A Desktop of a Laptop.
Written: Jan 19 '04 (Updated May 27 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Desktop P4, non-integrated graphics card, quality TFT screen, ample RAM and HDD, keyboard, 12-cell battery.
Cons: Heavy, only 2 USB's, creaky case, noisy fan, fixed CD drive, one fixed RAM.
The Bottom Line: A desktop-power laptop. Great for university students - powerful enough to last. Regular price is only ok, but this system is a good value with rebates/free upgrades.
|
|
|
| highlander2000's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 5100 (5100BS1) PC Notebook |
Update: 5/26/2008
With the previous upgrades, this machine continues to be a reliable machine day-in and day-out. However, recently the thermal paste on the CPU wore out, since the P4 burns so hot in an enclosed space. Had that replaced and the machine is humming again.
Battery life is still ~2 hours without wifi and with the screen brightness to a minimum; make that 1.5 hours with wifi. I must have run through ~400 battery cycles by now. Kudos to Dell for providing a monstrous 12-cell, 96 Wh battery with this system. These are simply not offered any longer, and a replacement battery will set me back nearly 200 dollars!
If I can get just one more year from this notebook (I'll graduate, start working, and can buy a new one, preferably much lighter), then I cannot ask for anything more. This is my reliable comrade and companion, every day!
Update: 2/27/2007
This laptop continues to provide reliable service, though my hard drive struggles under its yoke, and struggles very loudly. Since laptop components such as RAM and HDD's have become -considerably- cheaper over the years of my ownership of the Inspiron 5100, I plan to install a new HDD (fluid bearings, quiet, 5400 rpm, 120 GB - just $80) and swap in a new 512 MB RAM slot (just 45 dollars) to give me a total of 768 MB of RAM. This upgrade price of $125 is much less than the $250 upgrade price I was looking at two years ago. So, I plan to keep using this laptop for another two years as I hold out against Windows Vista.
Update: 2006
After 3 years and 4 months of ownership, I am pleased to say that this Dell is still humming smoothly. I've had no component troubles whatsoever. The screen is still bright, the cpu still offers solid performance while I multitask on ever-more demanding programs, the network card or cardbus never skips a beat.
The hard drive speed and capacity has become more of an issue, though. I'd really like a 5400 rpm drive with 80 GB of capacity, but it's not worth the upgrade. I've added an external DVD writer/rewriter, works great with the PC over the USB 2.0.
Battery life is in the range of 1.5 - 2.5 hours after about 200-300 thorough discharge/recharge cycles, which I find to be good (lithium ion batteries lose capacity as time goes on and with discharge/recharge cycles). I probably will not have to replace this battery before I buy a new laptop in a couple of years, though admittedly I don't need to work away from the outlet so much these days. I give kudos to Dell for offering such a massive battery as standard back then.
I'm so pleased with the performance and value of this laptop after these years that I bump my rating up to 4.5 / 5 stars.
Original Review:
Before I decided I needed a laptop for college (and I am very glad to have it now!), I thought I knew what i would get: A mini-me version of my desktop at home, with an AMD Athlon XP chip, good RAM and HDD, good video card, and good optical drive. Well, there are some fine AMD notebooks available, but queerly, few have non-integrated graphics cards. The motherboards for AMD notebooks didn't seem that great either, as the AMD notebooks I saw tested didn't fare too well.
So, I chose Dell for my Inspiron 5100 laptop because of the fine components and customizability. Also, I ordered one of the special configurations which offered a fat mail-in-rebate, free screen upgrade, and free CD-RW/DVD drive. Very nice.
To date I am very pleased with my Dell's performance. Here is my configuration:
2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 with 533 MHz Front side bus
512 MB 266 MHz DDR RAM
40 GB HDD, 4200 RPM
Samsung 24x/12x/24x/8x - CDR/CDRW/CDROM/DVDROM optical drive
32 MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 w/ 350 MHz DAC
15" TFT screen, XGA (1024 x 768 resolution)
Windows XP PRO
Floppy Drive (opt.), 2 USB ports, 1 firewire port
Standard Keyboard, touchpad, integrated sound, and speakers
96 W-hr. battery
Final Price: 1300 USDollars after 225 USD rebate.
