peteboyd
02-19-2004, 04:51 PM
Just received my Dell 8600. Since I read almost all the reviews on this forum before ordering, I figured I would contribute to this list. Listed below is my review. A couple of quick notes:
1. My previous computer was a 1.4 Athlon - 512MB RAM, 40 GB HD, Desktop running Windows 2000. I also have a Gateway 400SP laptop with a 2.2 Celeron, 40 GB HD, 15 inch screen, 512MB RAM. Those are my basis for comparison.
2. I bought the Dell to replace my desktop and laptop. I use my desktop for web design work, gaming, and general Internet mayhem. So I require a system that is quick but mobile.
3. I ordered the 15.4 WUXGA Monitor, 1.7 GHZ Centrino, 60GB 7200RPM HD, 128MB Radeon 9600, 512MB RAM (1 Sodimm), Dell A/B/G Wifi Internal Card and basics on all software. I upgraded to 1GB of RAM via Crucial.com and that saved me about $300. Dell charges a ton to upgrade to 1GB, so I suggest that anyone else do the same. Just buy 1 Sodimm from Dell and use Buy.com or Crucial.com to upgrade. No reason to pay Dell for something that you can buy yourself for much less and install in about 45 seconds.
4. I have broken this review down into sections and gave each section a letter grade: A+ through D-
Delivery = A+
The laptop actually arrived ahead of schedule by a couple of days. Upon opening the box, I found all the useful tools that I needed and nicely packed (i.e. disks, accessories, and of course, the laptop).
Look & Feel = B-
The laptop looks fairly sturdy. Quite honestly my Gateway has a better look and feel. Not only is the Gateway smaller, but has better lines and the plastic feels stronger. The Gateway is also one color and not the obnoxious two tone Blue/Gray. Since I have seen all of the Dell commercials where they drop a laptop as a test, I figure that this will hold up, but I am definitely not impressed by the cheap feeling plastic that surrounds my high-end components. Overall I give this a B- in terms of look and feel.
Sound = A
I like the fact that this laptop has dedicated sound volume buttons, something that my Gateway lacks. I am no audiophile, by the sound is good and is on par with my regular JBL desktop speaker system. The mute button also comes in really handy. I always hated using the FN key to mute or lower volume.
Input Devices = C-
I hate the fact that it has a track stick, something I don’t use. Of course, I don't understand why anyone would use this when you have a scroll pad. In any event, the track stick (or whatever it is called) works fine; however, the buttons for it suck and actually don’t seem to work unless you hold down the button key for a second. I guess I should call Dell and have them fix the buttons, but since I don’t use the darn thing I could care less. The touchpad also could use some work. My Gateway touchpad is flawless and easy to use, I expected the same. It also includes a nifty scroller between the two buttons to scroll up and down on documents. Dell relies on the scroll pad software to make part of the pad scrollable. Absolutely retarded. Just give me a dedicated scroll bar on the side of the scroll page because I use that the most out of any button on the keyboard (except for maybe the letter Q). I just love that letter. In any event, the Dell touchpad seems a bit jumpy and reacts a bit touch much to every motion. Overall, this system is lacking good native input devices, but I work quicker with an attached mouse.
WUXGA Screen = A
The screen is big, wide, bright and sharp. The aspect ratio takes a bit getting use to because everything is so damn tiny and horizontal. I guess I am getting old and blind, but it seems rather silly to set the monitor at 1920 x 1200 resolution to view a web page, email, or design some simple graphics. I only use that resolution to play games and high-end graphic work. I will give Dell credit in that at that the 1920 resolution, I can view 2 pages side-by-side, but I also get a headache after a couple of hours because my eyes are straining. I know I can set fonts bigger, but that distorts everything. I have decided to just set the resolution at 1280 for now and save myself from buying Advil daily. Overall though the screen as a nice aspect ratio and can be viewed at nearly all angles, it has no dead pixels and it is really bright. However, the screen would look bigger and cooler if there was less plastic around the edges. My Gateway looks sharp because the screen is right up against the frame. Nice touch. Computer manufacturers need to take a lesson from Apple and Gateway. I want style and performance.
