Dell Inspiron 1150
Entry level Windows XP based notebook for small
businesses.
By Jon Deragon,
Visca Consulting
Wednesday June 30, 2004; 1:00pm EST
Today it is easy for a small business owner or employee to justify
buying a notebook. Being restricted to the desktop simply doesn't meet
the dynamic needs of a small business operator. From doing
presentations on the road, to tapping out documents during travel, to
the simplicity of having the same machine at both home and work -
notebooks are a must. Luckily for small businesses on a lean budget,
the price to get yourself mobile has plummeted over the past year. Not
only can you get a notebook for around the $1000 mark, but it's also
well equipped and will generally do everything a typical business user
would want - and competently. The selection of brands and models now
available at this price point, is nothing short of amazing. Although
most of them offer somewhat similar core specifications, the hard part
is deciding which notebooks offer the best blend of overall quality,
reliability, refinement and manufacturer customer service.
One notebook that stands out in this market segment is the new Dell
Inspiron 1150 notebook. With a base price of a staggeringly low
$899USD, and a wide range of options, it can scale to pretty much any
budget and hardware / software combination you could possibly need.
Upon first inspection of the Dell Inspiron 1150, it utilizes a
familiar form factor for its casing, with a typical footprint for its
class. It is generally an attractive notebook, light grey in color,
featuring a brushed metal and white Dell emblem on the top of the
casing, and a simple, logical layout of the working area when open.
Operating the notebook's sliding lock and lifting of the screen feels
sturdy and well constructed with very little flexing. The hinges for
the screen are well suited for the application and have a positive
feeling in their level of resistance and ability to set exact viewing
positions for the screen. Overall it could be classified as well
constructed, particularly for its price point.
Once powered up, load times are fast with its pre-loaded Microsoft
Windows XP Home or Professional edition. Everything worked pretty much
immediately out of the box required no configuring or installing, only
the usual software license activations and registrations. Best of all
is that it is cleanly installed, and not overrun with a plethora of
garbage "lite and trial" software and services offers. Overall it was
impressive (and a relief) to just start working with a notebook right
away, rather than spending hours unconfiguring a workstation that was
poorly installed at the factory. The 1150 offers a range of
productivity software options ranging from the Corel WordPerfect
Office 11 Suite all the way up to the Microsoft Office 2003
Professional Edition. Other installed software titles include Real
Player; Sonic RecordNow! CD burning software; Paint Shop Pro 8
(evaluation version) image editor and a range of Dell utilities such
as a picture viewer, DVD player, wireless LAN tools, and software
specific to the notebook. The Inspiron 1150 includes a collection of
software install disks, manuals, quick start guide and AC adaptor.
Many other accessories and peripherals can be purchased for the 1150
during or after the time of sale.
The notebook is literally silent in normal operation, which is a joy
to work with. Even under "strenuous" conditions there is only an
occasional whirring of a small fan from the rear of the case to flush
out the hot air and then it resumes back to "is it even on?" level of
silence. Ahhh, blissful silence! The keyboard generally offers
sufficient feedback, with the keys themselves being a bit on the "lite
and plasticy" side. Keys were well laid out, taking only a short
period of time to get accustomed to. The accuracy of the touch pad
unfortunately left much to be desired - often "jumping" the cursor and
responding incorrectly to what we wanted to do. The two buttons
accompanying the touch pad performed great, with solid feedback from a
quality click mechanism. Status lights along the front of the case for
power, drive access and battery charging are clear and up to the task.
The num lock, alpha lock and scroll lock lights were adequate, if not
a bit small for day time use. General use of the keyboard / touch pad
area was comfortable for extended use. The case accommodates a CD/DVD
drive, single PCMCIA slot and headphone / microphone jacks on its left
side. A swappable battery compartment and 56k v.92 fax / modem jack on
its right side. The back includes the integrated 10/100 Ethernet jack,
VGA port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, power point and fan vent. Two speakers are
integrated into the front of the case. All ports and jacks are well
labeled with icons and easy to use. Due to the lack of keyboard,
mouse, serial and parallel ports it would have been nice to have 4 USB
ports instead of 2, however a USB hub easily handles this short
coming.
