Inspiron 8100 - is this thing really a notebook?
Written: Dec 05 '01
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Pros: Powerhouse desktop replacement
Cons: Not a featherweight
The Bottom Line: A compelling reason to downsize your desktop... and a well-healed traveller to boot!
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| FridayFriday's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8100 Series |
So, you're in the market for a notebook? Lots of folks are - it's the fastest growing growth segment in a faltering PC economy. Why would you want to buy an Inspiron 8100? Let's take a look at the ups and downs of Dell's flagship model.
Speed - everyone is caught up on the Megahertz bandwagon. You're covered here with a choice of 866Mhz through 1.13Ghz mobile Pentium 3 processors. But, Mhz without a fast motherboard is like giving a sprinter a pair of hiking boots for the 100 yard dash. Dell uses the Intel 815ep chipset, which pairs up the speedy M processor with a 133Mhz bus. Is it fast? You bet - it's the snappiest performer I've ever seen, and the benchmarks back it up with hard numbers.
Graphics/Display - you're looking at the right laptop if graphic prowess is your goal. The Super XGA screens boast an incredible 1400x1050 resolution and are driven by the new Nvidia GeForce2Go. It's not an overstatement to say that this combination leaves all other laptops in the dust as far as 3D performance goes. The screen itself is quite nice - exceptional if you are moving from a conventional CRT screen - but average if you are looking at other LCD displays. It's a sweet screen, and it's extra high resolution is distinctive in this price range.
Storage - lots of room here. Up to a 60GB drive, all in the standard 2.5" format, so if the thing ever fries you can get another drive right from IBM. The new TravelStar drives (IBM) that Dell are using are the most reliable drive on the market. You've also got 2 'media bays' available for more expansion. The main media bay on the left side is a fixed drive, and can be a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, or on of the new hybrid CD-ROM/RW/DVD drives. The second media bay on the front is swappable, and again can contain any of the optical drives, a ZIP drive, 2nd hard drive, or another battery. The media bays are somewhat standard between the newer Dell models, so finding another drive is getting easier all the time.
Battery - A lot of folks complain about the battery life of the big Dell. Hey, this is a screamer of a machine that is truly a desktop packed into a notebook case - what do you expect? It runs warm, and runs fast. It also sucks battery at a fair clip. If you get 2 hours from the single pack, you're doing great. If stamina is your main goal, you'll want to use that 2nd media bay for another battery. Consider a slower machine with a less power-hungry graphics card if you need to run it for 6-8 hour periods, because the I8100 won't make it.
Features - again, there is no laptop with more bells and whistles. Dual trackpoint/touchpad mouse input, OK sounding speakers, full-size keyboard (better than the much heralded IBM keyboards I think), microphone, 2 USB, FireWire, 2 PCMCIA slots, S-video out AND Dolby Digital out (sweet!)... You need to spend a lot more money in another brand to get all these options. Again, this is a desktop replacement... it's got all the things you'd hope to find on a high-end P4 system.
Upgrades - 2 SoDIMM slots are easy to get at. Make sure you leave 1 of them open if you have plans for expanding. Or, just get your machine with 512MB (the max) right from the start. The more memory, the less the hard drive spins and the faster/longer it will run. The machine is quite modular, and for the advanced user upgrades are possible (I8000 users can upgrade from the ATI to the NVidia card for example). I wouldn't say this is typical for a user to do though...
Look and feel - how do you quantify the 'soft aspects' of the machine? Well, it's a nice looking case. It's up in the 7 pound range, so there is no mistaking it for an ultra portable, but it's not unwieldy either. The wrist-rest is very well designed and accomodates long, long periods of work (trust me). The track-point works great, and the touch pad is great as well. Switching from one to the other is transparent... and using a PS2 or USB mouse still allows you to use the built in devices at the same time. Very useful. The lid is not the sturdiest in the market, but is adequate. If you are a hardcore traveller, you'll need to take normal precautions with it... if you are hard on your equipment, I'd suggest looking at the Latitude series instead. You can get the same hardware in a more durable case (and or course more $$$) in the Latitude... and yes, they do use the identical motherboard and parts - only the case and warranty/support is different.
Support - you will find lots of vocal people saying Dell's support sucks. When you sell a million laptops per quarter, you're going to get some with trouble, and of those, some are going to be upset users. I can say that as a business that has over 200 laptops deployed, the Dell has an excellent service record. Sure, if you call tech support Christmas eve you're going to have to wait, but I can attest to horrendous hold times at competitors service centers... It's little consolation to you when you are on hold for 1/2 hour at Dell, but trust me - you could be waiting 4-6 hours somewhere else. And, when you get a tech on the line, they will not spend a lot of time jerking you around. If it's a hardware issue, a tech will be there the next day to fix it.
Warranty - what about that tech guy? Well, if you didn't get the extended warranty, and it's past a year - he isn't going to visit you for free. With ANY laptop, maxing out the warranty is a great idea if you are going to keep the machine for that time period. Just TRY to find a part for ANY brand of 2-3 year old laptop. Ha ha ha... it's going to come from the manufacturer, it's going to be hard to get, and it's going to be expensive. The extra bucks for the big warranty, and the Dell CompleteCare is a good investment. I've used it on my 'at home' laptop (an I8000) when one of the dots went dead on the screen. The next day a $1500 new display arrived with a service tech. Nice.
Is this the notebook for you? Well, shop around and see. I found that for features, function and price, it is hard to beat any of the Dell notebook lineup. My I8100 was honestly over $1000 less than the next reasonable facsimile, a the time I bought the I8000, the price/performance gap was even greater. I have a ton of miles on the I8000, and expect the nearly identical I8100 to live a long and prosperous life as well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1799
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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