Two Monitors = A+
Yes. You can use two monitors at once with the 128MB video card. That is just plain cool. My work productivity has increased by 50% since I can have 4 or 5 programs viewed at once. Now if I can only figure out how to match the colors on my Viewsonic 22-inch monitor to the laptop.
Keyboard = A
Nice layout and large keys. However, the keyboard does have some flex to it on the right side. The left side is sturdy, but the right side does give way. You only notice it when typing really hard or pressing on the on-button though. Not a big issue, but for $2300 I expect something a bit more sturdy. That should be fixed as it seems to be a design flaw, even if it is or not. As far as the keys go, they are nicely laid out. I would like to see the HOME and END button be on the top right, instead of the page up and page down. I simply use those more along with the Delete key, which should be in its own location. In general, I would also like to gripe about keyboard designs from all manufacturers. It is too much to ask keyboard makers to put some friggin’ cut and paste keys on the keyboard. I must cut and paste over 100 times daily and I always use the CRTL-X, C, and V. I have never used the Insert key in my life, or the Pause key, or the Windows Key. In fact the Insert key screws me up sometimes. It’s almost like a trap [Admirial Ackbar voice]. Just do away with those buttons or make them FN keys. Also, make a damn keyboard that is backlit. Anyways....
Graphics & Video Games = A+
Graphics rock. Plain and simple. Don’t have any tests to back up my statement, but this system will play Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, America's Army, War Craft III and other video games at their highest resolution without any noticeable frame delay. This was a core requirement, but the system has passed admirably. The main test was BF1942 with 64 players online at the highest resolution. Also Call of Duty with DirectX 9.0 is flawless. No sweat and the graphics are sharp. I am testing it now and will see what specs I can get out of this baby. This is the top of the line version of the Dell computer, so I would be interested in seeing what this thing tops out at.
Actual Work = A
I bought this to replace my desktop and other $699 Gateway laptop. I got tired of swapping files for mobile work and desktop work. I now only have one computer and this lets me work faster on web design. In terms of programs that I use daily the system it is plenty fast. I typically have the suite of Macromedia products all running at once (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash), along with MS Word, MS Outlook, Notepad, Trillian, Quickbooks, Swishmax, WSFTP, Internet Explorer and Netscape. With all of that open, the only slowdown I noticed was when McAfee Antivirus suite was running combined with GameSpots DLX download program. Both of those programs compete for resources and the machine was slow....very slow. I basically had to turn everything off in order to download the latest patches for BF1942. I chalk that up to GameSpots download utility. I don’t think I will use it in the future. I also factor in the fact that all antivirus programs seem to eat up resources (please will someone make a slim client antivirus program). McAfee seems to be a bit worse than Norton AV.
Battery life = A
Awesome. The Centrino chipset is a life saver. I can regularly get 3.5 hours on a charge and normally get over 4 hours. I basically sat at a Starbucks one morning from 9am until noon doing graphics work, surfing the internet, checking email, and playing video games, all while meeting with clients. I still had around an hour left of juice when I got home. However, I understand that battery life really all depends on whether the fan is on, the graphics card, whether the Centrino processor can power down, and the screen brightness. The fan only kicks in though for a few minutes an hour or when I am playing games. I can tell you that I use the system for games and graphic design and love bright screens. So if you are only using this for surfing and general work, then you should get even more life. Aside from those statistics, I think that anything over 2 hours is great. If you get a laptop that only has 2 hours of battery life, then you always feel like you need to look for an outlet and are not really mobile. That is why I did not choose the HP, Voodoo, Acer, ASB, or Alienware systems. This has 3.5 to 4 hours of life.
Noise Factor = A
This thing is damn quite. Of course, my only comparison was the Gateway 400SP which sounded like a damn tornado when the fan kicked in or my Althon 1.4 Desktop processor that also has a major fan that is always on.
Software = D
Quit installing AOL, Earthlink, Dell Support and a variety of other resources that I will never need. I hate having to uninstall those programs. Instead give me some free migration suite of software to transfer files from an old computer to a new computer. It’s not like that many people these days are buying new computers with no files to transfer. Almost everyone buys a computer now is upgrading from an existing system. Give us some software to do it easily, instead of AOL, which has thousands of sister programs to uninstall.
