Specifications

machine? Yeah, you heard me right…and during idle the processor most of the time stays at 0% usage with

occasional spikes to up to 10% utilization.

On a daily basis I am using Microsoft Office, several FTP and SSH applications, an Xserver program (which

is a Linux/Sun equivalent version of Windows Remote Desktop Connection) that is known to be a processor

hog, WMP10, and a few other little applications. These applications can all run side-by-side without it getting

‘slow,’ and in all reality they run about as well as my desktop could run them. Sure, if I was to run an

engineering application or MATLAB I’m sure things would run slower than a more powerful system…but that

is not what this computer is meant for. However, if I were to ever need these applications on the fly I’m sure I

could tolerate the relative slowness.

I have not used the application much yet, but GIMP definitely does take its sweet time loading compared to

my desktop or 8710p laptop. The CPU is definitely the limiting factor here, and some of the more complex

photo-editing techniques will surely take some time on this laptop. But again, a 12" ultraportable is not

meant to be a photo-enthusiasts main rig. But, you can run it if you ever need to in a hurry and cannot wait.

So far though the processor has handled my needs on GIMP perfectly fine, though I am not asking too much

of it right now.

As far as the HDD goes, its slowness does show on occasion. Large file transfers tend to slow the entire

system down somewhat (FTP is limited by internet speed, so I do not really see slowdown there), so copying

over 40GB of data from a USB connection is going to take time (I tried it). XP boots up pretty quickly despite

the 4200RPM drive, and hibernation operations are surprisingly quick. If you are planning on running a large

number of HDD intensive applications though, consider purchasing a 1.8" 5400RPM drive with the notebook

instead if you are willing to sacrifice some cooling and battery life.

Overall, the system performs very well with office and student tasks despite the apparent lack of power. This

is, yet again, evidence that many computers today just are too powerful!

Heat and Noise

The D430 has several things working against it in the cooling department, and I am sure that Dell had a

challenge trying to get everything to run cool enough. The frame of the D430 is small and cannot dissipate

much heat, and there is only one small fan inside of the notebook directly next to or on top of the processor.

The single air vent is not very wide either.

Remember those performance drawbacks I mentioned with the hard drive and ULV processor though? This

is where you get the pay off for the trade off!

As previously mentioned, the latest series of Intel ULV processors top out at 9W…and my processor is a

5.5W CPU. Even the small cooling system and thin frame can manage to keep the processor running

around 50-60C under most conditions. However, the D430 does get really warm in the upper right quadrant

of the notebook where the processor is found. The keyboard gets a little warm near the backspace and

special character keys, but the bottom of the laptop (that is made of all alloy metal) gets toasty. Either put a

pair of pants on (not shorts) or put a folder or notebook between you and the computer when it is on your

lap, and you’ll be computing much more comfortably. A plate of metal at 50-60C directly on skin will not feel

comfortable.

To put a little more scientific data behind my statements, the following temperature recordings were made

with Notebook Hardware Control during the benchmarking and testing of the D430.

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