Laptop advertised to businesses but useful for the home too. (Dell Vostro 1400)

Member Name: digitalparadox

Product:	Dell Vostro 1400
Date:	19/02/08 (373 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 14", 4 USB, Nice black design, quiet, well built, Price,

Disadvantages: Weight

I got this laptop to replace my old broken laptop that was 5 years old and weighed more than a brick. Because I was out of the laptop market for so long I wasn't sure what to expect at what price. After searching high and low, I found this gem by Dell. Firstly, it is dirt cheap if you purchase creatively. At the time, Dell were offering free delivery if you purchased a laptop for £299 minimum (thus automatically shaving off £50). Secondly, even though it is marketed for 'small businesses', it is just as good if not better for the home as well.

When it arrived it was well packaged and I was surprised how good it actually looked. From the photos on the Dell website I knew that this machine wasn't built for aesthetic reasons. But I was shocked at how much better it was in person, a nice jet black with the silver logo on the lid. It isn't the lightest machine in the world for a 14" but it isn't heavy either. I'm a firm believer in 14" wide screens, one of the principle reasons for getting this model. 15" are a bit too big and heavier.

When I opened the lid, I realized there was no safety latch, relying instead on what must be a magnetic strip and strong metal hinges; it is very neat for a budget laptop. Unusually for a business designed laptop, there was a SD/MMC card slot which I found extremely useful for transferring photos. Next to the SD slot is a Wifi switch with the useful Wifi catcher which notifies of hotspots if in a public place and any other strong private wireless zones. Another bonus was having 4 USB ports on a 14" laptop. I have searched for a lot of laptops and the average USB ports is around 2-3, so having 4 is extremely good and means less wires for a hub. On my model, there were two USB ports on either side, leaving the back solely for the battery and Ethernet port.

Another plus was having the multimedia buttons above the keypad which even though sometimes is taken for granted, I know I would have found it annoying adjusting the sound in Windows all the time. Dell have also been heavily advertising their 'media direct' button which instantly boots up the computer if you just want to view multimedia files such as a DVD, use the laptop as a hifi or view photos, saving time in waiting for Windows to fully boot up. Although this is a useful plus point, I hardly use it and it did not influence my purchase. The two small speakers seem sufficient for listening to music and the odd DVD. The trackpad is very good too and the mouse buttons hardly make that annoying clicking sound which is good. They keyboard itself is a pleasure to type on. When I first used it, the keys were really hard and you needed a bit of force to type but now they have softened up and it is so much better to type on. I actually enjoy typing up my essays now!

The good thing about this laptop is that it is built for occasional travel and therefore it does not heat up or make much fan noise. My old laptop had a huge and loud fan so initially it took getting some used to having such a quiet machine! My computer came with Windows Vista and so far it is working ok but it did have some teething problems, but nothing major. You do get used to it after a while and hopefully as time goes by it would become just as stable as XP.

Overall I think this is an excellent laptop for the price and I heavily doubt you would beat it. It has all the basics that you would expect from an IBM thinkpad, obviously not as good as a Thinkpad but you wouldn't expect that coming from a laptop that has a starting cost of £200. At the end of the day you are not going to go wrong with spending a small amount of money on a laptop that has a good amount of potential.

Summary: Excellent buy. Would suit a student or home user.

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