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WooHoo! Just ordered the 8600!

post #1 of 17
1/26/04 at 11:16pm
Thread Starter 
Heres the specs:
1.6 centrino in WXGA
No floppy
1 year warranty + 1 year mail in service
256 mb ram (512 to come from newegg later)
wireless 802.11b
Free turbotax basic 2003
60gb hard disk (not the 7200)
4x cd/dvd burner
multimedia cable kit
128mb ati radeon

total price inc 2nd day delivery : $1756.00

one thing im wondering about the multimedia cable kit, it says on the website "The multimedia cable kit includes an s-video cable, RCA (composite) cable and S/PDIF digital audio cable for your media cable needs." does this mean the dell 8600 has a s/pdif out to hook up to external decoder devices?

I wish to thank everyone on this forum as all the reviews and comments have helped me in making my mind up on getting the dell 8600. I had a sager 4080 till recently i sent it back because it got too hot, too noisy and had about an hours battery life.
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post #2 of 17
1/26/04 at 11:46pm
One question. Why did you opt for the 1.6 instead of the 1.4 or the 1.7 ? Also - the WUXGA is supposed to be the only dell LCD worth buying. You might wanna consider changing to the 1.4 and WUXGA if finances are tight.

Im with you on the RAM issue. Couldnt you get better ram from crucial.com ??

nice one you got coming!!
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post #3 of 17
1/26/04 at 11:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by holr
Heres the specs:
1.6 centrino in WXGA
No floppy
1 year warranty + 1 year mail in service
256 mb ram (512 to come from newegg later)
wireless 802.11b
Free turbotax basic 2003
60gb hard disk (not the 7200)
4x cd/dvd burner
multimedia cable kit
128mb ati radeon

total price inc 2nd day delivery : $1756.00

one thing im wondering about the multimedia cable kit, it says on the website "The multimedia cable kit includes an s-video cable, RCA (composite) cable and S/PDIF digital audio cable for your media cable needs." does this mean the dell 8600 has a s/pdif out to hook up to external decoder devices?

I wish to thank everyone on this forum as all the reviews and comments have helped me in making my mind up on getting the dell 8600. I had a sager 4080 till recently i sent it back because it got too hot, too noisy and had about an hours battery life.
Did you use any coupon? I believe you should get much much cheaper at that spec.
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post #4 of 17
1/27/04 at 12:12am
Please be aware i do have coups up and there constantly updated
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post #5 of 17
1/27/04 at 12:15am
If I am not mistaken by your spec, I will be expecting to get another 5% off (about $1670). I will say 2% from Dell finacing (I am not sure if still have it now. Better ask them), and another 3% is from Fatwallet cashback.
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post #6 of 17
1/27/04 at 12:51am
Woohoo,

Hehe, I ordered last Friday.

Here's my config:

1.5 gig Centrino
40 gig 4200 rpm Drive
128 Meg 9600
256 Ram
DVD-Burner
2100 Wireless
WSXGA+ Screen

1598 shipped.

The amount of Ram/HD wasn't a concern as I'd rather upgrade myself when I feel it's necessary.
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post #7 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari
One question. Why did you opt for the 1.6 instead of the 1.4 or the 1.7 ? Also - the WUXGA is supposed to be the only dell LCD worth buying. You might wanna consider changing to the 1.4 and WUXGA if finances are tight.

Im with you on the RAM issue. Couldnt you get better ram from crucial.com ??

nice one you got coming!!
Hi,
I went for the 1.6 and the WXGA as I was looking to get the fastest processor possible - i still believe the WXGA is a very respectable resolution - my default monitor res is lower than this! Having the incredibly high WUXGA is really too much for my needs.

I hadn't checked the crucial website for the ram - I had just read from others on this forum that newegg.com was the place to go. Thanks for the tip though I will check it out!

*update* I just checked a 512 module from crucial, it comes to $129, the one on newegg.com (kingmax I believe) is a bit cheaper at 100 dollars.
holr
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post #8 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
Did you use any coupon? I believe you should get much much cheaper at that spec.
Hi,
I did, there was the current $150 off a system that dell have at the moment, i used a $100 dollar off coupon I found from a website, had the free dvd burner upgrade and had the free 2nd day shipping. the $1756 reflects all these monies off.

I just reconfigured the system again (as if i was buying it) and the price still comes out at the same.

holr
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post #9 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:13am
Congrats!!

I'm typing on the brand new 8600 I received today. This thing rocks!

My System:

1.7 GHz Pentium M
15.4" WUXGA
60 GB 7200 RPM HD
128 MB ATI 9600 Pro
1024 MB RAM (from newegg.com)
4X DVD-R/CDRW
Wireless B/G (it's already detected 2 networks and I'm just at my house outside of Atlanta...wait'll I take it to work!!)

