In praise of the Vostro 1400: A Review

Background:



Length of time owned: 1 week
Price Paid: $689
Specs:
1.6 ghz, 800 mhz fsb
1 gb ram at 667 mhz
120 gb Toshiba 5400 rpm hard drive
web cam/mic
integrated hd sound
8400gs graphics card
9 cell battery
14.1" wxga+ Samsung screen


Evaluation


Build Quality:

Utilitarian, not nearly as ugly as I thought it would be, rock--in all senses of the word--solid. By that I mean that this is definitely the best built laptop that I have ever owned, and I've had about 10. From a sturdiness standpoint, it seems better than the IBM T series. I can say this because it's thicker and just plain made of more material. But mm for mm, the thinkpad would probably win in sturdiness. Nevertheless this thing is a tank and absolutely is built to take some abuse. It was crafted very well and there's nothing that suggests shoddy workmanship.

Portability:

Not bad. On the upper limit of portable. It's not going to be a 13" portable, but it is significantly more portable than the Inspiron 6000 that I had before at 15.4 inches. It doesn't seem like a big difference from the numbers, but trust me, it is. The Vostro 1400 the right size b/w portability and full-size comfort.

Screen:

Very good. I got the Samsung screen, and many people have said it's either good, and some people think it's bad. I had an AUO screen before on an ASUS that was 100% crap. This screen is plenty bright, as even any other laptop screen that I've had before, and white is fairly white. When watching dark scenes, people don't disappear into one big glob of black. Colors are more vibrant than the old AUO screen that I had before. There is some minor backlight leakage from the bottom of the screen, but nothing major. Viewing angles are your standard fair and are OK head-on. It's probably not as good of a screen as the one that I had on my Inspiron 6000 in terms of the viewing angles. You can't induce ripples by pressing on the screen b/c it's that solidly encased. The hinges are OK and the screen can be tilted maybe 145 degrees.

Keyboard:

I really, really, really like it. Thinkpads are my favorite still, but this one truly reminds me of a thinkpad's keyboard. It has no flex whatsoever, and the keys go down quite a bit, and there is good travel to them. I may lose all credibility, but I like the Sony SZ's keyboard b/c they travel pretty deeply. The Vostro 1400's keys require a very light touch to get working.

Noise:

Fan is always on, but it's extremely quiet. I was in a library for 4 hours the other day and it could not be heard. In my room it's really not audible.

Heat:

Extremely little. I don't know if it's the case or what. But this thing has very little heat generated, and I've got it on my bare legs right now.

AC Adapter: too big, but what can you do?

Materials:

Screen is definitely encased in magnesium alloy. The body is probably extremely hard, could-have-passed-for-magnesium plastic. The lid simply can not be made to show any ripples by pushing on it. The hinge seems fairly strong but is not made of metal like on the thinkpads.

Battery Life:

My 9 cell does not wobble whatsoever. It is rock solidly in place. Battery life in Vista at first was terrible. Then for some reason I gave it another shot and in power saver mode with just wifi on and the screen at full brightness, I was in the library and doing some basic software development and occasionally surfing, and the battery lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes before pooping out at 1% left. I think that this is supremely good. Wow. I'm sure, then, that with the screen on at less than full brightness I could get over 5 hours. I wonder if notebook hardware control could extend the life even more if I turned off all the unused ports and the DVD drive, etc. Although I'm not sure if Vista's power saver mode already does this.

Webcam:

I think it might be a Creative webcam? I could be wrong. But it's not bad at all for a webcam when video chatting with my chick.

Audio, Graphics: Not tested. I don't game and I don't listen to audio through my headphones except for watching movies, so I don't know if there is a hiss or not. I am not the type to care.

Card reader:

Has anyone figured out how to stick an xD card in there? Manual says that it should have one, but I can't figure out how to get one in there, and I think that it just doesn't take xD cards. The writing on the outside of the card reader makes no mention of xD cards. That's what I get for buying a camera that only takes xD cards.

Speed:

PLENTY fast. PLENTY.

Speakers:

Really no speaker distortion. Plenty of loudness for the size of the computer. I'm happy with them. You can watch a movie with them without headphones.

Touchpad:

Could be bigger, but responsive enough for me. The mouse buttons are nice and soft. I've gotten used to the smaller than normal area. I do not have issues with it like some reviewers have complained.

Conclusion:

Irregardless of price: 9/10 because the design could be thinner.

Considering the price: 9.5/10. Seriously, what more could you want? I can't think of anything. Yes, I can. I want a non-protruding battery (although it has not bothered me nearly as much as I thought it would, and I want an HDMI out or a DVI out port). But the day they build a laptop that has everything I want is the day that I stop looking. Wish it could be thinner.

 

Does your 1400 have a Sim Card slot beneath the slot for the battery?

 

Build quality better than the ThinkPad T series? Thats a pretty impressive statement right there....Especially for a Dell.

 

Try with the card upside down. We have a lot of car readers at work and all of them accept the xD cards upside down, not sure if its the correct orientation for xD, but its worth a go.

Good review by the way

 

I tried that and it slides in partially, but after that I can't slide it in evenly. :/

I checked the hardware and there's an xD card controller, so I guess the slot is just wrong.

 

Wow great review. I was looking for some opinions on heat while on your lap, since that's how I use mine pretty much all the time. I just sent my HP dv2000t back because of excessive heat, so your review is good to hear.

A question for you: How does the fan on the bottom work when you have it on your lap? It seems like it might be blocked by your leg. And does that fan suck in air, or blow air out?

 

Hell will freeze over when the dell quality is better than a thinkpad

 

The fan blows air out the left side of the laptop. I played WoW with the notebook on my lap for an hour and nothing got abnormally hot with my pants blocking most of the bottom of the notebook. The 1400s run much cooler than my MacBook Pro. With the MBP, its too hot to keep on a lap while gaming without something seperating the notebook from your pants.

 

yea, i cant get the xd card to work either... i think they made a mistake on that or something lol.

 

I'll be getting my 1400 in a few days (fingers crossed) but I'm trying to build a checklist of things to look for when it arrives:

a.) Grainy screen, light bleeds, viewing angles
b.) Overhang above CD/DVD drive being sharp/obtrusive
c.) Wobbly, loose battery
d.) Headphone jack noise interference

Am I missing something? Don't get me wrong, I'm chomping at the bit to get this thing and not wanting anything to be wrong with it... At the same time it's a lot of money to spend and just brush off a problem. Of all the ones who have received theirs already, do you have any or all of these issues?

 

a - screen is above average on mine, though i am still adjusting to it
b - i have the overhang, after the first day i do not notice it
b - my battery wobbles a lot
d - no noise priblem yet

 

Does the slot have a small area where the card would seem to fit into but will not, and also a wider area at the bottom? Atleast in HP machines, the xD cards go into that wider area on the bottom with the top of the card facing up. It took the better part of an hour trying to figure this out for a friend a month or two ago.

 

I think that the main fan is off to the upper left side of the laptop. No issues of blockage. And I agree, the dv2000t was HOT. So I know exactly what you're talking about. The Vostro 1400 is much better in this regard.