My Inspiron 1440 !

[Graff1ckS]

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.

1.PNG

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.

2.PNG

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.

3.PNG

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.

4.PNG

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.

5.PNG

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.

6.PNG

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!

[nilosays]

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

[Nyceis]

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

[akh1989]

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

[Graff1ckS]

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.

[Nemesis75]

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

[china_cat84]

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.

[khizer]

Nice Review. Thanks

[Islander]

Originally Posted by Graff1ckS

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.

Attachment 37337

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.

Attachment 37338

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.

Attachment 37339

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.

Attachment 37340

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.

Attachment 37341

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.

Attachment 37342

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!

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.

[kirbyman]

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!