The Bottom Line
- Customizable
- Good Battery Life
- Wireless Only Available as PC Card Option
- No FireWire or Media Reader
Description
- Intel Celeron M 350 (1.3GHz/1MB)
- 256MB PC2100 DDR
- 40GB 4,200rpm Hard Drive
- 24x CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
- 15" XGA LCD and Intel Extreme 2 Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory
- AC'97 Audio
- v.92 56Kbps Modem and 10/100 Ethernet
- Three USB 2.0 and One Type II PC Card
- 13" x 10.6" x 1.5" @ 6.6 lbs.
- Windows XP Home, Word Perfect 12, Norton Internet Security
Guide Review - Dell Inspiron 1200
4/12/05 - One of the main reasons for Dell's success has been the ability for users to customize the configurations of Dell's computers. To reduce costs for the new Dell Inspiron 1200, much of these customization options have been removed save for a few items.
The base configuration of the Inspiron 1200 comes with the new Intel Celeron M 350 processor. This features many of the same power benefits of the Pentium M processor but with reduced bus speeds and cache for less performance. It is matched up with 256MB of DDR memory that should be enough to run Windows plus a few applications.
Storage is average for the budget notebook segment. It comes equipped with a 40GB hard drive and 24x CD-RW/DVD combo drive standard. The system does not come with a media card reader. This is something that is becoming standard in PCs and Dell should consider adding it in the future.
Graphics are supplied by a 15" LCD display and the Intel integrated graphics. This should be acceptable for most users as long as they do not require much 3D graphics performance.
The area that the Inspiron 1200 really needs improvement is in the connectivity. Wireless networking has become extremely common yet the system lacks integrated wireless. In order for users to get this ability, they must purchase a separate PC card to use the only type II PC Card slot. In addition, the notebook also lacks any FireWire connection preventing it from importing digital video.
