About the Inspiron 6000

[Imaginer]

I was hesitant on the first 750 off 1499+ from Dell but did jump on the second opportunity.

So far I had the laptop for about a month now and overall, the price and performance and capabilities of the laptop is overall great. Not excellent as it has some flaws.

For basic file browsing, internet surfing, office productivity, and your general joe-schmo usage, the laptop is excellent as it should be. Running multiple office apps and internet windows had no problems at all.

Gaming wise, Doom 3 runs smoothly but kind of lags if the battle scene gets too complex so that is all I have to say about the gaming capabilities. Graphics are under a medium setting so I think this lappy can get my fine through many games that possibly will be thrown at it later. Of course things differs if I throw in more apps in the mix....

Which gets me to the really tasking stuff. Heavy file transfers and downloads to the laptop in conjunction to running a game will slow things down. the HD speed really shows how slow it is at this point. Also, as well as a 1.6Ghz Pentium M does in basically alot of stuff, it is not meant for demanding stuff IMO. The extra cash may be a bit useful if you have it if one wants to do heavy computing.

Feel and look of the laptop is OK. Though this is my first laptop, I dont really have a comparision. The widescreen helps in viewing my workspace and the screen contrast and brightness is very good even for outdoor use (prior if you set it to max brightness). I like the playback buttons and that it works with Winamp as well (need to find the plugin for it). The only complaint I have is the number pad keys. FN supposedly activates them right? So how come my numpad doesnt work?

Touchpad. Sometimes pulls the single click even as I move the pointer around. Somewhat annoying. Also not use to the vertical scrolling and horizontal scrolling feature so as I drag the pointer, I lose the ability to move it but I am use to it now. It can be disabled to give more dragging area of the touchpad as well as more buttons can be programmed for each corner of the touchpad as well.

Battery life. Solid 5 hours from it while keeping the screen under minimum brightness and doing normal productivity work. The big factors in shortning battery time is if there is constant CPU fan activity, HD activity, or graphics activity. But viewing movies and such still roughly is about 5 hours if you are running it strictly from the HD where it can cache. About 3 hours or so of battery time if anything intensive is done so it is pretty good IMO in terms of mobility without an outlet. Charging is slower as you use the computer while you have it plugged in but its a snap and about an hour to two hours time if the laptop is off.

Ports and stuff are adequate. I dont fine myself in need of more than 4 USB ports (yet) and a firewire port is fine in case if I need it. The built in wireless is nice as no extra devices are needed. speaker and headphone jacks are fine too. The CD slot also opens to the side like it should be.

Upgradeability on a notebook? It is possible with the lappy. So far I can think of being able to upgrade the CPU, memory, wifi card, add bluetooth later at half the cost, CD drive, hard drive, and if you look in the right places, Dell provides instructions to do this as well. And spare parts? you can order them yourself and put it in later. (Thats how i will soon add bluetooth at half the cost for what Dell is asking for plus upping my memory)

And durability and cleanliness. It is solidly built IMO but dont let it sit inside a car for a long time. The laptop is mostly plastic and may warp. There is also a section of my laptop that is slightly warped that is to the right of the power button. Cleanliness, it is very easy for the laptop to build hand grease on the rests and for particles to get in the corners of the touchpad and keyboard. The lid latch is also able to get stuff and gunk built up easily due to their proximity to the wrists as you type.

Overall, If Dell keeps the same form factor for future notebooks that coincides with the 6000, then possibly upping the MB and graphics will be a snap too (heres hoping)

Finally the specs of my 6000.

Pentium M 1.6
512MB single stick (second 512 to come later)
ATI X300 128mb
WSXGA 15.4 screen
Intel's a/b/g wifi internal card
DVD/CDRW combo drive
40GB 5400RPM? HD
Bluetooth to come later
9 Cell battery. (should have got the spare during purchase)

I also saved some more money by not going with an extended warranty. Overall its about $1100 for the purchase.

Any others that are just as happy as I am with this laptop?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Imaginer
The only complaint I have is the number pad keys. FN supposedly activates them right? So how come my numpad doesnt work? Look for a secondary function "Num Lock" key on the top row of the keyboard. That might be needed to activate it.

