Dell Inspiron 9400

One of the first laptops with Intel's new Core Duo processor to hit the street, the Dell Inspiron 9400 inaugurates the company's new entertainment line of laptops with a bang. In addition to its top-shelf processor and graphics card; its bright, 17-inch widescreen display; and other leading edge technologies, the Inspiron 9400 adds a few welcome multimedia features not found on the model that it will eventually replace, the Inspiron 9300. These include a five-in-one media card reader and Dell's MediaDirect software, though there is no integrated TV tuner. We think the slightly less expensive HP Pavilion dv8200 is a better deal for basic users who want more features than performance, but the Inspiron 9400 owns the other end of the spectrum as an incredibly powerful laptop that can speed through virtually any multimedia task from video editing to gaming.

Editors' note: Dell has recently changed the video card option worldwide from Nvidia's top-of-the-line GeForce Go 7800 to ATI's Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics processor. As a result, we expect the gaming performance of the current crop of Inspiron 9400 to suffer compared with the Nvidia GPU-equipped models. There have been no comments from Dell regarding this move.

Some of the comparison models in this review use benchmark results from CNET US Labs and may differ from the results by CNET Asia reviewers.

Design
The Inspiron 9400's design is nearly identical to the Inspiron 9300's. Crafted out of sturdy and stylish magnesium alloy and measuring 394 x 288 x 41.5mm. Our test unit weighed 3.6kg (4.2kg with its AC adapter) -- 100g lighter than the HP Pavilion dv8200. Still, the Inspiron 9400 is too heavy for regular travel.

The Inspiron 9400 includes a full-size keyboard, though it lacks a separate number pad, as found on the HP Pavilion dv8200. The Inspiron 9400's mouse buttons are very big, however, and the touch pad is adequately sized. The latter features arrows running along its right and bottom edges, outlining where to place your finger when using the software-enhanced pad to scroll through documents or Web pages.

Features
A minor but appreciated upgrade from the Inspiron 9300 model is the Inspiron 9400's inclusion of Dell's MediaDirect software, which plays CDs and DVDs and lets you access photos and other media files stored on your hard drive without booting up Windows first. The two speakers and the internal subwoofer -- a rare feature among laptops -- deliver crisp and rich sound. Better yet, because the speakers sit in the corners of the laptop's front edge, your hands won't muffle them while you're typing and you can play music with the lid closed. Sandwiched between the speakers, a row of seven buttons lets you control disc playback and adjust or mute the volume. However, the Inspiron 9400 lacks an integrated TV tuner found on more expensive systems, such as the Toshiba Qosmio G20 and the Fujitsu LifeBook N6210.

Our Inspiron 9400 test unit had a bright, vast, 17-inch widescreen display with a superfine WUXGA 1,900 x 1,200-pixel native resolution. Though we experienced no problems with our unit's display, we've observed many user complaints about other recent Dell models' screens.

There's no dearth of ports, jacks, or slots here: The Inspiron 9400 offers FireWire, S-Video out, VGA, a whopping six USB 2.0 ports, 56Kbps modem, 10/100 Ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks. Also available are Type II PC Card and Secure Digital slots and a swank DVI port should you want to connect the laptop to an even bigger digital LCD. There's also a five-in-one media card reader, a key feature that the Inspiron 9300 lacked. Last, but definitely not least, the Inspiron 9400 includes a multiformat double-layer DVD drive.

Performance
Like all of Dell's laptops, the Inspiron 9400 is extremely configurable. Our loaded, test configuration was equipped with a new Intel Core Duo T2500 (2.0GHz) processor; 1GB of DDR2 667MHz SDRAM; an 80GB, 5,400rpm hard drive; Nvidia's high-end GeForce Go 7800 GPU with 256MB of dedicated video memory; and a nine-cell battery.

One of the first Core Duo systems we've tested, the Dell Inspiron 9400 did not disappoint. Using a collection of multithreaded and single-threaded multimedia applications, we tested the Inspiron 9400 to determine how well it handled multimedia workloads, such as ripping MP3 and encoding video. Generally speaking, the Inspiron 9400 delivered roughly a 25 per cent performance boost compared with a Pentium 4-fueled test system, the Acer Aspire 1700, and its performance was approximately 50 percent faster than that of a ThinkPad Z60t equipped with Intel's previous generation 2.0GHz Pentium M processor.

The Inspiron 9400 also delivered very competent gaming performance, turning in 57 frames per second in our Doom 3 test. That said, the Acer TravelMate 8204, outfitted with the same processor but twice the RAM, bested the Inspiron 9400 in a few of our multimedia tests and posted the highest SysMark score we've ever recorded, though its gaming performance was lacking. Though we did not test an Inspiron 9400 configured with the less expensive Core Solo processor, Dell said that its performance would be comparable with that of an Inspiron 9300 loaded with a Pentium M, a configuration that we tested last year.

On our SysMark 2004 test, the Inspiron 9400's score of 211 was 33 per cent faster than the Inspiron 9300's and faster than that of any other single-core system we've tested.

Though battery life and mobile performance aren't a primary consideration for a laptop the size of the Inspiron 9400, in our MobileMark 2005 test, which tests how well a laptop performs when running on battery power, the Inspiron 9400 delivered a very good score of 234, but it ran for 30 fewer minutes than the previous Inspiron 9300 model, for a total of about 2.5 hours.

NOTE: Products in this test are for comparative purposes only and are not necessarily available in the Australian market.

Dell offers a one-year next business day onsite warranty which covers parts and labour. The company's support website contains a knowledge database for basic troubleshooting and downloading of updated drivers. Optional warranty options include extended three-year warranty, HelpDesk, onsite service during nights and weekends, and Plus Phone support can be purchased together with the system. Plus Phone support extends the technical phone support to include Saturdays. HelpDesk coverage provides 24-hour phone support from an expert who can help with any problems related to Dell hardware and peripherals and even some third-party software from major vendors, such as Microsoft Office.

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