My Inspiron 1440 !

I've noticed many people here asking about the new Inspiron 1440. And besides one review dug up through Google results, there really isn't much information available at the moment other than the manufacturer's description.

A few weeks back, I pulled the trigger and ordered one. I've spent a few days with it now and I figured I'd share my thoughts about it, post a few pictures, and answer questions anyone may have about it.


My specs:
Inspiron 1440: P8600, 4GB DDR2-800MHz, 320GB 5400RPM, 900p LED, GMA 4500MHD, 6-cell

Overall, I am impressed with this laptop. It's pretty much a larger version of the Dell Mini Inspiron. I knew that this was a budget-line unit, but I configured it with decent specs and took a chance hoping that the material & build quality wouldn't be too horrible (it was much cheaper than high-end units).

And it didn't disappoint. The build quality is excellent, and the chassis integrity is surprisingly impressive. Despite using the same cheap-looking plastic material like every other laptop out there, I can safely lift up this laptop with one hand from the corner of one palmrest. No cracking sounds or bending at any point on the chassis.



It has a nice, solid keyboard. The keys aren't shaped in any unique way, in fact the entire keyboard is very flat. The keys feel a little "thin" (probably because they are) but it is by no means a low-quality keyboard. It bends a little around the enter key (nothing unreasonable), but otherwise there is virtually no keyboard flex.



It has no hard drive or wi-fi LED indicator lights. It just has one power LED indicator that doubles as a battery indicator, since it also lights up when it's off and charging.
Also shown in the picture above is the separation of the top bezel/faceplate and the plastic border of the screen. There is no adhesive holding these two pieces together, so one could theoretically pull on the plastic border of the screen to detach it/snap it off.



That's a shot of the rear exhaust vent with the screen opened at a 90 degree angle. Similar to the Studio XPS line, opening the screen will block the vent. However, this unit doesn't run too hot even under load so I don't foresee it being a problem.

Redirecting the airflow sometimes caused screen discolouration on the SXPS 13 because of it's edge-to-edge design, but shouldn't be a problem with this one since there's a fat plastic border around the screen.

It has a high RPM fan throwing air out of the exhaust vent. I can definitely feel a strong airflow when I close the screen a little to unblock the vent. The fan is loud enough to be well heard it when it kicks in, but not enough to be bothersome.



There's one easily accessible compartment on the underside: in which there are two 200-pin DIMM slots, and one PCI-Express mini card slot occupied by the Intel WiFi-Link 5100 chip. Notice the poorly placed sticker on the bottom DIMM.



The easy-access HDD drive bay on the side of the notebook makes it very simple for anyone to swap out a hard drive. They put Kingston memory and a WD Scorpio in the one I got.



And that's what mine looks like now. I couldn't stand the plain look of the consumer-grade "silver plastic" that it had, so I got some automotive carbon fiber vinyls (black and chrome) to make it look unique.

The 900p LED screen has a native resolution of 1600x900. The text does seem a little small with this resolution on a 14" screen and would take some getting used to.

The first thing I did was wipe the drive and reinstall the OS, and it's been awesome so far in terms of speed, form factor, and performance.


Feel free to leave comments or ask any questions if you were considering this laptop!

 

Looks like a solid laptop! What kind of battery life are you getting?

 

I have a question - is there really no HDMI port on this model? Dell's site doesn't mention it, but I wanted to confirm...

N

 

nice review....can you shed some light on the battery life and speaker quality-are they loud enough ??...

 

There is no HDMI port. The only means of video output is the VGA-out port (clearly it wasn't meant to be a desktop-replacement powerhouse).

With wi-fi on, brightness set to medium, and general non-load tasks: the 6-cell (48 Wh) battery lasts about 3 hours - give or take 10 minutes.

The speakers are great for a small laptop. The maximum volume level is very loud, but a little distorted. The lows are terrible (as is the case with most laptop speakes), but it has decent highs and excellent mids.

 

only 3 hours!? meh...thought it be more.

 

So the keyboard flexes a little around the Enter key - how easily is this done? Do you have to hit Enter fairly hard or does it flex with normal typing? Also, does the laptop itself feel flimsy at all? I'm just asking because I recently ordered one (it has yet to be shipped) and I'm just wondering how it will withstand everyday usage. It's also going to be toted around in a laptop backpack (in it's own padded compartment) but it may get bumped around a little in the hallways and in my car. The main reason I chose this model is because it's so light and small - but not small enough to make sacrifices on processor, memory, hard drive, and optical drive. I would have gone with something else but with most brands with the same exact specs it would have cost me at least $200 more. I'm really hoping that this is a great value and not something that's going to fall apart in my bag when it gets bumped a little in the hall.

