Miscellaneous laptop discussions : dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by micbadasthe10th - 7/13/04 6:09 PMaside from the case, what's the difference?
latitude costs a lot more.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by sprice - 7/17/04 1:29 PM In reply to: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by micbadasthe10thI am having the same question.
It seems like everyone gets the 8600 and no one talks about the D800. I am looking for a notebook to use for grad-school (papers, intensive excel work). And in my looking around I am leaning towards the D800 just because I've read that it is more of a business notebook and may be a bit more reliable (although maybe not cutting edge).
This is all just my opinion though as I don't have any experience with either model.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by micbadasthe10th - 7/17/04 7:41 PM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by spricesince asking this question, i have come to believe that the systems are basically the same. the latitude costs more because it uses more common parts or something so it's easier to upgrade/install stuff for business. the inspiron is a home cpu.
a dell representative told me that there's really no difference and actually persuaded me to get the inspiron. i'm about to get the i8600; crazy deals right now. free shipping, no tax, and a 20% discount from fatwallet means i can get an i8600 with a wuxga screen, a 1.8 p-m processor, 512 ram (will buy another 512 from crucial.com), and other perks for under $1800. comes with a free digital camera and an additional $100 rebate too.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by KenSanramon - 7/18/04 4:42 PM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by micbadasthe10thI hope you have tried the Dell 8600 notebook keyboard because if you haven't you may be disappointed. Otherwise, the components are very similar to other competitors like the Toshiba M35S456 / Compaq X1000/HPZT3000, etc but the keyboards are better in those.
Dell is online ordering only (unless you tried it out at a mall kiosk) so if you will not be plugging into an external keyboard this is an important issue.
The Dell components are fine and all 3 use a 15.4" widescreen but the Dell 8600 case is thicker as it was designed for a Pentium 4 CPU so it weighs 6.9 lbs wheras the Toshiba is 6.2 pounds and the Compaq/HP is 6.5 pounds. The keyboard on my X1000 has gotten better reviews at least on the keyboard than nearly anything else in the Centrino lineup except the IBM notebooks.
But if you are not worried about the keyboard feel than all 3 machines will perform similarly.
Keep in mind with the back to school season that HP/Compaq has a 100 mail in rebate and 100 coupon also -- Dells are priced somewhat higher and they have higher discounts (thus your 20%) so if you compare a custom order at Toshiba or HP/Compaq you may in fact come out less. And you can use Fatwallet as well.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by poelmanc - 10/24/04 2:42 AM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by KenSanramonI also wondered about the Latitude D800 versus the Inspiron 8600. Their costs are very close to each other, thought the Latitude is a bit more expensive because I could only find it on the Small Business site. (Often the Latitude looks more expensive when configuring it because by default it gives you 3 years of warranty service, but you can usually deselect that on the second page. Also the Small Business site always adds sales tax whereas the Home site usually adds less sales tax for some reason.) The Latitude is "marketed" as a business machine whereas the Inspiron is "marketed" as a home machine.
But the kicker for me was that for games or CAD work you want the best video card. The Latitude comes with the nVidia GeForce FX Go5650 128MB card, whereas the Inspiron comes with the ATI Radeon Mobility 9600. Check out this review at AnandTech.com: http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=1866&p=9 . You'll see that in benchmarks the ATI beats the pants off the GeForce, and it's not even close! So it may seem crazy but the cheaper Inspiron has a better video card than the more expensive Latitude!
I've bought one Inspiron 8600 for myself and one for an employee and we love them. I'm now buying my third 8600 for another employee. Even though we're a "Small Business", I see no advantage to the Latitude whatsoever.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by lastexile - 12/12/04 2:12 PM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by KenSanramonTotally agree about the keyboard being VERY POOR in quality. I have checked out many keyboards and the 8600 has got to have the WORST keyboard of any notebook I have tested. The Dell Lattitude models have much better keyboards.
If you plan to use the 8600 with its built-in keyboard, you are going to be disappointed by the poor keyboard quality. It is just absolutely poor quality and terrible to use. You end up making mistakes all the time because the keys are way too smooth and the construction is like a cheap foldable keyboard (the ones for PDAs). Very very hard to use. It feels like you are typing on the surface of a chalkboard.
Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600
by Ryan T - 12/12/04 8:16 PM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by lastexileI find that some of thse issues are very polarizing. I mean the worst keyboard? No, I think the worst keyboard I've ever typed on was on a 12" Averatec. I barely got one sentence out because every time I hit the space I was actually hitting the Alt. Layout just cannot be overcome. The 8600 (this message is typed on its ostensibly horrible keyboard) has somewhat smoother keys than, say, a D800, or an HP. But I don't need sandpaper to keep my fingers in place. I have yet to have a complaint about my laptop's keyboard, and that's usually the FIRST thing I complain about.
Whether they put your pgup,pgdn, home, delete, and end keys all in a line somewhere or hidden above f9, or they move your arrow keys to under your right palm (COUGHhpCOUGH), most keyboards screw you over with the layout.
Anyway, bottom line, if I were buying a new laptop, ordering custom, I would order from Dell, and get the D800, because of the magnesium-alloy thinner case and because of the trackstick. But internally, it's the same as the 8600.
dell 8600 keyboard
by lastexile - 12/16/04 10:55 PM In reply to: Re: dell latitude d800 vs. inspiron 8600 by Ryan TOkay maybe not the ABSOLUTELY worst. But even as I am typing this on my Dell 8600, I just cringe with each keystroke. It just feels so aweful typing on this notebook. I wish there is something I could do about it to improve it. I tried searching the net but if anyone knows of a better replacement, post it here.
Notebook keyboards
by KenSanramon - 12/17/04 10:46 AM In reply to: dell 8600 keyboard by lastexileI tried to tell Ryan that the keyboard response and case integrity of the 8600 were not up to snuff (but all the internal components are if you can live with these 2 issues). The LCD metal bezel surround, aluminum LCD lid and keyboard feel are some of the strongest points of the HPZT3000 and Compaq X1000 (but they have a maximum ATI 9200 video card with 64mb dedicated video not the ATI 9600/9700 with up to 128mb dedicated).
IBM's still have the best notebook keyboards but it is very important you are happy with the keyboard because you are stuck with it when you want to be portable and otherwise you would have to plug in an external USB 2.0 keyboard (a desktop keyboard of course can easily be replaced at anytime with a PS2 or USB 2.0 connection).
If you think the D800 keyboard is better . . .
by Ryan T - 12/17/04 1:13 PM In reply to: dell 8600 keyboard by lastexileThen just get a D800 keyboard. You can get a D600/800 keyboard on eBay for $20. It installs the same as your 8600 keyboard and connects the same way plus it has a tracstick. Dell even shows you how to do it on their website.
But I still dont think my keyboards bad in any way. Could you quantify "awful" for me? how exactly does it feel that is bad?
Replace the keyboard... good idea
by lastexile - 12/17/04 6:08 PM In reply to: If you think the D800 keyboard is better . . . by Ryan TThat's a great idea. I did not realize I could replace the keyboard with a D8600. Is it truely different than the 8600C? Have you tried it both? I just want to make sure since it'll be by mail.
I HATE the 8600C keyboard because the suface is entirely smooth. Do you know how the surface of a chalkboard feel? That is how it feels to type on the 8600C keyboard. Another comparison is the Targus portable foldable keyboards. Have you tried one of those? It is close to the same feel. Just cheap quality and very very bad feel.
Thanks for the tip. Let me know if you know whether the D8600 keyboard is different than the 8600C keyboard.
8600 keyboard
by lastexile - 12/17/04 6:10 PM In reply to: Replace the keyboard... good idea by lastexileSorry, I meant D800 in my previous. So it would fit and the D800 is definitely differnet feel?
I heard it felt different
by Ryan T - 12/17/04 9:55 PM In reply to: 8600 keyboard by lastexileI heard it had a different feel but I haven't tried it. I went to Compusa and while I was there, I felt the keys of all the other laptops, they weren't much grippier. I will admit that the arrow keys feel a tad cheap but I'm not dissatisfied overall. But I'm a very smooth typist. I don't whack away at the keys, I glide over them. It's a musician thing. I'm thinking of where I'm going and making efficient smooth motions to get there. So smoother is better for me.
I do know that the keyboard would fit. They're the same dimensions. And the connector is the same. in fact on Ebay it'll say "D800 or i8600 keyboard" but if you get one with a Track Point you're getting the one from the D800, which incidentally was originally on the 8600 as well, but was probably cut out for cost reasons.
Also
by Ryan T - 12/17/04 9:57 PM In reply to: 8600 keyboard by lastexileI also saw where a guy put the guts of an i8600 into a D800 case because it was thinner and lighter and it had a track stick. So the parts are very swappable.
In fact I almost bought that one on ebay.
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