Dell Inspiron 9400

[Yanagi]

I will purchasea dell 24" wide screen display to use for mmy desktop and I'm in the market for a dell laptop aswell.

I've got a great deal on the 9400 Inspiron.

Here are some quick specs:

1024MB RAM
120 GB harddrive
Bluetooth / WLAN
Geforce GO 7900 GS
Merom @ 2.0 GHz

Any of oyu have this laptop, your experiences, battery life and so on.
Input would be greatly appreciateed.

 

[AmigaMan]

I hate the Dell Inspiron lineup. I have a 9200 myself and it's a beastly, ungainly, overweight, SOB. Next to my MacBookPro, the Inspiron 9200 looks like an ugly duckling and something a robot would have crapped out of it's arse. The 9400 is basically a faster version of the 9200. Plus my 9200 developed LCD problems after just a year of owning it. While the specs are nice on the Dell, if you have the money, buy something else.

 

[cheesehead]

I would avoid Dell laptops like the plauge. I have owned a Dell Inspiron 9100 (notice a trend?), and would not reccomend it to anyone. The audio crapped out, the motherboard died twice, and the video card performed abysmally.

If you need a reliable performer for work, go buy a MacBook or Thinkpad. They'll be with you for years. If you need something with a bit more video-card oomph, consider an ABS; though I have yet to own one, they have an excellent reputation for good service.

 

[Enig101]

There's a review here that covers pretty much everything.

 

[dementedlemur]

I have an E1705/9400. I really like the 1920x1200 res screen as it allows you to do so much at once.
Compared to my old Inspiron 1100 the build quality is much better. I've also owned a 700m, 6000, and 630m and since they're all similar builds, the quality seems to be consistent throughout (at least with the ones I had).u
The battery life on my E1705 is much better than I expected for such a huge beast. I get nearly 3 hrs w/the higher capacity version just browsing the web with brightness turned down abit.

 

[Yanagi]

The reason I'm goingn for the dell laptop is basicly the same reason I'll go for the dell display. I'll get a 40-50% off deal on it.

As I currently provide support for apple computers I know all the flaws of the macbook and I can tell you there are various problems with those aswell, allthough I would not hesitate to buy one IF I had the cash avaliable. A thinkpad I already own and I love it to death but its starting to get old and I want to try something new. Anyways, thanks all for the input and I will definately read up on that review.

 

[Adn4n]

I've seen a lot of deals lately on the 9400. Make sure you know what memory you're getting(533 vs. 667)

 

[HomeyFoos]

Love my e1705. First Dell I've owned. Bought Toshiba for 5 years and both machines have died. They were expensive and disappointing. If I'm going to be disappointed, I should spend less money.

I upgraded Ram and HD after-market and my machine pretty much flies. Run BF2 at 1600x1200 on medium settings w/ 2xAA and no lag. Haven't tried more but I'm sure I could get more. The machine itself is nice looking to me. Similar to a MacBook but I will give the presentation edge to Mac. However, performance-wise, I will blow the Mac out. Better Video Card, Better Ram, Better Hard Drive, Better Screen, much much much less money.

I did a reinstall after I got it with the discs I got from Dell and was able to install with no bloatware. No traces of Dell on the OS that I can see, save the Bios screen (and I'm pretty sure I can turn that off). I've had it since July and no complaints whatsoever so time will tell. However, I have had 2 machines that have broken 3 times each so I'm used to that. My contention is that all laptops have issues and break. But they are all getting better. I assume Dell is no exception.

On the downside, the battery life isn't great but with power-down options you can suck more out of it. It's a bit large to be very portable but it is portable. You just can't whip it out on a crowded lunch table without making some room first. My little brother has a 15.4" MacBookPro (or whatever the newest one is called) and side-by-side comparison, his machine is slightly smaller in dimension. His is 1" closed. Mine is 1.5"ish closed (essentially, the difference was the screen). About an inch shorter longways and half an inch on the short edge. But my screen is larger and has a better resolution. Give and take, I suppose. I'm happy and I spent alot less than he did.


Good luck,

 

[andrewbabcock]

They have great screens but other than that, they are not worth buying.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

I've been happy with my 9300 outside of the fact that it's way too big for what I was trying to use it for (school laptop) and I kind of knew that going in. It's got keyboard issues because a 'friend' of mine spilt soda on it and didn't bother to fess up about it. I've got a few dead pixels as well, but it's not terrible. The issues haven't bothered me enough to make me want to send it back in yet(3yr Warrenty), and I've been using it as my desktop replacement for the past couple weeks while I get parts sorted to replace my bummed out mobo and get a proper RMA from Leadtek for my 6800GT.

That said, I wouldn't hesitate to buy Dell again. Especially when you get hawt deals and cupons on them. I had a $750 off cupon when I got mine. Bought a whole lot more laptop


Oh and battery life was pretty good on mine. It'll last up to 3.5hrs or so if I tweak all the settings and leave the wifi on. It's still plenty useable as an office pc like that.

 

[HomeyFoos]

They have great screens but other than that, they are not worth buying.

I'm curious why you would say this. They are a tremendous value and have equal reliability to other consumer brands. I can think of only one or two Brands that have excellent names in the Laptop industry and they are more business class machines, wouldn't you say? Not to mention, even those brands have some issues of their own. Alot of heat and moving parts in a small area equals mechanical/technical failure. Some happen sooner than others but again, this looks like it is improving.

If you are a fan of cars, the 80's were brutal. Terrible production and QC made for some very poor products. These days, almost all engines, if maintained properly, will give you years and years of uninterrupted performance. The technology has just improved a ton since then and all products are more reliable.

If you have had bad experience, I can understand saying such a thing but I believe Dell has improved. I would say Toshiba is not worth buying due to my experience and the premium they place on their machines. But others would disagree and say 'they are great' because they have had good experiences. I guess it's all perspective.

 

[harwyn16]

Hi Yanagi,
Do you know if your machine can drive an external monitor like Dell WFP2407, 24" 1900x1200 LCD?

 

[andrewbabcock]

I should really rephrase that. As long as you plan to keep them plugged in and on your desk most of the time, their awesome. Great speakers, screen, ports, everything. But take it from your desk and its like carrying around a small child with 3 hours of battery life with the biggest battery. Not fun. I keep my i9300 plugged in now and its great for movies, except that the dvd drive is a sony and sucks.