Well it finally came today!!
9200 - 2.0ghz - 1.0gb Ram - 60gb 72k Drive - DVD RW - 83WH Bat
My initial reaction was, "Man this thing is like a desk!!" It is pretty big, but not as bad as I thought it might be. I will post photos and compare, but it is replacing a 8100 that I was using in the interim after selling my 2650. Side by side they are very similar in width and thickness, with the 9200 being about 3 inches wider. The weights are also very similar, but I think the 9200 is a bit heavier. Since it is bigger, the weight distribution is different and you can't just grab it like smaller laptops. You got to get ready for this one!! Not nearly like the XPS though!! I thought that thing was going to break my arm!!
Screen-
I originally ordered the UXGA but got scared off after all of the problems and also after seeing some comparison photos of the screens (XGA and UXGA) side by side. I changed my order to the 1400 x 900 screen and I am so happy I did!! The screen area is HUGE, Did I say HUGE?? Granted it doesn't have the screen area of the UXGA, but there is plenty of room, the font size is very nice and very readable. I got a 5411 screen and still don't have an idea what the sparkles are as this screen has none. I was borrowing an 1100 for a project and set them side by side and I can't tell you how clear this LCD is!! It is truly amazing!! I was hoping it would be a bit brighter, but all in all I am pleased. I will post some photos of the 1100, the 8100, and the 9200 for comparison.
Nothing was needed to do to the screen to make images etc. show well. I have read that varying the DPI in the Displays panel is necessary in UXGA. This resolution doesn't require anything- It comes out of the box at 96dpi and all fonts look nice. I think it is much more crisp with Standard than ClearType font smoothing.
Speed-
I will have to say this is the disappointing part. I was expecting huge performance gains, but so far for operations I am conducting, Installations, eMail, Browsing, Burning, and Network Copies, the speed gain over the 2.4 Celeron i1100 isn't burn down the house fast. It is nice, but I was hoping for 3.0 P4 speed!! I will say though that given this impression, I would bet that the 9300 won't be a monsterous improvement and given that it is bound to be more expensive, this machine is plenty good and worth buying. I am going to try the software I used on my other speedstep processor to see if I get an improvement on the Battery side. On battery the processor slows to 600!!
Quality-
The quality of the case is indeed improved. If I was to do it again I wouldn't have gotten the Cherrywood snapin. It looks pretty cheesy!! The silver plastic is not nearly as cool as the Powerbooks, and unfortunately still feels plastic. The keyboard is a bit less than I would have liked. The keyboard in the i1000 series is better. One of my pet peeves with keyboards is the clack clack sound they make when they are dirty or cheap. The backspace key has a terrible sound!! It is solid though and I will get used to it.
Overall, though, the quality is very nice. It is solid and not a creak at all!! Dells are know for their infamous creak and this one makes not a sound. I am
Sound-
I would never think that I would add sound to a laptop review, but this thing is pretty wild. The sound is pretty good and the little subwoofer on the bottom gives it a bit of bass! It's the best sound I have ever heard from a laptop. The buttons are pretty nice, but I haven't figured out how to use them with the lid closed yet (Tonight!)
I do think that the speakers could have been either farther apart or closer together, because your arms tend to muffle the sound.
Battery Life-
Not 5 hours!! I think 3.5 is the best I'll get. Still, for this much screen, sound, and speed, I think it is pretty good.
Other-
1) The bottom of the unit is not flat and has a bunch of unusual sized bumps in wierd places. I usually sit in an arm chair with a flat wooden arm that I put my laptops on. This laptop doesn't balance and the little bumps make it very precarious unless you put it on a desk or your lap. Bottom line is unless ALL of the factory feet are on something, the unit isn't very steady. The feet are much improved from earlier models as they are much larger in diameter.
2) Excel-
Stock Office 2003 out of the box puts Row 42 at the bottom and Column V at the right.
3) Word-
Unfortunately a whole document isn't possible on this resolution. At 100% you get a whole width (OF COURSE!!) and 6 1/2 inch is on the left ruler.
4) Dreamweaver-
This is going to be pretty nice. You can edit in the 1024 x 768 workspace and still have all the toolbars. The properties bar needs a bit of adjustment but not too much. Very nice!
5) Size-
It won't fit in most backpacks!! I have a Targus/Apple Backpack and it sticks out the full 3 inches. A bigger one is necessary. I am looking for a nice Pelican, but no joy at this point.
I will post this and my photos at my blog shortly.
