Inspiron 8100 review... again?!?!
Written: Dec 25 '01
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Pros: Options Galore, up to 1.2 PIII-M processor, can replace many desktops, Eye-Popping Screen, Stylish
Cons: Lack of current technology for PIII-M power features, price, weight, sound
The Bottom Line: Duh... read the Insprion 8100 general review. This is kind of a waste topic... I'll explain why the epinions chosen options are good or bad.
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 8100 Series |
What the he... okay. Epinions has posted a specific configuration for the popular Inspiron 8100 notebook computer for review when you have a general Inspiron 8100 category. This is getting stupid.
For the full dirt on the Inspiron 8100 check out my epinion on it from my profile page. I'm going to explain away some of the options that epinions has chosen for this notebook in this review.
Let's examine this particular configuration now... shall we?
I've recommended Dell notebooks especially the Inspiron 8100 and 4100 units to friends and associates wholeheartedly. This particular configuration that epinions has chosen falls in a middle zone. One that adds a few hundred dollars to the base price of the unit but may not be a great choice to many customers.
The PIII-M 1.13 GHz processor is the middle of the line processor for the current Inspiron series. Between the low end but extremely capable PIII-M 866 MHz processor and the kick butt PIII-M 1.2 MHz processor. Let's look at it this way... the base configuration is the 866 MHz PIII-M. To upgrade to the 1 GHz processor, you add $80 bucks. To get the 1.13 GHz processor you add another $150 on top of the 1 GHz upgrade. To get 1.2 GHz, you have to add yet another $150 on top of the 1 and 1.13 GHz upgrades combined! The simple fact of the matter is that most casual computer users will never require this kind of processor. The 866 MHz will be more than enough for the majority of users!
The 14 inch SuperXGA+ is the lowest screen option. Personally, I would fork over the additional $50 to get the 15 inch SuperXGA+ screen. This is your eyes we're talking about here. Every extra inch helps... believe me when I say that! The additional $100 to upgrade from the 15 inch SuperXGA to UltraXGA screen may be overkill. The pictures may have a finer quality and you'll have higher resolutions but it reduces the size of the objects on the screen at high resolutions... so if you don't use such high resolutions then don't pay for it!
The 128MB is the best option to get... only because Dell charges so much for memory upgrades when configuring and purchasing the system. You can buy the memory seperately for much less from Dell or other memory retailers (my personal favorite is Crucial memory... a division of Micron Electronics and deemed trustworthy by millions of tech knowledgable people across the world!). You actually can save up to a few hundred on memory by purchasing elsewhere! So stick with the bare minimum memory for your initial Dell Inspiron 8100 purchase!
The minimum hard drive is 20GB. This is really a matter of personal preference. If you download Megabytes or even Gigabytes of stuff, then a larger hard drive is in order... but you will pay for it. The largest hard drive is the 60GB drive. If you burn CD-R and CD-RW of non-essential data like MP3 and stuff, then you won't need a riduculous large hard drive. To upgrade from the 20 to the 30GB, it's a nice $75. To go up to 40 from 20, it's $249. 20 to 48 GB, then it's $324. 20 to 60 GB, a whopping $549! There are occasional deals like the Home store's 30GB special for the week... upgrading from that is 30 to 40 GB costs $174. 30 to 48GB costs $249. Upgrading from 30 to 60GB costs $474. With that deal, the hard drive prices are a little easier to swallow. I've found 20GB to be a decent size... although 30GB can't hurt.
Windows ME?..... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Why downgrade to Windows ME when Windows XP Home edition is the flavor of the month? Actually, you don't have a choice! It's only Windows XP Home Edition or Professional/Business Edition! You think Microsoft gives you freedom of choice? HA!
Video cards? Your options include the GeForce2Go 16MB card (the basic configuration), the 32MB GeForce2Go, and the awesome 64MB Radeon Mobility 7500 video card monster! Again for the non-gamers and non-graphical intensive computer users, you will be fine with the 16MB card. If you just do internet, word processing, and excel, then don't spend additional money for the video card upgrade. They will not help you! If you need blazing graphics, the Radeon Mobility 7500 is your choice... if you have the cash for it! It will add $174 over the 16MB GeForce2Go video card. The 32MB is a good option for people who do some graphically intensive work... it's only $74 more than the 16MB GeForce2Go option.
Optical drive options... well, you should put one in your computer. At least a DVD drive if nothing else. A regular CD-ROM drive doesn't cut it. Most people will not need much more than a DVD drive anyway. The CD-RW option is almost as expensive as an external CD-RW setup brought somewhere else. However, if you need to archive data, the CD-RW choice is likely for you. I'm still undecided with the DVD/CD-RW combinations.
Now what was the point of this review
I didn't want to rehash what I've already said in my Inspiron 8100 review. There's no need for that. What most of you guys may need help in is how to decide what options are good for you and how to get the most bang for your buck. I didn't go through that in my original Inspiron 8100 review. Here, I go through some of the major choices specifically to show you what is needed or excessive for many users. Don't forget some of the weak point of this computer... short battery life compared to the 4100 and the sheer size and weigh of this computer!
Remember, this review was meant to supplement my original Inspiron 8100 review and not be a cut and paste example of the original. So you should read my original Inspiron 8100 review as well!
My original Inspiron 8100 review lies here
http://www.epinions.com/content_43126853252
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1700+
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14
RAM: 128
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
yusakugo
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Member: Rich Go
Location: Somewhere in the NorthEast
Reviews written: 399
Trusted by: 498 members
About Me:
Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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