Touchpad. Sometimes pulls the single click even as I move the pointer around. Somewhat annoying. Also not use to the vertical scrolling and horizontal scrolling feature so as I drag the pointer, I lose the ability to move it but I am use to it now. It can be disabled to give more dragging area of the touchpad as well as more buttons can be programmed for each corner of the touchpad as well. You should be able to adjust a number of sensitivity options under Mouse Properties.

Enjoy your new lappy!

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: Imaginer
Gaming wise, Doom 3 runs smoothly but kind of lags if the battle scene gets too complex so that is all I have to say about the gaming capabilities. Graphics are under a medium setting so I think this lappy can get my fine through many games that possibly will be thrown at it later. Of course things differs if I throw in more apps in the mix....

I have the vanilla GMA 900 and I am really impressed with what this little card can do. I was expecting to have something on par with say an old Geforce 2MX but it's more like a close to a Geforce 4 MX. I have run HL2 on it at lowest settings and it was playable (but not pretty) it ran C&C Generals no problem and I've been playing C&C Generals on it solid for the past month. I should try Doom 3 just to see, but I fear that it will be laughable. You get what you pay for and the x300 was out of my budget. I am however extremely pleased with what it can do Graphics wise.

Which gets me to the really tasking stuff. Heavy file transfers and downloads to the laptop in conjunction to running a game will slow things down. the HD speed really shows how slow it is at this point. Also, as well as a 1.6Ghz Pentium M does in basically alot of stuff, it is not meant for demanding stuff IMO. The extra cash may be a bit useful if you have it if one wants to do heavy computing.

I've been using it for quite a bit of Access Database stuff which is fairly CPU intensive. I have the 1.6m and it's been fine. Again, I'm really impressed with what it can do. Without hesitation I would recommend the 1.6m. If you have money to burn, by all means upgrade, but unless you're getting into editing video I think it's fine.

Feel and look of the laptop is OK. Though this is my first laptop, I dont really have a comparision.

I love the feel and look. It's so much nicer looking than anything other than the custom Game jobs like say Alienware, or maybe the Dell XPS. The keyboard feels nice and I like the custom face plates you can get for it (although they are over priced in my opinion.

The widescreen helps in viewing my workspace and the screen contrast and brightness is very good even for outdoor use (prior if you set it to max brightness). I like the playback buttons and that it works with Winamp as well (need to find the plugin for it).

There's a plugin? Could you give a link, I would love it...

The only complaint I have is the number pad keys. FN supposedly activates them right? So how come my numpad doesnt work?

Mine work fine, I wonder if you have a hardware issue.

Touchpad. Sometimes pulls the single click even as I move the pointer around. Somewhat annoying.

Again, I don't have this issue, are you sure that you're not double tapping it by accident? If not I'd be calling tech support.

Battery life. Solid 5 hours from it while keeping the screen under minimum brightness and doing normal productivity work. The big factors in shortning battery time is if there is constant CPU fan activity, HD activity, or graphics activity. But viewing movies and such still roughly is about 5 hours if you are running it strictly from the HD where it can cache. About 3 hours or so of battery time if anything intensive is done so it is pretty good IMO in terms of mobility without an outlet. Charging is slower as you use the computer while you have it plugged in but its a snap and about an hour to two hours time if the laptop is off.

Again, I bought the vanilla 5 cell and it lasts about 3 hours of normal use. I'm planning on getting a cooling pad for it to extend the laptops life. problem is that it draws it's power from the USB port and then shortens the battery life. Should have bought the 9 cell, it's a good deal.

Ports and stuff are adequate. I dont fine myself in need of more than 4 USB ports (yet) and a firewire port is fine in case if I need it. The built in wireless is nice as no extra devices are needed. speaker and headphone jacks are fine too. The CD slot also opens to the side like it should be.

I'm using my firewire for my Mini DV camera and it's great, I can edit on the road it's wonderful.

Upgradeability on a notebook? It is possible with the lappy. So far I can think of being able to upgrade the CPU, memory, wifi card, add bluetooth later at half the cost, CD drive, hard drive, and if you look in the right places, Dell provides instructions to do this as well. And spare parts? you can order them yourself and put it in later. (Thats how i will soon add bluetooth at half the cost for what Dell is asking for plus upping my memory)

Didn't think you could upgrade the 6000 with a new CPU. In fact I was told you couldn't... do you have the 6000D maybe? I know you didn't mention it, but I wanted to say that the GPU can't be upgraded either.

