Dell Vostro 1400 Review

Fellows,

I have an old D600, the LCD screen does not have light leakages, it seems to dispaly a very light dark smudges(about 1-2 in wide spred out) at the bottom of the screen, what might that be, what do you call it? It is due to old age I think.

I don't think I can fix, time to change the laptop?

any inputs?

 

Thanks for the instructions. I've got a CMO1426. I have no problems with it. No grain, good contrast, and sharper than the family's iBook G4.

 

With a 9 cell battery how much does the laptop weigh?

 

Good question. At a good time. I just got a digital scale today in the mail. I'll put it on there and tell you exactly.

 

Oh and hints about gaming performance performance, I am particularly interested in how battlefield 2 and perhaps battlefield 2142 would go on it. Beer in mind that my vostro 1400 will probably have a 2.0ghz processor with 2gb of ram and the M8400.

 

That's weird I have a 9 cell and my brightness is set on the lowest but I only get about 3.5 hours with wifi on and just browsing the internet occasionally.

 

how would this laptop compare to the HP dv2000t? I really like HP's solid build and stylish looks, but it's a little more expensive to pay just for looks.

I'm debating between the two. I'm going to be using the laptop for simple schoolwork, surfing, chatting, etc. and the occasional movie. I like the price on this one a lot more, but the issues with the screen (light leakage?), and dell's sometimes not always great support kinda holding me back.

btw, has anyone tested this spill proof keyboard yet? lol; or even dropped their laptop?

oh yeah, how many hrs does the 9 cell battery typically have?

 

Just put it on the scale, and it read 6lbs 1oz. It usually reads 2-3oz's high though. So I would guess its like 5lbs 15oz or something like that with the 9 cell. It is quite heavy for a 14"

I have seen the dv2000t in person but I have never really looked at the build quality. They look quite similar however.

With the 9 cell I would say typical everyday battery life would be 4-5hrs. Max around 6hrs minimum like 2.5.

 

Either all visiting here are unfriendly or you don't know the answer to my query, see above.

normally I don't get this sort of response from other forums.

 

You'd probably get a better response by making your own thread. The reason no one's responding to you is because everyone here came to read and talk about the Vostro, not your D600's screen. And anyway, you'd get people that know more about screens helping you out.

 

Your question has no relation to the review. Try to keep things on topic. Posting a question in the Dell forum would be an excellent idea.

 

i thought some of you have knowledge of LCD screens that is why I am asking for assistance, looks like you don't.

end of story

 

How likely is that the Vostro 1400 will be available with a better graphics card in future?

 

It's possible, but I don't know what better graphics Dell would offer. 8600GT? I think it would be a little powerful for a 14" considering the amount of power and heat. On the E1705 for example it was offered with the X1400, and 7800 and later the 7900GS. So Dell has been known to update graphics cards.

 

oye, i just missed the deal on all the deal websites where they had pre-configured vostros at a discounted price... does anyone have any idea when they'll have another promo discount on this laptop? i really wanted to get this laptop but couldn't order one in time.

 

It's really hard to tell. Dells prices change everyday so its hard to know when another deal will come around. My advice would be to keep checking the deals section on this forum as well as checking www.slickdeals.net.

 

Does anyone know if the 6-cell lithium battery will protrude out or stay flush?

 

Anyone played medieval 2 total war on this?

 

Same question as Val here, anyone have a 6 cell connected to one of the 1400's? Id be interested to know if it is flush or protruding? Thanks!

sOnIc

 

It's still on.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&kc=65023&oc=bqpcjba

 

In pictures it looks flush. Looks good with the 6cell.

http://benyouhui.it168.com/thread-561611-1-1.html

 

I recently purchased one of these even though I couldn't really find any good benchmarks related to the 8400M GS, but so far I'm fairly pleased with it. Getting about 30 fps on average in Oblivion at 1280 x 800 w/ medium settings, clean install; with more tweaking/mods I could probably get it higher. However, I'm running into a couple issues related to certain titles which aren't too fond of the Geforce 8x00 series(FFXI for example).

