Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

My definition of loud is:
if you want avoid the noise fan you should pump up the volume a little.
im not a gamer so sorry I cant tell you how well BF2 plays

 

post a sound recording of the fan noise!

(can you tell i am just dying for any new info at all?

 

Does anyone else have a problem where there order went to production and then had two orders cancelled, a new order assigned and NOW their order has remained in "order processing" stage since the last orders were cancelled.

Mine hasn't budged and everyday my delivery date just has a day added to it but still in order processing.

Dell is no assistance, I've got case numbers and big email thread with "customer care" but i'm in an infinite loop right now. I've managed to get a "manager"'s email address and have sent my lengthy email thread to her hoping someone will help me.

This is way past pathetic at this point. Don't know what to do anymore, I go through the same 2 hours every day, phone call, follow up with email and document what I've had to do. I have to explain the same bloody thing to them everyday cause you never can talk to the same rep.

 

Yes, Flames, I had the same thing. I ordered on the 17th. They promptly cancelled that one and gave it a new order number. It was stuck in "Order Processing" until today. I didn't know the reason until I clicked on the next stage "Pre-production". In there it said "Awaiting Parts". Today it finally went from "Order Processing" to "Pre-production" to "In Production". Of course, that's only on my profile screen. Going back to the detailed status (involves using the PO number in customer support to search for it), still shows a green arrow on "Order Processing"

I just found Dell has a stupid way of keeping us informed (it took me a while to find the detailed status). Almost as if they have two separate systems trying to track the progress of the same thing...

Again, I don't believe anything until I have it in my hands

 

uhh, the story about the fans doesnt sound so cool. Fan noise was one of my biggest concerns.

I'm wondering why it spins up while watching DVD's... I mean that should not be a very demanding task...

 

Well, I've been told that the Customer Care Manager will be calling me within 2 hours from now to answer my questions and tell me what the hell is going on. I'll post what I find out.

 

BTW - when I logon to my account vs. order status lookup it shows one order cancelled and another in "order processing". When I click on the order number link for either one it says no order can be found for the order number. Does that happen to you too Garbuckle?

 

Yes Flames,

But if I click on order status, I can get the PO number, then I click customer support, then order status, etc. Then I search with the PO number and postal code. Then click the order number and it gives you a detailed list of the steps (which you can click on).

Whew. That's why it took my so long to figure out...

 

Yeah I get there but then it's still in order processing like always. The pre-production stage does not have a green checkmark in it but clicking on it does say awaiting parts.

I would expect to at least be at pre-production with the green check mark lit. Well, still waiting for the customer care manager to call me. Can't wait to talk to her I tell you. Must stay calm....

 

ON another note, for you all that ordered the 5400 rpm drive why didn't you get the 7200 rpm drive, was it purely price?

 

7200 rpm runs hotter and consumes more power than 5400 rpm. That is one of the concerns when choosing one over the other instead of just an increment on performance.

 

Ahhh. I rarely will be using it on battery and that's partly why i ordered the 9 cell battery. Didn't think about heat though I must admit. Well, thanks I was curious.

 

Yeah, I got the 5400 purely because of price. I couldn't justify paying more for the same capacity and a slight increase in speed (I bought the laptop mainly for the graphics card, anyways).

 

I can't believe how big/popular this thread is getting. When I look at the prices of similar equipped laptops (a little difficult) the i9400 comes out at a way cheaper price for better components. Anyone else find that to be true for what they paid? (toshiba, sager very expensive)

 

That happens to be true mostly on Dell. Hence I bought the 9300 about a month ago.

Flames, why did you order the 9-cell battery if you're not going to use it???

 

To those of you who ordered the notebook with a 1,8Ghz Centrino DUO.

