Problems with vostro 1500/1400 - Vostro owners please post your problems here

Anyone having problems of heat or noise issues with the T7250? Does the 2.0Ghz getts the laptop to hot for "lap" placement? this with a 160 (72000 RPM) HD?

Im getting one of this 2 :

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
15.4 in Wide Screen XGA LCD Display w/TrueLife™
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
160 GB (7200)
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
US$774

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
15.4 in Wide Screen XGA LCD Display w/TrueLife™
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
160 GB (7200)
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
US$849

Im planing on getting a 15.4 in Wide Screen XGA LCD Display w/TrueLife™. Ive read that the XGA+ doesnt make such a difference in a 15.4".

 

I have a Vostro 1500 with a T5270 and a Vostro 1700 with a T7250 and they both feel about the same temperature wise. They do get somewhat warm and could get uncomfortable if you used it on your lap for long periods of time.

I set my laptops on a desk so it's never an issue for me.

 

Hello.

I’ll maybe buy Vostro 1500 and I have several questions.

Configuration is the next:

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100
1 GB DDR2 667 MHz
160 GB 5400 RPM HD
GeForce 8600GT 256 MB GDDR2
15.4" WXGA+ (1440x900) TrueLife TFT
Standard 56Whr Smart 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery

I would add 2 GB RAM and install WinXP Pro SP3.

1. Will be there problem with heat after playing games several hours (I am casual gamer)?
2. Does Dell still have problems with grainy screens?

I don't want to pay 1010 Euros ($1570) and then got bad screen.

Thanks in advance .

 

I cant answer for the screen because I have the 1280x800 but I have a similar configuration on my Inspiron 1520 and its had no problems playing Call of Duty 4 or Rainbow Six Vegas for 4 hours straight.

 

I have the 1400 w/ T5470 CPU, and the fan already starting to make clicking noise. Dell tech is nice enough to send me a replacement and I am going to replace it myself.

It's way better to send the notebook in for service.

 

I received this laptop last month
Vostro 1400
T8100 processor
2 Gig Ram
160 gig hard drive
Geforce 8400M
TrueLife screen
Windows XP

I'm concerned about the noise of the overall system. The hard drive is constantly being accessed (the light flickers every other second, and the drive makes a not unnoticable noise, 3 short bursts of activity, every other second) This is not the 'clicking' problem reported elsewhere. This happens even when no programmes are running. On top of this, there is a constant fan-like noise coming from the top right (where the hard drive is?). Even when no programmes are running. On top of this, every 3-4 minutes the BIG fan kicks in (noise coming from the right of the laptop), even when no programmes are running.

As i have to use this laptop in an academic library of the utmost silence, this is quite irritating and embarrasing!

I have sought to tackle this in a number of ways already, all to no avail. I have turned off indexing, gone through the applications running to see what is accessing the hard-drive and turning these off, gone through the (limited!)BIOS options such as 'Quiet' hard drive acoustic mode, etc

I think the problem is that the laptop will not idle, ie, the hard-drive will not turn off (spin down?). Even after fiddling with the seemingly useless power management options, the processor is constantly going at full whack (2.10 ghz, according to NHC), when no programmes are running (not even Internet Explorer, or Word).

The hard drive is a Western Digital Scorpio 1600BEVS - a brand and series normally famed for its silence.

Anyone have any suggestions? How loud is your laptop, and what hard drive do you have inside it? I'd like to know if any else with this make of HD has a similar experience or indeed, if anyone does not - in which case i'll send it back to Dell!

 

I have had a problem for a couple of good months.Im experiencing random audio crashes when i play music in any player.Its like the system is crashing,everything is not responding and the sound loops.All that for about 20 seconds then everything is normal.I tried diagnostic,found the HDD was damaged,sent it back and had a new but the problem is still there.Now the diag doesnt show anything wrong but i still get this problem.Has it something to do with driver install order?I am running XP.If you know what's wrong please help,im struggling with the assistance to find a solution thanks....

 

1. Will be there problem with heat after playing games several hours (I am casual gamer)?

Probably not its got amazing cooling

2. Does Dell still have problems with grainy screens?

They always have had problems with every model if you get one return and get a new one

 

Is it normal that one side of the notebook feels more loose than the other?

when I close my lid for example, the left side is shut tight, while the right is loose.

 

No typically there's a small amount of play on both sides i.e. like a 1/8", it's very slight. You could try loosening the display screws (4) then re tighten them and see if it solves your problem. Every Vostro I have has this and it's really no big deal.