Perhaps the above question is a little misleading. I haven't used a desktop for a couple of years now, even though I keep upgrading my desktop to keep up to date. My previous notebook, a Dell Inspiron 8100, was certainly a desktop replacement as far as I was concerned. Up until recently though, I was still tied to a desk in order to access the LAN, even at MTekk. Now, however, we have a wireless LAN. Unfortunately, my old 8100 wasn't really up to the task.

The keyboard was playing up, the Ethernet NIC was periodically failing, and the battery wouldn't last more than 20 minutes. It was still under warranty (except for the battery), but I couldn't afford the time for either the next day on-site or CAR (Collect and Return) services since I was very busy and moving from site to site. I had planned to replace it at the end of this year anyway, so I just brought that forward.

So why did I choose the Dell Inspiron 5150? Primarily for speed. The new models running at 1.7Ghz are all well and good, but I am addicted to speed. Intel's website had a notebook selector tool which basically told me to go with the Pentium IV rather than the new Pentium M. And of course, the fastest notebook Dell had was the Dell Inspiron 5150, running at 3.06ghz.

Fig 1. Front View of Dell Inspiron 5150	Fig 2. Left side showing PC Card slot and DVD+RW
Fig 3. Rear View of Dell Inspiron 5150	Fig 3. Right side showing Modem and Kensington Security Slot

Show me the money!

• Pentium IV 3.06Ghz CPU
• 15" UXGA Screen (1600 x 1200 Resolution)
• 512Mb RAM
• 64Mb DDR Nvidia GeForce FX Go 5200 AGP 4x Graphics Card
• 40Gb HDD
• 2 x DVD+RW Combo Drive (2/2/8x DVD+RW, 16/8/24x CD-RW)
• Soundblaster Compatible Sound with Wavetable
• Integrated 10/100 Ethernet Network Card
• Internal 56k Modem
• Dell TrueMobile 1400 Dual Band 802.11a/b/g 54Mbps Mini-PCI Wireless Card
• External 1.44Mb 3.5" Floppy Drive
• USB Mobile Port Replicator without Monitor Stand
• 12-Cell Lithium-Ion Primary Battery
• AC Adapter
• 130W  Spare AC Adapter (220V)
• Windows XP Professional
• Wordperfect Package
• 3 Years Mobile Support Package with Next Business Day Service (includes 3 Years CompleteCover Accidental Damage Protection)
• Upgrade to 3 Years Complete Cover Guard Accidental Damage and Theft Protect

The total price of this was AU$4,585.90 inc GST, but bear in mind that about AU$600 of this was the 3 Years Mobile Support Package with upgrade to CompleteCover Guard Accidental Damage and Theft Protect. I figured that it was a small price to pay for piece of mind, and when I consider that the price of my Inspiron 8100 was about AU$5,600 - it was a massive saving even with the extra AU$600.

Avenge my legacy

Anyone considering purchasing this should bear in mind one thing in particular. Dell have done away with legacy in this notebook. That means, no floppy, no PS/2, no serial, no parallel, and no infrared. However, they will sell you an external floppy drive and a Mobile Port Replicator which will resolve this. I purchased both - they run via USB, and would to operate quite well, with the exception that the serial port appears as COM4:, which not all applications will work with. Additionally, I have seen a Belkin USB Infrared connector which would provide the infrared functionality if required.

I can't say that I miss the legacy devices. I have used floppy drives very infrequently since the advent of CD writers, and much less so since I bought the Inspiron 8100 with built-in CD writer. I only use serial to configure routers and switches (and most of the time I don't need to do that, even). And I never, ever use parallel.

Equally, I can't say that I use a PS/2 keyboard or mouse with my notebook. I don't even use an external monitor, although the VGA connector is still included. However, the USB Mobile Port Replicator - a Targus device - is up to the task. It comes with one serial, one parallel, two PS/2 ports, two USB ports AND an Ethernet port - all in a package small enough to fit in your notebook case. So if ever I need any legacy devices - or a second Ethernet connection - I can plug in the port replicator, and away I go.

If I ever need a floppy drive, the USB functionality means that I just plug in the external floppy drive, and away I go. The floppy drive is recognised at startup, meaning that booting from a floppy is still possible. A far cry from the old days when an external floppy drive meant shutting down and starting back up :-)

I also think it's important to mention that the notebook comes with only one PC card (PCMCIA) slot. However since all the functionality I ever considered using a PC Card for is now integrated into the notebook, I can't say I'm terribly worried.

What a nice package you've got

Limitations aside, what's my overall impression? Very smooth. It's a great little package. It actually seems to run at lower temperatures than my old 8100 (quite an accomplishment), and the speed gain alone is sufficent to make me feel that my money was well spent. The various components interoperate without a single glitch, and I feel that they have all been well matched to provide the best possible speed and power management.

Speaking of power management, I've been able to use the notebook on battery under non-stop, relatively heavy usage for over 4 hours without needing to charge. To me, that's terrific and it's just what I needed. Because now... I have built-in wireless functionality!

Hook me up, man

I'll review our wireless router in another review, but suffice to say that the wireless functionality achieved with my Inspiron 8100 gives me a reasonable yardstick to measure the Dell Truemobile 1400 internal PCI card. We have a 2.4Ghz phone and a microwave which both can wreak significant havoc with 802.11b/g, and this is why we've gone with both dual-band router and dual-band NICs. This permits us to utilise 802.11a while still permitting access to 802.11b/g for any non dual-band cards (and allowing us to use customer's 802.11b/g networks). So our evaluation is based upon 802.11a functionality, which has a shorter range but encounters much less interference.

