Hey all...got my Inspiron last week...about 4 days early actually...so I have to commend dell on that...here is my review after 1 week of use...
***This is more of a real-life, layman's review. I do know my fair share about computing technology, but I don't know everything...so here it is in easy-to-read, plain english (for the most part!)***
SPECS:
Dell Inspiron 8600
15.4" WSXGA+
P-M 1.8 Dothan 2mb L2 Cache 400mHz fsb
512mb 333mhz ram
Intel 2200 PRO wireless 802.11 b/g
ATI Mobile Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128mb
60gig 7200 rpm hd
Appearance: 8/10
I opted to get the snap-on Burlwood cover...thought it would add a bit of 'class' to the notebook, and it really does...but getting up close to it, you can tell the snap on is fairly cheesy, but it does its job of making it stand out so you can differentiate your lappy from others if its ilk - without the $100 cost of a car paint job or whatever.
The grey chassis is fine, but I really do not like the blue keyboard rim...never did...but there didnt seem to be an option for removing it...c'est la vie!
It weighs about 7.2 lbs - not the lightest thing in the world...but DEFINITELY lighter than the behemoth p4 desktop replacements like the 9100 and xps. Its also pretty slimline at 1.4".
1st startup: 9/10
Painless...very easy to get past inital menus...takes about 5 min or less and you are on your way.
Windows XP home edition boots up very quickly in general on this machine, especially in comparison to my p4 2.0 512mb desktop.
However, there seems to be about 1,000 pre-loaded programs that wind up in your taskbar...configuring this is a pain in the proverbial buttocks, because there are a lot of proggies that dont seem to have an option to remove them from the task bar. I am considering loading Win XP pro and getting rid of all of them - starting from scratch...
Screen: 10/10
the 15.4" WSXGA+ is excellent...very clear and crisp (NO DEAD PIXELS...YAY!), and I am certainly glad I didnt get the WUXGA+, cause I wouldnt be able to read a thing...yes I know u can change the dpi on the fonts...but a screen that is 1920x1200 is prob best suited for graphic artists or CAD.
DVD's and games alike look excellent on it...ghosting is extremely minimal, and the screen is very bright, so blacks seem black and whites seem white. Viewing angles are pretty decent...I'd say about 50 degrees in any direction and you can see pretty darn well. Colors overall are very vivid.
Video Performance: 10/10
Plugged in, this laptop is nothing but fast and efficient. I have flawlessly run Doom 3, Far Cry, and Rome: Total War at medium and high graphics settings with little to no problems. The Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo kicks some serious booty! In turn, however, the fan kicks on frequently and the machine WILL run a bit hot (between the GPU and the CPU, it can get quite toasty) - and you DO HEAR THE FAN. The venting is at the top left of the Keyboard area and vents upward, so there is no mistaking it coming on...and it's not exactly whisper quiet, though I have heard louder.
But, as I mentioned before, it runs resource-hoarding games like a champ...no hiccups, very smooth frame rates (dont have exact numbers but I can work on that).
Wireless internet/LAN: 7 or 9/10 (battery or plugged in)
It's a bit spotty...
It works just fine when plugged in (no lag at all really), but when unplugged it seems to receive at a lower rate of speed while still maintaining an 'excellent' connection to my wireless router. I'll be IMing on yahoo or aol and I'll miss messages, messages sometimes wont be sent. Not sure if has to do with the processor slow-down when on battery power... i know that may sound weird, but that seems to be the case...I will try to figure this out again, though, later tonite and report my findings. Another thing...seems as if the software for the Intel Pro 2200 takes up about 4 GIG of space...geez...
Sound: 6/10
The speakers are clear (albeit not loud) and stereo soundtracks for games, music, and movies are reproduced well as far as left/right seperation - just comes up lame on the low mids/bottom end.
Overall, sound is lacking, though, because the speakers are (very) small, front firing, and really lend no 'body' to the sound. Hey, its a laptop, so I really didn't think I was gonna get booty shakin' bass. But I certainly have heard MUCH better from a laptop.
Overall performance: 9/10
I haven't thrown a lot at this notebook, but what I have thrown at it has been run very efficiently. The only benchmark I ran so far (and this is not the best one) is Super Pi. Computing Pi to 2 million digits took only 1:58 min which is significantly better than my p4's time of 3:46. I have to run some more benchies on it and again will give the results here.
