Inspiron 8200, great laptop; but not yet at full potential.
Written: Mar 06 '02 (Updated Dec 17 '02)
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Pros: Intel Pentium 4-M processor, Ultra Sharp UXGA screen, dual optical drive capability and more
Cons: Sacrificed battery life, cumbersome and no DVD-R/-RW option yet, no USB 2.0.
The Bottom Line: Great Laptop, but rather clumsy in the weight and a couple of more advanced options be wise.
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| lavoisier's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8200 (8TWORH) PC Notebook |
As announced recently by Intel, they've just released their Mobile Pentium 4 for those that are really demanding greater power than ever before. But for those who are extra power hungry (not electrically), the Pentium 4-M processor is the right choice though.
My Inspiron 8200
When I recently ordered an Inspiron 8200 out of the Dell website, I ordered it through this configuration:
Intel Pentium 4-m 1.7GHz
15" UXGA screen
256MB DDR-SDRAM (1 piece)
30GB Hard Drive
8x CD-RW/DVD combo drive (Free Upgrade from DVD ROM)
32MB DDR NVidia 4x AGP
56K v.92 modem & 10/100 NIC
Internal Wireless antenna Wi-Fi certified
MS Works Suite
2nd Battery
3 year warranty with complete care and telephone support.
Free Quicken Suite (Tax Software)
Total Price: $2200
Processors and Memory
The Inspiron 8200 features an Intel Pentium 4-m processor with speeds of up to 2.2GHz. With those processor speeds, you can easily create and store your imaginations such as digital pictures, digital video, digital audio and many more. But laptops in general shouldn't be used for heavy graphics work, as it may hog battery life and cause the lifespan of the laptop to contract.
As far as memory goes, the Inspiron 8200 features many memory options, starting from 256MB DDR SDRAM to 1GB of DDR SDRAM through the available 2 SODIMM slots. But I would hang around for a period of time to upgrade the memory by purchasing crucial SODIMM modules.
With the 845MP chipset, it allows the processor to operate at a 400MHz bus speed, capable of running your processor demanding applications. Yet conserving battery power, through the Speed Step technology in the Pentium 4-m processor.
How does the new processor fare?
Currently the Intel Pentium 4-m is performing much better than at the time of its introduction back in March, 2002. Where processor freezing and slowing down due to memory doesn't really exist. With such better power right now, the right time to buy the Pentium 4-m laptop is basically right now.
Storage
For mass storage, the Inspiron 8200 features a 30GB to 60GB hard drive for storing your OS, 3rd party software, productivity software and many more, including your digital multimedia files. Plus there is a wide variety of optical storage solutions offered by the Inspiron 8200.
With one fixed drive bay for your DVD-ROM for full-length DVD movies or have a CD-RW for backing up your hard drive, creating your own CDs and many more. But with a CD-RW/DVD combo drive, you can even combine the best of both drives into just one bay. This means, with the Inspiron 8200, like the Inspiron 8000 or 8100; it allows you to place another battery into the modular bay for extended DVD movies, without worrying about the battery running out until the next charge.
However with Sony and Toshiba beginning to introduce DVD ( and/or -)RW drives into their notebooks, I do really hope that Dell will offer it soon to the potential Inspiron 8200 buyers, but at a price.
With the modular bay in front of the laptop, you can place an extra battery, house your floppy drive, place a spare hard drive or even plug in a hollow travel lite module. With all those options, the possibilities are endless. But you may want to watch out for something like a digital media reader for the modular bay such as Smart Media, Compact Flash, Secure Digital, Multimedia Card and many more possibilities.
Display
The Inspiron 8200 features a 15" TFT screen with 3 choices of resolutions. You have a choice of SXGA , UXGA or Enhanced UXGA (Dell UltraSharp). With the UltraSharp screen, you can view your laptop screen at a wider angle than the basic UXGA screen; it even features a greater contrast ratio for a much bigger difference when you're viewing the screen for prolonged periods.
With the SXGA or UXGA coupled with the 32MB GeForce 2, it delivers stunning graphics through a standard monitor and with the DVD playback on the laptop screen, it's superb compared to many of the middling laptops, not completely cutting edge. But for real cutting graphics for the Inspiron 8200, the 64MB GeForce4 440 Go video card combined with the Enhanced UXGA screen, you're putting yourself into the theatre seat and into the arcade without actually being there.