 

Nice Review. Thanks

 

It looks nice - they way you customized it- Very Creative & Tastefully done.
I ordered a Pink one, but I only afforded the 6600 processor, but I did get the 9 cell battery. It should arrive 9-09-09.

 

Thanks for the review. Your customization looks really good.
Just a few quick questions From normal usage, does the palm rests get warm or does it stay cool? You mentioned that the fan is loud when it kicks in - does it kick in often? Does the fan kick in at all when web surfing and email?

Thanks again!

 

Where did you order the vinyl for your laptop? looks great!

 

Mine just arrived yesterday. It seems to charge really fast. I ordered the 9 cell battery. It raises the back up over half an inch extra. but I think it helps to see the keys better when typing. It seems to run really cool= doesn't get hot at all. I purchased a ThermaPAK liquid Crystal laptop pad to help dissipate the anticipated heat, but there isn't any. It does make it a soft gel cushion though, for my lap. This is the most expensive computer purchase I've ever made, so I wanted to protect my investment. So far i reallt like the compactness of the Inspiron 14.

 

Great to hear you got your laptop. Could you let us know how much runtime you are getting with the 9 cell battery. Also since the 9 cell raises up the laptop a bit, does it run pretty cool? Thanks

 

For those still wondering, the stock BIOS setting allows the fan to kick in even when idle for a certain length of time.
I use it with my custom built laptop cooler (fans positioned under the processor and the HDD) but that only delays the time it takes for the fan to turn on.
So yes, it does still kick in during regular activity like web surfing.

As for the vinyl, I didn't order it from anywhere, instead I bought a few rolls of automotive-grade carbon fiber and cut it myself (very tricky).

The palm rests are fine even when under load, no heat problems around that area.

The flex around the enter key isn't bad either.

Awesome laptop!!

 

That carbon fiber looks sick! Where would I be able to buy some from?

 

I just got my new 1440 to replace the Studio15 that I had purchased a month ago. I upgraded to the 9-cell battery and keep my monitor at the lowest brightness setting. Today was the first time I had it running on the battery alone, and was blown away. With 93% remaining, it was showing 12hr life left in it (wifi not active). I just unplugged it now and waited a minute for it to register remaining life, and it was showing 8.5hrs at 94%. That's also with wifi connected.

My specs seem identical to the original poster, although I have the T6600 with the 9-cell.

 

What OS do yo install and why?

 

I'm also an owner of the Dell inspirion 1440. I made this choice for the same reason as mentioned by others. The combination of compact, powerfull and price. I am really glad with the laptop, I choose for the ATI HD 4330 because I like to occasionally play a game. And that works quite well, I played Call of Duty 4 and Need for speed Shift, both played quite fine, of course not on the highest graphical options. But still good enough.

Wat I really miss is the TV out, there is no HDMI or S-video out. There is even only a VGA output, instead of a DVI as I expected.
Three USB ports is not really a lot but in most cases doable.

The microphone array works really nice when calling for example with skype. I use it quite a lot without a headphone or external mic. Works really good.

I read that the topic starter found the laptop really firm and stuff, I have a small argument with that. I found that if I lift the laptop with one hand on the front side when it's closed it maked some sounds I didn't like. It is really not a big thing but with the battery in the back it's a bit to heavy. And since talking about the battery, I have the normal battery, and it lasts for 3 hours. I expected more, but it is quite a powerfull machine. I use Aerofoil to extant it a bit. but it's not really a big difference.

But don't get me wrong, I really love the laptop, and for the price it's really a perfect machine!! I would definitely recommend it to people who want a fast laptop that still is portable.

I got one question, I thought I read somewhere that there are 4 slots for the memory, are these all accessible through to one cover at the bottom? Or did I remember that wrong? (I have to admit I'm just to lazy to open the cover me self )

P.S. I'm looking forward to install windows 7 on the machine! According to the dell site the release should be tomorrow.

 

It's great to see all those good comments since I bought one a week ago, I'm still waiting for it, it should arrived in 2 weeks. Well they said I would get the Belkin bag within 2 weeks and I received it after 2 days. Awesome shipping skills!

