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Buy 8600 or wait....

post #1 of 16
2/13/04 at 6:26pm
Thread Starter 
for the new dothan centrino chips? My current latop is a 3800 which has slowly been dying for the past few years. Im looking at the 8600 and it looks like a good laptop. The XPS and 9100 from what im reading wont be centrino which is bad for me because im looking for one with extra long battery life, i dont like to plug into outlets when i dont have to. Also i wondering if I should wait to see if they include a new 9700 or 9800 radeons or the 5700go or will the 8600 even be a around that long?
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post #2 of 16
2/13/04 at 6:41pm
I'm looking at getting a high end laptop soon myself, but I'm not sure what to get... Dell's seem to be quite good... but how does the pentium M perform compared to a regular pentium? The 1.7 *seems* low considering all the 3.x ghz stuff around...
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post #3 of 16
2/13/04 at 6:59pm
Get The Xps Idiot
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post #4 of 16
2/13/04 at 7:03pm
Good humor... your name is 2pac, you have an alienware sig, posting in a dell thread, and advertising a dell laptop that ISN'T BEING DISCUSSED.... That and the Xps is like a good $1000 more than the 8600... I'm curious about performance differences...
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post #5 of 16
2/13/04 at 7:25pm
I think he is trolling!
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post #6 of 16
2/13/04 at 7:29pm
2pac... I am not going to make any comments or I will get myself in trouble
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post #7 of 16
2/13/04 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
LOL yeah trolling, i would get the XPS if
1) If it wasnt so big
2) If it didnt use a desktop processor
3) If it didnt kill batter life to use it
4) If it didnt look so ugly
5) If i had the extra 1500+ to spring for one

If the XPS wasnt all that then yeah id get it!

Now back to the qestion at hand

Anyone have any thoughts on wether to buy now or wait? Oh also thought of one more thing, i know the Graphics cards on the 8x00 series are upgradeable but does anyone actually know where you can buy card upgrades? It doesnt seem like Dell is selling any. I looked on Ebay and the only ones being auctioned there were crappy GeForce2 Gos'. If i can find a place that is selling those upgrades it may sway me to buy now.
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post #8 of 16
2/13/04 at 7:55pm
I've got an 8600 and it's the best computer I've ever owned. I'm considering the XPS, but am in no rush. Take a look at the Dell Reviews section. You'll see comments from some who hate and some who love their 8600. I'm definitely in the second category. If you have any specific questions, feel free to post them. I or someone else will be glad to answer.
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post #9 of 16
2/13/04 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 
Thx jswriter, I have read the reviews in that section and for the most part they all seem positive about the 8600. It really isnt that I'm having a hard decision about wether to buy a 8600 or a <insert other laptop here> its just that Im wondering would it be worth it to wait till the new Dothan processors come out with the new centrino platform.

The 90nm 2mb L2 cache processor, next gen ddr2 memory, next gen pci express and express card, gigabit ethernet, sata drive support, 802.11a/b/g support of this years centrino platform make it very tempting to want to wait.
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post #10 of 16
2/13/04 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjolnir
Thx jswriter, I have read the reviews in that section and for the most part they all seem positive about the 8600. It really isnt that I'm having a hard decision about wether to buy a 8600 or a <insert other laptop here> its just that Im wondering would it be worth it to wait till the new Dothan processors come out with the new centrino platform.

The 90nm 2mb L2 cache processor, next gen ddr2 memory, next gen pci express and express card, gigabit ethernet, sata drive support, 802.11a/b/g support of this years centrino platform make it very tempting to want to wait.
Someone posted that the Dothan actually has worse battery life than the current Pentium M. I dunno if that's true, but it might be worth investigating. I'm not sure of the price difference between the 8600 and Dothan notebooks, either. You can find some incredible deals on 8600s in the Dell Outlet section.
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post #11 of 16
2/13/04 at 8:50pm
If you want bat life then look at the IBM laptops, they can't be beat! I would not touch the XPS, to new! And It looks like

The 8600 has it's probs, like most laptops! I think it has great perf, price and bat life, If you don't care about bat life as much then I think sager would be the machine.

