A great desktop replacement
Written: Jun 02 '02
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Pros: Fast, good video (nVidia), well-engineered, lots of options
Cons: Heavy, hot, expensive
The Bottom Line: Great notebook if you need a desktop replacement that can run the latest applications and games. If you need this type of machine, this is the one to get.
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| matt_manuel's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8000 Series |
This laptop came to me while at was at my previous employer. Fortunately, I was able to specify all the options myself, so I got exactly what I wanted. I work in the computer and video game industry, so having a notebook computer that can play the latest games is crucial to my job.
This was on of the first notebook computers to come with the nVidia GeForce2Go chipset and it makes it one of the first able to play the latest 3D games. I got the 32 MB option with the 1600x1200 big LCD screen. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to play games.
The high-resolution makes it easy to play games at 800x600 and still get decent frame rates. Because 800x600 is an even fraction of the full (native) screen size, the games still look great. At 800x600 each pixel in the game is represented by four pixels on the display. Compare this with other resolutions (640x480 or 1024x768) and you'll see why this is important.
Mine had the 1 GHz Pentium III processor and I have no complaints about that. It was fast and easily kept up with the desktop machines of the period.
I also highly recommend getting a second battery right away. The single battery will only give you around two hours of life. To be useful unplugged you almost require a second battery.
The included DVD/CD-RW was also great. I could watch movies on the road, the train or in the air with ease. It even has a TV-out jack, so I could plug it into a television easily. Being able to make CD-Rs right on the notebook computer also came in handy in several business situations.
On the downside I would certainly say that it is a heavy piece of equipment. I'm a big guy, but I would get tired of carrying around its 8+ pounds plus the equipment to go with it.
It also tended to get quite warm and could become uncomfortable on my lap. Putting it on a flat surface like a tray table or table on the train really helped with this.
Finally, it is rather expensive. But I think this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. If you need this much power in a desktop replacement, you can't go wrong with the Inspiron 8000 series.
A quick side note: Dell tends to charge a lot more for extra RAM than third-party retailers. I was able to upgrade to 512 MB through Crucial.com for less than purchasing 256 MB through Dell.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3300
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
matt_manuel
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Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Engineer, avid computer and video game player, motorcyclist, reader and movie enthusiast.
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