And durability and cleanliness. It is solidly built IMO but dont let it sit inside a car for a long time. The laptop is mostly plastic and may warp. There is also a section of my laptop that is slightly warped that is to the right of the power button.

Good point, and noted.

Cleanliness, it is very easy for the laptop to build hand grease on the rests and for particles to get in the corners of the touchpad and keyboard. The lid latch is also able to get stuff and gunk built up easily due to their proximity to the wrists as you type.

I'm a freak about my laptop, there's no way it's going to get near anything that will remotly mark my little baby.

Overall, If Dell keeps the same form factor for future notebooks that coincides with the 6000, then possibly upping the MB and graphics will be a snap too (heres hoping)

Finally the specs of my 6000.

Pentium M 1.6
512MB single stick (second 512 to come later)
ATI X300 128mb
WSXGA 15.4 screen
Intel's a/b/g wifi internal card
DVD/CDRW combo drive
40GB 5400RPM? HD
Bluetooth to come later
9 Cell battery. (should have got the spare during purchase)

I also saved some more money by not going with an extended warranty. Overall its about $1100 for the purchase.

After having a series of IBMs go south on me I bought the extended warranty. My Dad's Toshiba screwed up at the end of it's warranty and I had to fight to get something that they screwed up fixed after the year warranty. I hate having to pay for these sorts of things, but to be honest I think that the generic Parts warranty is pretty inexpensive and worth it.... I would not on the other hand even think about the onsite warranty, it's overpriced IMHO.

Any others that are just as happy as I am with this laptop?

I'm ecstatic, it's a thing of beauty at a cheap price

 

[microAmp]

Imaginer I can't figure out either how to get the keypad to work either. I've looked for a Num Lock but nothing that stands out for me. Otherwise I've been pretty happy with the laptop and pretty much agree with your review.

Though I would add at times when I want to use the touchpad to "click" it doesn't work same thing goes with the actual button to click it doesn't register for me.

Edit: Must be an idoit 😀 NumLk key is there 🙂 Last place I would look between Print Screen and Pause, I was thinking the Scroll Lock was there, DOH! Holding Fn and keypad works for me now 😀

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: microAmp
Imaginer I can't figure out either how to get the keypad to work either. I've looked for a Num Lock but nothing that stands out for me.

for the touch pad I just hold down the Fn key and use the number pad... is that what you're doing?

Though I would add at times when I want to use the touchpad to "click" it doesn't work same thing goes with the actual button to click it doesn't register for me.

Sorry, I'm not clear what you are saying. I think you're saying that you attempt to double tap on the mouse pad it does not respond the same way double right clicking would. Have you tried going to the mouse properties and checking that you have tap turned on? If this is not what you are saying could you rephrase this maybe?

 

[Griffinhart]

I got one about a month ago too. The Specs are:

1.6 ghz Pentium M
60GB HD
512MB RAM
128MB x300 video.
CD-RW/DVD drive
basic 15.4 inch display

I'm using the basic 5 sell battery. It's life is not bad and suites my requirements just fine. Most of the time I'm near power.

It can run some games decently. But, I honestly don't use it for that.

I honestly use it a lot more than I expected. I like being able to surf the web outside of my home office, and I do it frequently. I also use it to watch recorded TV shows from my Media Center.

Overall, I'm very happy with it, so far. My only complaint is that the keyboard seems kind of cheap.

I also wish it had an IBM style trackpoint and not the touch pad. I've always hated track pads. But, I knew what I was getting when I ordered it. my solution was to just get a portable wireless mouse. I got a nice $35 logitech laptop mouse. It works great.

Considering the total cost of it was $759, shipped, I'm extremely happy with the purchase. It was quite a good deal.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Griffinhart
I also wish it had an IBM style trackpoint and not the touch pad. I've always hated track pads. But, I knew what I was getting when I ordered it. my solution was to just get a portable wireless mouse. I got a nice $35 logitech laptop mouse. It works great.

The Latitude line has the trackpoints, but they usually don't run coupons on those 😉

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: microAmp
Imaginer I can't figure out either how to get the keypad to work either. I've looked for a Num Lock but nothing that stands out for me.

for the touch pad I just hold down the Fn key and use the number pad... is that what you're doing?

Though I would add at times when I want to use the touchpad to "click" it doesn't work same thing goes with the actual button to click it doesn't register for me.

