Support Complaint - Inspiron 1300 Memory Upgrade

Can the really experienced folks please HELP.

My laptop is an Inspiron 1300 with Intel Pentium M 1.73 GHz / 2 MB L2Cache/ 533 MHz FSB. It came with 256 MB of Infineon PC2 4200 DDR 2 (marked HYS64T32000HDL-3.7-A) memory and is capable of a total of 2 GB. My BIOS shows the memory speed as 400 MHz. This seemed weird so I used the Intel utility to find out that the Chipset is the 910GML which limits the memory speed to 400 MHz. The Intel site states “The Mobile Intel® 910GML Express chipset is optimized for the Intel® Celeron® M processor. The Mobile Intel® 910GML Express chipset supports up to 2 GB of single channel DDR 333 MHz or dual channel DDR2 400 MHz system memory at lower power, and PCI Express* bus architecture for the latest industry peripherals like ExpressCard*.” 

I talked to the Dell TechRep last Thurs - the memory speed is only 400 MHz not the 533 MHz implied by the FSB rating. Isn’t the FSB is a major factor in memory speed? So Dell is telling me that my Inspiron despite being advertised as a 533 MHz FSB really is only 400 MHz. In my mind, advertising the Laptop with a 533 MHz FSB, reinforcing that with the 256 MB of 533 MHz memory tells the customer that you’ve got a fully capable FSB.

I emailed Customer Care and got a call Fri from a tech who confirmed that this was the case and that’s just the way it is. There really wasn’t much that could be done. He implied that I could return the machine. He also implied that I could make a proposal to deal with the situation. He also said that the Inspiron 1300 was a “low-end” laptop. The customers for such machines really aren’t interested in that detailed tech info. Hummm. Using a car analogy – buy a good name economy car and find out later that the max speed is only 50 miles per hour. In the Dell case you can’t really test drive to find such stuff out. And Dell really doesn’t advertise the detailed specs to let the buyer beware. That sort of bluntness caught me off guard – so now I’m trying to figure out my options. And no I don’t want to return it.

Now I have found that the Owners Manual Specs appendix shows that the laptop has either the 910GML or 915GM chipset. I'm guessing now that since there are only two Inspiron 1300 CPUs (Intel Pentium M 740 1.73 GHz/2 MB L2Cache/533 FSB vice Intel Celeron M 360 1.4 GHz/1 MB L2Cache/400 MHz) that my 1.73 GHz machine should have the 915GM chipset. I emailed Customer Care with this and now I’ve got to talk to the tech again. Last try was a 50 min experience as its in India. NOT fun.

I’m a bit of a self taught guy. Can somebody clear up the confusion on CPUs, Chipsets and FSB here. As of last Sat I’m really confused cuz Dell Ca is now offering an Inspiron 1300 with Intel Pentium M 740 1.73 GHz/2 MB L2Cache/400 FSB. Up to Sat no such beast advertised. Like “DavidH44” today under General Hardware I’m real frustrated.

This all started as a memory upgrade. Should I get PC 4200 (ie 533 MHz) or PC 3200 (ie 400 MHz). I would prefer to get the 533 as the laptop was advertised for and came with 256 MB of 533 MHz. Small edge in performance I know.