Dell Inspiron 8600 Review

We've finished running FutureMark's 3DMark03 test -- including all four game simulations, including the DirectX 9 features -- and now we're watching the Codecreatures DirectX 8.1 benchmark running at a spectacular 1,920 by 1,200 resolution with 4X antialiasing enabled. It's not the fastest gaming-PC performance we've ever seen, but we're looking at a 7.3-pound notebook.

The Dell Inspiron 8600 introduced today is the direct vendor's new desktop-replacement flagship, and gives a couple of Dell's suppliers a chance to show off their latest and greatest as well. Specifically, it replaces the Pentium 4-M processor found in the outwardly identical Inspiron 8500 with Intel's energy-efficient 1.7GHz Pentium M, and offers Nvidia's GeForce FX Go5650 AGP 4X graphics controller with 128MB of DDR memory.

Add 512MB of DDR333 system memory; a 60GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 hard disk with 8MB buffer and 7,200-rpm speed; and a Philips DVD+RW drive that can be swapped for a second battery or a floppy drive; and you've got one serious laptop.

(Update 9/2/03: Though our early test loaner was a production rather than prototype unit, several readers have e-mailed us that Dell's order pages list only 4,200-rpm hard disks for the Inspiron 8600, with the 7,200-rpm Hitachi drive not available. We contacted Dell and were told the 7K60 is new and scarce, but can be ordered over the phone, and that the Web site will be updated as supplies become more plentiful -- Ed.)

And oh yes, there's the 1,920 by 1,200 resolution we mentioned. That's the top of three choices for the Inspiron's wide-aspect-ratio (16:10), 15.4-inch-diagonal display; Dell calls the super-deluxe screen UltraSharp WUXGA, with WSXGA+ (1,680 by 1,050) and WXGA (1,280 by 800) models also available.

The wide format makes the Inspiron 8600 a bit of a chore to stuff into a briefcase, but also a sensational letterboxed-DVD-watching showpiece. It's an investment at $2,820 (at this writing, $2,570 after one of Dell's ever-changing rebate offers), but the 8600 is a stellar example of a desktop replacement that's a pound or two lighter and has better battery life than most of its competitors.

Lighter Than It Looks

The Inspiron measures 10.8 by 14.1 by 1.5 inches, which is undeniably bulky, but its 7.3 pounds are more comfortable in your lap than many of the 9-pound-plus leviathans now calling themselves portables. (Its AC adapter is a bit chunky at 1.1 pounds.)

Handsome blue accents surround the silver-gray system's keyboard, which is distinguished by having both a touchpad and an IBM ThinkPad-style keyboard stick by way of mouse alternatives. Both work smoothly, though the two mouse buttons for the pointing stick feel a little soft while those for the touchpad feel a trifle hard.

Along the right edge of the keyboard, where some notebooks stack their Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys, the Dell offers handy play/pause, stop, and previous/next track buttons for CD and DVD enjoyment; volume and mute buttons are above the function keys. Happily, the keyboard does offer Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys in addition to the cursor arrows, although their placement at the top right takes a bit of getting used to (we found ourselves stabbing at the top right corner for the Delete key, which is actually a couple of places inward).

Along the system's left edge, you'll find microphone and headphone jacks, one IEEE 1394 port, and one PC Card slot. Parallel, serial, VGA, S-Video out, 56Kbps modem, 10/100Mbps Ethernet, and two USB 2.0 ports are at the rear.

The Philips SDVD6004 2X DVD+RW drive, which also serves as an 8X DVD-ROM player and 16/8/24X CD-RW drive, is at the right -- and, we were happy to notice, did a smoother and quicker job reading several of our well-worn benchmark CDs than the DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives in the last few laptops we've tested. Pushing a button lets you remove the DVD burner and insert an optional floppy drive ($59) or extend battery life by another two-thirds with a second lithium-ion pack ($129). The Inspiron 8500 configuration page offers a second, 40GB hard disk for the modular bay ($249), but we don't see it listed for the 8600.

Even with just the standard battery, cordless life isn't half bad for such a high-powered PC: Whether writing letters or watching DVDs, we regularly got two hours and 20 minutes of unplugged operation, keeping the optical and hard drives fairly busy and sticking to the top two of the eight screen brightness levels (the others are pretty dark). For more Click Here