Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
yes it will come with an adapter.

not using the cd-rom or playin music, i get about 2.5 hours on my toshiba laptop... it all depends on what your doing though-- obviously the more things running and the more processor powre your using, the shorter the battery life.
 

Rallispec

Lifer
Jul 26, 2001
12,375
10
81
i can usually get about half way into a dvd on my laptop before the battery goes dead (one hour or so).... so if you if i want to use the dvd player i have to be near an outlet.
 

jcovercash

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2001
9,064
0
0
ok so i i plan on watching dvds on a trip then i should get a car adapter then??? so that it will wok like the AC adapter at home

Josh
 

spanky

Lifer
Jun 19, 2001
25,716
4
81


<< ok so i i plan on watching dvds on a trip then i should get a car adapter then??? so that it will wok like the AC adapter at home

Josh
>>




get an extra battery too. :D
 

MWink

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,642
1
76


<< Is Dell a good company >>



NO! I had a horrible experience with them when I bought an Inspiron 8000 from them. I will never order from them/recommend them again. I would stay away if I were you.
 

shikhan

Senior member
Mar 15, 2001
834
0
71


<<

<< Is Dell a good company >>

NO! I had a horrible experience with them when I bought an Inspiron 8000 from them. I will never order from them/recommend them again. I would stay away if I were you.
>>



You know, details of what happened would be nice in order for him to judge how ligthly/heavily to take your complaint... For all he knows, it could be you were too foolish to know how to recharge a battery? or turn on a screen? Or was it as bad as they kept sending you defective goods and refused to admit it was defective?
 

RossMAN

Grand Nagus
Feb 24, 2000
78,855
355
136
A few recommendations:
1) Price the same Dell configuration between their Home Office and Small Business stores, they both offer different specials. Get whichever gives you the most bang for your buck. For me that's usually Small Business since OR has no sales tax. If you're a state which charges sales tax it appears Dell Home Office may offer the best deal. Don't forget to use the $50 off coupon (search Google.com for Dell.com coupon codes - trust me you'll find it)
2) Since you're investing a lot of money into your laptop, I'd recommend upgrading to at least:
3Yr Ltd. Warranty- 3Yrs Mail-In Service + 3Yrs Phone Support
3) Get the 8X Max Variable DVD drive. You already have a desktop machine, right? It would be more advantageous to buy a cheap $50 24x CD-RW drive for your desktop and burn CD's there instead of burning them on your laptop. Besides wouldn't you rather watch movies on long trips? I think the combo DVD/CD-RW drive is nice but only if you have money to throw away.
4) Don't forget to buy the Notebook Surge Protector ($30 - click CONTINUE) to protect your laptop.
5) Definitely get an additional battery, make sure they are both 59 WHr
LI-ION 2nd Primary Battery


Here's what I would get:
Dell Inspiron 8100 Notebooks: Special! Take $50 OFF! Intel® PIII 1 GHz-M 15in UXGA Display, you pay P100UHX [461-3236]
Memory: Special! 256MB,SDRAM,2DIMM,for the price of 128MB,SDRAM,2DIMM 256M2DD [461-6894]
Video Card: 64MB 4X AGP ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 M764MB [320-0159]
Primary Hard Drive: 20GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 20GB [340-3074]
Floppy Drive: Modular Floppy Drive FD [340-6353]
Operating System Software: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [313-0837] [420-0271]
Modem: 10/100 + 56K Capable V.90 NIC/Modem, Internal Mini-PCI PCI1010 [313-9795]
Fixed CD/DVD Drives: 8X Max Variable DVD 8XDVD [313-0833] [313-8109]
Bundled Software: Microsoft®Works Suite 2002 with Money 2002 Standard IWORKS [412-0134]
Norton Antivirus®: Norton Antivirus® 2002, 90-day introductory offer NAV2002 [412-5623]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch 6.0 for XP JUKEXP [412-3809]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 1Yr Ltd. Warranty- 1Yr Mail-In Service + 1Yr Phone Support SI111RR [902-0070] [950-3337] [950-9057]
Internet Access Options: 6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHSX [412-3887]
Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert®2000 for XP,Dell Edition DPSXP [412-3807]
Power Protection: Notebook Surge Protector NBSURGE [114242]
Additional Battery: LI-ION 2nd Primary Battery LIION [312-0030]

$1,786 base price as configured above
-$50 off Dell Inspiron 8100 coupon
-2% off if you order through eBates.com
==================================
$1,701.28
 

Hubris

Platinum Member
Jul 14, 2001
2,749
0
0
I got an 8100 in September, and other than a little trouble that was quite easily taken care of, I was quite happy with the customer service.

I can usually get through an entire DVD with the one battery, but I got 2 and it's very nice. Doesn't last as long as they say on the site, but then that's to be expected. And any battery you get with the 8100 WILL be a 59Whr one, so don't worry about that. If you get a second battery, you'd definitely be able to watch a movie on a trip. But two might be pushing it (I don't know, I've never tried). But a car adapter is a good idea anyway, and I'd recommend one.

~Eddie
 

darkjester

Golden Member
Aug 14, 2001
1,424
0
0
"Dude, you're getting a Dell."
- The Dude-you're-getting-a-Dell Guy

I've only ever heard good things about Dell, so I don't think you should have much of a problem. Good luck!
 

NeoMadHatter

Platinum Member
Nov 29, 2000
2,355
0
0
johntwang.com


<< "Dude, you're getting a Dell."
- The Dude-you're-getting-a-Dell Guy

I've only ever heard good things about Dell, so I don't think you should have much of a problem. Good luck!
>>



that guy is gay. i hate him. apparently dell has good tech support. but a good company shouldn't need tech support. good tech support means lots of problems right?
 

kgraeme

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2000
3,536
0
0


<< that guy is gay. i hate him. apparently dell has good tech support. but a good company shouldn't need tech support. good tech support means lots of problems right? >>



LOL!!! In a perfect world, computers could be built without the need for tech support. But in this one, any computer is going to need support. Any. So good support is a factor.





So does anyone else think that any topic where RossMAN says, "what I would get," should get automatically moved to Hot Deals? ;)
 

MWink

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,642
1
76


<< You know, details of what happened would be nice in order for him to judge how ligthly/heavily to take your complaint... For all he knows, it could be you were too foolish to know how to recharge a battery? or turn on a screen? Or was it as bad as they kept sending you defective goods and refused to admit it was defective? >>



I would not be ranting if it was my fault. The problem was it, had video problems. I sent it in for service and when I got it back I found they had replaced the GeForce 2 GO with an ATI Rage Mobility! Then they gave me a horrible time when I wanted a refund! Also, there were numerous other problems I'm not going to get into.