STi Sev’s Comprehensive Dell Inspiron 8600 Review
Preordering up until ordering
When I was considering a computer, I never really considered buying a laptop from Dell computers, mainly given the way they looked. However, given the extraordinary deal I received from Dell, I couldn’t justify the price of anything else. Here is a brief summary of my transaction, along with system specifications:
SPECIFICATIONS & PRICING
I scored an unbelievable deal on this laptop. Here are the details:
ORDERING AND SHIPPING
I ordered on October 19, 2004 at 4:00 AM with 23 seconds past and received my laptop 6 days later. I want to extend my gratitude to Dell for the speedy service and such outstanding pricing. My package was delivered from Richmond, CA.
KEYBOARD AND EXTRAS[*] One aspect that concerned me about this laptop was its keyboard. I heard a lot of negative reviews about the Dell Inspiron’s keyboard on Notebookforums.com and now that I’ve had a chance to use it first hand, I must agree with the general census. There is an disgusting amount of flexing with the keys. Flexing is basically the sticking of keys and then the “bouncing” of keys back. My previous budget Toshiba laptop had no such problem, and I was disappointed to see such a problem in a $1600+ laptop. However, I feel compelled to note that several users on notebookforums.com have created a tentative solution using a relatively liberal amount of double sticky tape. [*] Dell also provides seven extra buttons, three located on top, while the remaining four conveniently located on the right side. The top buttons are volume decrease, volume increase and mute. On the right side, Dell has placed Play/Pause, Stop, Trackleft, Trackright, respectively. I was a little disappointed that the Trackleft and right don’t act as FF/RW if held down. That’s just one of my small notes; it’s no big deal. I didn’t mention the power button, since that’s a standard, but I’ll a little bit about it now. I know it’s silly, but the power buttons actually looks pretty nice. It’s been dipped in chrome and has a smooth push-button feel to it.
PRELOADED SOFTWARE[*]Preloaded software is absolutely worthless for me when considering a laptop purchase. My feelings were justified when first booted the Dell machine. Good grief. There were more than 54 processes running at any given time after the boot process ended. Additionally, this virgin computer had already been violated by evil programs like AOL 9 and Realplayer. In retaliation, my first chore as supreme chancellor of this fine machine was to wipe its contents in their entirety and install a fresh copy of SP2-slipstreamed XP. The difference was mind-blowing. Full system boot time dropped roughly 35-40%. [*]When wiping the install, I made sure to delete 2 extra partitions that Dell had made. (One was a “diagnostics” partition which is useless for me)[*]After I reinstalled XP, I went to Dell’s support site and downloaded the latest drivers for NIC, wireless LAN, sound, graphics, etc. These settings will differ somewhat with different configurations. The driver CDs that Dell provides are worthless.[*]The moral of this story is to toss the driver CDs and make your own. Also, wipe that HD as soon as possible and install a clean operating system, free from the wrath of evil corporations.
LED LIGHTS[*] The CPU/HD activity/Battery charge, etc LEDs are placed exactly where they should be—on the right hinge of the monitor base. This gives easy visual access to most CPU/HD activity and I’m delighted Dell decided to put it there. Additionally, on the keyboard, there’s three green LEDs, one for scroll lock, num lock, and caps lock. A very silly and personal opinion: it would’ve been nice if Dell replaced the green LEDs for blue ones to conform with the all-around blue scheme.
BUILD QUALITY[*]When I first glanced over the top, outmost layer of my Inspiron 8600, I was shocked at its beauty. Then, when I opened up the laptop, the beauty quickly faded with cheap, plastic-looking parts. I’m not expecting IBM Thinkpad quality at this price, but Dell has shown that it can (and has started) design beautiful laptops like the 700m. With the Inspiron 8600, one can purchase notebook “covers” in several different colors. I must admit that I was appalled by all of the colors, except perhaps blue (if that matched my room) and perhaps the graphite. The silver is still the best looking and the cheapest, since Dell charges a ridiculously bloated price of $30-40 for the cover upgrade.
SIZE AND WEIGHT/PORTABILITY[*]Dimensions (W x D x H): 14.1 in x 10.8 in x 1.4 in[*]Weight: 7-7.2lbs.[*]AC adapter is a bit chunky at 1.1 lbs.[*]The laptop is larger and a little thicker than my previous laptop, which is to be expected, given the wide aspect screen. This is where the controversy begins. I have read countless reviews (CNet, Anandtech) that state that the computer is heavy and subliminally send messages to people who travel frequently—look elsewhere. I couldn’t disagree more. I just carried the laptop to school and back and noticed very little difference between this and my 6.1lb Toshiba. 1 lb. isn’t going to break one’s back. I don’t know what computer these people are reviewing but the weight isn’t an issue at all WHEN CONSIDERING all of the aspects of this laptop are taken into account (15.4” widescreen, Radeon 9600, etc.)
