Great Mobile Tool for a Muscle Head : Dell Inspiron 8000
Written: Apr 22 '01
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Pros: Great machine spec, good graphic display, speakers.
Cons: You can train your muscle. (Is this pro?)
The Bottom Line: Excellent notebook. You don't have to memorize anything. Plus you can train your muscle all the time.
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| uribou's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8000 Series |
One of my friends, he is from Kuwait, wanted to buy the best notebook. His parents are dealing with oil, so he didn't have any budgetary limit. We went online, and I showed some choices. Dell Inspiron 8000 was one of them. For some reasons, he liked this model, customized it very nicely, and bought one.
PRODUCT FEATURES
The way he customized his notebook is the following.
Dell Inspiron 8000 Notebooks
PentiumIII Processor, 1GHz
15.0" UltraXGA TFT Display
Memory: 256MB
Video Card: 32MB ATI Mobility M4 3D Video, 4X AGP
Hard Drive: 20GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
Floppy Drive: Modular Floppy Drive
OS: Windows Millennium
Modem: Internal 56K Capable V.90 Fax Modem
Fixed CD/DVD Drives: CD-RW/DVD Internal COMBO Drive
Bundled Software: MS Office Pro with Money 2001 Standard
Anti-virus: Norton Antivirus 2001
Internet Access Service: 1-Year DellNet
Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert 2000
price: $3,420.00 (+ tax and shipping charge)
This is extremely nice machine spec. If I don't know this is a notebook, I would take this as a high-end desktop. The processor is very fast, the display is large enough, and memory is high. And on the top of these, the hard drive is huge.
Considering this machine spec, I would say, this is a good substitute for a desktop. As a matter of fact, Dell Inspiron 8000 series is physically huge. Let me compare this series to other products by Dell.
Inspiron 8000
14.1" or 15" display, 6.9 pounds, 1.8" thin
Inspiron 3800
12.1" or 14.1" display, 5.9 pounds, 1.77" thin
Inspiron 4000
14.1" display, 5.2 pounds, 1.4" thin
The differences in dimensions and weights look small. But if you actually touch them, these make huge differences.
If your primary issue is to replace your desktop with a notebook, Dell Inspiron 8000 series is a good choice. But in that case, the cost of more than $3400 will be a big headache. Notice that if you can afford $3400 for a desktop, you can buy a dream machine.
If you want to use Dell Inspiron 8000 series as a mobile tool, you need a car. It is too much to carry this notebook with your hand. Notice that with this machine spec, you can do almost all the things. You don't have to memorize anything. The bonus is that you can train your muscle quite easily.
Besides the physical dimension, Dell Inspiron 8000 series looks very well coordinated. The hardware-software coordination is well done, and the keyboard is very easy for typing. Also, I was very surprised with its very good graphic display and speakers. Though I didn't try, it seems to me that this machine can easily satisfy the serious game player's demand.
As a side note, the OS selection in customization is limited only to Windows Me, which is somewhat notorious. If you prefer Windows 2000 or something else, you need to prepare it on your own. The installation is quite easy. But I don't think Dell will support it. You might need some help from a computer guru.
PRICE
The default (or recommended) spec of this series costs $1599 (+ tax and shipping charge) with Pentium 3, 700mhz, 14.1" display and 128MB RAM. If you stick to the default model, it's quite a good buy. I might recommend you if you are looking for a nice desktop substitute.
But if you customize this machine to the superb level, the cost adds up very easily. If you don't have any budgetary limit, you might want to check this series as long as you keep in mind that this notebook is not a mobile tool.
Notice that until a few years ago, notebooks were very expensive. I personally paid about $4000 for a stupid Pentium 75mhz Dell notebook. If your price standard is still one at that time, the customized Dell Inspiron 8000 series will be a dream machine for you.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
I didn't have any problem with their customer support. I once had a technical problem with my old notebook's mother board, but they send me a contractor next day, and he was very helpful.
As is usual for a computer company, if you make a phone call, you should expect a very long on-hold time. But in general, it seems the service reps are well educated.
One thing I want to remind you is that their support network is for domestic area only. When I bought Dell's notebook back in my country, they rejected to offer the support in the US. Note that this is not the money problem. They just don't support in the areas where the machine is originally purchased. If you buy this machine in the US, and bring back to your country, you have to send it back to the US whenever you have a serious problem.
OVERALL
Dell Inspiron 8000 series is very nice desktop substitutes, as long as you can afford the cost for the customized spec. Also, if you want to do everything with one gadget as well as to train your muscle, Dell Inspiron 8000 series is the way to go.
But due to the huge physical dimension and the very heavy weight, this machine is not ideal for the mobile tool.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 3420 +
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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uribou
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