I bought another Dell notebook: Inspiron 1300/B120

I got this as a birthday gift to give and ordered it on Monday and it arrived, as advised, this morning. I chose this one as it's going to be used for the basics, so doesn't need to be high spec.

I went with the Celeron M 380 1.60 GHz processor to save money and the performance difference compared to the similar price point Pentium M for its needs is negligible.

Here's the rest:

• 14.1" WXGA screen
• 512 MB (2 x 256) DDR2 SDRAM
• 80 GB HDD
• 8x DVD+/-RW
• 6 cell battery
• Dell Wireless 1370 mini PCI card
• Intel GMA 900

I did a clean install today and put most of the things they'll need on it. Just a few tweaks to make tomorrow and it should be ready to pack away and wrap up ready for the day.

I've got a 6400/E1505 and this B120 performs great in comparison.

I think the NotebookReview.com review for the B130/B120 was spot on.

 

I think they are a great value. I bought one just for web surfing and email, and to watch a DVD every now and then. Got it when it was $399. It runs just great, I havent had a problem with it yet.

My only gripe is that the brightness is set to high and washes out the detail a little. This could be fixed by using color correction in the driver, but either Dell cuts that out of the driver package or Intel does not include it in that chipset driver.

 

I finished setting this up at the weekend and it's running sweet with all the things they'll need, for now at least.

One thing I noticed compared to my 6400 is that even with the same software installed, minus a few things, the 1300 has around 20 processes less running after it has booted up. My 6400 has Intel's PRO/Wireless software, which I believe contributes to several of those extra processes for example.

I was reading the paper yesterday and saw a Dell advert offering the 1300 with 768 MB of RAM instead of 512 MB and a 60 GB HDD instead of 80 GB for the same price I paid six days after I ordered it. D'oh! I think I would have preferred the extra memory over the HDD size. Oh well.

 

Just to let you guys know. Dell outlet is a great place to get notebooks like the B120/30. I have seen them as low as $320. Thats like the best deal you can get, for a laptop with a full warranty.

 

Congratz .

 

that'll make a nice gift, sure beats a pair of socks, by the way my birthday is january 19'th

 

After a few months of use, I've noticed some things about the 1300 compared to my 6400:

• The build quality feels better; the lid feels like metal and not plastic
• The lid doesn't have the screen wobble
• There is a switch to lock the battery in
• Overall it feels more sturdy than the 6400.

I guess what it lacks in performance, and it's no slouch for general use, it makes up for in build quality.

 

however a performance boost only requires more ram

 

This machine is definately a surprise.

I eneded up buying two, one for my wife and one for my daughter.

Superb little pc.

Dump the orignal bloatware install and reformat, and they zip along doing everyday tasks with ease. My daughter has no problem with it at all and she hammers those children's websites and games.

Overall, it is highly recommended from me. Great value, and unless you want specifics like a business machine or heavy duty gaming, it offers so much.

Definately consider one at the price they are available for!

 

I forgot to mention the mouse buttons are better quality too.

 

Could it be something to do with the fact the Inspiron 1300 / B120 is also the Latitude 120L, so it has a slightly better chassis than your standard Inspiron?

 

That may be the reason. I also noticed that Inspiron 1300 has better build quality than newer silver/white Inspirons.