Anyways as for price I paid about $722 with no tax/free shipping. I ordered on the tax holiday for NC(Computers up to $3500 tax free x_x) and with a little Dell Phone Service Roulette I was able to get the tax removed from the order.

I'd love to see some game benchmarks if Jason or anyone else is testing out what their Vostro 1400 can do.

Specs:
WXGA w/TrueLife, Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz, 2GB DDR2, 80GB HD, Geforce 8400M GS 128MB, 9 cell battery, SB Audigy HD Software

 

Not a bad deal GHRO! I would post some benchmarks, but I really don't have many games. I have FEAR, HL2, CSS. I don't have a specific benchmark for FEAR, but I can tell you it ran fine on Medium settings at 1280x800 @ ~30FPS. The CSS stress test It got almost 80FPS with everything on max settings but AA and AF turned off.

Also, the 8400GS from what I hear is quite an overclocker. Most people are reporting 25-30% increases in performance. I'll have to try overclocking out sometime...

 

would the C2D 1.6Ghz be overclockable? say up to 2ghz?

 

Has anyone got the wga + screen 1440x 1080, thats what I will buy since I can put 2 pages up at one time.

How bright is the screen? I'm using a D620 and wga+ screen isn't real bright during daylight.

 

the small business version has the same casing as D620 and D630
Durability and reliability with magnesium-alloy chassis, sealed keyboards, steel hinges and over 13,000 hours of testing for Dell notebooks

pound heavier than the D620 and D630

Does this do media play without turning on laptop?

 

Probably unlikely, not until Dell updates and revamps all their systems like they did 2 months ago with the inspirons.

 

I just got mine, albeit with integrated video, and after my first charge I got 7 hours while web browsing through wireless with brightness set at 5/7.

 

just got my vostro today, pretty nice...

quick q to the guy who wrote the review regarding the 9cell battery... you said you slipped a wedge of paper in between to stop the shifting... how did you do this? like where did you put the paper? thanks in advance.

 

i plan to buy the inspiron 1420, but after reading jason's review and all the discussion here i am thinking quite seriosly of the vostro 1400 ...the price tag is really good... for a similar featured insp 1420...the diff is almost $200+...does it justify to buy the 1420 .. the 1400 a good buy at these prices and features...

 

i 'm planning to buy a new laptop for the first time in my life and i hope i will not regret of buying dell. i had read the reviews and the discussion over the vostro 1400 and inspiron 1420. both of the models looks neat and fit to my budget. But now my major concern is which one is the best if i selected both

vostro 1400 inspiron 1420
-------------- -----------------------
T7300 2.0G intel processor T7300 2.0G intel processor
2G ram 2G ram
Nvidia 8400 display card Nvidia 8400 display card
9 cell battery 9 cell battery
14'1 ultrasharp WXGA screen 14'1 ultrasharp WXGA screen
120G 5400rpm sata HDD 120G 7200rpm sata HDD
8X DVD+/-RW 8X DVD+/-RW
wireless N card wireless N card


will both performance be the same? is it both of them using same motherbaord? which one battery last more longer? what bout the heat for both models? if i put games to these 2 laptops, which one can perform better? regarding the building material, which one is more durable?

really hope some one can answer my question and solve my problem. thanks

 

@ wiseman It's the same thing as the inspiron 1420 really. Just a different name and it comes in all black only. I don' think there is any reason to pay more for an inspiron 1420 than a vostro 1400...

@ aznmidude

I just set the paper right on top of the battery (the part that has the label). I put about 3 small pieces of folded up paper. Then I carefully inserted the battery into the notebook... The paper is wedged in-between the top of the battery and the bottom of the notebook chassis. I did this just for a temporary fix. I'll put electrical tape on it later...

@ sozai

Welcome to the forums! The Vostro 1400 and the 1420 are the same thing, just with a different name and they come in different colors. Battery, screen, motherboard all of that is the same. Dell has done this type of thing in the past with some other notebooks. The XPS M140 for example was also called the e1400 and 630m. The e1405 and the 640m are the same thing.

 

oh yes, will the programming tools like delphi, c++, visual, sql run smooth enough by using this 2 notebook spec?

