Dell Inspiron 9400 With Intel Duo Core Available (specs)

I simply followed the views of many on here, if you dont really need to reformat dont.

I do have 1 question though, I have just tried to connect my laptop to my plasma tv with a svideo to scart lead, it did not work. Any ideas anyone, my 600 has no such problems.

Pete

 

You may need to switch it in the display settings in the control panel. Since you have a plasma. You should have a DVI or HDMI input. You can get a DVI-DVI or a DVI-HDMI cable and that will be much better. The S-video to SCART doesn't give you the resolution you will need to see the text. At least from my experience.

 

I experienced this before reformatting and doing a fresh build of xp while using the mobileforce 81.97 drivers. Since reinstalling xp and using the new mobileforce 83.90 drivers it has ran awesome, no blue screens. (i especially had blue screened playing COD2)

 

Read the thread for reinstalling mediadirect in the Dell Forum area:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=40902

 

I have managed to get it set up on dual mode however I can only get sound on the tv....lol, its driving me crazy

I will wait guidance from someone who knows what they are talking about.

I have also noticed my media centre button does not work and I have not reformatted anything.

I have noticed by not overclocking the blue screen have disapeared.

 

How does this laptop's geforce 7800 compare with the desktop version of gefroce 7800gt and 7800gtx?

 

7800 go is slower than a GTX and GT; faster than a 6800 ultra; slower than an ATI x1800, but about the same as a mobile x1600.

 

Another video card query from a newbie:

Learning lots from reading all your posts, guys.

Had me sold on the 9400 with the go7800. I see Dell is now selling the same machine but with a 256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400 HyperMemory card for $150 less. Is this a big change?

Thanks

 

the go 7800 is only about the same as an ati 1600 if you leave it handicapped with the default core of 260! (never can remember what the memory was) Pump it up to 366 core and it is 40% faster.

---
The ati x1400 is the bottom end of a 4 level performance tier. Lower than the ati 1600 which is lower than the 1800 (and now is lower than the 1900 [not that there is a 1900 mobile version yet]).

The x1400 falls just shy of the nvidia go 7600. Don't bite!

Edit: While on subject of video cards --Nvidia has released its answer to the ati 1900 series with its own 7900 series.

"7900 GTX range from $499 for the eVGA to $599 for th XFX card. 7900GT cards ring in at around the $300 mark while 7600 GTs are going for about $200.
"

You can check out all the "previews" from here:

http://dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=1176

(scroll down to video section)

edit 2: here is a nice simple comparison chart of the gpu power in the new and high end Nvidia cards.

http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?...s&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=241&page=3

 

Just wanted to add to some of the graphics news to watch out for:

The newest desktop video cards (in order of 3DMark05 performance):
x1900 XTX
x1900 XT
7900 GTX
7900 GT
x1800 GTO
7600 GT

The newest mobile graphics cards (in order of 3DMark05 performance):
x1800 XT
x1800
x1400

Also, there is now an SLI notebook:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/03/09/rock_nvidia_sli_notebook/1.html

And the Dell 2007WFP has supposedly shown up

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/dells-2007wfp-appears-online/

 

Is the ati 1900 series better than the new 7900 series? The jury is still out.
If you read different reviews you see different results. The most glaring was the AMD site article i referenced above --which had the ati 1900 absolutely dominating in call of duty 2.

Yet in [H] Enthusiest preview --the 7900 comes out slightly ahead (baring in mind this is mostly moot to notebook users It is a look into your future).

I really like the way the latter site does its reviews ...it compares the video cards to real gamer performance as to what res and what features you can smoothly play in.

After reading alot of articles now --some general observations:

ATi has better filtering. ATI is less subject to shimmering (texture crawl) than Nvidia on LCD's. However, ATi 1900 has an "annoying drone" whereas the new 7900 series are quiet. Even the new GPU releases still do NOT support HDCP --This is because no add on board maker has yet made available the ROM that will store the encrypted keys to unlock the HDCP content!
With triple the shaders, the ati 1900 does a better job in shader dependent games like fear. However, Nvidia has closed this performance gap significantly (and just by optimised drivers).

The big change in the Nvidia refresh is that the number of transistors is greatly REDUCED -meaning less heat (or same heat for more features

bottom line: read this:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTAwMSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

 

Ok ...My friend has no sound static issue (or any other issue) playing Bf2 on his 9400.

 

Evening folks, I have posted this earlier in the thread.

You can fix the boot issue after re-installation of XP by using a bootable CD image from Dell's driver page. Burn it with your i9400's drive then reboot and either use PF12 at the "Dell" boot screen for the "boot from device xxx" menu, or go into setup and change the boot order.

