The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
I bought one B130 before Xmas with printer and free shipping. And another after without printer.
DVD recorders with both.
Standard no cost CPU option
Wireless for both.
60 Meg for 1st one
6 cell battery(Non Standard battery)- I think for the 2nd one.
The 2nd one I ordered as a B120 but went with the 15.4 screen option for a few dollars more. It actually came out less money than ordering the B130.
I had a coupon and ordered 1 gig from Dell at a later date for about $120.00 as I remember.
It was easy to install the 1 gig by the way.
So now I have 1 gig in one and 512 in the other.
I would recommend getting the larger battery if you plan on not plugging in.
The larger battery goes for 3 hrs and 45 minutes, the standard battery goes for about 2 hrs.
They do seem to recharge pretty quickly for such a small external powersupply but I have not actually timed it.
With the basic 256meg I thought the B130 was quite fast. I would probably have stuck with base memory if Dell had not had a deal on the 1GIg.
The screen is sharp and crisp. It appears to go to a brighter setting when plugged in and dimmer when on battery although you can bump up the brightness. It is not a display that can be viewed from wide angles. For this money I did not expect it would be.
I have not had a problem with the wireless on either notebook. Maybe I am using the windows apps for wireless I am not sure. All I know is I can use wireless about the house as well as the previous IBM Thinkpad I had.
Some nit picks are:
Not sure if the vent on bottom side of Notebook pulls air when you have it on your lap. I would think it would be obstructed.
The power plug seems a little delicate when you push it into the back of the notebook for charging. In reading a post above about how this is a integral part of the mother board I will be careful about plugging power plug in.
The keyboard keys are a little exposed on the edges. I have caught a finger tip under the edge a few times and once actually flipped the cap off the key. It was a little tricky figuring out how to put it back on.
I found some of the bundled software to be confusing as to whether it was free included software or some upgradeable or 90 day free trial software.
I expected the apps that are part of the DVD and CD to be included apps but again it was confusing.
I would like the standard warranty to be more than 90 days.
When I ordered both of them there was no option to get the free XP home CD's. i did get it for free from them at a later date.
Trying to navigate thru the order options was confusing. You have to watch closely as to what the options are and the pricing as to what is included for free.
If you wait a day the free options for ordering will change. Dell may throw something else in for free or change the base price, or whatever , you just don't know.
I have been looking to order an extra external power supply since I got the first B130, but Dell keeps ending the discount on the power supply before I get a chance to order it. Not a big deal as it is pretty inexpensive anyway.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