Although the Vostros are touted for their build quality/materials, I would say that's more of a marketing scheme than anything else. There has been no official confirmation of the magnesium alloy chassis design on the Vostros, but I do believe the same materials were used on the Inspirons. As I've read before, determining the difference between hard plastics and magnesium alloy can be difficult, but after much careful examination, I'm going to put forward my speculation that the bottom portion of the 1420 is indeed made with magnesium alloy. <----------- this is one of the review from Rowen on dell 1420. is it vostro using the same magnesium alloy chassis design which can reduce the heat more faster

 

It is no doubt magnesium alloy. I upgraded the RAM in my notebook to 2GB's and while I had the notebook open, I scratched the chassis purposely to see if I could spot shiny metal under the paint on the chassis.

I'm not sure how demanding the programs you listed above are, but I'm sure with 2GB's of RAM, a fast CPU, and the 8400GS just about any program should run fine.

Also, please try not to double post. Thanks!

 

Regarding the 1420 vs. 1400, I got this from a forum (note: it's for Canada)

 

thanks..since everything seems similar then u are right ..why pay more for inspiron 1420 for similar features..but lone_prodigy has mentioned some differences got on a forum in Canada...how much would that affect performance or otherwise...

 

I don't think anyone has actually come out and said it: is the XGA/XGA+ screen shiny or matte?

I'm somewhat alarmed by the difference people are reporting in terms of battery life, screen quality and even heat thrown off by the system (many people saying it runs quite cool and quiet, and others saying it's almost uncomfortably hot). I guess when mine arrives, if I'm not completely satisfied I'll send it back.

 

At the moment the Vostro 1400 is a much better deal than the Inspiron. Not only do you get the nicer build quality but more power for your money.

"oh yes, will the programming tools like delphi, c++, visual, sql run smooth enough by using this 2 notebook spec?"

Even the 1.6ghz Core 2 Duo has 4x the score on Sandra application benchmarks than my desktop Athlon 64 3200+. Also if you have more than one demanding application running at the same time, each one can be set to use a specific cpu core(I've been using this method to speed up some games which aren't dual core optimized).

On another note though.. It seems that my laptop is suffering from the old Sigmatel crackling/popping issue that many users have reported since last year on older models. It's not happening on every laptop but people should keep an ear open for it; it's disturbing that the new product line inherited the issue. I've called dell and had them send me a copy of Vista so I can reinstall everything from scratch(all the fixes suggested on the dell forums didn't work). So irritating after I tweaked/installed everything on it.

 

this is going to be my first laptop so please explain this sigmatel crackling/popping noise you talk about.

also, for the wireless connectivity, will i be better off with the intel 3945 802.11 a/g or the dell 1490 802.11 a/g will do....

 

Just keep in mind that it doesn't happen to every laptop but it seems the issue comes from software installed, be it Vista, Drivers, Dell Quickset, etc. A good link for information to it is:

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&thread.id=35264

This post by a Dell Liaison links to all the user posts that have figured out fixes for the issue. To test the laptop open an mp3, play a music cd from the dvd drive, and open up some kind of game or application that plays music. If you hear no skipping, popping or crackling on either three then you are all good.

 

thanks..i checked the link....well seems it is just a problem with the audio part when multitasking audio related items...so i assume it is a problem that can be solved by a fix later on ... i was worried it was a hardware problem.....am i correct in assuming that ??..because i am seriously thinking of buying the vostro 1400..it seems just so right ...value for money as they say...and it will be delivered at my friends house...by the time i receive it, maybe if something is wrong, i may not be able to return it as that may take some time...maybe a month or more....so was worried...on an afterthought...if i install XP on it will it be ok..anyway i am not too keen on vista.

 

Right it's not a hardware issue. After a Vista reinstall yesterday I found out the audio skipping/crackling was caused by the Dell Nvidia 101.43 drivers. So I'm going to be trying some drivers from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com to see if I can get some working ones.

 

I guess I got a good one off the line. Just got my v1400 and the battery is not too loose, no signficant light leakage from screen, and everything seems fine. the left palmrest does get a little hot though, but not uncomfortable in my opinion. Overall, quite happy.