New info that I didn't have then, is that I could still switch on the laptop and use Media Direct from its own button after deleting both the 78Mb and 4.xxGb partitions. It seems to use a version of XP as you get an "XP shutting down" message when you exit it. Note, I deleted the partitions AFTER I re-installed XP MCE. Note, the software is still crap - I've seen dumb terminals with better user interfaces - and that does for both the Cyberlink and Microsoft media centre applications.

It appears (see my review thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1267991#post1267991 in this same forum) that Dell install their own software at the end of the XP installation process, so I guess this is where the program files for MD come from and get installed to your C:\ drive.

Hope this helps,
Tony.

 

In my own experience, using the dell repair utility for mediacentre will kill your second partition if you have one. For an even more odd reason, all the data was lost(unrecoverable using data recovery programs,eg. diskdoctor from acronis).

 

I was hoping with so many experts here some help may be given to the strugglers. I have just formatted my inspiron 6000 for the wife to have and to be honest it has no problems at all. Unlike this machine:

1. Media centre button does not work, I have not done a reformat

2. The fonts and some websites are all over the place

3. After over clocking the video card I was getting the dreaded blue screen it is now slightly over clocked I am ever so slightly increasing the settings every other day.

4. Tried to test the dual screen system, however no matter how hard I tried I could not configure the machine so a film was on the tv and I had the internet on the pc, after 3 hours I simply gave up.

I understand there are a lot of problems with this machine and I also understand that people nowadays are very busy, however if anyone could put me on the right path to fixing some of these faults I would appriciate it.

Pete

 

Well, I might be able to help with the display problem. I'm running a divx movie fullscreen on svideo on my tv as I write this. Some things to make sure of:

1) I'm using mobileforce drivers, so how you set it up may be different if you aren't running those. I've got a screenshot below
2) In the "nView Display Settings" section, you need the mode set to "Dualview"
3) Make sure all your devices are connected, on, and set to the right input
4) Select the combination of displays that matches your setup from the drop-down list
5) Check/change your resolutions for each device (e.g. many TV's will support only 640x480 or 800x600
6) Make sure your TV is set as the primary display (movies will only play on the primary display)
7) Depending on the video/dvd software you use, you may need to change your taskbar or software settings so the taskbar doesn't show on top of your movie

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/kbahrbarrie/displays.jpg

That should be all!

 

1) No clue!
2) Change the font size in the display settings set it to 96 DPI, this is default.
3) You might want to update the drivers, or search for new ones. You might want to detect optimal settings on the card.
4) Previous posters has the answer

Hope this helps.

 

garbuckle/usafdude02

Thanks for your posts, I actually did what you said in regards to watching a movie, I also have divx, the one problem may be the resolution or the fact it is a plasma tv, it is showing up as a HDTV, although I didnt think it was HD. I also have the mobile force drivers.

As for the dpi settings I have them set to 120, it is ok for normal use, however some websites the font is large and others, its that small i have to put my nose to the screen to read. also some sites are completly messed up. I have read about multiple bugs in IE, however how come the lowly 6000 hasn't got a problem?

I really can't be doing with my wife having the better laptop than me.

 

Pete,

What model/make of TV? How are you connecting it? What program do you use to watch the divx? I can try duplicating your setup here...

 

Sony KE42TS2E

Media player 10

Best of luck....lol

 

What type of cable do you use to hook it up? Svideo? Composite?

And it has a weird resolution of 1024x1024 (non-square pixels). Looks like you would need a resolution of 1024x768.

If the 6000 works on the TV, what resolution is it set to? And I'm guessing the picture appears stretched...

EDIT:

OK, well I successfully got Media Player 10 running on the TV in 1024x768, using svideo, then opened an explorer window and moved it over to the PC monitor while the movie ran.

The only thing I can think of is that your TV is somehow incompatible with the 7800 in the laptop. For example, I hooked my TV up to my AIW9800 pro and was able to use 1920x1080, however it just will not accept that resolution coming from my 7800go. ATI seems more compatible with HDTV's than nVidia. Is the card in the 6000 an ATI card?

Sorry, other than that, I really have no other ideas. TV Manufacturers rarely follow any kind of standard when it comes to hooking up PC's, so you never know what you're going to get...

 

Hi Garbuckle

I use svideo, when I use in single mode I get a very good picture, it is only in dual mode I struggle to get the tv and the pc screen. I will give it another go later.