Overall = A +
I love it. If you have the money and want a high-end platform, then buy this notebook because it is fairly light (7 lbs), it is fast, and has a great screen. Realistically, I am not sure why I would buy another computer even in the future. I guess the only reason is that I want to play video games and eventually will need a new computer to play DirectX 15.0+ video games or something like that. At this time though, I am not sure why you would pay more for an Alienware, IBM, or Voodoo, when you can get better performance (or roughly the same) from Dell. I checked out all of the major manufacturers (IBM, Sager, Gateway, HP, Compaq, Eurocom, Alienware, Voodoo, and others). I bought this one because it was relatively cheap for a high-end notebook. The battery life is over 4 hours, the graphics rock, it handles all of my apps, and it was for $2300. The only other laptops that came close to these specs were by HP, Alienware and Voodoo. But they were all heavier, pricier, and/or used the Pentium 4 Chipset which gives awful battery life.
If all you do is surf the Internet, type out some documents in Word, then get the cheapest laptop you can find from Dell, Gateway, HP, IBM, or anyone else. Most of the major manufacturers have laptops for $500-$800 that will suit your minor needs. If you want to splurge, then get one that has a Centrino chipset with an internal PCI WiFi card and you can work and surf for over 4 hours. I think you can get one for $1000 or so now. However, if you want to play video games, do high-end graphic work, then I recommend this laptop as both a desktop replacement and mobile computing. This is a rare combination, but I am sure it will be copied later in 2004/2005 as manufacturers realize this is a winning combo.
Quick Gripe List
- All very minor things
- Right Side Keyboard Flex
- Stupid Track Stick Pointing Device
- Stupid Preferred Warranty Treatment of Dell
- Extra installed software
- Cheesy Color Scheme
- Plastic Feel
- Can get warm on the knees (Gateway does even more)
Wish List
- Things I would like to see, but obviously can do without
- Need more USB Ports (2 Standard, but I would like to see 4)
- Need 6-in-1 Card Reader
- Scroll Bar on Scroll Pad
- New dedicated keys (Copy, Cut and Paste)
- Battery Life Built into keyboard display (not just on screen)
- Screen Brightness Dedicated Keys (No using FN)
Love List
- All the important stuff
- Graphics
- Speed
- Price
- Screen
- Keyboard
- Mute/Volume Buttons
- Low Noise
- Built in A/B/G WiFi
1. My previous computer was a 1.4 Athlon - 512MB RAM, 40 GB HD, Desktop running Windows 2000. I also have a Gateway 400SP laptop with a 2.2 Celeron, 40 GB HD, 15 inch screen, 512MB RAM. Those are my basis for comparison.
2. I bought the Dell to replace my desktop and laptop. I use my desktop for web design work, gaming, and general Internet mayhem. So I require a system that is quick but mobile.
3. I ordered the 15.4 WUXGA Monitor, 1.7 GHZ Centrino, 60GB 7200RPM HD, 128MB Radeon 9600, 512MB RAM (1 Sodimm), Dell A/B/G Wifi Internal Card and basics on all software. I upgraded to 1GB of RAM via Crucial.com and that saved me about $300. Dell charges a ton to upgrade to 1GB, so I suggest that anyone else do the same. Just buy 1 Sodimm from Dell and use Buy.com or Crucial.com to upgrade. No reason to pay Dell for something that you can buy yourself for much less and install in about 45 seconds.
4. I have broken this review down into sections and gave each section a letter grade: A+ through D-
Delivery = A+
The laptop actually arrived ahead of schedule by a couple of days. Upon opening the box, I found all the useful tools that I needed and nicely packed (i.e. disks, accessories, and of course, the laptop).
Look & Feel = B-
The laptop looks fairly sturdy. Quite honestly my Gateway has a better look and feel. Not only is the Gateway smaller, but has better lines and the plastic feels stronger. The Gateway is also one color and not the obnoxious two tone Blue/Gray. Since I have seen all of the Dell commercials where they drop a laptop as a test, I figure that this will hold up, but I am definitely not impressed by the cheap feeling plastic that surrounds my high-end components. Overall I give this a B- in terms of look and feel.
Sound = A
I like the fact that this laptop has dedicated sound volume buttons, something that my Gateway lacks. I am no audiophile, by the sound is good and is on par with my regular JBL desktop speaker system. The mute button also comes in really handy. I always hated using the FN key to mute or lower volume.