The best way I can describe this machine is a “desktop replacement that won’t break your back”. Now, if you’re a law student who typically runs around campus, I wouldn’t be carrying this thing. Textbooks are more backbreaking than this notebook will ever be.[*]The aforementioned dimensions make no difference to me. Why should they? As long as it fits my computer case properly (which it does), the weight is all that concerns me. All in all, I am extremely pleasured with how this laptop fared out, both weight and dimensions.
15.4” WSXGA+ DISPLAY[*]Three words: NO DEAD PIXELS! (that I can see) For this, I am extremely relieved. It seems that most people who have received their computers on FatWallet forums report little to no dead pixels which is a big plus for anyone considering the WSXGA+ display upgrade. [*] One of my biggest gripes with my Toshiba A15-S157 was its 1024x768 screen. As I transitioned from my old laptop to my new one, I couldn’t believe how small the text and resolution was on a 15.4” wide-aspect screen. Good lord, it was overwhelming. With time, however, I think my eyes with generally adjust to the new resolution. At this point, I can honestly say that I can’t fathom how much smaller the WUXGA+ is. With a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, I’d probably go blind within a year of its use.
The screen is sharp and I’ve got more than enough room for my browsing needs. It’ll be interesting to see if the Mobility 9600 Pro Turbo will be able to handle games at this display’s native resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels. We’ll find out a little later.[*]All in all, I am extremely pleased with this display. Under no circumstances (except medical conditions with one’s orbits) should anyone buy the WXGA and limit themselves to the 1280x… resolution. Take the extra $40-50 plunge and indulge yourself in all that is the beauty of this monitor.
TOUCHPAD[*]The third least cared about feature on any given laptop is the touchpad. The mouse pointer moves much too slow for the increased resolution, but I’m sure there’s an undiscovered setting somewhere that changes this; I just have to find it. The left and right click buttons are remarkably responsible and I’m pretty pleased with this over setup. Now, if only someone can tell me how to adjust the speed of the mouse cursor.
PORTS:[*] The sound and microphone port are placed in the same location as my Toshiba A15-S157, which is a relief given the 700m has them on the front (which makes for messy wiring!)[*]Please note that ALL Dell Inspiron computers being sold now are the Inspiron 8600c which means that they do NOT have a : 1)Serial port 2) Parallel port 3) TrackPoint (THANK GOD). TrackPoints are that little rubber piece situation in the middle of the keyboard used like a mini-control mechanism. I have never found any use for such a device and find it really annoying.[*] The computer comes with a proprietary S-Video port, 2 USB2 ports, NIC/Modem ports, power, PC-card port and a delightful Firewire port located on the side, near the microphone jack.
My biggest complaint on this end of the spectrum is the limited number of USB2 ports. Dell could have granted 8600 users more flexibility by providing a third (or even fourth) USB2 port. With tons of USB devices being released left and right, users need more and more. However, this is easily solvable by purchasing a cheap, generic USB2 hub.
CD-RW/DVD[*]Although I’ve had the laptop for only roughly a day, I’ve dealt with the CD-RW/DVD drive long enough to say a few things about it. I didn’t go for the DVD burner for two basic reasons; 1) I already own a 4x burner in Epinephrine (my server computer) 2) Dell charges an exorbitantly high price for its DVD burner upgrade, thus negating the possibility of making this a budget laptop purchase. [*]This drive is epitome of two extremes—it can be remarkably quiet and unbearably loud. I also noted some frog-like noses coming from the drive, only to find out that drive had spinned the CD so fast, that a small portion of the CD label I had made had peeled off. Otherwise, the CD works great. It burns at 24x, just like my previous Toshiba laptop and works with my Prodisc, Ritek, and Optimum media just fine. [*]One trivial but positive aspect about this drive is how fast the CD ejects. On my previous laptop, it would take several seconds for the CD to eject, but this drive ejects instantly which is a good thing for impatient poop-heads like me. A small annoying aspect of the drive is that the button is pretty small and if you’ve got monstrous hands like I do, it takes a couple seconds to get oriented and click the tiny button. This obviously varies from person to person.[*]UPDATE: I am starting to believe that there is something wrong with my CD drive. It refuses to read a handful of CDs/DVDs that I’ve burned. I only use fairly high quality media like Ritek, etc.. so I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m going to post a thread over at notebook forums and report back.
