Dell's New Widescreen Laptop

[geekrock99]

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_inspn_1_inspn_8500.htm

cheers!

[dang]

Price is pretty decent too

[Ioman]

The computer is not as sleek looking as I would like though.

[Strippy]

Usable, but too fat, too ugly. <Insert yo mamma jokes here>

:D

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Strippy
Usable, but too fat, too ugly. <Insert yo mamma jokes here>

:D Yo momma so fat that when she sat on her computer, it turned into a laptop...

umm ok that was stupid haha

[Angus]

Eh, I think I will take my stylish VPR 200A5 notebook with slightly fewer features than this monster of a notebook. Fat and ugly indeed. Does making a stylish or at least tastefully NOT bland computer really take that much genius? Yeesh... anyhow...

Way better screen. The damn thing can be had with a HDTV (1900x1200) quality LCD. That's impressive as hell, believe me, and since I'm a graphics professional doing web, print and video design. But I gotta tell ya, I just worked on a client's Dell Inspiron 8000 with 1600x1200 and while it looked great it was TINY. Haha.

Better processor (but not that much), more ram capability, better video processor. But would I give up the fact that my VPR looks so damn nice, cost me $1500, has a slot-loading burner, 3.5hr battery, and another firewire port? I seriously doubt it. It's just too homely and typical pc-notebook.

But maybe I'm just turning into a 200A5 zealot. Oof, just like all those mac users I can't stand.

[dang]

with small resolutions like that you can always enable large fonts. makes a huge difference for people who can't read the fonts that small.

[sonoronos]

Looks nice! Hopefully someone will buy one and give us a great review =)

[llbbl]

What the heck kind of display is this? "WSXGA+ and WUXGA. "

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by TecknoGeek
What the heck kind of display is this? "WSXGA+ and WUXGA. "

WIDE XGA
WIDE ULTRA SUPER XGA

I like this notebook much better than widescreen VPR, BB is a joke when it comes to customer support.

[Ioman]

Here is a link to the actual press release: http://www.designtechnica.com/article.php?sid=2852

I see two big mistakes with this laptop. First its ugly and plain and secondly it is running Windows XP Home Edition. I suppose that these are not considered that big of a mistake, but this laptop to me is nothing special. The only thing unique about it is the fact that it has a widescreen display.

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by Ioman
Here is a link to the actual press release: http://www.designtechnica.com/article.php?sid=2852

I see two big mistakes with this laptop. First its not using an ATI Mobility GPU and secondly it is running Windows XP Home Edition. I suppose that these are not considered that big of a mistake, but this laptop to me is nothing special. The only thing unique about it is the fact that it has a widescreen display.

For VPR, I se more than 4
Heat, XP Home, BB Support, Keyboard, etc

I think you VPR owner knows more about it.

Dell is still a better in every way. More freedom to choose your components. and hell lots of better support than BestBuy
Lol.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered


For VPR, I se more than 4
Heat, XP Home, BB Support, Keyboard, etc

I think you VPR owner knows more about it.

Dell is still a better in every way. More freedom to choose your components. and hell lots of better support than BestBuy
Lol.

Well Dell may be better in regards to reliability, but they do not do anything unique. It is a plain jane Honda Civic....nothing special, very bland design and features....but hey, everyone owns one and they are reliable right!?

Lemmings I tell ya....

[strife]

Originally posted by Unregistered


For VPR, I se more than 4
Heat, XP Home, BB Support, Keyboard, etc

I think you VPR owner knows more about it.

Dell is still a better in every way. More freedom to choose your components. and hell lots of better support than BestBuy
Lol.

The problems you listed can't be compared to the vpr matrix, yet. We do not know what kind of flaws the new Dell will have. It could be perfect, or it could be a POS. Until someone buys and uses one, we really can't compare. Also, Dell is not better in price or creativity--things that happen to make a world of difference in my opinion.

[Bakxs]

It is a plain jane Honda Civic....nothing special, very bland design and features....



I see two big mistakes with this laptop. First its not using an ATI Mobility GPU and secondly it is running Windows XP Home Edition. I suppose that these are not considered that big of a mistake, but this laptop to me is nothing special. The only thing unique about it is the fact that it has a widescreen display.


While the jury is still out on this laptop (have they even started shipping yet?), I think your bias against Dell is showing a bit.

1st of all, the 8500 comes with the ATI as the entry level video card. Not only is it an ATI, it's the Mobility Radeon 9000--pretty much the best ATI has to offer for Laptops. In addition, they are offering (from what I gather) the brand new Nvidia 4200 video card. I'm guessing it's the mobility version of a full-blown GF4 4200ti.

It's no lightweight... but 6.9lbs for all that power and the HUGE widescreen LCD (and Dell is pretty well known for solid screens)--I'd say the design is solid.