My Blog - Same Story
9200 - 2.0ghz - 1.0gb Ram - 60gb 72k Drive - DVD RW - 83WH Bat
My initial reaction was, "Man this thing is like a desk!!" It is pretty big, but not as bad as I thought it might be. I will post photos and compare, but it is replacing a 8100 that I was using in the interim after selling my 2650. Side by side they are very similar in width and thickness, with the 9200 being about 3 inches wider. The weights are also very similar, but I think the 9200 is a bit heavier. Since it is bigger, the weight distribution is different and you can't just grab it like smaller laptops. You got to get ready for this one!! Not nearly like the XPS though!! I thought that thing was going to break my arm!!
Screen-
I originally ordered the UXGA but got scared off after all of the problems and also after seeing some comparison photos of the screens (XGA and UXGA) side by side. I changed my order to the 1400 x 900 screen and I am so happy I did!! The screen area is HUGE, Did I say HUGE?? Granted it doesn't have the screen area of the UXGA, but there is plenty of room, the font size is very nice and very readable. I got a 5411 screen and still don't have an idea what the sparkles are as this screen has none. I was borrowing an 1100 for a project and set them side by side and I can't tell you how clear this LCD is!! It is truly amazing!! I was hoping it would be a bit brighter, but all in all I am pleased. I will post some photos of the 1100, the 8100, and the 9200 for comparison.
Nothing was needed to do to the screen to make images etc. show well. I have read that varying the DPI in the Displays panel is necessary in UXGA. This resolution doesn't require anything- It comes out of the box at 96dpi and all fonts look nice. I think it is much more crisp with Standard than ClearType font smoothing.
Speed-
I will have to say this is the disappointing part. I was expecting huge performance gains, but so far for operations I am conducting, Installations, eMail, Browsing, Burning, and Network Copies, the speed gain over the 2.4 Celeron i1100 isn't burn down the house fast. It is nice, but I was hoping for 3.0 P4 speed!! I will say though that given this impression, I would bet that the 9300 won't be a monsterous improvement and given that it is bound to be more expensive, this machine is plenty good and worth buying. I am going to try the software I used on my other speedstep processor to see if I get an improvement on the Battery side. On battery the processor slows to 600!!
Quality-
The quality of the case is indeed improved. If I was to do it again I wouldn't have gotten the Cherrywood snapin. It looks pretty cheesy!! The silver plastic is not nearly as cool as the Powerbooks, and unfortunately still feels plastic. The keyboard is a bit less than I would have liked. The keyboard in the i1000 series is better. One of my pet peeves with keyboards is the clack clack sound they make when they are dirty or cheap. The backspace key has a terrible sound!! It is solid though and I will get used to it.
Overall, though, the quality is very nice. It is solid and not a creak at all!! Dells are know for their infamous creak and this one makes not a sound. I am
Sound-
I would never think that I would add sound to a laptop review, but this thing is pretty wild. The sound is pretty good and the little subwoofer on the bottom gives it a bit of bass! It's the best sound I have ever heard from a laptop. The buttons are pretty nice, but I haven't figured out how to use them with the lid closed yet (Tonight!)
I do think that the speakers could have been either farther apart or closer together, because your arms tend to muffle the sound.
Battery Life-
Not 5 hours!! I think 3.5 is the best I'll get. Still, for this much screen, sound, and speed, I think it is pretty good.
Other-
1) The bottom of the unit is not flat and has a bunch of unusual sized bumps in wierd places. I usually sit in an arm chair with a flat wooden arm that I put my laptops on. This laptop doesn't balance and the little bumps make it very precarious unless you put it on a desk or your lap. Bottom line is unless ALL of the factory feet are on something, the unit isn't very steady. The feet are much improved from earlier models as they are much larger in diameter.
2) Excel-
Stock Office 2003 out of the box puts Row 42 at the bottom and Column V at the right.
3) Word-
Unfortunately a whole document isn't possible on this resolution. At 100% you get a whole width (OF COURSE!!) and 6 1/2 inch is on the left ruler.
4) Dreamweaver-
This is going to be pretty nice. You can edit in the 1024 x 768 workspace and still have all the toolbars. The properties bar needs a bit of adjustment but not too much. Very nice!
5) Size-
It won't fit in most backpacks!! I have a Targus/Apple Backpack and it sticks out the full 3 inches. A bigger one is necessary. I am looking for a nice Pelican, but no joy at this point.
I will post this and my photos at my blog shortly.
My Blog - Same Story
