Dell Inspiron 5100 - Complains Reviewed

I chose Inspiron 5100 laptop because of the fine components, and to date I haven't experienced a shortage of any features...  But I know some people would list several complains about missing ports and features. Here, I'm to disagree with many of them - Inspiron 5100 is as good as you paid for.

Complain 1. No PS2 port. A PS2 is a circular shape 6-pin female port that can be used to plug in an older mouse or keyboard. So, If you wish to use a mouse or a keyboard, you'll have to purchase the pricier USB version...
- I find this complain ridiculous - go get a $10 IBM Optical Scroll USB mouse in Best Buy. There is really no need for PS2 port anymore - it is not universal and only fits an old mice or keyboard).

Complain 2. Only 1 PCMCIA slot instead of 2. Many laptops come with two PCMCIA slots...
- PCMCIA slots are not as common interface anymore but the USB and FireWire are. It used to be that the PCMCIA slot used for a Wireless NIC or a 56K Modem or 10/100 Ethernet NIC. Well, now you can get Inspiron 5100 with a wireless card built-in, the Ethernet port (RJ-45) comes built-in, the modem comes built-in. All you can use the PCMCIA slot for is an adapter (PCMCIA to USB or to FireWire) or for a wireless NIC if yours is not built-in. Also, remember, the PCMCIA interface is the slowest (even the latest CardBus version).

Complain 3. No Serial port. It looks similar to the 15-pins Monitor port but only has 9 pins, male.
- The old Serial port is pretty much absolute now - it served to connect an older Mouse, an older Digital Camera, or an older Handheld/PDA. There are practically no new devices manufactured for this port.

Complain 4. No Infrared.
 - who needs infrared now when everything is moving into wireless. Though, I do know it can be used to send file to an infrared printer or to beam your PDA data into your laptop, I've never used it for this purpose, and I don't know anyone who did.

Complain 5. No Volume Dial. It can be used to adjust the speakers volume.
- With Inspiron 5100, you can use the 'Fn' key with the page up or down keys to control the volume - this isn't a gaming laptop with all the fancies.

Complain 6. Floppy drive not included. One would have to purchase an external USB floppy drive.
- Dell is right about not including a floppy for the price - move on into USB storage, dude. You got to make this change sooner or later...

Complain 7. Cheap touchpad. The Inspiron 5100's touchpad doesn't have a middle button or scroll button.
 - This one I really care less about. Out of 10 people that are working on laptops daily, only one uses the touchpad. Everyone else is using an external mouse that is much more productive... hello. I always disable my touchpad.

Complain 9. Too much Weight.
- It weights as much as a good size college book. You'll pay more for anything lighter.

Complain 10. Dell Technical Support sucks.
- this may or may not be a true statement. I, personally, never called tech support for any of my PC's or Laptops, Dell or not Dell...

Finally, I do recommend Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop to anyone for work or for home use. I know two of my friends who are computer consultants and who have no problems running VB 6.0 or .Net, Oracle queries through SQL Navigator, Excel, Word, Outlook and Internet at the same time... even when dialing-in from home.

Go back to Dell Inspiron 5100 review.

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