Preordering up until ordering
When I was considering a computer, I never really considered buying a laptop from Dell computers, mainly given the way they looked. However, given the extraordinary deal I received from Dell, I couldn’t justify the price of anything else. Here is a brief summary of my transaction, along with system specifications:
SPECIFICATIONS & PRICING
I scored an unbelievable deal on this laptop. Here are the details:
Quote:
|
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 715(1.60A GHz/400MHz FSB) 15.4 WSXGA+ Monitor 512MB DDR SDRAM 333Mhz 1 DIMM 128MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY® RADEON™ 9600 PROTURBO 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive with Sonic RecordNow 30GB 5400RPM Dell® Wireless 1350 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps) AC adapter -90w, 19.5v 2x USB, 10/100mbit Ethernet, modem 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support Sub-Total $931.00 Shipping $49.00 Tax $80.84 Total Price $1,060.84 - $84 (8%) Student Discount -$49 MIR (for shipping) GRAND TOTAL: $927 |
I ordered on October 19, 2004 at 4:00 AM with 23 seconds past and received my laptop 6 days later. I want to extend my gratitude to Dell for the speedy service and such outstanding pricing. My package was delivered from Richmond, CA.
KEYBOARD AND EXTRAS[*] One aspect that concerned me about this laptop was its keyboard. I heard a lot of negative reviews about the Dell Inspiron’s keyboard on Notebookforums.com and now that I’ve had a chance to use it first hand, I must agree with the general census. There is an disgusting amount of flexing with the keys. Flexing is basically the sticking of keys and then the “bouncing” of keys back. My previous budget Toshiba laptop had no such problem, and I was disappointed to see such a problem in a $1600+ laptop. However, I feel compelled to note that several users on notebookforums.com have created a tentative solution using a relatively liberal amount of double sticky tape. [*] Dell also provides seven extra buttons, three located on top, while the remaining four conveniently located on the right side. The top buttons are volume decrease, volume increase and mute. On the right side, Dell has placed Play/Pause, Stop, Trackleft, Trackright, respectively. I was a little disappointed that the Trackleft and right don’t act as FF/RW if held down. That’s just one of my small notes; it’s no big deal. I didn’t mention the power button, since that’s a standard, but I’ll a little bit about it now. I know it’s silly, but the power buttons actually looks pretty nice. It’s been dipped in chrome and has a smooth push-button feel to it.
PRELOADED SOFTWARE[*]Preloaded software is absolutely worthless for me when considering a laptop purchase. My feelings were justified when first booted the Dell machine. Good grief. There were more than 54 processes running at any given time after the boot process ended. Additionally, this virgin computer had already been violated by evil programs like AOL 9 and Realplayer. In retaliation, my first chore as supreme chancellor of this fine machine was to wipe its contents in their entirety and install a fresh copy of SP2-slipstreamed XP. The difference was mind-blowing. Full system boot time dropped roughly 35-40%. [*]When wiping the install, I made sure to delete 2 extra partitions that Dell had made. (One was a “diagnostics” partition which is useless for me)[*]After I reinstalled XP, I went to Dell’s support site and downloaded the latest drivers for NIC, wireless LAN, sound, graphics, etc. These settings will differ somewhat with different configurations. The driver CDs that Dell provides are worthless.[*]The moral of this story is to toss the driver CDs and make your own. Also, wipe that HD as soon as possible and install a clean operating system, free from the wrath of evil corporations.
LED LIGHTS[*] The CPU/HD activity/Battery charge, etc LEDs are placed exactly where they should be—on the right hinge of the monitor base. This gives easy visual access to most CPU/HD activity and I’m delighted Dell decided to put it there. Additionally, on the keyboard, there’s three green LEDs, one for scroll lock, num lock, and caps lock. A very silly and personal opinion: it would’ve been nice if Dell replaced the green LEDs for blue ones to conform with the all-around blue scheme.
BUILD QUALITY[*]When I first glanced over the top, outmost layer of my Inspiron 8600, I was shocked at its beauty. Then, when I opened up the laptop, the beauty quickly faded with cheap, plastic-looking parts. I’m not expecting IBM Thinkpad quality at this price, but Dell has shown that it can (and has started) design beautiful laptops like the 700m. With the Inspiron 8600, one can purchase notebook “covers” in several different colors. I must admit that I was appalled by all of the colors, except perhaps blue (if that matched my room) and perhaps the graphite. The silver is still the best looking and the cheapest, since Dell charges a ridiculously bloated price of $30-40 for the cover upgrade.
SIZE AND WEIGHT/PORTABILITY[*]Dimensions (W x D x H): 14.1 in x 10.8 in x 1.4 in[*]Weight: 7-7.2lbs.[*]AC adapter is a bit chunky at 1.1 lbs.[*]The laptop is larger and a little thicker than my previous laptop, which is to be expected, given the wide aspect screen. This is where the controversy begins. I have read countless reviews (CNet, Anandtech) that state that the computer is heavy and subliminally send messages to people who travel frequently—look elsewhere. I couldn’t disagree more. I just carried the laptop to school and back and noticed very little difference between this and my 6.1lb Toshiba. 1 lb. isn’t going to break one’s back. I don’t know what computer these people are reviewing but the weight isn’t an issue at all WHEN CONSIDERING all of the aspects of this laptop are taken into account (15.4” widescreen, Radeon 9600, etc.)
