Dell Vostro 1400 Review

I'm trading in my Lenovo x60 for one of these puppies.

Don't get me wrong I love my x60 for work, but that's all i can pretty much do on it: work, work, work. I can't play any games or even watch a DVD while traveling. The straw that broke the camels back was when I went on a business trip and started watching a movie that i copied to the hard drive ... after about an hour and a half the battery died with 30 minutes left in the movie.

The overall positive reviews for the Vostro 1400 (mostly from everyone here ) convinced me it was time to move away from my purely business laptop to one that points a little bit towards entertainment.

Ordered: 9/5
ESD: 9/19
EDD: 9/24-26

 

It looks to me that for the same price, the Vostro 1400 offers much more bang for the buck than the Latitude D630. I had been contemplating on these two models for some time (to buy one of them) . But now I am in favour of Vostro 1400, simply because it has got more features and atleast an averge build quality (going by the reviews here ).

So now my question is what is that EXTRA thing that makes the D630 a superior product to the 1400 .? ( or is it just a DELL marketing strategy).
Any thoughts?

 

coolkub- I was looking at the D630, since I had a D810 (which was stolen) and liked it. One major thing about the D630 is that it has a docking port, where the vostro doesn't. This made no difference to me. I was actually all set to buy the d630 but it was going to take a whole month to get it, which was totally unacceptable. I got the Vostro 1400 in about a week (which was still excruciating). Having used the Vostro for a week and a half now, I have to say I like it. In my previous post, I had said the battery is between 4 and 5 hrs with average use, but I'm going to now say about 3-4 hours, which is still ok to me. A guy at work has the D630 and the build quality doesn't look much different to be honest. Personally, I think the Vostro looks better.

Oh yeah, one other thing that the D630 has that's better is gigabit ethernet. I don't find this to be a big deal, since I usually go through wireless anyways, and I can buy a gigabit expresscard if I really need it. Also, the D630 has a serial port.

 

The hidden recovery portion and Media Direct are probably taking up the other 9GB.

 

Have 2GB RAM. (To save $$$$ order your computer with 1GB RAM and then buy the extra 1GB and install it yourself).

You'll be fine w/the base processor unless you play mid/high-end games. You don't need the n (as few places have it).

As for extended warranty, it depends on person. The economist would say that almost every aftermarket insurance policy benefits the company a lot more than the customer....which is true as Dell prices the insurance so that it makes money (insurance is a big moneymaker for Dell just as it is for a car dealer). Or a rule of thumb....the more you move around the computer, the more likely the jostling may damage something inside.

Basically, a lot of it depends on how risk averse you are...are you willing to pay for peace of mind? Just be aware that if you need something fixed, Dell's charge to out-of-warranty repair starts at $159.

Naturally, YMMV.

 

no no i can see that partion in my disk management tool.its 2.5GB,recovery is 2GB,and my main partition is 107.22GB(2.5+2+107.22=111.5GB)

anyway i am going to wipe out my complete harddisk,thn install xp,later install vista along with xp... thn ll try ubuntu(tri boot ).i think these guys aprox the harddisk space.evn my 2 gb ipod shows 1.8GB.

 

See e.g. this Wikipedia article for an explanation of why your hdd isn't reported as having 120 GB - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive#Capacity_measurements

 

ow... thnx for the link,nice info!

 

just get my vostro 1400 T7300 processor, 2 gigs ram, 160g hdd with ultrasharp screen. Look very nice. just like usual battery abit lose. and the resolution of the screen if set below 1440 x 900 will be less quality. and i did try on some dvd movie, the quality of watching dvd on this notebook is not good enough if compare to tv.

yeah, i got a problem in vista. from the disk management i see in my system, the hdd is partition to 4 section, 1)78megs - eisa configuration, 2nd 10 gigs d drive - recovery drive, 3rd 136.7gigs c drive, 4th is 2.5 gigs i believe is for media center. but i wonder how dell can make all this partition hdd to become primary hdd. what is eisa configuration actually.

now i planning to make another partition from my 136.7 gigs c drive. i planning to split out my 136.7 gig hdd to 3 parts. 40 gigs each. 1st partition for windows vista, 2nd for winxp, 3rd for my own use backup drive. any suggestion for me how to do it if i wanted to install windows vista and winxp together in this notebook?

 

Blah. My order was delayed (Original ESD 09/19/07) to 09/26/07 and now it's only a day away and still in the 'Build' stage. From what people have been saying it takes a few days in the 'Boxing' stage before shipment so I'm not holding my breath. Is anyone else seeing this with their 1400?