Its running vista now but I've got another SATA and I'm gonna try an XP install right now.

I think I'm the first person who hasn't had to put paper or tape behind their battery. I think it might loosen up though and i'll get my chance



----------------------------

Intel C2D T5470, 1.6GHz
14.1" WXGA
1GB RAM
128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M GS
Vista Home Basic
Webcam
56WHr 6 cell Li-ion

 

You mentioned in your review that the laptop is very quiet and that the fan stays off most of the time. When the fan does spin, how loud is it, and how would you describe the sound?

The review of the Vostro 1500 ( http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3918) states that "The whir of the hard drive and fans remains whisper-quiet even when the fan is on full blast." which is just what I want - preferably with a 14" screen

I might even go for the 8400 GS instead of the X3100 if that does not affect the noise level considerably.

 

i recieved my laptop(1400) ...i have no loose battery(mine is 9cell),my left bottom is bit heat(no kind of burnin... but its warm near air vent).this is my 1st laptop so i donno if this is normal.Graphics are gr8 for a 14" lappy.I played LOR middleearth2 n it worked very nice.I am loving my vostro... but this vista is not tht gr8,i think it is much hyped than wht it is...
i more fact i found is tht i ordered 120GB but the system info shows me 111GB hadrddisk... any 1 noticed this???

 

I would tend to agree with redhidus. I got a fairly loaded-up vostro, with the wxga+ screen (which is shiny), 2GHz processors, 9 cell battery, 128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M GS, 160 GB 7200 rpm hd, and windows vista ultimate. Previous computer was a Dell D810 15.4". I had some concerns about the shiny display, but it seems great so far, bright with no noticable light leakage. Some heat coming out of the vent on the left side, but not much heating of the palmrest. Vista is ok, but I probably would have been just as happy with XP-Pro - Vista is definitely prettier, though. I do a lot of scientific computing for work, and it is quite fast. I will be trying a linux (probably Ubuntu) dual-boot soon, and will try to report on that. No problems with sound. Weight is ok, battery seems to be much better than my D810, something like 4-5 hrs with sporadic internet browsing in front of the tv. The only complaint so far is that it smudges a bit on the outside, thought that's a pretty minor thing to me. I really like it very much overall, and would highly recommend it.

 

I am a graduate student on a budget and want to know what upgrades you would recommend to the Vostro 1400? I typically engage in browsing the internet, utilizing a word processor (Microsoft Office Word), chatting and playing music - typically simultaneously. Would it be a better use of money to upgrade the processor or the RAM? Also, is wireless n worth the extra cost? If not what is the best wireless card to get? Opinions as to extending the warranty would also be welcomed. Thanks!

 

Upgrade the RAM to 2GB: Vista is a resource hog and you'll need it for multi-tasking. The processor is fine, as long as it isn't Celeron.

Wireless N will be worth it in a year or two when it finally gets implemented. It's not really needed now, and you can always buy a separate card later.

As for warranty, depending on how you use your system (carrying it around a lot, high usage in different locations), I'd recommend the 3-year. If you intend on using the laptop for 3 years, get it. Otherwise, if you plan on buying another one, just keep the default 1 year.

 

Has anyone tried to install windows XP on this laptop?? if so i would appreciate instruction on how to do it.

Thanks.

=========================================================

Intel C2D T5470, 1.6GHz
14.1" XGA
2GB RAM
128MB nVidia GeForce 8400M GS
Vista Home Basic
Webcam
56WHr 6 cell Li-ion

 

I do all that simultaneously with my 2 year old celeron with 756mb of ram.

the usage you mentioned will not tax any current system........by a long shot. although im talking about XP. but i doubt itunes + words + firefox will require more than 1gb of ram on vista. vista uses about 500mb on bootup.

buy ram and install yourself if you need it later. And you can extend waranty later, but it will cost a little more. More likely you will decide you need to play games and need to upgrade after one year. but if you dont think think wanranty extention is around 200USD? its 350AUD but everything i n australia is overpriced, though not as much as the UK