Sorry, I'm not clear what you are saying. I think you're saying that you attempt to double tap on the mouse pad it does not respond the same way double right clicking would. Have you tried going to the mouse properties and checking that you have tap turned on? If this is not what you are saying could you rephrase this maybe?

Yeah, tried holding down the Fn key and using the number pad and nothing.

Clicking- say I want to click on a file (single click) when using touchpad it doesn't register, try again and still doesn't work, but then during that moment using the actual left button works. It also gives me issues the other way around, using actual left button nothing, but touchpad will work.

Might be just user error though, sometime I catch one of my fingers touching the pad when I don't think I am. 🙂

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: microAmp
Yeah, tried holding down the Fn key and using the number pad and nothing.

Call tech support, that's just not right.

Clicking- say I want to click on a file (single click) when using touchpad it doesn't register, try again and still doesn't work, but then during that moment using the actual left button works. It also gives me issues the other way around, using actual left button nothing, but touchpad will work.

Might be just user error though, sometime I catch one of my fingers touching the pad when I don't think I am. 🙂

I would say go to the mouse icon in the tool bar in the bottom right hand corner, right click on the control pad icon and select Mouse properties, then click on the touch pad tab and ensure that tapping is turned on. If it is I would say you should call tech support as it sounds like a hardware issue. I think it's a setting thing as I would think that if you're on Anandtech you probably know enough on how to use a touch pad. Good luck, it sounds like maybe you got one of the bad ones... it happens, but they can fix it easily enough.

 

[HN]

for the number pad thing, did you also have numlock enabled? (should be at the top row of keys)

 

[mathwhiz]

Griffinhart, could you comment on the quality of your LCD screen? I have read a lot about WSXGA vs. WXGA on the 6000, and a couple of people wrote that the quality of the WXGA screen is not that great. Just wondering if that was true.
Besides the obvious resolution differences, are there any other differences between WSXGA and WXGA on the 6000?

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: HN
for the number pad thing, did you also have numlock enabled? (should be at the top row of keys)

I think you're thinking of a standard desktop keyboard, there is no numlock button on the dell 6000.

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: mathwhiz
Griffinhart, could you comment on the quality of your LCD screen? I have read a lot about WSXGA vs. WXGA on the 6000, and a couple of people wrote that the quality of the WXGA screen is not that great. Just wondering if that was true.
Besides the obvious resolution differences, are there any other differences between WSXGA and WXGA on the 6000?

I know you asked the question of GH, but I thought I'd answer as I've seen both, and went with the WXGA. I saw the WXGA and it has nothing on the WSXGA which is what I ended up getting. Just wondering where you saw these negative posts, I'd love to see what the context was.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: niggles
Again, I bought the vanilla 5 cell and it lasts about 3 hours of normal use. I'm planning on getting a cooling pad for it to extend the laptops life. problem is that it draws it's power from the USB port and then shortens the battery life. Should have bought the 9 cell, it's a good deal.

You should look into undervolting as a much better alternative method to extend the laptop's life while improving battery life as well. Check this thread:

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=70943

As an example, I have a Inspiron 6000 with a P-M 730, at 800MHz it can be undervolted to the minimum 0.7v, and 0.952v for 1.6GHz.

 

[niggles]

Thanks, good info. do you not think that a cooling pad isn't a good idea for extending the life span of the laptop? The articles that I've read so far have all been very favourable. Whatg do you know that I don't?
cheers

 

[RobsTV]

I've had the i9200 with P-M 1.8GHz, 128meg MR9700 and 17" WXGA screen for about 6 months, and recently picked up two i6000 (both identically equiped twins) with 1.6GHz and x300, for family members.

Because the i9200 was built like a light weight tank, I was surprised to open the box of the i6000 and see a mini i9200 inside. Same colors. Same buttons. However, after further comparison, I was not as excited. I6000 is much more flimsy, and feels like it will break easily (compared to it's big brother). Closed LCD fits loose, and it creeks and makes noise when handled. I grab the i9200 by it's corner many times when want to quickly use it, and when I grab the i6000 the same way, it feels like it will snap if two. I'm sure it will be fine, as this is only in comparison to the i9200. Both weigh close enough that difference does not matter.

