Miscellaneous laptop discussions : Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
by tgz1 - 10/19/04 8:28 PMI purchased a Dell Inspiron 600m notebook with a Pentium M processor but chose to receive the free Dell Wireless internal wi-fi card (b/g) instead of the Intel Pro "b" card offerd at the time. Because of this, the notebook doesn't have the complete Intel triad to be considered "Centrino" certified. I was told by the Dell salesperson that this won't really affect the wireless performance/battery life, as I have the Pentium M CPU and 855 chipset.
I would like to know if what the Dell person said is true, or should I try to install the newer Intel Pro b/g wi-fi card to get the full Centrino benefit. My batteries last about 2.5 hrs with wireless on, about 3.25 with it off.
Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
by Destroyer250 - 10/22/04 2:56 PM In reply to: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology by tgz1Hello,
You seem to understand the notebook thing. I currently own a Dell C400 Lattitude. I was thinking of updating to the 600M. How do you like the machine?
Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
by KenSanramon - 10/24/04 7:01 AM In reply to: Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology by Destroyer250You got a G and b wi-fi card and G is up to 5x faster than b. Even if have DSL which doesn't go fast enough to get the g speed benefit, the G is much more stable than b and will connect faster.
So, you were better off getting the card you did.
The current official card like I have in my Compaq X1360US is the Intel 2200b/g - but many others have put in other cards -- some notebooks will not work with other cards with their bios.
With my notebook, you can use other brand minipci wi-fi cards up to bios F34 but not higher.
This is not an issue with external PCMCIA slot or USB slot wi-fi cards only the internal minipci ones.
At any rate, you are better off with the b/g card whether officially Centrino certified or not then the antiquated b official card now.
Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
by tgz1 - 11/3/04 1:30 PM In reply to: Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology by Destroyer250I'm very happy with the 600m, except for the battery performance. It lasts about 2-3 hours on a charge, depending on what I'm doing. I don't know if that's good since it's the only laptop I've had. Otherwise, it boots up fast, the screen is sharp, and it works great - I've had it over a year without any problems.
Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology
by KenSanramon - 11/3/04 2:13 PM In reply to: Re: Dell Inspiron and Centrino technology by tgz1The widescreen 15.4" Intel Centrino notebooks I am familiar with (HPZT3000/Compaq ZT3000 and Toshiba M35) advertise up to 5 hours battery life and when using wi-fi all the time they get 3.5-4 hours (or playing DVD's) and get longer when not using wi-fi or running the hard drive or optical drive extensively (up to 5 hours -- especially if you turn down the LCD brightness when on battery power and in a darker room).
Unfortunately, smaller notebooks to save weight cut the battery capacity -- so your Dell 600M likely gets lower batter life as the battery itself is not the 8 cell capacity of my Compaq X1000 series.
A lightweight Acer Centrino notebook only got about 2 hours battery life (about the same as a hot running Pentium 4M) as its battery was only a 4 cell !!! -- which explains why it got 1/2 the battery life it should have.
Cnet rated the 600M less than 8.0 (8600 is rated over 8.0 and recommended but much heavier) but the only real negative I have read about the Dell 600M (and confirmed it at a Dell kiosk at a mall) is the hard drive is right under the area to the left of the touchpad leading to a lot of heat (and warmth radiating though the surface) in that location.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