I wouldn't say it's as slick looking as the Apple or VPR Matrix, but watchin' a movie with that screen might help me overlook it.

It's fairly upgradeable... very powerful (up to 2.4 P4M and up to 2 gigs of ram)... beautiful screen... has integrated a AND b wireless--with the option to go for G.

While it does come standard with XP Home--they at least give you the option to have it pre-installed and configured with XP Pro.

To say this isn't a special laptop--I really wonder what you would consider special.

--Bakxs

P.S. Before you spout off 'bout being some Dell Lemming, lemme preface I have a VPR~

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Bakxs




While the jury is still out on this laptop (have they even started shipping yet?), I think your bias against Dell is showing a bit.

1st of all, the 8500 comes with the ATI as the entry level video card. Not only is it an ATI, it's the Mobility Radeon 9000--pretty much the best ATI has to offer for Laptops. In addition, they are offering (from what I gather) the brand new Nvidia 4200 video card. I'm guessing it's the mobility version of a full-blown GF4 4200ti.

It's no lightweight... but 6.9lbs for all that power and the HUGE widescreen LCD (and Dell is pretty well known for solid screens)--I'd say the design is solid.

I wouldn't say it's as slick looking as the Apple or VPR Matrix, but watchin' a movie with that screen might help me overlook it.

It's fairly upgradeable... very powerful (up to 2.4 P4M and up to 2 gigs of ram)... beautiful screen... has integrated a AND b wireless--with the option to go for G.

While it does come standard with XP Home--they at least give you the option to have it pre-installed and configured with XP Pro.

To say this isn't a special laptop--I really wonder what you would consider special.

--Bakxs

P.S. Before you spout off 'bout being some Dell Lemming, lemme preface I have a VPR~

Bakxs,

Do not worry, we are not zealots and we do not bash people in the forums. I think that a lot of people who come to Designtechnica look for technology that is aesthetically pleasing, well designed and something unique for the most part. Dell has some great systems and they are probably the best systems to use in a business environment, that’s for sure. Personally, the design is just lacking in my opinion when compared to say the Sony, Fujitsu or VPR Matrix systems. I get the distinct impression that VPR Matrix owners are similar to Volkswagen buys....they want something non-mainstream and which is unique; something that might even get a little attention? I know for one that this is why I bought the VPR Matrix and why I like Sony products.

[Bakxs]

For you to comment on the design would be one thing... but I feel it is wrong to post things that are completely incorrect.

--Bakxs

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Bakxs
For you to comment on the design would be one thing... but I feel it is wrong to post things that are completely incorrect.

--Bakxs

There I changed my original post to not mention the ATI video card. You are not going to get an arguement out of me no matter how hard you try :) .

[nedlyj]

Since I'm currently waiting for the Compaq x1000 to arrive, I needed something else to fill my spare time, so I decided to look at a Dell 8500.

I had the opportunity today to see a brand new Inspiron 8500 sitting right next to my VPR 200A5 and test it out for about 20 minutes.

All I can say is that, hands down, if I was given a choice right now, I'd choose the VPR with no hesitation. I'm not a Dell basher, I have four Dell computers sitting in my home, but I was very disappointed with what I saw in the 8500. Maybe I wouldn't have been if the VPR wasn't running right next to it, but that should tell you something.

The 8500 I looked at had a WSXGA+ screen (1680x1050), GeForce4 4200 (64mb) video, 512MB ram, DVD/CD-RW, and a 60GB hdd.

Aesthetically the 8500 is big and clunky, and I thought I'd like the blue trim around the keyboard but I don't. It looks cheap. While the size and weight specs might be similar on paper, the 8500 looked huge compared to the 200A5.

The screen brightness and crispness were not nearly that of the 200A5. The unit I was looking at may not have been set to optimal font sizes which could have affected the crispness of text, but even graphics appeared a bit flat. The brightness and contrast of the screens were extremely different. Also the Dell screen has a bit of a blue tint (I've noticed this on a lot of screens) while the VPR screen does not - so colors look more saturated.

I played the same chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the Quiddich scene) on both laptops. The 200A5 uses PowerDVD and the 8500 uses WinDVD 4. Smoothness was consistent on each, but the 8500 stuttered several times during playback (ie froze for about 1/2 second). The VPR encounters no such freezes in those locations. Again, the brightness and contrast and colors of the 200A5 were noticably better during video playback than the 8500.

I didn't do much other playing, but I did notice that the 8500 gets hot - real hot. Underneath I'd say it is much worse than the VPR (especially over the memory cover) and the left palm rest gets hot too. I'm surprised this hasn't been reported more on the 8500.

So, this completely lame and informal review told me little - except that the more I look around, the happier I am with the 200A5. But, we'll see when that x1000 gets here...

-n