Dell Laptops; Are They Worth the Investment?
Oct 09 '00 (Updated Oct 14 '00)
Writing about Dell laptops is truly a pleasure for me for the simple reason that I have used three different Dell laptops over the last four years. I am currently an owner of the Dell Inspiron 3200 that I have used for about the last couple of years.
I could certainly write an entire review on just the 3200. Unfortunately, it quickly outdated last year and Epinions.com does not have an exact category for this particular laptop. But, before I begin a quick overview of my experience with Dell laptops, I would like to add that I believe my 3200 was definitely worth the investment!
At a previous job, I used the Dell Inspiron 3000, 3200, and 3500. Those had been issued to me at that place of employment. But, when I left that job last year, I suddenly realized that I would be without a laptop. I couldn’t really fathom that idea, and I began a search. Soon after that I purchased the Inspiron 3200 from a friend. I did this with confidence after having such good experiences with the Dell laptops.
I knew that buying a laptop second hand would take me out of the loop for Dell technical support since the computer is not registered in my name. However, I was willing to take the risk. I have owned the 3200 for a little over a year, and I have not experienced any problems with it that I couldn’t figure out on my own. The problems usually consisted of user problems versus computer problems.
The only trouble I had with the 3000 is that the latch broke just a couple of months after it had been issued to me. Then one of the hinge covers came off of the device holding the lid in place. This also happened to a few other 3000’s that were issued to other employees. Other than the cosmetic concerns and lack of CD-ROM, it was a solid, hard working, Pentium computer.
The Inspiron 3500 was truly fun to use. It had the slimmer, sleeker look with a noticeable decrease in weight. It had the 14-inch monitor, which I greatly enjoyed. This Pentium II, 400 MHz laptop, was issued to me with 64 MB of RAM, a 6.4 GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM drive. I only used this laptop for approximately 3 months and truly regretted having to give it up.
When I first began looking for a laptop to purchase, I was quickly overwhelmed by the prices. I purchased my used Dell Inspiron 3200 for $1,000 cash from a friend and thought I had made the deal of the century since brand new standard Dell laptops can go for a little over $3,000. I thought I did very well on my purchase and have not regretted it one minute.
Negatives? The 3200 does not have the mulimedia features that the 3500 had. The 13.3-inch screen isn’t as bright as the perfect laptop could be. The speakers are only audible in a quiet environment. But, I was after reliability, not sound, so this did not really bother me. Be careful though, you wouldn’t want to use this laptop to give a presentation unless you had external speakers to plug into. Unfortunately, the 3200 lacks a unified floppy/CD ROM module.
The battery life is advertised to be 3 hours, but I use two different batteries. One of the batteries will last for about 1.5 hrs and the other one doesn’t even last an hour. I don’t trust using the batteries and don’t bother using them unless I absolutely have to. The one time that I recently had to use the battery was when there was an electrical storm that knocked the power out and I utilized my laptop batteries to get an Epinion written. Using both batteries to switch out, I was able to have power to the laptop a little over 2 hours without pushing it.
Closing Thoughts
The 3200 has the simple, sleek black design. It has a sturdy feel to it compared to the 3500, which felt a little too delicate. The 3200 is a Pentium II, 266 MHz. The standard 32 MB of memory is upgradable to 144MB. The 3200’s performance is excellent and quite speedy.
I always recommend Dell when asked what a good laptop would be to purchase. A few friends have even listened to me and purchased Dells. Perhaps it is because they are what I am familiar with. Dell laptops have the look, the feel, the performance and the reliability that has made me a very happy customer of the Dell Laptop.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Lajeaca
|
|
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Reviews written: 74
Trusted by: 178 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.