I'm gonna run benchmarks and try some hi-end games, tomorrow. I'll post the results.
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post #10 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jswriter
Congrats!!

I'm typing on the brand new 8600 I received today. This thing rocks!

My System:

1.7 GHz Pentium M
15.4" WUXGA
60 GB 7200 RPM HD
128 MB ATI 9600 Pro
1024 MB RAM (from newegg.com)
4X DVD-R/CDRW
Wireless B/G (it's already detected 2 networks and I'm just at my house outside of Atlanta...wait'll I take it to work!!)

I'm gonna run benchmarks and try some hi-end games, tomorrow. I'll post the results.
Nice System! One thing I would be interested in hearing is the heat issues with the fast 7200rpm hdd. I had a 7200rpm in a sager 4080 recently and i couldnt hold my hand where the hdd was because it ran so hot! Maybe the dell has better cooling.
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post #11 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DELL-Machina
Please be aware i do have coups up and there constantly updated
Hi,
I picked up a $100 dollar coupon from this website http://www.dailyedeals.com/free_online_coupons/dell.htm
It seems to change the coupon code fairly regularly so lots of people should be able to use it.

holr
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post #12 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:40am
The RAM from crucial is high performance. Lower Latency...if that means anything to you

No doubt XGA is good enough for most people but there seem to be some problems with the quality of the lower end screens on the Dells. The WUXGA seems to be decent and the others are reportedly terrible as far as the reviews I have read are concerned.

You might wanna check on that.

Also - read about Crucial RAM - it makes a difference
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post #13 of 17
1/27/04 at 2:24am
Oh shoot JS is from Atlanta? lol I'm from Atlanta, I go to GSU, and I got my 600M last week...whoo hoo
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post #14 of 17
1/27/04 at 8:02am
Don't fret about the WXGA, Its a fine screen especially if you are used to working on a 19 ' at 1178. It's the WXGA+ that you will find many complaints about on the Dell forums. I found none regarding the WXGA. Your Radeon should reAally scream on your game with that screen as well. The only way you could have saved more is with a refurb.if you could find the combo you want. The 128 Radeons are rare there though as well as the 64 5200s. Plenty of Nvidia 32's though.

I bought three refurbs from Dell over the years and no problems except a loud fan in one and they sent me another one I replaced a couple years ago.
NOt sure the service is woth the extra warratee expense after reading the posts. But it's a Dell You should be fine.

The 1.6 is the best deal for the money. Another 100MHz is not worth another $100. That money is better spent on memory.

Feel comfortable with your choice. You did well.
I may drop a 9600 Radeon in miine when the 9700's come out in the next Dell model issue. But so far everything runs fine in my humble setup.

1.4
WXGA
40GB 5400
512 mb 333
Ge Force 5200 Go 64MB
1 year warranty
$1268 refurb shipped
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post #15 of 17
1/27/04 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tombo77
Don't fret about the WXGA, Its a fine screen especially if you are used to working on a 19 ' at 1178.
Yeah, the resolution isnt too big an issue. Its still very detailed for my needs. Im more a hardcore gamer than a digital photography enthusiast so the ultra high res is just too much for me. I want to play games fast and on a laptop display, its important to get one with a decent resolution that doesnt need to be stretched. Besides, if I want sharper gfx, i'll just turn on the antialiasing!

Quote:
Originally Posted by tombo77
It's the WXGA+ that you will find many complaints about on the Dell forums. I found none regarding the WXGA.
This is what I heard too, the toss is really between the WGXA or the WUXGA. Since there is a 100 dollar difference between the two, Id rather the processing power over a higher screen resolution.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tombo77
Feel comfortable with your choice. You did well.
I may drop a 9600 Radeon in miine when the 9700's come out in the next Dell model issue. But so far everything runs fine in my humble setup.
Thanks! Do you think it is easy enough to swap the graphics card in the 8600? I havent received mine yet so havent had a chance to open the casing etc. May be handy for when the 9700 comes out. Where would you pick up a mobile graphics card anyway, ebay??
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post #16 of 17
1/27/04 at 3:07pm
You would call dell pretend you actually own the card dont have the service tag handy then you request the card by its part number. If your lucky you will have the card shipped and installation is something i can assist with pictures in the future
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post #17 of 17
1/27/04 at 5:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by holr
Nice System! One thing I would be interested in hearing is the heat issues with the fast 7200rpm hdd. I had a 7200rpm in a sager 4080 recently and i couldnt hold my hand where the hdd was because it ran so hot! Maybe the dell has better cooling.
So far, I've not felt any noticeable heat coming from the hard drive. I'll see what happens when I start running some hi-end games. I heard the same thing regarding heat about that 4080. In fact, most of the Sagers run hot. I guess that's to be expected when you pack all of that desktop power into a notebook. If I ever go with a Sager, I'd have to get an extended warranty to cover any possible long-term heat damage to the notebook.
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