These components were very generous for a laptop of this price when I bought my Inspiron nearly 6 months ago. Here is a summary of the experience I've had with my Inspiron after 6 months of use:
Speed/Power/Performance: 8 / 10
Because of this laptop's heavy size, you'll most likely keep it grounded and use it similarly to a desktop. When plugged in on AC juice, the Desktop P4 sizzles (almost literally) through tasks, the HDD and RAM are responsive enough, and the Mobility Radeon 7500 runs less-requiring games seamlessly.
The ATI M-Radeon 7500 is very nice (but not the best) because of its 350 MHz speed and good bandwidth. At 32 MB however, the video memory size keeps the Inspiron from handling the most resource-demanding games.
However, if productivity is the name of your game, then rejoice - the Inspiron can handle your needs with relative ease. I've encountered no problems while running MS Excel, MS Word, Winamp or Windows Media Player, outlook express, Opera internet browser, Trillian, and my broadband internet connection simultaneously.
Even though the HDD is rated at 4200 RPM, it has handled my needs amply. 5400 RPM drives are available I believe, but cost around $100 more.
Standard XGA 15" monitor is a nice standard with 1024 x 768 resolution. Not overcontrasted or overbright.
CDRW/DVD drive is also a fine combination. DVD playback is particularly good. However, burning CD's is a bit sluggish for the 24x rated drive - I clock in a nearly full CD at 9.5 minute burn process. My 48x desktop drive at home completes the same task in around 4.3 - 4.4 minutes, less than half of the time.
Ergonomics/Functionality: 7.5/10
The keyboard for the Inspiron 5100 is quite fine - large keys abound, and only the upper F-series keys have been reduced in size, which is easily bearable. The delete and insert keys are moved to the lower right, which works for me. This makes for a very comfortoble laptop keyboard.
The touchpad is also very nice, and functions well, except that scrolling is a problem. You are supposed to move your finger up and down across the very right side of the touchpad to scroll; however, this feature takes some doing to use....
The major detractor is the lack of a 3rd USB port. True, the 2 standard USB ports are 2.0's - but the 2 ports are easily occupied by a floppy drive and another peripheral.
The rest of the functionality of the laptop is excellent.
No physical problems to note, except the laptop's 8 pound weight.
Miscellaneous/Tech Support: 7 / 10
This laptop makes a very nice DVD player...
Headphones or external speakers are almost necessary, as built-in speakers are understandably weak and tinny...
Casing is colourful and fine, but the underpinnings sometimes do rattle slightly...
Battery provides approx. 2.5 - 3.5 hours of runtime, which is great for the desktop P4 running the system...
Modem and Network Card both work well...
Optical drive is fixed, so you'll need to buy an external optical drive as an upgrade...
One of the 2 RAM slots is fixed at 256 MB, so you can only upgrade one of the slots with more DDR RAM...
Windows XP PRO is the choice for this system, especially if you connect to a network...
Standard software is fine, but I prefer Norton AntiVirus over McAfee...
Tech Support is a mixed bag. Can be helpful and useless at the same time. When I had some WinReg problems, the Dell installed software didn't function. So, I used the appropriate Dell backup CD to reinstall these programs. Guess what? - The cd was almost blank. There were only 2 drivers on this CD that should have had drivers, antivirus program, and some other install files. Dell refused to send a new CD after repeated requests, stating that my 30 day software evaluation period had ended. This didn't seem an appropriate way to handle the situation at all. On the other hand, they expertly helped me to fix my WinReg corruption... When I first asked tech support by email how to adjust the picture settings for the TFT screen, an apt technician replied that I would have to follow some complicated process involving a second monitor. Whatever, dude. The Fn up/down arrow key does the trick.
Overall, this Dell Inspiron easily suits my needs based on strong performance and sound features.
Final Rating: 7.5 / 10 (by default, 4 out 5 stars)
Recommended HIGHLY for: university students
Fine choice for most intermediate level users, as well.
Look for specially configured Inspiron 5100's as the best value. Most of these special configurations will come standard with the processor, RAM, HDD, and optical drive you need. Also look for a rebate and free upgrades! Dell's been giving them out recently.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1300
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
highlander2000
|
|
Member: Beejal
Location: Louisiana
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Get over the subculture. Live on.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.