how much ram for Inspiron 1100 laptop?

[Albert]

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with XP Home and all the latest
updates. It came with 256 MB of ram and a 2.3 Ghz processor. We do run
Norton Anntivirus in it, but otherwise it doesn't have alot of
software add ons that suck computer resources.

We have it setup for 3 users, each family member has their own area,
but we have only basic aps such as Eudora, Internet Explorer etc. But,
it's not slow becasue each user has aps running....it's just as slow
from a fresh boot up with only a single user logged in.

It takes a long time to boot and shut down, we expect this to some
degree. Hard drive searches are very slow, I'm told this is typical
for XP though. It takes forwever to load a program however. To switch
users takes minutes, not seconds. It's horribly slow and sluggish.

My win 98 1 Ghz Pentium runs 3 to 5 times faster, and it's loaded to
the max with software and programs that do use lots of computer
resources (Pagemaker, Word, Photoshop etc).

We had hoped to transfer most of our resource grabbing software over
to the new laptop, but based on the way it runs simple basic aps
(slow), moving over Photoshop and Pagemaker etc) would create an
unbearably slow computer. We find that we are holding onto the old
computer and using it more and more becasue the new Dell laptop (which
should be faster) just ain't makin' it. If a thief broke into my
house, I'd beg them to leave with the new Dell laptop so we could
continue to use the 6 year old 1 Ghz Pentium boat anchor system!!!!!!

I know the laptop has design compromises to make it use less battery
power, but we rarely run it on battery power anyway. Are there
settings in the software that make it run with less power compromise
issues?

Should we be looking for a problem in the laptop, or is 256 MB choking
it as far as being too little ram??? I'd appreciate some guidance here
as 256 MB of ram seems like it should run the computer in it's present
stripped down state.

Please reply here or email me directly to KY1K at pivot dott net.

Thanks.

A

 

[R. McCarty]

Dell notebooks "Still" ship with all kinds of unnecessary apps &
utilities that the majority of users won't require. The speed issue is
a combination of Startups & Watchdogs, services and loading.
256 Megabytes is fine for the 1100. I just helped a customer who
bought 3 of them for his sons - to stop the "It's my turn, scenario".
I spent an afternoon doing what I call "De-Dell-Ifying" them. Taking
off apps, tuning Startup and adding Perfect Disk to defrag.
For a 256 Megabyte footprint, I would turn off "Fast User Switching".
Just use a simple Logoff. The effects of profile holding just aren't
worth a few seconds to actually log off.
The hardware in the notebook is adequate - it's the Dell Image that
hamstrings it. The old "Value-for-the-Money" premise by adding on
apps and things like the dreaded AOL signup, etc.

 

[Rock]

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with XP Home and all the latest
updates. It came with 256 MB of ram and a 2.3 Ghz processor. We do run
Norton Anntivirus in it, but otherwise it doesn't have alot of
software add ons that suck computer resources.

We have it setup for 3 users, each family member has their own area,
but we have only basic aps such as Eudora, Internet Explorer etc. But,
it's not slow becasue each user has aps running....it's just as slow
from a fresh boot up with only a single user logged in.

It takes a long time to boot and shut down, we expect this to some
degree. Hard drive searches are very slow, I'm told this is typical
for XP though. It takes forwever to load a program however. To switch
users takes minutes, not seconds. It's horribly slow and sluggish.

My win 98 1 Ghz Pentium runs 3 to 5 times faster, and it's loaded to
the max with software and programs that do use lots of computer
resources (Pagemaker, Word, Photoshop etc).

We had hoped to transfer most of our resource grabbing software over
to the new laptop, but based on the way it runs simple basic aps
(slow), moving over Photoshop and Pagemaker etc) would create an
unbearably slow computer. We find that we are holding onto the old
computer and using it more and more becasue the new Dell laptop (which
should be faster) just ain't makin' it. If a thief broke into my
house, I'd beg them to leave with the new Dell laptop so we could
continue to use the 6 year old 1 Ghz Pentium boat anchor system!!!!!!

I know the laptop has design compromises to make it use less battery
power, but we rarely run it on battery power anyway. Are there
settings in the software that make it run with less power compromise
issues?