Input Devices = C-
I hate the fact that it has a track stick, something I don’t use. Of course, I don't understand why anyone would use this when you have a scroll pad. In any event, the track stick (or whatever it is called) works fine; however, the buttons for it suck and actually don’t seem to work unless you hold down the button key for a second. I guess I should call Dell and have them fix the buttons, but since I don’t use the darn thing I could care less. The touchpad also could use some work. My Gateway touchpad is flawless and easy to use, I expected the same. It also includes a nifty scroller between the two buttons to scroll up and down on documents. Dell relies on the scroll pad software to make part of the pad scrollable. Absolutely retarded. Just give me a dedicated scroll bar on the side of the scroll page because I use that the most out of any button on the keyboard (except for maybe the letter Q). I just love that letter. In any event, the Dell touchpad seems a bit jumpy and reacts a bit touch much to every motion. Overall, this system is lacking good native input devices, but I work quicker with an attached mouse.
WUXGA Screen = A
The screen is big, wide, bright and sharp. The aspect ratio takes a bit getting use to because everything is so damn tiny and horizontal. I guess I am getting old and blind, but it seems rather silly to set the monitor at 1920 x 1200 resolution to view a web page, email, or design some simple graphics. I only use that resolution to play games and high-end graphic work. I will give Dell credit in that at that the 1920 resolution, I can view 2 pages side-by-side, but I also get a headache after a couple of hours because my eyes are straining. I know I can set fonts bigger, but that distorts everything. I have decided to just set the resolution at 1280 for now and save myself from buying Advil daily. Overall though the screen as a nice aspect ratio and can be viewed at nearly all angles, it has no dead pixels and it is really bright. However, the screen would look bigger and cooler if there was less plastic around the edges. My Gateway looks sharp because the screen is right up against the frame. Nice touch. Computer manufacturers need to take a lesson from Apple and Gateway. I want style and performance.
Two Monitors = A+
Yes. You can use two monitors at once with the 128MB video card. That is just plain cool. My work productivity has increased by 50% since I can have 4 or 5 programs viewed at once. Now if I can only figure out how to match the colors on my Viewsonic 22-inch monitor to the laptop.
Keyboard = A
Nice layout and large keys. However, the keyboard does have some flex to it on the right side. The left side is sturdy, but the right side does give way. You only notice it when typing really hard or pressing on the on-button though. Not a big issue, but for $2300 I expect something a bit more sturdy. That should be fixed as it seems to be a design flaw, even if it is or not. As far as the keys go, they are nicely laid out. I would like to see the HOME and END button be on the top right, instead of the page up and page down. I simply use those more along with the Delete key, which should be in its own location. In general, I would also like to gripe about keyboard designs from all manufacturers. It is too much to ask keyboard makers to put some friggin’ cut and paste keys on the keyboard. I must cut and paste over 100 times daily and I always use the CRTL-X, C, and V. I have never used the Insert key in my life, or the Pause key, or the Windows Key. In fact the Insert key screws me up sometimes. It’s almost like a trap [Admirial Ackbar voice]. Just do away with those buttons or make them FN keys. Also, make a damn keyboard that is backlit. Anyways....
Graphics & Video Games = A+
Graphics rock. Plain and simple. Don’t have any tests to back up my statement, but this system will play Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, America's Army, War Craft III and other video games at their highest resolution without any noticeable frame delay. This was a core requirement, but the system has passed admirably. The main test was BF1942 with 64 players online at the highest resolution. Also Call of Duty with DirectX 9.0 is flawless. No sweat and the graphics are sharp. I am testing it now and will see what specs I can get out of this baby. This is the top of the line version of the Dell computer, so I would be interested in seeing what this thing tops out at.
Actual Work = A
I bought this to replace my desktop and other $699 Gateway laptop. I got tired of swapping files for mobile work and desktop work. I now only have one computer and this lets me work faster on web design. In terms of programs that I use daily the system it is plenty fast. I typically have the suite of Macromedia products all running at once (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash), along with MS Word, MS Outlook, Notepad, Trillian, Quickbooks, Swishmax, WSFTP, Internet Explorer and Netscape. With all of that open, the only slowdown I noticed was when McAfee Antivirus suite was running combined with GameSpots DLX download program. Both of those programs compete for resources and the machine was slow....very slow. I basically had to turn everything off in order to download the latest patches for BF1942. I chalk that up to GameSpots download utility. I don’t think I will use it in the future. I also factor in the fact that all antivirus programs seem to eat up resources (please will someone make a slim client antivirus program). McAfee seems to be a bit worse than Norton AV.