 

I'm kinda confused, it says I need to enter my company name when I try to purchase. I don't have a company, I just need a good laptop for college, does this mean I actually HAVE to be in a small business to buy this laptop??

 

Nope. This does not have to be purchased by an actual business. Just put anything in the business line like MrMuf1n Inc and you'll be set to order.

 

@ Datanut. I am myself a D630 user . But you hav summed it up - D630 offers more connectivity options. Thats about it. Thanks for your inputs I have made my decision. I am sorry for your D810 loss mate . must ve been quite a machine.

Cheers!!!

 

Is there anyone here, who only has the 6-cell battery? I don't like the look of the battery sticking out in the back, but I'm not sure how much battery time I am going to get with it. I am going to be using for taking notes in class approximately 3 hours.

Does anyone know, if the 6-cell battery will be enough?

 

9cell is bettr... tht bump which it produces is not much to concider....evn ibm systems get tht bump

 

Well after reading everyones review here, i finally ordered my Vostro 1400 core 2 Duo T7300, 2GB, DDR2;128MB nVidia GeForce; 160G 7200RPM;Windows Vista Business;8X CD/DVD Burner , camera,9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery;Wireless-N Mini-card, payed around $1,296.31 (with shipping and tax) and its arrival time is supposed to be around the 19th of this month (i cant wait)
i hope i have no loose battery issues and sound issues!! anyway ill be back to review my vostro!!

 

Hi,

i get abrupt spurts of clicking sound from the front right of my Dell Vostro 1400 laptop(1.6 Ghz, 2Gb ram, 120GB 5400 HDD). The sound seems to come from below the right-hand side speakers. It is more obvious when i am accessing any application and make any sudden changes, such as start scrolling down on an already open Adobe document, or may be open a new tab on Firefox.

It seems like something was stopped and suddenly started, maybe a fan or the hard disk, but i really dont have any idea as i am very new to laptops. Any sort of help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,
Biswajit.

 

I've recently(11th of October) ordered for a Vostro 1400.

Just wanted to know a few things:
1. How usable is the Vostro on a linux environment - Any issues with the Graphics Card and/or the Wireless-N card?
2. What is the performance of running multiple Virtual Machines (VMs) on top of Vista. Specifically, Fedora Core 6 or a similar OS.

Thanks,
DDC

 

No you do not, Just put down your name or something, doesn't really matter... thats what I did, and i'm getting my next week!!!

 

DDC-
From the specs you list, I have the exact same compter, except for the wireless card, for which I have the Intel g. I specifically got that card because I heard it works well with linux. Not sure about the wireless-n card though. I am running a dual boot with Ubuntu linux, which took a bit of tweaking to get working correctly. There are linux drivers for the 8400 video card. For Ubuntu install on the Vostro, go to: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=521753
For help, you can also search under Inspiron 1420, which is essentially the same computer, but seems to have a larger user base.
I haven't tried VM.

 

hi! im buying one too.. until yesterday there was a -15% discount, but i ordered in the website , i found it a very good offer!

is the basic config, with camera, 9 cells, nontruelife(prefer it so i can use confortably everywhere), core2duo 1.6 5470, 2gig ram, 120 gig hd, combo cd/dvd, 1yr warr, vista home basic (prolly will change to xp), integrated intel x3100, for like 780us$ (its not in usa , so everything is generally higher here)

 

my cousin bought a vostro 1400n yesterday. included CD was a dell utility disk and DOS cd only..

i was helping them out (thru phone) on installing xp since the notebook was purchased with NO bundled software. they were stucked during the XP install -- setup did not detect hard disk..

after googling i found a solution: change the bios setting for the SATA Drive from the default AHCI to ATA.

just thought i put this here, for those who'd like to install xp instead of vista.

HTH.

 

yayix : i heard some people couldnt find the audio driver...care to comment on this?

im considering to buy it from msia and jus like ur cousin, i want the DOS version.

 

Hello and Thank you Jason for a wonderful review and to everyone else for contributing and making this site awesome.

I placed my order yesterday for a Vostro 1400 with C2D T7250 2.0Ghz, WXGA+, Vista Home premium, 8400M GS, 2GB RAM, 9 Cell Battery. Hopefully it'll arrive before christmas.

 

Hello everyone!

First and foremost, thanks for all of your posts. You have been very helpful in my next laptop decision. However, I would like to ask a question about the Vostro. How large is the charger?

I currently have a laptop that has been classified as a "desktop replacement" (didn't know that at the time) and the charger is quite literally as large as a brick.

