$600 Notebook Roundup - Crowning the Affordability King
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 29, 2005 10:38 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Dell Inspiron 2200
Since originally ordering and receiving the Dell Inspiron 2200, Dell has introduced a new line of Inspiron notebooks for the home. The Inspiron B130 is Dell's latest competitor in the sub-$600 market; however, its release was not in time to be included in this roundup. We chose to keep the Inspiron 2200 in this review as it is still available for Higher Education customers, but we will be working to bring an updated roundup with the Inspiron B130 as soon as possible.
The Inspiron 2200 that we received came with a Celeron M 370 (1.5GHz) processor based around Intel's 915GM chipset; naturally, it uses the chipset's integrated graphics. The Inspiron B130, the 2200's replacement, moves back down to a Celeron 360 (1.4GHz) as its default processor option.
Like all of the notebooks here today, the Inspiron 2200 that we configured only shipped with 256MB of RAM, to keep within our $600 budget. Storage comes courtesy of a single 40GB Fujitsu MHV2040AH drive.
Unfortunately, in order to meet the $600 budget, the Inspiron 2200 comes with no wireless networking options.
Surprisingly enough, there are no ports at the front of the notebook:
- Headphone jack
- Microphone jack
- PC Card slot
- 3 USB 2.0 Ports
- Ethernet jack
- Modem jack
- VGA output
Since originally ordering and receiving the Dell Inspiron 2200, Dell has introduced a new line of Inspiron notebooks for the home. The Inspiron B130 is Dell's latest competitor in the sub-$600 market; however, its release was not in time to be included in this roundup. We chose to keep the Inspiron 2200 in this review as it is still available for Higher Education customers, but we will be working to bring an updated roundup with the Inspiron B130 as soon as possible.
The Inspiron 2200 that we received came with a Celeron M 370 (1.5GHz) processor based around Intel's 915GM chipset; naturally, it uses the chipset's integrated graphics. The Inspiron B130, the 2200's replacement, moves back down to a Celeron 360 (1.4GHz) as its default processor option.
Like all of the notebooks here today, the Inspiron 2200 that we configured only shipped with 256MB of RAM, to keep within our $600 budget. Storage comes courtesy of a single 40GB Fujitsu MHV2040AH drive.
Unfortunately, in order to meet the $600 budget, the Inspiron 2200 comes with no wireless networking options.
| Dell Inspiron 2200 | |
| CPU | Intel Celeron M 370 (1.5GHz/1MB L2/400MHz FSB) |
| Chipset | Intel 915GM |
| Memory | 256MB DDR333 (1 DIMM) |
| GPU | Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics |
| Display | 14.1" XGA (1024 x 768) |
| HDD | 40GB Fujitsu MHV2040AH |
| Optical Storage | 24X CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive |
| Wireless | N/A |
| Ethernet | Intel PRO/100 VE 10/100 |
| Modem | Internal Soft 56K |
| Audio | SigmaTel C-Major |
| Ports | Headphone, microphone, PC Card slot, 3 x USB 2.0, Ethernet, Modem, VGA out |
| Mouse | Trackpad |
| Size (L x W x H) | 13.0" x 10.6" x 1.46" |
| Weight | 5.99 lbs |
| Battery | 8-Cell NiMH |
| OS and Other Software | Windows XP Home SP2 |
| Price as Configured | $599.00 |
| Warranty | 90 days |
Surprisingly enough, there are no ports at the front of the notebook:
- Headphone jack
- Microphone jack
- PC Card slot
- 3 USB 2.0 Ports
- Ethernet jack
- Modem jack
- VGA output
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johnsonx - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Inspiron 6000 (can be had for $600 on the right day)Acer Aspire 3003
Rudimentary gaming benchmarks. Yes, most current games are almost unplayable on these, but some would probably play fine. I played Dungeon Siege LOA quite happily on my Inspiron 6000, and old Unreal Tournament works great (even UT2k4 is just barely playable at 640x480x16, though very ugly). It would also be nice to see how much better ATI integrated gfx are vs. Intel (and SiS Mirage 2 in the case of the Acer).
hondaman - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I agree that its long overdue for a laptop graphics gaming review. Using all the common graphics, integrated or not, like the mirage 2, x200m, 700m, 9700, and all the assorted nvidia ones.johnsonx - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
"with the Dell doing absolutely dismally at only 144 minutes. The only tangible advantage we can see that Gateway has in this case is that they use an older chipset"...The tangible disadvantage for the Dell is that they use the old NiMH battery instead of Lithium ion. I have the original version of that laptop, the Inspiron 1000. It's battery life sucked even worse, plus it died after only 5 months.
If you even remotely care about battery life, DON'T buy a dell with the NiMH battery. Don't buy a Dell without a 1-year warranty either.
ksherman - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Is there any hope for upgrades in these laptops? Like if I poped the hood off the COmpaq (Smepron of course) and threw in a Turion MT processor... or even a pentium M for the others, is that something doable?Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I know for a fact that the compaqs are upgradable. you can upgrade the processor/ram/hd/optical drive.bloc - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/compute...">http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopp...el=2&...IT's TFT XGA, not WXGA.
SilverTrine - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I'm amazed that Gateway tries to charge $50 shipping on a notebook. Anands assertion of $600 laptops is misleading, with shipping and tax this laptop is $800.KCjeeper - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I purchased one of these Gateway laptops a few weeks ago and am very pleased with it. Mine came with the wireless G and I only paid $579.bldckstark - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I am curious as to which company(ies) denied access to test parts. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference, but I wonder who is so embarassed of their product that they don't want them compared openly.bjacobson - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Something worth noting is that the good battery life on the V2000 is thanks to the Intel 2200BG integrated wireless, not the Broadcom wireless. The Broadcom is what made the V2000z Sempron's do so poorly.