Vostro 1000 Owners General Discussion

Hello all, I originally posted under the beastly Vostro Owners thread but I figured we 1000 owners should have our own thread.

Here are my specs:

Vostro 1000, AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-53 (1.7GHz/512KB)
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Vostro 1000
1GB, DDR2, 533MHZ 2 Dimm (will prob. upgrade to 2GB if its an easy install)
Integrated ATI Radeon X1150 Graphics, for Vostro 1000
120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Genuine Windows XP Home Edition, SP2
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+R write capability, with Cyberlink Power DVD
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for Vostro 1000
Microsoft Works 8.5 - English
$529 + tax shipped!


I have some questions as I wait for my Aug 10th ship date. For anyone else with a 1000 (or those with knowledge of the 1000s): How is the battery life with the 6-cells? Do the 9-cells stick out the back? I went with XP b/c I hear that 2GB is a must for Vista plus I'm concerned with Vista compatibility so far. Also, is the RAM located in a spot that is easily reached for upgrading? Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

Both sticks are under the laptop.

 

So, my laptop was shipped today, a full week ahead of schedule.

I guess there must not be many 1000 owners here. I have however seen quite a few people running Vista on a gig of RAM. I'll probably still wait until I upgrade to 2GB of RAM (and perhaps a purchase of a 9-cell battery) before switching to Vista just to make sure.

 

Nice, congrats!

 

I've got Vista, the 9 cell battery, 1GB ram.
It came 9 days earlier than scheduled.
Ok except I've had a couple of display problems - screen goes blank with a small square (1.5 cm square) with vertical lines, have to shut it down. This happened 3 times. ATI message came up and directed me to the ATI site to download something, later Dell said don't do that, always go to the Dell site.
No problems now for 2 days, hopefully will be ok.
I am trying to find a USB drive that I can use for Readyboost though.
Doug

 

Regarding the 9-cell battery...

I just received my Vostro 1000 and the battery does not stick out in the back. It is also flush with the bottom.

Question for others with the matte screen on this machine. Mine seems a bit "fuzzy", but I have little to compare with. Comments?

 

I'm planning on getting the Vostro 1000 soon. Is the graphics card anygood? I'd like to play games on my laptop too. I usually play games like Civ IV, GTA: Vice City, Age Of Empires.

 

My dad recieved his 1000 on Wednesday. I had a tinker around with it and I was very impressed. The screen and build quality were fantastic. Tested a DVD out on it and the playback was great. Best I have seen on a laptop so far. My mum took one look and said she wanted one too for using in the back garden! I ran the vista experience on it and it scored 3.1 on gaming graphics so I think you will be fine with those games Gorilla

 

Cool, may get one then. I,ve been planning on getting a laptop but was wondering weather to wait till Christmas. If you don't mind me asking, what graphics card did your dad get his with? You can only get them with an ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 on the Europe website, I don't know if its anygood but I know its better than the Intel GMA 900 thats only available with the Inspiron 4600. Thanks alot!

 

Its got the ATI 1150 in my dads. As it was his new machine I didnt want to load up a game to test its abilities. He got it with 2gig ram and it booted up very quickly. Easily the best notebook in its price range. I was going to order one but spotted the deal on the 1500 which was £200 more but came with the 8600GT card. I fancied having Xbox 360 power on the move so paid the extra. If I wasnt a graphics lover I would have bought the Vostro 1000