I would really like to see how the CPU handles WMV-HD 1080i videos. This format is very cpu demanding and it is single threaded - so only one core will be used.
It would be interesting if it can playback those videos without any stuttering...
Here are some sample clips:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/contentshowcase.aspx
The "Step into the Liquid"-Trailer is said to be the hardest for the CPU.
The CPU load should be not higher than 45% without any peaks to guarantee smooth playback (50% would mean that one core is fully saturated, which would be not so good).

Would be great if any of you could do this.
Many thanks!!

 

To be honest, I have seriously considered cancelling my order because of dell's continues screw ups with production and delivery. But I can't justify spending more money on a different laptop, because there is nothing else out there that competes as far as bang for your buck. I mean seriously, find a laptop with the same specs as a mid to high optioned 9400 for the price. I don't think it is possible. So to save a few bucks, and get a really sweet machine, I can deal with all the crap dell has been doing. I just want my computer already. It was supposed to arrive 4 days ago, but now its due the 6th of February.

 

You know what else I find interesting, pricing the same laptop on the US site actually costs MORE than the Canadian one (at one point, both were listed at $1999 starting price). For example, the 80WHr battery cost me an extra $50, but it's $100 on the US site.

 

I got the bigger battery for extended dvd watching camping or in airports etc. I sit outside often with my existing HP laptop (old, slow) to listen to hockey games at nhl.com (go flame go) and my current laptop usually runs out of juice before a full game. I know, kind of a weird thing but for the few extra bucks I figured why not.

 

Teslan, I too have been considering cancelling and would for sure no doubt if I could buy a comparable laptop anywhere else for the price. Yet again today, the manager was supposed to call me within 2 hours to straighten out my mess and do you think she has called me yet? It's been over 2 hours.

I've docuented every single thing I've had to do since Jan. 4th (when I first ordered) to now and am going to try and find all of the Dell Board of Directors email addresses and send them all my detailed chronology of my order experience. It's a book and it's a nightmare.

I at one point was supposed to get my 2 i9400's on i think it was Jan. 24th. Ha. Feb. 8th now and tomorrow it will say 9th, day after 10th etc.

I can't believe the manager hasn't called me yet. Can't believe it.

 

OK, pixlix, I tried one of the HD (1920x1080) clips on my Celeron 2.4 (OCed to 3.0). It stutters a bit using Media Player 10, but is completely smooth with BSPlayer. Considering the Core Duo 1.83 is twice as fast as my desktop, it should handle HD, no sweat.

The Step Into Liquid one had no chance on MP10, but it was still good on BSPlayer (only one or two small stutters). Audio wasn't in sync, tho.

 

A strange thing I noticed just now. If I check my status by using my order # and postal code, it always says "order processing" But if I log into my account that I ordered the laptop on and check the status there, it says "in production" This whole process is confusing, I don't expect I'll get anything on the phone but frustration, so I think I'll just watch this thread for news and reviews from people who got the i9400 already.

 

Teslan, you should follow up with Dell. You might be in the same infinite loop as I am. The manager never called back of course so I called there, she's now in a meeting but will call me before 7pm EST. I left a message for her saying: you lied to me and didn't call as I was told and she had better call today. As it is I have a meeting so lucky her (if she calls) she will speak with my wife who will probably be a little easier/nicer to her then me.

I will let you know if/what my wife finds out once I get back in a few hours....

 

More good news. Just checked my status (yet again), and the free 1100 laser printer portion of my order will be shipped the 24th ("Delivery Preparation"). It had been stuck in "Pre-Production" while the laptop was in "Order Confirmation".

I'm crossing all my extremeties

Wait a minute... the 24th is... Today... as estimated ship date???

 

Yeah I noticed that too... so I emailed my Dell Rep and let him know that I needed it fairly soon for school.. I just keep emailing or calling once in a while to get the ball rolling and making sure they don't fall asleep on me. As for the Harddrive, I ordered the 5400 because of price... it was an insane amount more to go to 7200, but since I'll have 2GB of fast memory, HD access will be even less so the small speed loss will be cancelled out by more memory, less HD accessing and less power consumption.

