XGA and Ultra XGA).

*USB Ports - Suggested that you have 2 ports. I only got one, but I've read that you can purchase a Hub if it becomes an issue.

My Dell has the following features:

CPU - 1.8ghz, Pentium 4 Mobile 400 mhz
Display - 14.1 XGA TFT Active Matrix w/32 mb video
O/S - Windows XP Home Edition, SP1
Expansion Slots - 2 type II PCMCIA
Hard Drive - 30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (4200 RPM)
2 Spindle System - Floppy Drive/24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive swappable, and on front right corner of laptop
Network - Integrated Network Card (56k v.92 10/100 Ethernet Card)
Graphics - ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 4x AGP
I/O Ports - Serial, Parallel, 1 USB Port(1.1), Infrared, Audio Jacks, Monitor, PS/2 Keyboard mouse & keypad, S-Video for TV out, RJ11 and RJ45 connector.
Battery - Lithium (3 hr life - beats many others)
Case - Nylon
Chipset - Intel 845 AGP w/ 4X AGP
Warranty - 3 Year Limited Warranty-At Home/On-Site

Special Promotions I Received by Ordering Online:

*Free Shipping ($139 Value)
*Free Upgrade from 256mb (2 DIMMS) to 512mb (2DIMMS) DDR with 266mhz Ram ($300 Value Approx.)

Optional Software I Purchased:

*Windows XP Home Edition (saves $100 approx. and has most features of XP Professional)

*Microsoft Office XP Professional w/ Bonus: Publisher 2002 (Includes Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint,& Outlook).

Other Optional Software Choices:

*Windows XP Professional (suggested for business)
*Choice of either: Microsoft Works Suite 2002 with Money or Microsoft Office XP Small Business.
*Quicken 2002 Power Pack
*Norton Antivirus 2002 (Introductory)

XP Compatibility

*You can find out if your hardware/software is compatible with XP at:

http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/catalog/default.aspx?subid=22.

I searched on each piece of hardware/software I owned prior to my purchase, to see if they were compatible with XP. The only software I had a compatibility problem with was Norton Antivirus 2001 (2002 and higher is suggested).

*I was able to use all of my favorite programs including: Quicken 2001, TurboTax 2002 and Webshots without any problems.

Hardware I Use That Was Compatible with XP:

*Iomega Zip 250 USB - External
*Samsung ML-1210 Laser Printer

Initial Setup

*Extremely easy with prompts on screen
*Network setup was a breeze (Note: We have 2 computers on our home network, and we use a Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router. What a wonderful invention for home networking when you have Cable internet)

Applications I Use the Most:

*Surfing on the web (track investments, finances, etc)
*Email
*Word, Excel, Outlook & Publisher
*Games - Freecell, Internet Hearts, Internet Spades, & Pinball (I believe the last 3 games are new with XP)
*Online banking & billpay
*Online correspondence class
*Turbotax
*ICQ messaging
*Burn cd's and listen to Music
*Zip backups
*I'm sure I've missed something:)

Future Applications To Explore

*DVD Movies and connecting to my TV for viewing (now have capacity for this, but I need to get an S-Video Cable from Radio Shack).

My Assessment:

I'm extremely pleased with my purchase. The Inspiron 4150 has a lightning speed processor, and I would recommend this system for both home use and business people on the road. From reports I've read on CNET, this processor seems to beat many for speed in its class.

Also,this is my first experience with Windows XP. I love this O/S because it is laid out very logically, seems organized, and packed with features.

The touch of the keyboard is excellent. It has a lighter touch than that of my former HP laptop. There is a small pointer in the middle of my keyboard that I sometimes inadvertently strike, moving my pointer to another position, but I use to do that on my old computer also by touching the touchpad.

The only things I'm having to adjust to is the brightness of the screen (maybe this can be adjusted), and the NIC jack being on the right side of the laptop, where I use my mouse. However, these are things one can adapt to over time, so not really a complaint.

I highly recommend this laptop, and think anyone purchasing it won't be disappointed.





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2,356
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: 301-400
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30

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