Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron B130

The Dell Inspiron B130 was a low end laptop that was near the bottom end of what Dell offered at the time. However, even the B130 had a number of configurations, mostly differing by CPU and amount of RAM. My particular model includes the following:

Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73GHz) Processor
1 GB DDR2 Memory (PC-4200)
15.4" WXGA (1280x800) Wide Screen LCD
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics with 128MB Shared Memory

The 300 GB hard drive is not original. This laptop probably originally shipped with a 60 GB hard drive. It may have also only had 512 MB of RAM originally. For more complete specs, check out the output of HardInfo.

In terms of the CPU, this was probably near the higher end of what was offered with this particular model. In 2005, when the B130 was released, this processor was reasonably fast. However, the integrated Intel graphics were the lowest end available and definitely not suited for contemporary gaming. The resolution also wasn't particularly high. 1280x800 was pretty typical for low end widescreen laptops at the time.

There isn't much that can be done in terms of upgrading. I'm sure you could put in an SSD if you wanted and the RAM is expandable to 2GB which would definitely help. However, you are stuck with the Intel graphics and while the CPU could probably be upgraded, there isn't a whole lot of speed to be gained going that route.

While having an entirely plastic exterior, it still feels pretty solid and the keyboard isn't terrible. The B130 is very utilitarian looking but the mostly black design still looks ok. It's definitely no powerhouse but if you were looking for a cheap laptop, then I suppose this would not have been a bad choice.

Like all the hardware I operate, this one runs BOINC when it is on and participates in various projects. It has processed work for Einstein@home, Asteroids@home and World Community Grid. Check out its overall BOINC stats at FreeDC.