Battery life is roughly the same. Both get a little over 5 hours with 9 cell, doing similar everyday light tasks. Considering the i9200 uses MR9700 and 17" and the i6000 uses x300 and 15", I expected better with i6000. Others have stated the newer chipset uses more power, and I guess they must be correct. Also, do as stated and undervolt the CPU. This combined with i8kfanGUI fan control (only turns on fans when temps are too high), will give you another 10% to 30% battery life. Another strange thing I've noticed is when running on batteries, i6000 w/1.6GHz drops to 800MHz, while i9200 w/1.8GHz drops to 600MHz, (or i9200 runs slower than i6000) which may be another reason why battery life compares between the two. (i9200 uses 100MHz FSB, or 18x100=1.8GHz, while i6000 uses 133Mhz, or 12x133=1.6GHz. Both use 6x when in max battery save mode, so 6x100=600, while 6x133=800).

Video gaming. No contest. The mr9700 smokes the x300. That is not an indication of how bad the x300 is, but more of how good the mr9700 is. x300 performs at about 75% as well as mr9700 in games. WMV-HD really impressed me though. The i6000 ran just as well as i9200, and CPU usage was about 45% - 60% viewing 720P and 1080P demos. Considering many AMD's and P4 systems struggle to get results that good, it is one of the strongest points of the ATi equiped P-M. Thought the i6000 w/ATi would include DVI like the i9200, and again, more dissapointment there, as no DVI provided. Unlike mr9700, there is no fan or additional cooling vent for GPU with x300.

While the above may seem like a bad review of the i6000, it is not, as most of it is minor stuff, or compared to it's more expensive big brother. I6000 is a great laptop if you want a Dell smaller than 17". Bang for the buck is not nearly as good as the i9300, (the i9200's replacement), but many do not want a large laptop. If a 15.4" moderate to light gaming laptop is what you seek, you can't go wrong with the i6000 ATi combo. I would still recommend the i9300 with go6800 video ($1200 or less with coupons), if you can put up with 17" screen. WXGA is what I choose for all because you should view text at the screens default, and with older eyes (40+), anything smaller would not be as easy. Also helps with gaming a little, if you can run native resolutions.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: HN
for the number pad thing, did you also have numlock enabled? (should be at the top row of keys)

I think you're thinking of a standard desktop keyboard, there is no numlock button on the dell 6000.

Upper right corner. Go left 5 buttons.

Also, there is a setting in Bios for number pad.
Press F2 during boot. Post behavior/keypad (embedded), and adjust to your needs.
You can choose Fn or NumLk

 

[Imaginer]

Hmmm works now.... Perhaps I didnt have the numlock on.

niggles

The link for the Winamp Dell Buttons is here.

RobsTV

Youre right. When the lid is closed and carrying it around, it does seem that the screen is not exactly as secure as it can be. The two plastic hooks are a little less desired if one is use to something a bit more secure. However, I wouldn't say its exactly falling apart either. The 6000 may need a bit more care compared to other more rugged notebooks that are out there.

Also someone mentioned a cooling pad. I have not heard of it?

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: niggles
Thanks, good info. do you not think that a cooling pad isn't a good idea for extending the life span of the laptop? The articles that I've read so far have all been very favourable. Whatg do you know that I don't?
cheers

There's nothing wrong with a cooling pad, it's just that I feel undervolting is a more effective solution, since you are affecting the source of the problem, the heat output. By undervolting, heat output on the I6000 I have goes from about 13W at idle to ~11W, and from ~30W to 18-20W running Prime 95 at 1.6GHz, with the CPU temperature not exceeding 41C.

 

[niggles]

just loaded up Doom 3 using the native GMA 900 base integrated card and surprisiningly it was giving me around 20 FPS, not bad for an integrated card. I'm interested to see what it would do with more RAM. It may not make a difference, but I'd like to see.

For anyone interested in running it should note that it ran fine by itself, but wouldn't run when I installed the latest patch. 20 FPS isn't really worth it to me so it's not a big deal, I just wanted to see what it would look like.

 

[R3MF]

is this a DDR2 laptop? which therefore comes with the newer intel graphics core?

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: R3MF
is this a DDR2 laptop? which therefore comes with the newer intel graphics core?

Yep. The ones with the integrated graphics uses the 915GM chipset.

 

[niggles]

just to start a new thread about this. The Base GPU the machine comes with is a pretty great offering considering it's low end. My big complaint that I have recently found is that a lot of lower end games that are coming out right now are using Pixel Shader 1.1 which this card can not handle.