I am very happy with this notebook right now, and hope to continue to be in the future! It is recommended for anyone looking for a marriage of portability and power!
***This is more of a real-life, layman's review. I do know my fair share about computing technology, but I don't know everything...so here it is in easy-to-read, plain english (for the most part!)***
SPECS:
Dell Inspiron 8600
15.4" WSXGA+
P-M 1.8 Dothan 2mb L2 Cache 400mHz fsb
512mb 333mhz ram
Intel 2200 PRO wireless 802.11 b/g
ATI Mobile Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128mb
60gig 7200 rpm hd
Appearance: 8/10
I opted to get the snap-on Burlwood cover...thought it would add a bit of 'class' to the notebook, and it really does...but getting up close to it, you can tell the snap on is fairly cheesy, but it does its job of making it stand out so you can differentiate your lappy from others if its ilk - without the $100 cost of a car paint job or whatever.
The grey chassis is fine, but I really do not like the blue keyboard rim...never did...but there didnt seem to be an option for removing it...c'est la vie!
It weighs about 7.2 lbs - not the lightest thing in the world...but DEFINITELY lighter than the behemoth p4 desktop replacements like the 9100 and xps. Its also pretty slimline at 1.4".
1st startup: 9/10
Painless...very easy to get past inital menus...takes about 5 min or less and you are on your way.
Windows XP home edition boots up very quickly in general on this machine, especially in comparison to my p4 2.0 512mb desktop.
However, there seems to be about 1,000 pre-loaded programs that wind up in your taskbar...configuring this is a pain in the proverbial buttocks, because there are a lot of proggies that dont seem to have an option to remove them from the task bar. I am considering loading Win XP pro and getting rid of all of them - starting from scratch...
Screen: 10/10
the 15.4" WSXGA+ is excellent...very clear and crisp (NO DEAD PIXELS...YAY!), and I am certainly glad I didnt get the WUXGA+, cause I wouldnt be able to read a thing...yes I know u can change the dpi on the fonts...but a screen that is 1920x1200 is prob best suited for graphic artists or CAD.
DVD's and games alike look excellent on it...ghosting is extremely minimal, and the screen is very bright, so blacks seem black and whites seem white. Viewing angles are pretty decent...I'd say about 50 degrees in any direction and you can see pretty darn well. Colors overall are very vivid.
Video Performance: 10/10
Plugged in, this laptop is nothing but fast and efficient. I have flawlessly run Doom 3, Far Cry, and Rome: Total War at medium and high graphics settings with little to no problems. The Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo kicks some serious booty! In turn, however, the fan kicks on frequently and the machine WILL run a bit hot (between the GPU and the CPU, it can get quite toasty) - and you DO HEAR THE FAN. The venting is at the top left of the Keyboard area and vents upward, so there is no mistaking it coming on...and it's not exactly whisper quiet, though I have heard louder.
But, as I mentioned before, it runs resource-hoarding games like a champ...no hiccups, very smooth frame rates (dont have exact numbers but I can work on that).
Wireless internet/LAN: 7 or 9/10 (battery or plugged in)
It's a bit spotty...
It works just fine when plugged in (no lag at all really), but when unplugged it seems to receive at a lower rate of speed while still maintaining an 'excellent' connection to my wireless router. I'll be IMing on yahoo or aol and I'll miss messages, messages sometimes wont be sent. Not sure if has to do with the processor slow-down when on battery power... i know that may sound weird, but that seems to be the case...I will try to figure this out again, though, later tonite and report my findings. Another thing...seems as if the software for the Intel Pro 2200 takes up about 4 GIG of space...geez...
Sound: 6/10
The speakers are clear (albeit not loud) and stereo soundtracks for games, music, and movies are reproduced well as far as left/right seperation - just comes up lame on the low mids/bottom end.
Overall, sound is lacking, though, because the speakers are (very) small, front firing, and really lend no 'body' to the sound. Hey, its a laptop, so I really didn't think I was gonna get booty shakin' bass. But I certainly have heard MUCH better from a laptop.
Overall performance: 9/10
I haven't thrown a lot at this notebook, but what I have thrown at it has been run very efficiently. The only benchmark I ran so far (and this is not the best one) is Super Pi. Computing Pi to 2 million digits took only 1:58 min which is significantly better than my p4's time of 3:46. I have to run some more benchies on it and again will give the results here.
I am very happy with this notebook right now, and hope to continue to be in the future! It is recommended for anyone looking for a marriage of portability and power!
