2 Questions

I had that same exact problem... I too saw myself sitting @ starbuck with my laptop - then I really thought about it and realized that I'm not gonna go to starbucks with my laptop and sit there all day. I decided to go with the 9100 because I probablly wont buy a laptop for at least 3-4 years and wanted more power over portability. There is definatley a size difference between the 8600 and the 9100 but the size does not bug me. I love this computer and im happy with it. One thing that does bug me is that you cant really have the 9100 on your lap since there are 3 cooling fans on the bottom. The laptop does not get the greatest battery life, but I am always near a plug so I just plug it in. If you have anymore questions e-mail me.

I'll try to help, but don't worry, I've only been posting for about a month, so don't let the 350+ posts scare you (I like to talk). I just received my i8600, and put in the RAM. I ordered it with 256MB of RAM, and added 512MB found here from Crucial. It was the first time I had ever opened up a computer, laptop or otherwise, but it was really easy because both the manual Dell includes and the information included by Crucial have good instructions on how to put the RAM in.

Basically, 1 DIMM and 2 DIMM mean that there is one stick or RAM and two sticks of RAM, respectively.

Example
512MB RAM 1 DIMM - One stick of 512MB
512MB RAM 2 DIMM - Two sticks of 256MB

I would go with 1 DIMM only if I was planning on upgrading the RAM later, this will allow you to add RAM without taking any out.

What I would say is, if you want 512MB or less, buy it from Dell, but if you want more than that, buy 256MB with the laptop and get the rest elsewhere.

511 posts wooster, zonks!!!!!

agree with wooster, but remember if you go for the 9100 you'll have to get 2 dimms ( two identical memory sticks)

and for the 8600 you can only have one item in the modular bay, so its either the dvd burner or the extra battary. One option you could consider (which i think i should have thought of) is to get the extra battary or regular cd burner and get an external dvd burner. It'll be in the same price range.

For 2500 you should be able to get a killer machine.

wendy:

I9100 would be an overkill, since you don't need its extra power. In fact your needs are fairly modest, so I am wondering whether I600m/D600 might not be better for you than I8600.

This is especially so if you need to keep your machine on your lap at all times. I think I8600 might be too big and heavy for that. Also I8600 tends to get quite hot at the bottom.

I guess you should first ask other I8600 users for their experiences with using I8600 on their laps.

Not to throw more wrenches into the works, but I think KCK might have a good idea. However, if you are looking for a widescreen display, then you'll have to stick with a 9100 or 8600. The advantages of the 600m is that it will be lighter.

I would wholeheartedly agree with everyone's recommendation of ordering the minimum memory (256 MB) and buying extra memory from Crucial. Last time I checked it was about $117 for 512 MB stick. You may also try just using the machine with just the 256 MB for awhile ... it may suit your needs.

I'd say if you're planning on making home DVD's you would probably want to stick with a large hard drive (60 GB minimum).

Someone might correct me on this, because I'm not sure, but I think the modular bay is automatically a part of the 8600. What they mean is that every 8600 has a modular bay. The modular bay can house a DVD/CD drive, a second hard drive, floppy drive, or an extra battery. So you wouldn't be able to have both the extra battery and the DVD drive in at the same time. (I'm pretty sure you can just swap them out as you need them, though.)

If you do go with the Centrino/Pentium-M chips, I'd suggest avoiding the newer ones. (Processor 755, 2.0 GHz or the 745, 1.8 GHz) They are fairly new and the extra performance you get out of them does not seem to justify the extra cost. Though a Pentium-M processor 1.6 GHz may sound slow, it does not mean it's the same speed as a Pentium 4 1.6 GHz. Actually, I think a 1.6 GHz Pentium-M is equivalent to a 2.4 GHz Mobile Pentium-4. It's confusing that they have two chips called Pentium-M and Mobile Pentium-4, but they are actually different!

Anyway, just wanted to add some more thoughts. Hope I didn't repeat stuff you already knew. I was worried when you said your machine is at about $2500. I was guessing you were going for the 755 chip.

Edit: Yeah, I know this is a jumbled mess. My thoughts are all mixed up from a stressful few weeks at work. Sorry!

Sounds about right to me.

First off, my apologies for not reading all the post. One thing stuck out when I was doing a flyby though. You would not want an 8600 or any other newer portable in your lap for a long time either. Dell doesn't sell laptops anymore. They are all referred to as 'portables', meaning it is not recommended that these are used in your lap period. Faster procs, video cards, and memory produce a lot more heat than the older P1, PII, and PIII systems.

I have a small disagreement. I agree you should configure low and order RAM elsewhere, I am always preaching this because it really does save your wallet. However Duck suggests sticking with 256MB to see how it turns out..... well I do not. For making Home DVD's, especially running WindowsXP, you would need at leat 512MB or more.... so I would order from Crucial or wherever you decide right after you have ordered the lappy.

Otherwise I agree, I also say the 60GB is worth it especially the 7200rm drive which speeds up your laptop by quite an incredible amount even for normal desktop work.

Whatever you do, enjoy the lappy and feel free to throw any questions you like in my direction.

Cheers,

stu

One note. The 7200rpm 60GB hard drive gets kind of warm under the left palm rest. If you think you would find this uncomfortable, I would think twice.

Edit: As for the RAM, you can edit movies on 256MB, but its not very fun. I've been doing that for the past year, and its a pain in the a$$.

Actually the 7200rpm drive does not get as hot as most of the other 4200rpm and 5400rpm models...... so the warm palmrest is less pronouce with that drive
stu

DELL-sakor1, do you actually use your I8600 on your lap?

Nit picking but not entirely correct. The system will work but you will not be able to take advantage of the dual channel capabilities so it is not taking full advantage of the system.

Crucial Inspiron 8600 512 DDR PC2700 200 pin SODIMM's
I agree with KCK on this. I would definitely go with the mobile chip not a p-4. For your uses there will be no differenne. In fact if your were to get the Northwood p-4 (older one) a pentium-m would have an advantage in video editing due to a larger cache.

Finally as an 8600 user who does use it on his lap from time to time. I must say it isn't so bad just surfing and doing other productivity tasks. Sure if you fire up a game and start killing the GPU and HDD it'll get hot, but sitting on the couch reading the news is no problem for me.

Welcome to the boards

Yes I do, all the time. But I am careful not to cover up the fan vents
Why do you ask?
stu

I asked because your first two replies didn't address the lap issue, which might be important to wendy, and I thought you would have some experience.

I have been using notebooks for ten years, but hardly ever on my lap.

So the Pentium M has a better cache that the P4?

Pentium M
Banias 1MB L2 cache
Dothan 2MB L2 cache

Pentium 4
Northwood 512KB L2 cache
Prescott 1MB L2 cache

Hey Sakor,

No I agree with you that you want at least 512 MB, especially for video editing. I'm just saying there's very little harm in running it at 256 MB, but always having the option to stick in another 512 MB. The only thing you really lose is maybe a bit of time before you get the laptop running at the optimal efficiency. I'm coming from the cash-conscious side.