Should we be looking for a problem in the laptop, or is 256 MB choking
it as far as being too little ram??? I'd appreciate some guidance here
as 256 MB of ram seems like it should run the computer in it's present
stripped down state.

Please reply here or email me directly to KY1K at pivot dott net.

Thanks.

A

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

 

[Plato]

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with XP Home and all the latest
updates. It came with 256 MB of ram and a 2.3 Ghz processor. We do run
Norton Anntivirus in it, but otherwise it doesn't have alot of
software add ons that suck computer resources.

For XP you want 512 at least.

 

[Roy Coorne]

For XP you want 512 at least.

Or you
- replace Norton by a less resources demanding virus scanner,
- deactivate all 'candy' in Control Panel / System / Advanced,
- choose the classic start menu,
- and perhaps even reduce the display color settings from 32 bit to 16
bit.

roy

 

[Blair]

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with XP Home and all the latest
updates. It came with 256 MB of ram and a 2.3 Ghz processor. We do run
Norton Anntivirus in it, but otherwise it doesn't have alot of
software add ons that suck computer resources.

We have it setup for 3 users, each family member has their own area,
but we have only basic aps such as Eudora, Internet Explorer etc. But,
it's not slow becasue each user has aps running....it's just as slow
from a fresh boot up with only a single user logged in.

It takes a long time to boot and shut down, we expect this to some
degree. Hard drive searches are very slow, I'm told this is typical
for XP though. It takes forwever to load a program however. To switch
users takes minutes, not seconds. It's horribly slow and sluggish.

My win 98 1 Ghz Pentium runs 3 to 5 times faster, and it's loaded to
the max with software and programs that do use lots of computer
resources (Pagemaker, Word, Photoshop etc).

We had hoped to transfer most of our resource grabbing software over
to the new laptop, but based on the way it runs simple basic aps
(slow), moving over Photoshop and Pagemaker etc) would create an
unbearably slow computer. We find that we are holding onto the old
computer and using it more and more becasue the new Dell laptop (which
should be faster) just ain't makin' it. If a thief broke into my
house, I'd beg them to leave with the new Dell laptop so we could
continue to use the 6 year old 1 Ghz Pentium boat anchor system!!!!!!

I know the laptop has design compromises to make it use less battery
power, but we rarely run it on battery power anyway. Are there
settings in the software that make it run with less power compromise
issues?

Should we be looking for a problem in the laptop, or is 256 MB choking
it as far as being too little ram??? I'd appreciate some guidance here
as 256 MB of ram seems like it should run the computer in it's present
stripped down state.

Please reply here or email me directly to KY1K at pivot dott net.

Thanks.

A

I have exactly the same PC and spec and find the performance very good
compared to my 98SE desktop.I also have Norton Anti Virus running together
with Adobe Photo De Luxe and MS Office in place of MS Works.
I find that I am using my laptop more and more because it is so much faster.
I find 256 MB RAM is fine.
One point I would make about having different users- I had arranged a
separate user account for my wife but soon gave that up as I found that with
each update or addition of software I had to carry it out twice! Also it is
very easy to loose the place trying to remember what differences there are.
I think it is a gimmick
Regards
Blair

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with XP Home and all the latest
updates. It came with 256 MB of ram and a 2.3 Ghz processor. We do run
Norton Anntivirus in it, but otherwise it doesn't have alot of
software add ons that suck computer resources.

We have it setup for 3 users, each family member has their own area,
but we have only basic aps such as Eudora, Internet Explorer etc. But,
it's not slow becasue each user has aps running....it's just as slow
from a fresh boot up with only a single user logged in.

Two comments: 256 MB should be OK, but if you use Fast switching between
several users you will want a large initial size for the page file; more
than the System Managed will supply. I'd suggest as a starting point
with 3 users that you set Initial at 600 MB and max as at least 1000

XP has a lot of 'visual effects' much of which is sheer eye candy. A
good speed up can be had by going to Control Panel - System - Advanced
- and click Settings in Performance - then in the Custom pane uncheck
the top ten items