That is not an option. It is an special order from my bookstore and they don't accept returns. I will need to know if anybody successfuly had installed it (ie. the antenna problem) and used it before (ie. the BIOS problem).
I addressed all your concerns. Let me spell it out. It will fit in your notebook. It will work in your notebook. The BIOS will recognize it. Many here are using that card in their 5150s. And again, if Windows does not like the driver that comes with the 2200 card, download the Dell driver.
Ok, very good then. Apparantly everybody knows it works with 5150 except the Dell support people who told me it doesn't. They wanted to sell to me a refurbished Dell brand one twice the price of a new Intel one ...
Yes, I know, that's actually a very good price, even less than what they ask on ebay. The thing is thats the US web site and I live in Canada. They don't ship to Canada and referred me to the Canadian Dell customer support who refused to sell an Intell 2200 for my I5150. They said it wouldn't work on my computer and even didn't give me the price in CDN$. So I am buyting it from my bookstore, not to mention less than the price of a refurbished one (Dell brand) from Dell!
The reason that they wouldn't sell it is that the card isn't offered with the system and as such has not been approved to work with the system. The accessory sales are only intended to allow people to add the cards in if they were offered on that system.
You might just try ordering a Dell Wireless card. They should be able to sell you that and it will work.
Again, thats the US web site and the Canadian Dell had a few refurbished cards to sell. Just a few notes about that specific miniPCI card:
- the price for the Dell brand is 49.00 US$ and for the Intel brand: 29:00 US$
- although the Dell tech spec document says it has the new WPA security, but it is not certified, go to "
www.wi-fi.org" and click on "WI-FI Certified Products" and check it out for yourself: 1350 PC card is certified but not the 1350 miniPCI card (1300 and 1400 miniPCI cards are certified though).
Before I think about miniPCI cards, I bought a USR PC card which also claimed it has WPA but Windows XP Pro SP2 didn't recognize it having WPA and I was wondering why: It was not listed as a certified product. It turned out to be that if you use a specific USR hub, you would get (something equivalent to) WPA but not with other hub brands. I found PC cards from Netgear that are certified but I don't like they stick out of the side of my laptop.
Anyway, I think everybody agrees that the Intel 2200 is the absolute best miniPCI card available at the moment. Specially in that price range, one shouldn't hesitate to buy unless he/she couldn't use it with his/her specific laptop.
I have the Canadian Spare Parts number below in my sig - next time you need parts, don't tell them the model of the notebook, just give them the Dell part number you want to order. If they give you any flack, tell them either you will take full responsibility or give them the model of a notebook it was approved for. Glad you found it for less, and have one coming.
The 1350 does show as having a WPA certification. I don't know why, but the WiFi site lists it under "Embedded Client" as opposed to an "Internal Card". So, it will work with WPA access points.
johnallg
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Posted February 9th, 2005 22:00