Advice on configuring an Inspiron 8000

[Isocene]

Hey all, I just need to nail a couple of things down now so I make sure I dont get something obsolete. Im going to be studying abroad at a University in Japan for the upcoming fall and spring semesters and im looking to buy a heavy duty laptop. Im a gamer. You guys know what I mean.

Ive decided on the Inspiron 8000. I want to get a processor 900+ with a Geforce 2 32 mb, dvd/cdrw with a 20 gb hd. Im looking to get a refurbished system. I have on hold or whatnot right now and im confirming the order tomorrow. I ordered 2 128 mb ram sticks from them for about 80. But I think im going to to crucial.com and get a 256 stick for 90. Does that sound good? And i dont know where to get a bigger hd from but if I can get one for a decent price ill keep the 20. But if I can ill get one with 10 gig and replace it. Im mainly looking for preformance.

I know nothing about laptop. I keep hearing things about firewire or something and those PC something slots. What do they do and how can they benefit me? And has anyone played games like CS or quake on a laptop with those specs. Im wondering how it looks. Is there anything else I need to look out for?

Any help would be mucho appreciate.

minna arigatou!

Isocene

 

[Hender]

I have an Inspiron 8000 with a PIII 800 and 32 MB ATI Rage Mobility 128 (one step down from the Geforce2 Go), and I'm able to play Quake, Quake 2, Quake 3, Half-Life, Black and White, No One Lives Forever, Diablo II, Aliens vs. Predator, and Unreal Tournament. I also get decent 3DMark2000 scores, so I should be able to run Max Payne when that comes out. I wouldn't worry about being able to play games on what you're getting.

Bastard with the combination DVD/CD-RW drive.

 

[Isocene]

lol
Im so excited!
Your able to play Black and White? Thats great. I can even do that on my PC!

Mike

 

[MWink]

Sorry, but I feel I should warn you that the Inspiron 8000 is a pretty bad machine. I got one and at first everything seemed great. It was really fast. Then the problems started poping up. After sending it in to Dell for repairs I found they replaced the GeForce 2GO with an ATI M4! Dell has some pretty bad support. This machine has a ton of problems. I would recommend against it. I am in the process of getting a refund on mine. I would recommend you look at the Toshiba with the G2GO. That is probably what I will get next.

 

[Isocene]

Anyone else?

Isocene

 

[Hender]

I had a bad experience with my previous Dell laptop, but I think that they are probably the mosy feature-rich models on the market. The high-end Dells are really desktop replacements. I haven't had any problems with my current Inspiron 8000, but based on what I've read and my experience with my last Dell, my thoughts are that a larger portion of buyers from Dell seem to get lemons. Of course, I only hear abut the people that had problems, and not enough people post messages saying "My laptop's working fine, thanks!" *Shrug*

 

[Keego]

I haven't heard anything bad except the weight. I'm going to get seperate dvd/cdrw drives because the combo only has 4x CDR

Toshiba only has SDR geforce2 go's last time I checked.

 

[MWink]

The new Toshiba has a DDR G2Go.

 

[Isocene]

What do you all think is too much ram? The laptop im getting is going to come with 256 ram. Should I add some more. The specs of it are at the top. I want optimum gaming preformance, and basically overall preformance. Should I get another 256 at 90 bucks from crucial? Not much money and if it makes a difference its all for the better. Any opinions?

Isocene

 

[Keego]

cool

 

[Keego]

1gb is too much ram in my opinion. Anything less is fine.

 

[ToBeMe]

My wife hasn't had any problems whatsoever with her 8000.......I don't get to mess with it much but they seem REALLY nice!

 

[Keego]

I hate toshiba's site
They only have the 16mb version also. But cheaper than an inspiron

 

[pidge]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8000 and I do not have any problems. The only problem I had was with WinDVD. It doesn't seem to use the hardware acceleration from my Geforce 2 Go very well. So I installed PowerDVD and bam...all problems gone. Plays games really smoothly. I have been so happy with my laptop that I just sold me desktop listed below. I figured that since I am not using it, I might as well sell it and then build myself another system come fall when new products come out.

 

[Isocene]

So do you guys think I should 256 more ram to make it 512?

Isocene

 

[WaynesWorld]

I purchased an INSPIRION 7500 from dell about a year ago ,luv it,although I use it for business apps( sys admin for automation systems).I was triple booting it with win98,win nt,and w2k pro.Now I just use win98 and w2k pro.192 meg ram,600mhz pentium 3.Fifteen and half inch lcd screen,no problems,and I have friends who also luv their 7500's.Good luck,just make sure you get the best screen you can(you'll pay a premium but,your eyes are worth it).

 

[Keego]

I'm going to have 384 in my computer, I wouldn't recommend less than 256, especially since crucial ram is only 86.69 for one stick of 256 when they had free shipping (god I love not having a sales tax in oregon!)

 

[Isocene]

So is 512mb too much?

Isocene

 

[Kowan]

Having 512MB shouldn't hurt.
I just ordered a 1GHz Dell with 128MB 15 Ultra screen and 32Mb GeForce2 Go.
CRWR/DVD combo, 20GB HD, Zip and Advanced Port Replicator.
I'm going to either go 256 or 512MB from Crucial to replace the Dell memory.
It's for my son who starts college this fall.
He's a big kid, so he won't mind the weight.

Inspiron 8000 review

 

[Isocene]

How much was it all?

 

[Keego]

I'll never be able to hold out buying one till september

 

[Isocene]

Whats in Sept?

Isocene

 

[Keego]

Well I'm not going to buy it until I go back to college, Symantec might let me get it in the computer purchase program, plus there will be new hardware out by then (hopefully!)