New Inspiron 14 is out!

Hehe, you didn't waste any time! Hard drive AND memory upgrade within 48 hours! I've been thinking about both as well. CPU-Z is telling me the 2GB module is from Micron and the 1GB is from Samsung. Not that big a deal (at least they're the same speed and timings) but I'd prefer a matched pair. I was thinking about a WD Scorpio Black as a drive replacement.

One question for you. My Win7 reinstall was from a Technet DVD although I thought I could have used the included "Reinstallation" disk. If you used the included disk did you have any trouble activating? I'm guessing we have a special OEM disk that does a BIOS check which should allow us to activate many times without a call to MSFT.

 

I upgraded right away because I already had the parts. I've been tinkering with laptops for years and have lots of parts laying around.

You're right about the WD Scorpio Black. Read the 14-page review at the link below for the best HDD for laptops:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/17010

I installed Win 7 x64 Ultimate from a DVD I got for attending one of the Windows 7 Launch Events back in October. I haven't tried installing with the disk included with the laptop.

I haven't checked, but I'm sure our 1440s have SLIC 2.1 in the BIOS. All the new computers that ship with Windows 7 do, as far as I can tell. You shouldn't have any trouble activating with that disk as long as you use it on the 1440.

 

>> I haven't checked, but I'm sure our 1440s have SLIC 2.1 in the BIOS. All the new computers that ship with Windows 7 do, as far as I can tell. You shouldn't have any trouble activating with that disk as long as you use it on the 1440.

Confirmed. I imaged my clean install, wiped the drive and re-installed clean from the included Win 7 Home Premium x64 DVD. The operating system came up already activated at first boot. That's a nice perk for everyone who doesn't have a technet subscription.

If you're halfway technical and aren't afraid of a re-install I'd urge everyone to wipe the machine and install clean from the included DVD. The system is so much quicker without all the crapware cluttering the drive and registry. I didn't get a chance to go through all the included software but everything I did see (except maybe MS Works) duplicated functionality already present in the OS.

 

Here's some interesting info:
Boot from the included Utilities Disk and choose "Custom Test".
Then expand the System (or System Board?) section.
Then expand the SMBIOS section.
Then double-click on Processor Information.
The CPU is listed as an Intel Core 2 Duo.
In fact, that's exactly what it is. Intel markets it as a Pentium to make people think that it's not so powerful -- but it is.

The only difference between the "Pentium" T4300 and the Core 2 Duo T6600 is L2 cache and 1/10th of a gigahertz faster clockspeed.

And they've both been "retired and discontinued" according to Intel. That doesn't mean much. I'm sure they made enough to last for years to come. They don't want you to see prices, that's why they're "retired and discontinued".

You'll pay $150 to $250 more for a laptop with the T6600 for only a tiny gain in performance. Look them up on cpubenchmark.net.

The T6500 (also a Core 2 Duo) which runs at 2.1GHz, like the T4300, is listed as getting a LOWER benchmark score than the T4300. And the T6500 has twice the L2 cache of the T4300. Go figure.

My last laptop was an Asus with a C2D T6500 and it cost $650. My 1440 was $200 less and performs just as well, if not better. But, the Asus did have an HDMI port and more indicator lights, etc. But to me, that's not worth a 50% higher price. Those of us who don't have a lot of money to spend have to really work hard to keep from getting ripped off by the marketing schemes (scams) of Intel and the OEMs.

 

I just bought this computer from BB as well and since I'm somewhat of a computer novice, I was wondering what software I should remove from the system to enhance the speed? I'm just an average everyday user, no gaming or anything but I do watch movies a lot (in case that's relevant).

thanks!!!

 

Definitely remove the Norton stuff and anything else you won't use.
Personally, I removed everything by doing a clean-install of Windows 7. After that I added the Alps driver for the touchpad so I could switch it off. You also might want to install Quickset. That's for your hotkeys and on-screen display of volume and screen-brightness settings and other notifications when you press the top-row buttons.

I just ran the 64-bit PassMark benchmark tests on mine. Here are the results: (keep in mind I've upgraded my RAM to 4GB and put in a larger and faster hard drive):



I'd be interested to see others' results using this test. You can download it here:
http://www.passmark.com/download/pt_download.htm

(be sure to download the 64-bit version)

The CPU benchmark is awesome: 1711.1
Compare that to the much more expensive "Core 2 Duo" mobile processors (that's how they're branded, anyway). You can see results for other processors here: http://cpubenchmark.net/