To be honest you get sick of banging your head against the wall, I had a right job formatting the 6000, and yesterday setting up a wireless network for the house, was emotional. I might give it a few days rest then come back to it.

 

Iv noticed that my processor runs at 997MHz while I am running off mains supply. How do I make sure that the processor runs at 2.16GHz all the time while I am on mains power?
While on battery power I dont mind if it underclocks.

 

i wouldn't worry about it ---even if plugged in, you still want to be environmentally friendly and save juice. The processor will scale up to meet whatever demand you place on it (up to its max ghz at any rate). Indeed idling, your cpu should go lower

 

Setting your power scheme to "always on" should do the trick.

 

Garbuckle, I cannot find out from the manual ot internet wether my tv
ke-42ts2e is HDTV. I was under the impression it wasn't, but when hooking it up to the laptop it says it is, very strange.

 

Well, it is and it isn't. Although it may be HDTV compatible, it only has 1024x1024 pixels. HDTV resolution is 1280x720 or 1920x1080. It's possible that the TV will take an HDTV input and scale it to it's native resolution.

 

Thanks garbuckle.

Is there any way of testing this?

 

You'd have to try and hook up a hi-def source. Digital HD cable, HD Satellite, upconverting DVD player, or computer set to 1280x720 or higher are all hi-def sources. You'd have to use a different cable, though:

http://blogs.msdn.com/peterrosser/archive/2005/10/20/483122.aspx

 

What cable garbuckle?

I am interested in trying it from my pc before i look at geeting a hd sat box.

cheers mate

 

Well, a component cable would be best, as that is usually the standard for HD, but the e1705/9400 doesn't have component out (there is supposedly an optional adapter from Dell, however (pg 61) ( http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9400/en/om/PD5980MRs.pdf) ; I got the svideo/composite/digital audio adapter). The only other way is with a VGA or DVI cable, if your TV has that kind of input. If not, I think there are VGA to component adapters that may also work.

Then again, there's that whole SCART connector thing. I'm not sure what that's compatible with, but notice it's really popular in UK/Germany.

[EDIT]: I suggest trying another source, if you can have/get one, seeing as you are having problems connecting your computer as it is. The Xbox also supports HD output... really anything with component outputs and 720p/1080i compatibility will do.

 

Well big issues with Dell at the moment over here in Oz. They have extensive delays on the 7800 Go cards and my order of March 2nd will not arrive until possibly mid April. They tried to offer me the ATI card but I said no. I've asked for cash off for waiting so long so we'll see what it ends up like.

 

Well, just placed my order for the Dell I9400 with an ATI Radeon Mobility Radeon X1800 (no that isn't a mistake ). They recently stopped offering the 7800 go because of overheating problems and I needed the extra power so i asked if there was another option and they agreed to put the radeon in there instead. So here's hoping the 1800 will run a bit cooler.

Think I'm going to put it through it's paces when I get it and see what the GPU temps end up being after I load it down. Also will give a chance to compare the performance of the 7800 go and the mobility X1800.

Anywho, that's all for now. (Can't wait...)

 

Vox,

How are they going to do that. According to the site, the only replacement is the x1400. Did they say they were going to release the x1800 as a replacement?

 

Yes they did. The card is setting me back 509 dollars cdn. Not cheap but i've been assured that the card will fit properly and function normally with the system. It wasn't easy to get that as a solution either I might add... In the end I was talking to one of the higherups in the dell notebook sales department and he mentioned that as a possibility. I'm curious to see how it works out but I don't see any immediate problems that could go wrong aside from the card not fitting properly within the notebook.

Worst possibility, it's covered within the warranty so I can always ask for an exchange if anything goes wrong.

 

Vox; Sweeeeeeeeet. You should be a hostage negotiator! I wish they had offered x1800's to begin with! Is this the XT version?

I've half a mind to take an hour's drive down to ATI headquarters and "make 'em an offer they can't refuse".

Make sure you stick around for a while and let us know all about it once you get it

-Envious-

 

That is exactly the system I bought for about the same price. And I thought I was special. Now they say: "Delivery Estimate: Thursday, April 27, 2006 - Monday, May 01, 2006."

E1705,CDP T2300(1.66GHZ)
LCD,17-INCH,WXGA+
1GB,DDR2,533MHZ,2 DIMM
256MB NVIDIA 7800
DELL 720 PRINTER (free, but already have one)
100GB HARD DRIVE
WINXP MCE 2005
8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE
DELL WRLS 1390,G,DC (someone asked but no one answered, what is the difference between the 802.11g and 3945 802.11a/g wireless? Anyone know? Worth 23 bucks more? Can we upgrade it later?)
72103 ($300 INSP REBATE) is included in price of about $1,330.