If anyone would be willing to post a picture or two/ dimensions of the Vostro 1400 charger it would be greatly appreciated!!

 

just tried a PCmark05 test with vostro 1400:T7800/X3100 and Hitachi 5400rpm 80G hard drive in XP with a score of 4454.

 

with vista 64bit OS and Hitachi 7200rpm 200G, pcmark05 score raise to 4753.

 

after closing all background programs including firewall, with vista 64bit OS and Hitachi 7K200 200G, PCmark05 soared to 5207.(a desktop with AMD 64X2 4000+/NVidia 6150LE/PC5300 2G RAM/Seagate 7200rpm 250GB/Vista 64bit ultimate scored only 2977 with PCmark05)

 

Hi guys, I first want to thank everyone for the information they've put up for the vostro 1400. It greatly helped in my decision to purchase this beauty of a laptop.

I've had it for a month now, and my vostro 1400 is fantastic, and I have almost nothing to complain about. It was ordered from dell.ca, with T7500, 1Gb RAM, 120 Gb 7200RPM HD, DVD+R, nVidia 8400 GS, WXGA+. It's got a 9cell battery that lasts about 6+ hours battery life if I turn off wifi and do word processing or reading pdf's on it, and 4-5 hours if I'm surfing the web and wordprocessing and running MSN on it.

The screen is great compared to my previous laptop, the colour is bright and bold. It runs C&C: Tiberium Wars fine on medium, and only slows down when I let off a nuke (the radioactive clouds are hard to render?). The keys on the keyboard are great to press, and I've grown to prefer it over my external keyboard. Tappity tap. The black casing is fantastic to look at, and I cannot help but caress it from time to time. I would be staring at it for awkwardly long periods of time if it was a girl. Bah, who am I kidding? I'm staring even now.

The only things I can complain about is the battery which a bit loose, but this is a known problem (apparently they have not fixed it yet), and the touchpad, which isn't as sensitive as I'd like it to be. I've turned up the sensitivity to the highest settings, but it is still slow to respond at times.

This is definitely a worthwhile purchase in my books, especially for a man who had been deliberating between similar Lenovo, HP, other Dell models, and even considering the Apple Macbook at a desperate end for a decently priced laptop with good performance (I could not bring myself to buy a laptop with only one button at the touchpad, since I'd be running windows xp on it).

Mmmm... tasty, tasty Vostro 1400...

 

Just wanted to say I ordered one on the 17th in no small part due to this web site and this review. My sig reflects the configuration.

I spent a very long time wrangling between a $400-500 Best Buy special and a very expensive Dell XPS or similar. This laptop was the clear, obviously, and only answer for me. I am eagerly awaiting its arrival.

This laptop was able to give me small size (14"), discreet graphics, and a hi-res monitor for the price I was looking for.

This is my anti-Apple laptop for university. Not only is it a Dell (anti-Apple), but its a business series! I am sure I will get countless dirty looks The ZERO Halliburton case will only add to the evil Republican look!

Very glad this site exists - lots of good info.

 

Got mine on xmas.

Very impressed I must say.

Even with the lowest end C2D it's still peppy and full of speed. The 2gigs of ram helps though. No screen problems whatsoever. Runs older games at full res, medium settings, such as Unreal Tournament 2k4, runs speedy, lags occasionally, but nothing major during online play. Call of Duty runs like a dream. All in all i'm really impressed with this thing.

As for the battery, i've got the 9 cell, and it managed 2 movies, and about an hour and a half of computing at medium brightness on the screen, still having 40% battery left.

Like the keyboard, nice and responsive, things are in the right place. Can touch type easily.

On 3Dmark06 it managed a whopping 2fps on average. I didn't even bother to let it finish... But that was at full rez. So its pretty sweet looking, but like a sweet looking slideshow...
Anyways, I tried 3Dmark01 on it, blew through that without breaking a sweat. Scored like 3650 3dmarks.

 

Got mine yesterday. Don't want to repeat what has already been said, I agree with the general consensus, except that my 9 cell battery doesn't feel loose at all, it came snapped in, and when i walked around it doesn't rattle or move. I don't know if this is a problem Dell dealt with and fixed or what. Also, i noticed I got the T15470 instead of the 15270, guess it was my lucky day. The Dell media direct software kind of sucks, i deleted it, then had to find a mpeg decoder to play dvd's, was a bit of a hassle, but other then that everything is running fine.

 

I got mine on 12/31/07 and got the T5470 instead of the T5270 (which I ordered).