I believe from my tests that the Dell Truemobile 1400's lack of an external antenna makes for a small amount of signal loss, but not significant enough to cause any appreciable connectivity problem. At one point I was convinced that it was a more serious problem - as I had periodic dropouts - but a firmware upgrade to my wireless router has resolved this to the extent that while the signal will vary from Excellent to Good to Poor in short order, it does not drop the connection. It's possible to set a preference in the driver to a specific network, which is what I have done to ensure that I always connect via 802.11a. Otherwise, if I connected to 802.11g (or even b), every time the phone was used (as it also runs at 2.4ghz), my network could drop out.

To compare with my 8100's PC Card based wireless NIC - very little to no difference. In fact, while transferring my data from the old notebook to the new, I had the two sitting side-by-side running via wireless, and neither missed a single beat. The 54Mbps speed seems reasonably good, bearing in mind of course that the use of the CDMA (Collision Detection Multiple Access) algorithm means that the full 54mbps will never be achieved. Nonetheless, it's a significant speed gain over the 802.11b network we originally attempted to run - which, incidentally, was a disaster with the 2.4ghz phone and the microwave :-)

In addition to wireless, there's an integrated 10/100 Ethernet and 56kb v.92 modem. All of these are made by Broadcom (who also do integrated server NICs), and they all work very well. Where wireless isn't available, I plug into an available ethernet connection. Where ethernet isn't available, all I need is a phone line. This makes for  the best availability I've ever had.

I have only tested the v.92 modem once, but the speed was excellent. Since we got the 128Kb ISDN, line quality is vastly improved. I was able to dial into a customer in Sydney at 37kbps. v.92 is quite a nice improvement over v.90, and it certainly makes for faster speeds when connected to a v.92 compatible ISP (such as Bigpond).  It's certainly welcome to have it integrated into my notebook (my Inspiron 8100's modem was v.90).

Screen if you know what I did last Friday the 13th

Moving along: The 1600x1200 screen is a definite plus. My Inspiron 8100 had a maximum of 1400x1050, and I certainly appreciate the extra screen space. The deal with notebook screens, though, is that they have an optimal resolution, so if you run the screen at less than its optimal (eg. 1024x768), your picture will not be anywhere as good. The best way to work around this is to increase your font size, which allows you to better read the screen while not reducing your quality. In my case though, I can read reasonably small fonts even without my glasses, and if my eyes get tired - that's what my glasses are for! :-)

I certainly will recommend the UXGA screen to anyone who cares to listen.

M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e (and the keyboard)

I'm glad to see that Dell has dropped the thumbstick that was included in the 8100. Some people prefer this - it's a little joystick that sits in the middle of your keyboard to move the mouse cursor around with. The Inspiron 8100 had both this and a touch pad. The 5150 has only the touch pad, which for me is welcome. Other people may not be so impressed, but to this people I would suggest that optical USB mice are relatively inexpensive nowadays and would probably be a better solution for you.

The different keyboard layout takes a little to get used to, but in many ways it's a huge improvement. Dell have located the Home, Page Up, Page Down, End, Arrow, Insert, and Delete keys to the lower right hand side of the keyboard, with the Windows keys moved to the top right hand side. This gets them out of the way of people who just want to type :-)

A hard drive is good  to find

Hard drive performance is excellent, and the DVD writer works extremely well. In fact, it's so good that this is all I have to say! :-)

Summing up

The performance really is great, and when comparing it to the high powered Pentium IV 3Ghz desktop with Hypterthreading that we have, I honestly can't say there's much perceptible difference - and this is a well specified desktop. I think that Dell have done a great job with it, and I really do recommend it. Incidentally (more fool me), since I purchased this system, Dell have released a 3.2Ghz model with HyperThreading. Damn it! :-)

Before I close off, I'd like to make special mention of both the delivery time and the sales consultants. I had to consult with a Dell representative to decide between the Dell Inspiron 5100 and 5150, and the guy had the presence to ask that I put his name in the online order so that he received a commision for the sale. To me, this was quite reasonable - it doesn't increase the price, after all. And he was only too happy to help when I was inquiring about the status of my order afterward. So think about it if you have to speak to a sales consultant - they're people too, and they will certainly work to earn their commission if you let them.

In terms of the delivery time, the order was placed on a Thursday and paid for on Friday. By Saturday, my notebook had been built, and by Thursday of the next week, I had received the notebook. All in all, I thought that this was exceptional performance for a system based upon build-to-order, especially considering that the main delay was in shipping from Singapore. Kudos to Dell for a really efficient system, and for a terrific notebook which - in my opinion - certainly is a terrific desktop replacement.

Hmm ... perhaps Dell parts will sell me a processor upgrade ... :-)

Dell Inspiron 5150 Overall Score

Good: Speedy! Well designed Excellent resolution Speedy! Excellent component integration with built in modem and ethernet Addition of wireless component makes for optimal connectivity Good battery life Speedy! Great support options No problems found at all Possibly the cheapest brand-name notebook around

Bad:  Extended warranty can cost up to AU$600 extra You'd be crazy not to go with at least a 3 year warranty Standard 1 year warranty on batteries I missed out on HyperThreading :-(

Verdict: Look. All joking aside, it's a great notebook. I can't recommend it highly enough. At the same time, make sure it suits your own purposes. I have very heavy usage of my notebook, and I need as much functionality as possible. This notebook is perfect for me, but others might find that other models are more appropriate for them. Matt's Score : 9 / 10  (I'm still dirty about the HyperThreading :-) )