Is it enough though? I'm going to use it for building short videos and music. Seems the gamers have no problem, but no one has said much about the T2300. Will I be disappointed after being spoiled by the P 4 2.6 on my desktop? Would the difference be noticeable?

The only time the desktop ever lags is when running a virus program in the background.

Thanks to all for the great tips, In about a month and a half, I'll put them to use.

 

George;

I'm not sure if there's any funcionality difference between the wireless chips (some seem to think so, re: range, etc), but if you get the Intel 3945, then the laptop can be branded as "Centrino" - which may or may not help it's resale value in the future.

My Desktop was a Celeron 2.4 OC'd to 3.0. My T2400 is twice as fast. Single core programs run at about the same speed, but dual-core is where it shines. Video encoding used to run at 50fps, and now runs at 85-100fps using dual core. You should have no lag (even virus scanning), thanks to the dual-core.

 

Okay guys, I am getting a LOT of shocks from my laptop and I get the feeling this isn't supposed to happen, its only a month old so far... and I'm getting depressed from playing and getting shocked.. anyone had this/solutions?

 

Garbuckle, thanks, that is a relief to know. The other greatest concern was the sound card and I even cancled the order once because of that. Really wanted an SoundBlaster Audigy, but it wasn't an option, so might have to go with an external. How do you like the sound card so far?

Has anyone done any MIDI/audio work with the integrated card? Anyone know what brand/model it might be for comparison?

 

another question:
My friend shuts down the computer (and leaves it plugged in). However, there is still a loud whirring sound. If he physically unplugs the cord --the noise goes away.

My immediate thought was --hibernation mode --the fan stays on.
But he says --no-- the computer is turned off and it doesn't sound like a fan really. (the sound can also be heard sometimes while using computer).

Anyone else have this issue?

(is it a fan??

TIA

 

Sigmatel STAC 9200 audio card ( http://www.sigmatel.com/products/pcaudio/)
-------------------------------

as far as buying a creative: an issue to watch out for:

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=pcmciasb&message.id=1847

(compatibility with new express slot)

 

Yes, the audio is really good. I use a USB SB Live because I have 7.1 speakers. The Audigy ZS will not work because it's PCMCIA and we have ExpressCard slots. There are other external usb devices, however (i.e. Audigy NX).

George: if you only need 2.1 speakers, the headphone/line output will do you fine, otherwise, you'll need an external soundcard, or the audio/video dongle that plugs into the svideo port - it has coaxial spdif output which you can use to connect to a receiver.

Redstar: not sure what it is. I would assume it's a fan, or even the cd drive or hard drive still spinning. I put mine in standby and never hear anything. Maybe it's even another peripheral (usb hard drive), but I couldn't tell you that.

 

I'm sure much earlier in this post someone commented on a noise whilst the battery was charging even if the laptop was off, but I can't confirm this as my I9400 hasnt arrived yet. Can anyone else say they've experienced this. It may be a problem that only effects a certain number of machines.

 

I was just on the dell website looking at 9400s and I noticed the video card offered is no longer the GeForce 7800 instead its the 256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory does anyone know how this card compares to the 7800?

 

The x1400 sucks compared to the 7800. See the many discussions in the forums...

 

we really need a search feature
---------
edit: and no, your computer should not be shocking you --unless you accidentally clicked on an XXX site. Or, perhaps it might if your were in the deepest and darkest part of the amazon jungle.

Make sure it is not you --and discharge yourself before touching laptop.

 

I cant get F.E.A.R to run on my 9400. It installs ok but when I go to play it the screen goes blank and stays blank.
Im using the latest Extreme G mobile force drivers. Does anyone else have any experience with this problem?
I was really looking forward to palying the game and this is just the most fustrating thing to happen.

 

hi guys, i come from malaysia

after seeing you guys say that dell is not offering the geforec7800, i went to the website in malaysia and see, and its only offering the intel media graphic card!!

no more 7800 or even the x1400 !!

lucky i buy it 3 weeks ago
haha

 

I don't visit porn site and I'm pretty sure im not in the darkest and deepest part of the amazon jungle, but I am in a tropical area called malaysia if that's anything. Well, when I get shocked it is usually 3-5 times, with like 20 seconds intervals.. I've called Dell and they're sending someone over the change the motherboard, palm rest and charger just in case, so I'll see how that goes

sam- I'm from Malaysia too and I managed to get the 7800 before the started cancelling it out of the dell.com.my website