Inspiron 7000

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The Inspiron 7000 was a mobile computer made by DELL Computer Corp. It was first manufactured in 1998 and ceased production in 2000, to be replaced by the Inspiron 7500. The Inspiron 7000 originally sold for approximately US$2000 depending on system configuration and accessories.

Contents

[edit] CPU

The Inspiron 7000 used the Intel Pentium II microprocessor, with CPU speed ranging from 266 MHz up to 400 MHz with a 32 KB L1 cache. Celeron models at 366 MHz or 400 MHz were also offered.

[edit] Peripherals

As with many laptops, the Inspiron 7000 had an internal touch pad to be used as a mouse pointer. The speakers in this model computer were substantial, but the user would be appreciative to have a headset handy. The PC Card bay in this computer was a Texas Instruments PCI 1220 Card Bus controller capable of accepting two type I cards, two type II cards, or one type III card. Common card-based accessories included Ethernet controllers, flash memory adaptors, and wireless network adaptors.

[edit] Screen sizes

This computer was available in three screen configurations: 13", 14" and 15". The 13" was only offered with a 266 MHz or a 300 MHz Pentium II, the 14" and 15" models ranged from 300 MHz to 400 MHz Pentium II or Celeron. The 15" display on some models did not seem as bright as the smaller sized displays, but this can be compensated for by tuning the color settings in the ATi Control panel.

[edit] Software

The operating system that originally shipped with the Inspiron 7000 was Windows 98, First Edition or Second Edition depending on the systems production date. Although the sticker on the base of the machine said "Designed for Windows 98/NT" NT was not offered to be purchased with the system. Several features, including the USB port, did not function under the NT operating system.

[edit] Memory

The memory in this model computer was 144 Pin PC-100 SDRAM SODIMM running at 66 MHz and expandable up to 384 MB of total system RAM. Each memory slot supports up to 128MB memory modules.

[edit] Ports

The Inspiron 7000 came with a USB port, a PS/2 port, a serial port, a docking station port, an S-Video port, VGA out and a printer port. The Docking station provided two additional USB ports.

[edit] Audio

This model laptop included an ESS Technology Maestro-2, Sound Blaster Pro-compatible voice and music functions, HRTF 3D positional audio, with hardware wave table. The speakers it powers however, are not designed for music listening, but substantial for everyday computer. (ie, the Windows sounds)

[edit] Video

The video controller was an ATi Rage Mobility LT PRO, AGP 2X. The Rage video card had, DVD motion compensation, a 3D accelerator, ImpacTV2 quality TV output. It was offered in both 4 MB and 8 MB formats. The output signal could be either NTSC or PAL in S-Video or composite outputs.

[edit] Batteries and power

The Inspiron 7000 used a 12 cell battery pack that came in 4500 mA·h, 5400 mA·h or a very uncommon size of 6000 mA·h. This battery pack offered roughly 2½ to 4 hours of runtime based on what the user is doing with the system. If the user opts for it, they could purchase a second battery and use both batteries at the same time offering twice as much battery time, 6 to 8 hours.

Charge time for the battery is roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes when the system is running, or 3 hours and 15 minutes when the system is off. Like any other laptop's battery, the Inspiron 7000's battery will eventually cease to operate, i.e. not take a charge at all).

The adapter for this system needed to supply 20 V DC @ 3.5 A to the system. This computer does use a lot of power when running, but it can generally run for a long time on battery considering the battery runtime of other systems of the same age.

[edit] External links

Lilla's Dell Inspiron 7000 Notes - exhaustive hardware documentation for the 7000