Guess they were out of stock and we got lucky!

I am trying to figure out how much stuff I can shut off (# of processes) to speed things up. While its fast, I feel there is improvement to be made. Maybe a fresh install sans Dell software? Not sure if Dell gives me anything I want that Vista Premium does not...

 

i have a problem with the dell webcam console

i opened it and it jus hangs. ( my cursor becomes the hourglass when i hover the it over the application )

using ctrl+alt+del, it says the program isnt responding. the following error came out

You chose to end the nonresponsive programe, Run a DLL as an App.

Error Signature

szAppName : rundll32.exe szAppVer : 5.1.2600.2180 szModName : hungapp
szModVer : 0.0.0.0 offset : 00000000

Error reports content :
C:\DOCUME~1\***\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER6a5a.dir00\rundll32.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\***\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER6a5a.dir00\appcompat.txt

someone help me. thanks in advance

 

Not sure how well Vista Premium is running for you, It is a powerful enough machine to handle it, but I went with XP instead, might want to consider downgrading if your worried about speed. This Dell Tuneup program that launches when you start the computer is pretty useless IMO.

Also, I'm trying to use less demanding open source programs when possible to keep the machine running smoothly.For example, pidgin instead of IM.

can you confirm what I stated about the battery not wiggling or moving(if you got the 9 cell)

 

First, my battery (9 cell) DOES in fact wiggle. However, it does NOT disconnect power from the computer no matter how much I shake or wiggle it around. I will stick a shim in when I feel like it (I'm pretty lazy )

The computer is VERY fast, but this is the first time ever I have used Vista, so no idea how fast (or slow) it should be!

One thing I am curious about is when I am just sitting on the desktop, it seems the HD is constantly reading/being active. Wonder why.

 

anyone able to help me?

 

Just wanted to say good review. It was very helpful in leading me in the right direction. I ordered my 1400 on dec 2 and it shipped dec 6. Got mine dec 10. All i can say is that its a pretty amazing for the value. I did have some minor gripes.

1. The cpu and heatsink cover on the bottom on my notebook was not installed properly and one of the pegs was sticking out while all 3 screws were screwed in. I was very mad and had them send me a new door since it was bent.

2. The plastic strip that says vostro 1400 on it was also not snapped in tightly. I had to snap it in myself. I think the guy who put this laptop together did not pay attention to details. Makes me kinda worried if theres anything else that is not snapped in tightly.

3. DHL was supposed to deliver my package and it required signature confirmation. To my surprise no one was home when it was delivered so the delivery man made a fake signature and left it on the front door. Sad... but whatever at least i didnt have to go pick it up from the warehouse.

Overall, with my minor gripes i love this thing. It is fast enough even though i only got the 1.4 ghz c2d. My screen is bright and not grainy. Got the 1200x800 res truelife. And its a Au optronics. I am gonna be happy for the next couple of years to come.

*Edit

also wanted to add that my 6-cell does wiggle so i put a piece of paper between the case and the battery and it is rock solid now.

 

I'm ready to pull the trigger and order the Vostros 1400 today I think. I'm going to order it with the following specs, on sale for $839 in this config:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
XP Pro
120 Gig hard drive
2 Gig of RAM
GeForce 8400 GS

This thread has been VERY helpful, but I have a few more questions:

How bad is glare on the Truelife screens? Would I be better off with the standard screen if I'm concerned about this?

Which screen has a better viewing angle?

Is the overall picture quality truly "better" on the WXGA+?

Thanks! This will be my first personal laptop, so I'm pretty pumped.

 

Hello, lets see if i can help you. I personally ordered the WXGA truelife screen. Inherently the matte screen will have a better viewing angle. However, in my opinion the truelife screen makes everything look sharper and brighter. Of course there is going to be glare if you have the sun shining down on it. To me it doesnt really bother me since i can move myself or the laptop to compensate. This is really your preforance whether or not this really bothers you.

Picture quality of the wxga+ should be better since it has a ton more pixels however since there are more pixels everything will be smaller. I like the wxga that i got and really have no complaints, but this choice is really up to you once again.

 

I'm looking at the 1.4 ghz, 2g ram, and xp version. I'm loving everything but the 1.4 ghz. Is that fast? Does the fact that its "core 2 duo" mean its faster than regular pentium IV 1.4ghz? Is it economical to upgrade this aspect?

I'm in college and intend on bring it to class to take notes, write papers, etc. However, if an MMO comes out and gets good reviews (ie Warhammer) i would like it to be able to play that at decent settings.

