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Lilla's notes on Inspiron 7000 - Physcial - Last updated 13Dec98

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Physical Specs for 15" Display (these specs are *NOT* available online)

Note: As of this writing, there are online specs for the 13" and 14", but none for the 15". Link to online specs for displays are at this link: http://support.dell.com/oti/systems/pcyc/Specs.htm

Q: What are the specs for the 15" display? Lilla, webtalk

A: I have this straight from the engineering group, so it is as accurate as I can get it. Dell/Brian McCullough, Webtalk

Power Adapter

Q: Could someone give me the measurements of the AC adapter (to give me an idea what to look for a carrying case)? Dolphin, newsgroup

A: The AC adapter is 2.25"x5.5"x1", but comes along with six feet of cord on each side of it, totalling twelve, so the cord takes up some space too. Mark Hilgart, newsgroup

Size Differences based upon Display

Q: Dimensions of unit?

A: Dimensions are found at this link: http://www.dell.com/products/notebook/inspiron/insp7000/specs.htm

Q: Differences between 14.1" and 15" housing?

Weight Differences Based Upon Display

Q: Weight of unit?

A: Weights are found at this link: http://www.dell.com/products/notebook/inspiron/insp7000/specs.htm

Travel Weight

A: I've weighted 5 different ones all with the same config and they all come out the same (image that!!). John Welter, newsgroup

A: Kurxtuki_JLI, newsgroup reports:

Power Usage Differences Based Upon Display

Q: Power consumption of display?

A: Power consumption is found at this link: http://support.dell.com/oti/systems/pcyc/Specs.htm

A: One user reported a 30 min. difference between units with 14.1 and 15" displays. That report is in this FAQ.

A: While some have reported 30 minutes or more difference, this should not be the case with the relatively small increase in power required by the larger display. In fact, I've read at least a couple reviews with 15" machines running just over 3 hours (maybe a few minutes less than 14.1", but not a half hour...) If/when DELL offers an ACPI-compliant BIOS update, this may not be as much an issue. Hans E. Omli, Email

Dot Pitch of LCD Displays - and why it doesn't matter!

Note: Dot pitch is the terminology used by Dell on the spec sheet, but dot pitch is a CRT term, LCD's do not have dot pitch. The number they are giving for dot pitch is actually the distance between the centers of the dots and it is a fairly meaningless number, telling us nothing about quality. Dot size would be meaningful, but that is not given.

A: Dot pitch is given at this link: http://support.dell.com/oti/systems/pcyc/Specs.htm

A: I now have the 15" screen. Of note... according to the manual, the dot pitch on the 13.3 and the 14.1 are both .269!! The manual does not even mention the 15". Marc, webtalk

A: The manual is incorrect with respect to the 14.1". The online info is correct. Bryan's calculation below confirms the online info. Lilla

A: You can not compare dot pitch on an LCD to a CRT as they are different technology. The dot pitch on an LCD exactly matches the native resolution so 1024x768 on a 14.1" screen results in:

(14.1" * 4 / 5) * (25.4mm/inch) / 1024 = 0.278mm per pixel

4 / 5 is the ratio of diagonal to horizontal on computer screens OTOH, a CRT should have at least 25% more pixels than resolution to accurately display information. Bryan Quay, newsgroup

Q: Does dot pitch on LCD matter? Is smaller better like on a CRT?

A: No, probably not, here's why: Given that you have the same number of dots on all 1024x768 screens whether 13.3, 14.1 or 15", it means the primary variable is the size of the dot. Smaller dots leave more space between the dots, meaning less ability to connect the dots to make well formed characters. As the screen gets bigger you will loose quality unless you increase the size of the dot. As you increase the size of the dot you increase the amount of jaggies you see when you connect the dots. So, which is better, the 14 or 15 inch inspiron? We don't know. The specs do not provide any data for judging this. Lilla

A: Dot pitch and pixel size are two different things. A color CRT has a pattern of phosphor dots which are *not* your pixels. The electron beam paints the pixels on the fly, and they don't line up with the phosphor dots at all. You know how a CRT can have moire at some resolutions? That moire is caused by the way the phosphor dot pattern interferes with the pixel matrix. from Michael Geary, newsgroup

A: TFT displays have one dot cluster for each pixel of resolution. The image should still be very sharp though. I don't think dot pitch numbers really describe the sharpness of a TFT display, as they do on a CRT. I have seen freestanding 15" displays and they look just as sharp as 14" and 13" displays. The pixel spacing may increase, but the pixel size increases as well, and this seems to balance out. Joel Rittvo, WebTalk


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