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Dell's new Inspiron 4150 notebook PCs utilise the latest Mobile Intel Pentium 4-M processors with SpeedStep technology, 14.1in. TFT LCD screens and great battery life. They also have Dell's colour-coded plastic inserts to personalise the look, which polarise aesthetic opinions.
Several processor speeds are offered. Our test unit ran at 1.9GHz, but 1.6GHz, 1.7GHz and 2.0GHz are available. The range of options continues to almost every component, offering the chance to customise the performance, features and cost to a considerable degree.
Intel's 845MP chipset supports external graphics processing through an AGP 4X interface. The GPU is an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500C with 32MB of SDRam, which gives the Inspiron 4150 sparkling graphics performance for a notebook PC.
The 845MP chipset also supports a 400MHz system bus and up to 1GB of DDR 200/266MHz SDRam in two user-accessible Sodimm sockets. The standard configuration is 128MB of Ram, but our unit had 256MB of the faster SDRam memory.
Text definition with the 14.1in. SXGA screen (1,400 by 1,050 pixels) is very sharp, but the characters are quite small. A resolution of 1,024 by 768 (XGA) is easier on the eyes.
Two pointing devices are provided, each with its own set of mouse buttons. The trackpoint sits almost flush with the keyboard, but is easy to use and good for moving fast over big areas. The trackpad is good for fine work.
Connectivity is generally well served. Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet and V.92 modem hardware provide the standard network connections, but there's also an internal Dell TrueMobile 1150 wireless local area network (Lan) card for 802.11b Wi-Fi communication.
On the left side is a Kensington Security Slot and stacked PC Card slots that can accommodate two Type I or II cards, or one Type III.
The right side has an infrared port, modem and Lan connectors, S-Video and headphone/microphone jacks (a built-in mic sits by the keyboard).
At the rear are single serial, parallel and PS/2 ports, a VGA port for dual display setups and a docking connector for an optional port replicator. The only disappointment is that it includes just a single USB 1.1 port.
Removeable components are at the front. On the left there's the Li-ion battery and the single bay on the right is for removeable media drives and supports warm-swapping.
Our unit had a floppy disk drive and a 24/10/24/8 DVD/CD-RW combo drive. Other options are a 24 CD-Rom, an 8/24 DVD-Rom and a 24/10/24 CD-RW drive. You can also fit a 40GB ATA/66 secondary hard disk drive or another battery.
Our notebook PC's main hard disk drive was a top-of-the-range Ultra ATA/100 40GB 5,400rpm unit, with options down to 20GB.
Harman Kardon stereo speakers vent out the sides and are driven by a Cirrus Logic CS4205 audio chip. Volume is adjusted via keyboard combinations.
Depending on components, the system weighs around 2.6 to 2.8kg and measures 31.9 by 25.4 by 37cm. Software offers further choices over which options to take.
Our test machine's Windows XP Home Edition and Works Suite 2002 are replaceable with Windows XP Professional and Office XP Professional or Small Business editions, respectively. Norton AntiVirus 2002 is also supplied.
One excellent feature is the Dell Solution Centre button: effectively a one-stop shop for all support questions. It offers integrated access to user guides, Windows help and online resources. You also get Dell's phone/email support during business hours and a one-year, six-day collect-and-return warranty. Other options are available.
The Inspiron 4150 is a capable notebook PC with excellent battery life and is ideal for mobile computing. It's easily fast enough to be a desktop replacement PC (you might want to add more USB ports with a hub though) or even a compact home PC that can still play games.
Contact: Dell (0870) 152 4644
www.dell.co.uk
Price £1,249 (ex. VAT)Fact file
- OS Windows XP Home Edition
- Processor 1.9GHz Intel Pentium 4-M
- Memory 256MB of 266MHz SDRam
- Graphics chipset 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500C
- Hard disk 40GB
- Optical drives CD-RW/DVD-Rom
- Display 14.1in. SXGA
- I/O Serial, parallel, PS/2, USB 1.1, VGA, S-Video, headphone, microphone, infrared, two Type II PC Card, 10/100Base-T, V.92 modem, IEEE 802.11b
See also:
Stunning Pentium 4 performance with lots of connectivity. 20 Nov 2002
A new desktop replacement from Rock with a powerful Pentium 4 processor and plenty of features. 15 Oct 2002
If you're looking for an ultra-portable notebook PC, this is the one to go for. 21 Aug 2002
All Notebooks & Tablets PCs
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