So far my cost is at $639 with the 9cell battery. I was thinking of raising that processor to 2.0 and the cost would be $769. I also want it to last me a good 3-5 years (Both in durability and system performance)

Pretty much my question is: Can you tell the difference between 1.4 and say 1.6 or 2.0 ghz?

Thanks in advanced! This forum is so much more sophisticated, friendly, and helpful than other forums I have visited.

 

EDIT: Just thought of something. How would it handle being in a backpack? I'm not going to throw my backpack around, but would it being semi-crammed up against something harm it?

EDIT: Excuse my inexperience with the edit function!

 

Welcome!

I ordered the T5270 and ended up with the T5470 for free (as did a few others, no idea if they are still doing that). I also have the GeForce 8400 (see my sig for the specs).

I have played through Half Life 2, Episode One, Episode Two, and Portal at native resolution (1440x900, I got the upgraded screen) WITH a few of the goodies turned on - and it is VERY good for basic gaming. Always playable frame rates less a few rare moments where there were a dozen enemies, fire, smoke, etc. and it would bog down for a second (it happens to the best of us...)

The CPU I have (1.6 GHz.) is 15% faster than the base one (1.4 GHz.) - and that it would not phase you AT ALL for anything like internet, watching DVD's, Google Earth, large PP presentations, etc. - and for games, it would not be that much slower.

The key is to order the GeForce 8400 if you want to be OK for games - that will make all the difference in the world.

As for the 'only 1.4 GHz.' - it was a little strange for me to order that. My desktop (which I am typing on right now) is a 3 GHz. P4 that is from DECEMBER 2003, so it was weird getting a computer FOUR YEARS LATER with half the rated clock speed per core. However, with my 1.6 GHz., running the single CPU data tests, this processor is nearly twice as fast, meaning that 1 MHz. of my new laptop equaled almost FOUR MHz. of my old one (for this test).

The 1.4 or 1.6 GHz. CPU will both run circles around a 3GHz. P4 chip AND have the dual core benefit. Yes, the 2.0 GHz. would be nice (and the T7xxx series), but this computer is a serious piece of kit.

Order either chip with confidence, just don't skip the GeForce 8400.

 

Actually, I will piggy-back on the backpack question!

I have a nice Halliburton laptop case, but its a laptop case. I have a backpack for school (books, binders, and now the laptop starting next week!) but am scared to death to put the laptop in there.

I was looking at some of the soft neoprene cases at Best Buy today ($20-30 stuff) and am worried that the laptop will still get 'crushed' between the books and all that.

Any help would be appreciated.

How strong is the Vostro 1400? Its a business computer, so I would assume its better than other stuff out there, but still.

 

Thanks! It comes standard with the 8400 and no other options are available. Is there a difference between the wireless cards? This seems important because I will have to connect wirelessly at school and at home.

I may go with the 2.0 ghz just so my apple friend doesn't mock me (even though its much cheaper even after the apple student discount and comes with more ram and hard drive space)

 

I am not the right person to ask about wireless cards, I ordered the one that was the $10 upgrade.

And let your Apple buddy have his little victory, its the least you could do, he has an Apple after all

 

This thing is by no means light. Expect around 6 pounds of weight on your back. However it does have one of the sturdiest cases i have ever felt. This thing is heavy duty, the bottom is magnesium-alloy and trust me, it will not get crushed. It isnt all that thin either, i do carry it to campus in my backpack and i can definitely notice the extra burden in my backpack. However, for the money i couldnt beat it. Since this was the only thing in my price range that had the right specs.

hope this helps!

 

I think you are selling the computer short - look at the 'list price', we have the same specs generally and are closing in on $1200-1500 before all the sales/free offers. The 14" Latitude configured as I got mine would have been right at $1500

Glad to hear its so beefy - this isn't a delicate little flower.

 

Hi! Jason, thanks for the fantastic review, & others for sharing! This's a grest thread!

I was a fan of NEC Versa 3300 (13.3" screen)and decided to settle for it, but i noticed Vostro's incredible price to specs ratio and its option for XP. I must say Vostro is really irresistible.

I have 2 questions though:-

1.If i opt for XP, does Vostro comes with XP disc?

2.If it does, can i use it to reformat my desktop harddrive? or it's only meant for booting up the notebook?

Thanks people for your insights. Cheers!

 

if im not wrong the xp disk can only be used for notebook.

in fact, other brands of notebooks can be used to.

i had an inspiron 510m which i bought 3 yrs ago and it came with an xp disk...i cud load xp on a lenevo but not on my desktop.