But of course, regardless of any screen or video card choice offered, all options are excellent for any user, depending on how demanding they're with the graphics in multimedia.
With the S-video output, you can even place your laptop screen on a projector by plugging the projector to the S-video port. Or you could even hook this to the TV for full screen DVD movies as well.
Peripheral Connection
The Inspiron 8200 features plenty of ports for peripheral connection. It comes with the printer port, video port, serial port, mouse or keyboard port, headphone or speaker jack, microphone jack, audio line in, infrared port for your printer and infrared compliant devices, S-video output, 2 USB ports, S/PDIF port for your digital audio and one iLink or Firewire port for those digital camcorders and high speed devices.
With the 2 PC card slots (one Type III PC card only), you can add your wireless network antenna, additional interface ports, digital media readers and many more.
For communications, the Inspiron 8200 features a 56K v.92 modem for your faxes and going on the Internet. Along with the integrated Ethernet card, you can easily hook the Inspiron 8200 to a network without worrying about buying a separate adapter for that purpose or even go on high speed Internet service. Plus, with the free short-term Internet service options provided by Dell, you can easily even go online.
If you do want to have a superior audio experience, I suggest hooking external speakers for the laptop, as it doesn't feature too much bass for the speakers on the side of each Inspiron 8200 laptop.
Battery
As far as power goes, with the laptop's battery time of around 2.5 hours with one battery, it isn't the longest battery life available out there, but it's sufficient for most DVD videos in just one battery. Unlike the Inspiron 4100, which you do have to pop out the modular optical drive or floppy drive to achieve a longer battery life, you don't have to with the Inspiron 8200, as the laptop also features a fixed bay along with a modular bay. With a second battery, the laptop can easily double the battery life, making the laptop capable of additional productivity after a full length DVD movie. The battery life seems to be justified to be shorter than the Inspiron 4100 series, is because of the larger screen. Plus with the Speed Step technology, it allows the user to maximize battery life when the laptop isn't operating processor-demanding applications.
However due to the overheating of the Intel Pentium 4-m processors, the battery life is significantly cut to 2.5 hours as well as the power robbing processor.
Other features
The keyboard is full sized and it types very smoothly. With my typing speed of about 65 wpm, I can feel the smoothness all the way through the process. With the pointing device, you have 2 choices with the laptop, which is ideal for different users. With either an eraser head mouse or touch pad, no one needs to really feel confined to just one pointing device in many other laptops. I personally prefer the touch pad and it feels very smooth, like the other Dell laptops that I've used. But from time to time, I do switch to the eraser head though.
For software, there isn't much to talk about though. But, the selection included the Microsoft Works Suite or Microsoft Office depending on the user preference. But it really is just productivity software. They do feature an Anti-Virus software, but it only lasts for a short 90 days for a trial. Currently the operating system availability includes the Windows XP Home or Professional.
With the quality of support deteriorating on the vendor, it means that Dell may not be worth it for some users at all. But the support is better than most laptop vendors out there and it provides many flexible options for warranty and support. But for laptops, try to buy extra warranty, as laptop repairs are much more expensive than desktops; even if it does mean the upgrade is a whole lot more money.
With the laptop weight of well over 8 lbs. (with DVD/CD-RW and Floppy Drive), this laptop is considered heavy and difficult to carry. But it isn't as cumbersome as the Toshiba's 1900 series or the 5000 series laptops though. With the thickness of 1.75", it isn't a thin laptop either, but still better than the Toshiba 5105-S607 (1.8" thick) or the Toshiba 1905-S277 (almost 2.0" thick).
Recommendation
Since the Pentium 4-m processors have gone through a significant improvement since introduction, I would not find myself too hard to recommend the Dell Inspiron 8200. So this means that if you happen to have an Intel Pentium 3-m or Late Production Intel Pentium 3 (not m) laptops, stay with those laptops and it'll last you at least a couple of good years.
This is what I would like to see from Dell for this and the Inspiron 4150:
Digital Media Writer/Reader: Type 2 Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Secure Digial & Multimedia Card, Smart Media (They can omit Smart Media, since SD & MMC is gradually taking over Smart Media)
DVD( and/or -)RW drive.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2200
Operating System: Windows
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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lavoisier
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Member: Hugh Jazz
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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