You can read my story below but I wanted to amend this article with what is now a good month of full time usage of this machine. The bottom line – this is the real deal. It is light, fast, well configured and just a great machine. The sound is awesome the screen is great and the keyboard has a great feel to it. If you are looking for a laptop that has these features you will be very happy with this one. Dell Inspiron – Awesome Laptop
I have been running an HP laptop for the last 4 years and have really enjoyed it. It had a 17 inch screen, full keyboard and handled everything I threw at it reasonably well. It was an HP Pavilion dv991 us Notebook PC. Here is my assessment of the machine after using it daily for about 4 years.
CONS
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The hard drive was only 250 gigs – I had to remove pictures and videos to an external drive a few times
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3 gigs of RAM did OK but you can always use more speed.
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The power cord was giving me some fits but I was dealing with it. The cord was an issue but the plug in hole was always a little questionable.
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The screen had started to have some play in the hinges. Not sure what the repercussions of this might be in the future but I will find out at some point as I intend to keep the machine in service at some level.
PROS
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I loved the large screen – It was certainly big enough for anything I was doing.
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Having the full keyboard was handy – but I did not use the numeric keypad as much as I thought I would.
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It looked good and did not have the kind of surface that showed a lot of smudges. It stayed very clean looking.
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The mouse pad was very smooth and easy to slide over.
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It had 4 USB ports and all the other ports you would need. It did not have HDMI. I don’t think that cable had come out yet when I bought it. Maybe it had but it was not a common port on laptops yet.
The reason I am making a change in my systems is due to a problem that occurred about 3 weeks ago after an HP update. The problem was the sound just stopped working altogether. I wrote a post about the issue I was having so you can check out the details here. No sound on HP Pavilion
When I decided to get a new system I didn’t want to spend big dollars but wanted to get a few things upgraded from the HP Pavilion machine. The first change I decided about was even though the large screen was nice I had started to carry my computer with me almost daily and the larger size was a bit cumbersome. I decided to downsize to a smaller computer to be more streamlined. The other changes were in line with the cons I listed above. I wanted a 500 gig hard drive, a bit more RAM, an HDMI connection and since the processors had moved into the quad range I decided to buy for the future and not get a machine with an already out of date processor.
The machine I moved into is a Dell Inspiron N4010 – Intel Core i3 CPU – 240 GHz – 4 gig RAM – 64 bit operating system – 500 gig hard drive – 14 inch screen – Windows 7
It’s the first DELL I have owned. The size is nice, I am kind of digging the smaller machine. I feel a little stealthier. The keyboard is full size and types very well. The mouse is a little sticky, not as smooth as the HP but it will do. It has two regular USB’s an HDMI port and a combo SATA/USB port.
The machine weighs less then 5 pounds but it is packed with goodies.
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14-inch high-definition LCD with 1366 x 768-pixel resolution for native HD 720p display
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2.4 GHz Intel Core i3-370M dual-core processor for a fast, responsive PC experience (3 MB L3 cache). Intel Core i3 processor–with 4-way multitasking processor power to work on four tasks simultaneously.
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500 GB SATA hard drive (5400 RPM)
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4 GB installed RAM (DDR3)
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Intel HD Graphics for an advanced video engine that delivers smooth, high-quality HD video playback, and excellent 3D capabilities with support for Microsoft DirectX 10 games–an ideal graphics solution for everyday computing.
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8x multi-format DVD drive supports reading/writing of CD-R/RW, DVD±R, DVD±RW, DVD±R DL, and DVD-RAM.
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Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) for ultra-fast connectivity to home and business networks.
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Bluetooth connectivity enables you to communicate and synchronize wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as printers and cell phones.
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Built-in stereo speakers with SRS Premium Sound
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1.3-megapixel webcam
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HDMI port for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable.
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Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. And you can watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV on Windows Media Center. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium.
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Get more features with Windows Anytime Upgrade. It’s the best way to add features to Windows 7, takes as few as ten minutes, requires no software or downloads, and you’ll keep your existing programs, files, and settings. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process.
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Preloaded with the Microsoft Office Starter 2010 free software offering with selected functionality of Word and Excel for your text and spreadsheet tasks. Plus, if you decide you want the full suite, just purchase a product key to activate an ad-free version that also includes the latest Outlook, PowerPoint, and Publisher programs.
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Dell Data Safe Online optional online backup service (additional charges applicable) offers data protection by enabling you to back up data to a safe, remote storage site using a broadband connection. Dell Data Safe Online is designed to be easy, flexible and secure. After setup, it will automatically back up data and help protect against software, hardware and catastrophic failure.
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6-cell battery
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Measures 13.5 x 9.69 x 1.33 inches (WxDxH)
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Weighs 4.96 pounds
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Warranty: 1-year limited hardware warranty; 24/7 phone support