 

For the 9 cell battery, does it stick out of the computer? An image would be much appreciated thx

 

Does it come with Windows 7 or does the A05 BIOS include the SLIC 2.1 for OEM activation of Windows 7?

 

I just bought the Inspiron 1440 yesterday and I'm very happy with it. I got it at BB for $449+tax ($480). The BB model has the T4300 (2.1GHz) cpu, 3GB of 800mhz ram and 250GB WD HDD. If I have no problems with it during the 14-day return period, I'm going to install a matching pair of 2GB modules to bring it up to 4GB ram and put in a 320GB (7200rpm) hard drive.

I did a lot of research on various CPUs and, for the money, the T4300 is a kick-butt processor. Look it up on PassMark and other benchmark sites. Intel calls it a dual-core Pentium, but Intel's CPU names really don't mean much -- you have to look at performance benchmarks. All of Intel's CPU names (Pentium, Celeron, Core2 Duo) are just marketing schemes to soak you for more money. Again, look at performance benchmarks.

My research paid off. This computer is very fast for a budget (less than $500) laptop. It doesn't have all the ports and lights and other bells and whistles you get with more expensive laptops -- but then, I don't care about all that. Someone mentioned that it has a little flex when you hold it with one hand by the corner. Sorry, but that's not a very smart thing to do -- you want to crack your mainboard and turn your laptop into a 5 lb paperweight?

I've owned at least 20 laptops and the build quality is pretty good for the price. As long as you treat it with care and don't throw it around or handle it carelessly, it will last for years.

The first thing I did was flash it to the latest BIOS (A07) and apply all updates from MS and Dell. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit).

I'm impressed with it's speed, display, features and overall quality. If I have any problems with it, I'll edit this post to elaborate. As a long-time laptopper, I recommend this model (so far). For the price, it's a good buy. Another nice thing about it is the BIOS setup program -- much more detailed and easy to use than most laptop BIOSes (thanks to Dell).

If you get one at BB, don't buy one that Geek Squad has "optimized". You don't need that and they'll add $100 to the price. Insist (as I did) on a sealed box that Geek Squad has not touched.

EDIT: I upgraded the RAM to 4GB (2x2GB kit) and installed a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm hard drive. After a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit), my WEI scores are as follows:

CPU: 5.4
RAM: 5.4
Aero: 4.0
Games: 4.0
HDD 5.9

Pretty damn good for a consumer laptop costing $449. Yeah!
You really don't need all the crap Dell puts on it. Do a clean install and watch it fly.

 

Total newbie here. HOW do you do a "clean install" and you can change the hard drive? Is that easy to do? About how much is the cost of a 7200 Hard Drive? Not that this system isn't running great as is, but i'm jealous of your WEI numbers ) Mine are 4.9, 4.9, 4.1, 3.4, and 4.9-

Thanks!

 

Great Review!! Where DID you get that carbon fiber fitted so perfectly? Looks awesome!

Thanks

 

I can't explain your WEI numbers without knowing which processor is in your machine, etc. Mine is the BB model with the T4300 processor and Intel 4500MHD integrated graphics.

The hard drive is very easy to swap out. Look it up in the manual on Dell's web site. Two screws and it pops out the side. As for the hard drive, go to Newegg.com or any other online computer parts retailer and you'll see dozens of laptop hard drives at good prices. And as for your clean-install question, I did it with a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DVD that I already had. Clean-install simply means you wipe out all the current partitions during the install and start fresh. In other words, it's not an upgrade. Clean-installs are always the way to go to avoid complications/problems.

 

cheap-laptop-batteries.com
good ....Inspiron 1440

 

Adding accelerated graphics AND HDMI video and audio to the Inspiron 1440

Got a T6600-2.2 Inspiron 1440 hooked up to a US$250 12V/80W HD5750 DIY ViDock via the expresscard slot. Get HDMI audio and video and 3dmark06=9551!!. Great budget gaming/portable setup. The thing is built solid and runs very cool.

Runs even better with a NVidia GTX470. 3dmark06= > 10k!!

MC8781 WWAN via mPCIe socket

This does work. So trading wifi for wwan.

Just need to glue down a lug to allow a full length card to be screwed down. There is no sim card so either need the ~US$25 solderless USIM holders off ebay OR solder pins 2,4,10,12,14 to a sim socket AND mask those pins so they don't connect with the systemboard.