Under the hood, the Inspiron 1150 can be equipped with either a 2.40
or 2.60 Intel Celeron processor, or a 2.66 or 2.80 Intel Pentium
processor. For the reasonable amount asked extra, we would highly
recommend the Pentium option over the Celeron. The base memory
included is 256MB of shared DDR SDRAM, and is upgradeable to 1GB. Due
to the fact that the memory is shared between the system and the
graphics card, if you can muster up another $100 it is advisable to
get it bumped up to 512MB of memory. All Inspiron 1150's come standard
with an Intel Extreme integrated graphics chip set. The hard drive
ranges from 20 to 60GB in capacity utilizing an Ultra ATA interface,
most will only need between 30 and 40GB for general business usage.
The included battery is a 65Whr, and an optional 96Whr version is
available for extended power use. The CD drive can be anything from an
8x DVD-ROM to a full 8x CD and (DVD+RW/+R) DVD burner with double
layer write capability. An optional (and highly recommended) Dell 1350
wireless card (802.11b/g compatible) is available. The base XGA screen
size is 14.1" and an optional 15" screen is available.
Our test Inspiron 1150 was configured with an Intel Pentium 2.66
processor, 256MB memory, 15" screen, 40GB drive and wireless card. We
found general operation of the workstation to be more than sufficient
for general business use. Initial application load times were not
stunning by any means, but were certainly more than acceptable,
especially in light of the notebook's price point. Once applications
were running, they responded swiftly and without any problems. There
were no signs of lag or delay at any time during regular application
use. The sound quality from the integrated speakers was as expected,
tinny and severely lacking in any level of fidelity or musical
reproduction range, but are acceptable for the typical "ding and dong"
alert sounds of business applications. The video card produced
graphics that are in-line with business requirements for such things
as power point presentations, but is not geared towards entertainment
related graphics such as first person 3D gaming.
The screen is well suited to the size of the case, crisp and colorful.
Its horizontal viewing range is excellent, however its vertical
viewing angle is limited often causing either the bottom or top of the
screen to appear darker unless you are in a median "sweet spot". After
angling the display you can generally find a comfortable viewing
position that allows the full screen to be sufficiently legible and
easy to work with for prolonged periods of time. We were impressed by
the refresh rate of the responsive TFT active-matrix screen, great for
full screen DVD movie viewing. We did not experience any glare related
problems with the screen, which performed well in a range of lighting
conditions. The CD / DVD drive worked quietly and efficiently, but was
a tad bit awkward to add and remove discs due to a slight overhang of
the case above the disc tray. The wireless card worked flawlessly and
offered exceptional ease of use and great wireless internet
performance that was consistent - even with access points that were
not located within the general vicinity of the notebook.
The notebook comes standard with a 1 year on-site limited warranty,
expandable up to 3 years with optional CompleteCare which acts like
insurance for your notebook in the event of accidental damage. When
purchasing the notebook, shipping rates range between $49USD for 3-5
days to $89USD for next business day. Shipping with Dell has in our
experience been outstanding, and live tracking of your delivery is
available on their web site.
Overall, the Dell Inspiron 1150 proved to be a "power it up and you
have everything you need" experience. Its clean design, components
featuring quality usually reserved for notebooks in a higher price
points and mind boggling prices set it apart from the herd. Even more
enticing is the continual stream of free or reduced price shipping
offers; discounted pricing; free components; free upgrades and
increased warranty period (and much of the time a combination of those
items) that bring the price down and the value up even further for
what is already an excellent deal. The numerous positive aspects of
this notebook far outweigh the small handful of items we wanted
improved - allowing us to enthusiastically recommend the Dell Inspiron
1150 notebook to small business users on a budget.
PROS - Well constructed, durable case; crisp and responsive
screen; whisper silent operation; comfortable keyboard; swift
performance in business applications; super wireless performance and
ease of use; great pre-loaded hard drive image; well equipped at an
outstanding price.
CONS - Limited vertical viewing range for screen; more USB2.0
ports would be nice; tinny speakers; lackluster integrated touch pad
precision.
About The Author
Jon Deragon is president and founder of Visca Consulting, a firm
specializing in web site design, development and usability for
businesses of all sizes. His many years in the technology industry has
enabled him to write quality, in-depth product reviews to assist
businesses make more informed technology purchases. He welcomes any
questions or comments you may have regarding his company's services,
this review or interest in having your company's products reviewed.
info@viscaconsulting.com
http://www.viscaconsulting.com/
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