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Inspiron 2200 Review.

post #1 of 16
Thread Starter 
First thing I did was reformat it after looking at it a bit.

I ordered this a few weeks ago for a family member who doesn't need the powerful Nvidia, or ATI video card.

Inspiron 2200 Specs.
1.5 Ghz Celeron M
14.1" XGA LCD Panel (Samsung)
256 MB of Ram
40 GB WD Hard Drive, 8MB cache
Microsoft Windows XP Home
24x CD-RW/DVD (Sony)
Dell 1370 internal wireless card
8-cell Lithium Battery
3-USB 2.0 compliant ports
15-pin monitor connector
10/100 internal NIC
Modem: RJ-11 connector
Line-out (external speakers/headphone) and external microphone
(1) Type I or Type II card
3.3 and 5 V cards supported
2 front facing speakers
1 Year Warranty

I bought the Dell because I wanted too. I like my Dell PC and thought buying another one for my family member was ok.

Design.
The power adapter is 2 parts, the thick power cord pc's use and a brick that connects to the notebook with a small plug. Nothing fragile about it.

The style of the notebook is very plain. No fancy trim. Everything is black.
It's not too heavy, and the hinges hold the lcd firmly.
It doesn't feel fragile.

Keyboard.
I find the keyboard to be easy to type on. My hands are large and can type easily with no problems.
The delete key is too far though. Somebody with smaller hands couldn't reach it.

Screen.
The XGA resolution is 1024X768. Up to 32 bit color.
I find the text large and easy to read.
The dot pitch looks nice to me. Nice and bold, well defined.

It has a anti-glare coating. But it looks like my 17" crt monitor to me.
Not 1 dead pixel.
No light leakage when tilted at a certain angle, but it's more bright at a different angle, so it does look like there's light leakage when the screen is black.

The color was so-so. So I used 3rd party software to change the red, green, blue color. I used:
Red: 1.11
Green: 1.00
Blue: 1.05
If your color calibration software uses a different number scheme. Red is .11 more notches than Green. And Blue is .5 more notches than Green.

No Sparkly on the screen. Sparkly is those splotches on the screen.

Sound.
Not too loud. About as loud as a loud tv when your sitting in front of the notebook. It doesn't have that base that booms, it sounds like there's barely any boom to the sound.
With headphones you can hear the base better.

Wireless.
It's faster than my pc using a nic. No disconnections. But I had to use Dell quickset to get online.

Performance.
It can play trailers, and yahoo.ca Music video's with no problem.
With 3 pages open and playing a movie trailer it uses about 230 MB ram, using registry tweaks.

Pro's.
The wireless internet speed.
The screen looks beautiful when tweaked.
It can play online media and dvd's with no problems.
Sound through the headphones is cd quality and very loud.

Con's.
It's got no color designs. It's all just black, and looks very plain.
Some light leakage at certain angles.
The sound through the speakers has barely any base.
I suggest you buy power dvd 6. Since you can make dvd's brighter, and it has more configuration options. The default dell dvd software makes dvd's look too dark.

Closing comments.
I like this notebook. I had to buy power dvd, and tweak the lcd using some 3rd party software and use some registry tweaks to maximize my ram, but now it's just cruising. If you don't want to use registry tweaks you'll need 512 MB ram.

My camera doesn't take very good pictures.
LL
post #2 of 16
thanks for the review! Its hard finding reviews for the Dell Inspiron 2100/2200. I'm getting one for my sister for only $349 (coupons/rebates) Not bad for the price
post #3 of 16
Thanks for the quick review, although personally speaking the black design could be seen as a blessing since there is no worry about visible scratches appearing everywhere.
post #4 of 16
What would the Graphics be like?
post #5 of 16
Thread Starter 
I've just played a snes emulator on it. It works fine in a small screen at high resolution.
post #6 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlinkin
I've just played a snes emulator on it. It works fine in a small screen at high resolution.

whats that?
post #7 of 16
Thread Starter 
Emulator
http://www.zsnes.com/

Games
http://www.pjrpg.com/roms.html
http://www.coolrom.com/agreement.php

They don't need administrator priveledges, and can be installed on a limited account.
post #8 of 16
Would you be able to play games like Flight Simulator 2002 or Sim City 4?
post #9 of 16
Thread Starter 
Here's a list of the games it can play. The games say how much ram it needs.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphic...phics+915main&
post #10 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlinkin
Here's a list of the games it can play. The games say how much ram it needs.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphic...phics+915main&
Would the graphics card on my lappy be better than the one on the Dell Inspiron 2200?
post #11 of 16
Thread Starter 
post #12 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlinkin
Thanks for the help!
post #13 of 16
Thread Starter 
Your welcome.
post #14 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlinkin
Your welcome.

Can you try this: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...r/default.mspx and then click on and scan. Please let me know the result! Thanks!
post #15 of 16
dlinkin?
post #16 of 16
Thanx for review. That helped me make my xmas decision.
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