 

I played Step Into Liquid on my desktop and it went smooth as butta. Not a hiccup. If my Athlon can do this, the Centrino Duo should be able to do this no sweat.

 

Thanks for the info about WMV-HD playback, Garbuckle.

 

well here are some pictures from that forum linked on page 25 here:

http://www.nerdynigel.com/pics/

 

Nice
Can't wait til i get mine.

 

Looks awesome. How is the Media Direct?

 

I'm wondering if the book on the pics has a WXGA or WUXGA screen...

 

That's a good question. It did look pretty nice either way though!

 

Seems to be WXGA (1440x900). I just gather that because there's room for 11 icons down the side, and I get 13 on my 1280x1024 19" CRT.

 

aaahh i had finally had enough of Dell's crappy (non existant) service, so I decided to cancel the order today...Even cancelling my order proved to be a task, but I finally did it in the end.

 

I had a phone call from a rep at Dell today, my order is now in 'production' and they will phone back on Friday to confirm a delivery date (allegedly). Strangely the order tracking still shows my order in 'pre-production'.

Mani

 

Well, my order went to production this morning, for the second time. My delivery date went from Feb 8th to Feb 6th. I'm still expecting to hear from the Dell Manager this morning....

 

Yeah my Dell rep told me he put my order into production and would call me as soon as the production plant contacted him. My status on the webpage hasn't changed yet though. I'll wait another 2 weeks if I have to though since there isn't any other manufacturer that can touch that price for the components you get.

 

I decided to re-order my laptop (after cancelling it) and it ended up being pretty beneficial to me. Firstly I saved 60 pounds on delivery (because of the new offer), secondly they gave me a higher spec ram (667mhz as opposed to the original 553mhz), and thirdly, they accidently gave me 100gig HD instead of 80 gig HD (at no additional cost)....All of that for 60 pounds LESS than my original order

 

That sounds pretty good Flame X, I was kind of surprised to hear you had cancelled. While a royal pain to buy from Dell, there's nothing else close to price/components to buy alternatively.

My advice to anyone buying from Dell is to document your every step taken, who you talked to (including badge#), when, what they said, dates/times. Everything because you never know if you have to go through what i have had to endure - 20+ hours of my time (and counting) trying to make the purchase because Dell has screwed up over and over and over again with my order. Document everything. They said they will compensate me for the time/mess but have not told me how.

 

Found this brief review (but it's something new):

http://compreviews.about.com/od/deskreplace/gr/DellIns9400.htm

 

My order was placed on Monday morning and is in Boxing now... you guys seem to have gotten screwed over by being some of the first to place orders.

My total order came to $3130 via the Small Business division. I'm pretty satisfied with it.

 

I think the difference is you ordered from Small Business (lease?) whereas I've ordered from the Home dept. When I ordered a poweredge server in Dec from Small Business I had no problems (comparatively).

 

Its possible. My ship date is currently Friday and i should receive it by tuesday. cant wait.

 

<jealous> Any info you can post after you get it for us all would be greatly appreciated!

 

Guys, you should move to Sweden I placed my payment last thursday, pre-prod the same day, prod and boxing on friday, and it was shipped on sunday I'm expecting it to arrive tomorrow or on friday

 

Well the Dell Manager finally called me and said my order was in rush production and should ship this weekend. Sounds like they are going to "through" something in to make up for all my troubles (we'll see).

With a little luck I hope to see them on Monday.

 

rush..always a scary word when you are putting together computer parts

 

I'm more scared of that "lightbleed"(?) at the bottom of the screen. I've never had a lappy before, is the "bleed" normal on laptops? Is it in the hardware, or could it be fixed with any software? Is it really as bad as it looks like? Seems like it's worse when the poweradapter is plugged in than on battery only, that's kinda bad since i planned to use the power adapter most of the time :S

 

We don't know that the 9400 has the light bleed problem yet do we?

 

No Doubt. Hope they just took my kit to the front of the production line (no offence to anyone else in line). lol