Hi. I'm going to try and actually use punctuation. Anyway, this is a review for my shiny, new D800 from Dell.
Config:
1.6 Pentium M
512 MB RAM
40 GB 5,400 RPM drive
WUXGA
Built in Dell Wi-Fi (b/g)
CDRW-DVD combo
As a reference point, I'm upgrading from a 300 mhz P-II machine. Speed racer.
Alright, well first off - this thing just looks cool to me. If you want, I'll take some pictures and post them somewhere (just post on here). It's a pretty cool silver cool. At first, I thought that it was a metal alloy. Upon closer inspection, it is actually a very high-grade plastic. This thing will definitely take some wear and tear. The latch is a very clever design and is veyr sturdy. Overall build quality is extremely high.
I already had XP, so I ordered it with Win2K (never hurts to have options, no?). I didn't even run Win2K for five minutes before popping in the XP CD. Windows XP loaded up. I installed all the included drivers from Dell's handy driver CD and I was off. Simple as that. It isn't necessary to install any of Dell's 'proprietary' software on here, but I did install a few programs which (gasp) I actually found useful. Yes, it came as quite a shock to me, too.
Didn't take me very long to get everything configed the way I wanted it to. Being a first time XP user, I am very pleased with it as an OS. Nice. First thing I loaded was bf1942 (after ad-aware, avg, etc.).
Wow. Max graphics/audio settings, and then thing was as smooth as a baby's hiney. No joke. And it looks so nice on this screen as well. Ultrasharp really is ultracool. Then loaded a single player game with max bots and max AI - still ran perfect. No crashes or anything. Oh, I'm running dx8.1 by the way.
Loaded a few audio programs. Cubase SX and Sound Forge run incredibly fast. Even with a number of VSTi's, performance is impressive.
In regards to a few issues brought up a lot when the words d800 are uttered. The palm rest does get warm, but only during game playing, etc. (intensive HDD use). But it's not hot. Doesn't bother me at all. I have no problems reading the WUXGA screen. If you do, see an optemetrist. Or get WXGA. I don't have any sound glitches that other users report (and I would be the first to say so...). Now to the biggie. The keyboard. What the hell is everyone complaining about. It types, it's a keyboard. By the way some people complain about it, I was exepecting it to flex inches into the case and snap and crackle and etc. There is a minor degree of flex and some key noise, but then again anytime you use a keyboard there is key noise. Wow, poeple will complain about anything.
For my needs, this machine is perfect. I am very satisified.
I will run 3dmark as soon as these downloads finish. Ah, 01 just finished. I will run it and report back.
Config:
1.6 Pentium M
512 MB RAM
40 GB 5,400 RPM drive
WUXGA
Built in Dell Wi-Fi (b/g)
CDRW-DVD combo
As a reference point, I'm upgrading from a 300 mhz P-II machine. Speed racer.
Alright, well first off - this thing just looks cool to me. If you want, I'll take some pictures and post them somewhere (just post on here). It's a pretty cool silver cool. At first, I thought that it was a metal alloy. Upon closer inspection, it is actually a very high-grade plastic. This thing will definitely take some wear and tear. The latch is a very clever design and is veyr sturdy. Overall build quality is extremely high.
I already had XP, so I ordered it with Win2K (never hurts to have options, no?). I didn't even run Win2K for five minutes before popping in the XP CD. Windows XP loaded up. I installed all the included drivers from Dell's handy driver CD and I was off. Simple as that. It isn't necessary to install any of Dell's 'proprietary' software on here, but I did install a few programs which (gasp) I actually found useful. Yes, it came as quite a shock to me, too.
Didn't take me very long to get everything configed the way I wanted it to. Being a first time XP user, I am very pleased with it as an OS. Nice. First thing I loaded was bf1942 (after ad-aware, avg, etc.).
Wow. Max graphics/audio settings, and then thing was as smooth as a baby's hiney. No joke. And it looks so nice on this screen as well. Ultrasharp really is ultracool. Then loaded a single player game with max bots and max AI - still ran perfect. No crashes or anything. Oh, I'm running dx8.1 by the way.
Loaded a few audio programs. Cubase SX and Sound Forge run incredibly fast. Even with a number of VSTi's, performance is impressive.
In regards to a few issues brought up a lot when the words d800 are uttered. The palm rest does get warm, but only during game playing, etc. (intensive HDD use). But it's not hot. Doesn't bother me at all. I have no problems reading the WUXGA screen. If you do, see an optemetrist. Or get WXGA. I don't have any sound glitches that other users report (and I would be the first to say so...). Now to the biggie. The keyboard. What the hell is everyone complaining about. It types, it's a keyboard. By the way some people complain about it, I was exepecting it to flex inches into the case and snap and crackle and etc. There is a minor degree of flex and some key noise, but then again anytime you use a keyboard there is key noise. Wow, poeple will complain about anything.
For my needs, this machine is perfect. I am very satisified.
I will run 3dmark as soon as these downloads finish. Ah, 01 just finished. I will run it and report back.