The best way I can describe this machine is a “desktop replacement that won’t break your back”. Now, if you’re a law student who typically runs around campus, I wouldn’t be carrying this thing. Textbooks are more backbreaking than this notebook will ever be.[*]The aforementioned dimensions make no difference to me. Why should they? As long as it fits my computer case properly (which it does), the weight is all that concerns me. All in all, I am extremely pleasured with how this laptop fared out, both weight and dimensions.
15.4” WSXGA+ DISPLAY[*]Three words: NO DEAD PIXELS! (that I can see) For this, I am extremely relieved. It seems that most people who have received their computers on FatWallet forums report little to no dead pixels which is a big plus for anyone considering the WSXGA+ display upgrade. [*] One of my biggest gripes with my Toshiba A15-S157 was its 1024x768 screen. As I transitioned from my old laptop to my new one, I couldn’t believe how small the text and resolution was on a 15.4” wide-aspect screen. Good lord, it was overwhelming. With time, however, I think my eyes with generally adjust to the new resolution. At this point, I can honestly say that I can’t fathom how much smaller the WUXGA+ is. With a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, I’d probably go blind within a year of its use.
The screen is sharp and I’ve got more than enough room for my browsing needs. It’ll be interesting to see if the Mobility 9600 Pro Turbo will be able to handle games at this display’s native resolution of 1680 by 1050 pixels. We’ll find out a little later.[*]All in all, I am extremely pleased with this display. Under no circumstances (except medical conditions with one’s orbits) should anyone buy the WXGA and limit themselves to the 1280x… resolution. Take the extra $40-50 plunge and indulge yourself in all that is the beauty of this monitor.
TOUCHPAD[*]The third least cared about feature on any given laptop is the touchpad. The mouse pointer moves much too slow for the increased resolution, but I’m sure there’s an undiscovered setting somewhere that changes this; I just have to find it. The left and right click buttons are remarkably responsible and I’m pretty pleased with this over setup. Now, if only someone can tell me how to adjust the speed of the mouse cursor.
PORTS:[*] The sound and microphone port are placed in the same location as my Toshiba A15-S157, which is a relief given the 700m has them on the front (which makes for messy wiring!)[*]Please note that ALL Dell Inspiron computers being sold now are the Inspiron 8600c which means that they do NOT have a : 1)Serial port 2) Parallel port 3) TrackPoint (THANK GOD). TrackPoints are that little rubber piece situation in the middle of the keyboard used like a mini-control mechanism. I have never found any use for such a device and find it really annoying.[*] The computer comes with a proprietary S-Video port, 2 USB2 ports, NIC/Modem ports, power, PC-card port and a delightful Firewire port located on the side, near the microphone jack.
My biggest complaint on this end of the spectrum is the limited number of USB2 ports. Dell could have granted 8600 users more flexibility by providing a third (or even fourth) USB2 port. With tons of USB devices being released left and right, users need more and more. However, this is easily solvable by purchasing a cheap, generic USB2 hub.
CD-RW/DVD[*]Although I’ve had the laptop for only roughly a day, I’ve dealt with the CD-RW/DVD drive long enough to say a few things about it. I didn’t go for the DVD burner for two basic reasons; 1) I already own a 4x burner in Epinephrine (my server computer) 2) Dell charges an exorbitantly high price for its DVD burner upgrade, thus negating the possibility of making this a budget laptop purchase. [*]This drive is epitome of two extremes—it can be remarkably quiet and unbearably loud. I also noted some frog-like noses coming from the drive, only to find out that drive had spinned the CD so fast, that a small portion of the CD label I had made had peeled off. Otherwise, the CD works great. It burns at 24x, just like my previous Toshiba laptop and works with my Prodisc, Ritek, and Optimum media just fine. [*]One trivial but positive aspect about this drive is how fast the CD ejects. On my previous laptop, it would take several seconds for the CD to eject, but this drive ejects instantly which is a good thing for impatient poop-heads like me. A small annoying aspect of the drive is that the button is pretty small and if you’ve got monstrous hands like I do, it takes a couple seconds to get oriented and click the tiny button. This obviously varies from person to person.[*]UPDATE: I am starting to believe that there is something wrong with my CD drive. It refuses to read a handful of CDs/DVDs that I’ve burned. I only use fairly high quality media like Ritek, etc.. so I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m going to post a thread over at notebook forums and report back.
but was surprised they upgrade mine 1.5 to 1.6 - free! 
) also just got the nushield just now - i'm not sure but to my naked eyes it doesn't make any difference to the "brightness" of the screen. feel cheated. 