Battery life = A
Awesome. The Centrino chipset is a life saver. I can regularly get 3.5 hours on a charge and normally get over 4 hours. I basically sat at a Starbucks one morning from 9am until noon doing graphics work, surfing the internet, checking email, and playing video games, all while meeting with clients. I still had around an hour left of juice when I got home. However, I understand that battery life really all depends on whether the fan is on, the graphics card, whether the Centrino processor can power down, and the screen brightness. The fan only kicks in though for a few minutes an hour or when I am playing games. I can tell you that I use the system for games and graphic design and love bright screens. So if you are only using this for surfing and general work, then you should get even more life. Aside from those statistics, I think that anything over 2 hours is great. If you get a laptop that only has 2 hours of battery life, then you always feel like you need to look for an outlet and are not really mobile. That is why I did not choose the HP, Voodoo, Acer, ASB, or Alienware systems. This has 3.5 to 4 hours of life.
Noise Factor = A
This thing is damn quite. Of course, my only comparison was the Gateway 400SP which sounded like a damn tornado when the fan kicked in or my Althon 1.4 Desktop processor that also has a major fan that is always on.
Software = D
Quit installing AOL, Earthlink, Dell Support and a variety of other resources that I will never need. I hate having to uninstall those programs. Instead give me some free migration suite of software to transfer files from an old computer to a new computer. It’s not like that many people these days are buying new computers with no files to transfer. Almost everyone buys a computer now is upgrading from an existing system. Give us some software to do it easily, instead of AOL, which has thousands of sister programs to uninstall.
Overall = A +
I love it. If you have the money and want a high-end platform, then buy this notebook because it is fairly light (7 lbs), it is fast, and has a great screen. Realistically, I am not sure why I would buy another computer even in the future. I guess the only reason is that I want to play video games and eventually will need a new computer to play DirectX 15.0+ video games or something like that. At this time though, I am not sure why you would pay more for an Alienware, IBM, or Voodoo, when you can get better performance (or roughly the same) from Dell. I checked out all of the major manufacturers (IBM, Sager, Gateway, HP, Compaq, Eurocom, Alienware, Voodoo, and others). I bought this one because it was relatively cheap for a high-end notebook. The battery life is over 4 hours, the graphics rock, it handles all of my apps, and it was for $2300. The only other laptops that came close to these specs were by HP, Alienware and Voodoo. But they were all heavier, pricier, and/or used the Pentium 4 Chipset which gives awful battery life.
If all you do is surf the Internet, type out some documents in Word, then get the cheapest laptop you can find from Dell, Gateway, HP, IBM, or anyone else. Most of the major manufacturers have laptops for $500-$800 that will suit your minor needs. If you want to splurge, then get one that has a Centrino chipset with an internal PCI WiFi card and you can work and surf for over 4 hours. I think you can get one for $1000 or so now. However, if you want to play video games, do high-end graphic work, then I recommend this laptop as both a desktop replacement and mobile computing. This is a rare combination, but I am sure it will be copied later in 2004/2005 as manufacturers realize this is a winning combo.
Quick Gripe List
- All very minor things
- Right Side Keyboard Flex
- Stupid Track Stick Pointing Device
- Stupid Preferred Warranty Treatment of Dell
- Extra installed software
- Cheesy Color Scheme
- Plastic Feel
- Can get warm on the knees (Gateway does even more)
Wish List
- Things I would like to see, but obviously can do without
- Need more USB Ports (2 Standard, but I would like to see 4)
- Need 6-in-1 Card Reader
- Scroll Bar on Scroll Pad
- New dedicated keys (Copy, Cut and Paste)
- Battery Life Built into keyboard display (not just on screen)
- Screen Brightness Dedicated Keys (No using FN)
Love List
- All the important stuff
- Graphics
- Speed
- Price
- Screen
- Keyboard
- Mute/Volume Buttons
- Low Noise
- Built in A/B/G WiFi