Will it be worth it to wait ??? I would have, however I could not go without one for another month or longer so I made the choice to get the 8600. If you can wait it will prob be great. But remember the price will be high for the new cpu.
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post #12 of 16
2/14/04 at 12:04pm
The 8600 is a great Laptop for what you need,the 1.7 is plenty of power for any program or game ,and the 9600 turbo will play any game now or in the future, The XPS is a game machine period!!!! to bulky to carry around for school and way to expensive....I love my 8600 and she has yet to give me one single problem since my purchase in mid november..
Specs 8600 1.7
128Nvidia 5650FxGo
768MB 333DDR
60Gig Hd
15.4 WSXGA+(Samsung)
1300 Wireless
4xDVDR+RW
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post #13 of 16
2/14/04 at 1:10pm
Im hoping the Inspiron 9100 uses the same formfactor as our 8600 but it might be too much to hope for. It will mostlikely come down to us needing the M60 to get some high end professional Vidoe card
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post #14 of 16
2/14/04 at 1:23pm
I will recommend 8600 since it's a well-balanced laptop. I was thinking of getting the XPS to replace the 8600 I bought last Jan, but the price set me off. Dell also has option for on-site support as well. Support has been treating me well so far... exceeded my expectations.

If you have the luxury of time, you can wait for the latest and greatest models to come out but consider the price premium you would pay for the new models. 8600's price gives the biggest bang for the buck.

My 8600 is a keeper now and I will probably buy a new one after 2 yrs. Until then, I will just watch on the sidelines on the latest models and keep enjoying my 8600.
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post #15 of 16
2/14/04 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyke
I will recommend 8600 since it's a well-balanced laptop. I was thinking of getting the XPS to replace the 8600 I bought last Jan, but the price set me off. Dell also has option for on-site support as well. Support has been treating me well so far... exceeded my expectations.

If you have the luxury of time, you can wait for the latest and greatest models to come out but consider the price premium you would pay for the new models. 8600's price gives the biggest bang for the buck.

My 8600 is a keeper now and I will probably buy a new one after 2 yrs. Until then, I will just watch on the sidelines on the latest models and keep enjoying my 8600.
I'm coming your way, Cyke. The more I hash out all the pros/cons, the less sense it makes to dump my three-week old 8600 (with its now-perfect Samsung LCD ) for the XPS. Every game I throw at my 8600 runs perfectly (UT2004 is my new favorite...it's awesome in 1920x1200! ), every application I use for my work runs smoothly (MS Office 2003, RoboDemo, FrameMaker, Visio, several others ), and did I mention its great screen?

Dell's onsite service has been great, the port replicator is a terrific complement, and the battery life, light weight, and excellent wireless card make this 8600 tough to beat for $$.

I think I'll wait to see if someone develops a 17" WUXGA notebook, maybe the successor to Sager's 8790, before I look to buy another notebook.
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post #16 of 16
2/14/04 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jswriter
I'm coming your way, Cyke. The more I hash out all the pros/cons, the less sense it makes to dump my three-week old 8600 (with its now-perfect Samsung LCD ) for the XPS. Every game I throw at my 8600 runs perfectly (UT2004 is my new favorite...it's awesome in 1920x1200! ), every application I use for my work runs smoothly (MS Office 2003, RoboDemo, FrameMaker, Visio, several others ), and did I mention its great screen?

Dell's onsite service has been great, the port replicator is a terrific complement, and the battery life, light weight, and excellent wireless card make this 8600 tough to beat for $$.

I think I'll wait to see if someone develops a 17" WUXGA notebook, maybe the successor to Sager's 8790, before I look to buy another notebook.
Well said jswriter. Hopefully after 2yrs, our choices will be pci-express, 4 ghz centrino, ati 9900, 17" WUXGA

I'll start savin' up for that new laptop.

Until then, 8600 rocks!
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