Inspiron 8100 display resolution

See our little discussion under "NVIDIA GeForce card on I8100" a few postings below. In short, your display will be perfect only running its "native" resolution. If you need to lower resolution, at least maintain width-height ratio 4:3 (as you noticed 800x600, 1028x768 work OK).

If you actually prefer working on a 1400x1050 rez by default, return what you have and get an SXGA screen. That will ensure the best quality in that resolution (but you will not be able to get 1600x1200 on your notebook screen).

__________________________________________

- i8100 / PIII-1.OGHz / 512MB RAM / 20GB HD /
GeForce 32MB / DVD-CDRW / 15"UXGA /
WinXP Pro

- i4000 / PIII-600MHz / 512MB RAM / 10GB HD /
ATI 8MB / CDRW / 14.1" TFT / WinXP Pro

Hi!

So which would be better in a 4100?

SXGA at 1024x768
or
XGA at 1024x768
(Which is its native resolution)





Message Edited on 01/04/02 06:25PM by Josh Kirby

14" SXGA on i4100 will have best display running its native resolution: 1400x1050. Since, I 've never seen 14" SXGA running in a lower rez mode, I am not sure what quality you can expect when lowering resolution, but it will not be as good as 1400x1050.

In general, SXGA is a better screen, capable of better display results. But if you have to have 1024x768 than XGA screen will do, and it looks really good. Most of what you see in stores is still XGA. I guess, it would depend what's the purpose for this notebook -- if you are into graphics, design, etc., lots of Photoshop usage, then go with SXGA. Otherwise, XGA will do fine -- if you play games, you may get surprisingly good display results playing them on a XGA screen (compared to higher rez screens).



__________________________________________

- i8100 / PIII-1.OGHz / 512MB RAM / 20GB HD /
GeForce 32MB / DVD-CDRW / 15"UXGA /
WinXP Pro

- i4000 / PIII-600MHz / 512MB RAM / 10GB HD /
ATI 8MB / CDRW / 14.1" TFT / WinXP Pro


Message Edited on 01/04/02 03:56PM by zeljko

Hi!

Thanks for the advice. I was think of getting a 4100 and use it mostly for games, e-mail, surfing & MS office stuff. Don't have photoshop.

So I was thinking of saving the $70 bucks (XGA vs. SXGA) and get a DVD drive instead. But I am not sure. Its nice to get it all but you keep adding things and the price keeps going up and up and up.

Well, that depends on what you bought:

15" UXGA screen = 1600x1200
15" SXGA screen = 1400x1050
14" SXGA screen = 1400x1050

__________________________________________

- i8100 / PIII-1.OGHz / 512MB RAM / 20GB HD /
GeForce 32MB / DVD-CDRW / 15"UXGA /
WinXP Pro

- i4000 / PIII-600MHz / 512MB RAM / 10GB HD /
ATI 8MB / CDRW / 14.1" TFT / WinXP Pro

OK. That's one extremely sharp display. I love it myself, especially with nVidia.

1. In display settings -> Appearance: set fonts to large
2. In display settings -> Appearance -> Effects: set font smoothing to Clear Type and check Use Large Icons
3. If you have problem reading stuff, continue:
In display properties -> Settings Tab -> Advanced: increase DPI setting to your fancy by going to "custom settings" or just select 120 DPI from pull down menu. If custom setting, usually increasing the DPI to 110% or 115% does the job. (You'll have to restart computer after DPI adjustment). I run mine with normal DPI (96), but some people like to adjust.

__________________________________________

- i8100 / PIII-1.OGHz / 512MB RAM / 20GB HD /
GeForce 32MB / DVD-CDRW / 15"UXGA /
WinXP Pro

- i4000 / PIII-600MHz / 512MB RAM / 10GB HD /
ATI 8MB / CDRW / 14.1" TFT / WinXP Pro


Message Edited on 01/04/02 04:54PM by zeljko

Yes, I know, the price is very important factor, too. DVD drive or SXGA? From what you described, it seems an XGA screen would do the job for you. One other thing people usually forget to mention, is that if you have a moderate vision problem or like things (objects and letters) to be pretty good size, than XGA is a better choice. Higher rez screen usually also means that everything on your display is smaller and sharper. There is a way to adjust some of these settings, but not completely.

__________________________________________

- i8100 / PIII-1.OGHz / 512MB RAM / 20GB HD /
GeForce 32MB / DVD-CDRW / 15"UXGA /
WinXP Pro

- i4000 / PIII-600MHz / 512MB RAM / 10GB HD /
ATI 8MB / CDRW / 14.1" TFT / WinXP Pro

This is my first post. So what is the "native" resolution for a Inspiron 8100 Notebook. I notice that in 800x600 the photos look pretty grainy.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I think I have listed my configuration in the signature. I will now try the native configuration

DELL 8100 INSPIRON
Mobile Pentium III Processor at 1GHz-M
BIOS A08
512 MB dell
30 GB hd
16MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 Go 3D Vid
DELL NVIDIA 1640 video drivers
XP Professional
15in UXGA
DVD
XIRCOM 10/100 ETHERNE running on Shaw Cable
Connected to internet via LinksysRouter

Ian McIntosh

Thanks for the advice I will try it out.

DELL 8100 INSPIRON
Mobile Pentium III Processor at 1GHz-M
BIOS A08
512 MB dell
30 GB hd
16MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 Go 3D Vid
DELL NVIDIA 1640 video drivers
XP Professional
15in UXGA
DVD
XIRCOM 10/100 ETHERNE running on Shaw Cable
Connected to internet via LinksysRouter

Ian McIntosh

Thanks a lot for the info, zeljko. I am relieved. I thought my display was defective because it looked horrible at 1400x1050. I'll try to get used to the 1600x1200 since it does look beautiful. I'll just have to try setting the fonts and icons to display larger.

i have a more interesting problem than this- when i attempt to reduce resolution it shrinks within my screen until i'm eventually looking at a small box in the middle of the screen- anyone w/ any ideas email me at laj13@psu.edu

When you have the small screen press Fn = F7

Does this fix it?

Thanks so much for the information. I was browsing the forum and you had the answer.

John