$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
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
View All Comments
OrSin - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
No video benchmarks at all. I'm not saying test BF2, but something would be nice.I think the AMD laptops would show some definate leads in that.
raskren - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
It sounds like you want to see a benchmark where the AMD offerings *might* show an advantage over Intel so you can feel better about *your* company.These are not for gaming. Why should Anand waste his time?
Why don't we do some Geo Metro top speed testing as well?
hondaman - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Has nothing to do with amd vs intel.Has everything to do with how well laptops do compared to desktops in games.
hondaman - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
I was dissappointed about this too. It was the first thing i looked for when I read this article today on anandtech. I wanted some game benchmarks.Anyone who buys a 600.00 laptop isnt buying it for games, however, I _am_ in the market for a laptop in the 1000.00 range, and I would like to do some casual gaming here and there on it. Severeral of these laptops reviewed share the same video processor as some laptops much more expensive, and good laptop reviews are so hard to come by.
Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Bottom line, gaming on integrated graphics is non existant. If you want a gaming laptop, get dedicated graphics.PrinceGaz - Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - link
Gaming does not necessarily mean playing the very latest games, and at the highest graphics quality settings. Some people seem to think all that matters with a game is how pretty the graphics are, and discard it when something that looks better comes along. Gameplay is more important to me, and there are plenty of older games that are just as much fun to play as the current hits.I'm sure all of these $600 laptops with their integrated graphics (especially ATI) would be quite capable of playing the top games of the 2001-2002 era very well, and do a decent job with some later titles as well. The only likely probloem is the 256MB system memory which has to be shared with graphics-- but an upgrade to 512MB is the first thing most people would do to these laptops anyway to make them more flexible.
mikecel79 - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Why? Who is going to try and game on one of these things?oupei - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
maybe some RTS games or something would have been nice.Hacp - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Gaming would be horrible. WHo would wnat to play halflife 2 at 800x600 at 24 frames per second?I have a V2000Z and tried playing some games on it. It sucks. About the only "modern" game that I can play is Civ VI.
I'm pretty sure that older games will run fine on it though.
bjacobson - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - link
Do you have the x300 ATi or the Intel graphics? I'm thinking of getting one of these boards too.