munky.net

I recently upgraded to a shiny new graphics card (NVIDIA 7900 GT) and was bummed when the DVI connection on my ViewSonic VA2012wb LCD monitor couldn’t detect a signal from it and just stayed in standby mode. At first I thought the card was just dead, until I tried using the DVI to D-Sub (analog VGA) adapter to send the monitor an analog signal, which worked fine. This mystified me, since the card and physical port were apparently working, but refusing to output a DVI signal. I’d just unplugged the monitor from my old DVI card, so I figured the monitor wasn’t the problem. Turns out the monitor was indeed (partially) the culprit.

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I took delivery of a brand-new Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop today, which I got a pretty good deal on using one of Dell’s common online coupons (never pay full price for Dell stuff!). Basic features are a 1.86GHz/2MB cache/533MHz FSB Pentium M 750 processor and 128MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon X300 video. This is primarily a graphics and CAD work machine for me so I didn’t want to go with any of the less expensive integrated graphics solutions out there.

The real reason I chose the Dell, though, is the screen. It’s a 15.4 inch widescreen WUXGA LCD panel, which has an outstanding resolution of 1920×1200 pixels, which until only recently was unheard of for any consumer-priced LCD display, much less one on a laptop. I don’t know how Dell did it, but they were offering the WUXGA screen as an option for only $150 more than the default 1280×800 screen, which for me was a no-brainer. (more…)

I recently realized how much more productive I am when I work at the campus library instead of at home. This consequently made me realize what a PITA it is to work on my aging 90’s era Sony Vaio laptop (500MHz processor, no battery, tiny screen, carries like a brick). So, taking advantage of a $500 off $1599 coupon code at couponmountain.com, last night I placed an order for a shiny new Dell Inspiron 6000. I had also been considering an Acer TravelMate 4404, with its 64-bit AMD processor and fancy Radeon X700 graphics, but I decided to go with the Dell for its extremely detailed WUXGA (1920×1200!!) screen and the 2-year at-home warranty service that I was able to configure for about the same price. I’m hoping that the screen will make for a good CAD display, and maybe I won’t be as distracted by games with the Dell’s Radeon X300 graphics chip.

I’ll post a review when the unit arrives in a couple weeks.