Dell Inspiron 8100 Note Book any good? /Ultra XGA?/Geforce 2 Go?

[ectx]

Need to buy a notebook PC ASAP (like today). Anybody used Dell Inspiron 8100? What do you think?

Do you think the "Ultra XGA" is worth the extra $150 compared to the "Super XGA"?

Is the GeForce2 any good?

Any other good notebook pc you can recommend? Any suggestion on where to buy?

Thanks.

Dell's free upgrade + $50 off ends today so I am thinking about getting the order in today. But I have not paid much attention to the notebook market at all - so any input is appreciated.

 

[Jejunum]

i dont like this laptop for several reasons
1) 815 chipset ->doesnt support pc 133 ram or speedstep (its not the mobile 815 nor does it use the newer 830 chipset that the mobile tualatins are supposed to be on)

2) weighs a ton

3) I dislike dells; i goto a school where they mandate you buy a dell laptop; i see so many people getting techsupport in the first year; i dont care what pc magazine etc say; their build quality is poor; dead pixels; bad motherboards; etc...

4) geforce 2go 2d quality is not nearly up to par with other laptop video cards
regarding the ultra xga: i think the resolution is to small for me to read text; maybe my eyes just suck however...
i personally am looking at the new sony laptop, its downside is that its only an 8 meg radeon...

5) upside: its cheap compared to most other laptops with similar specs!
sony laptop link

Review of new sony laptop

 

[thepowerhouse]

bumparoo

 

[Madferret]

the Dell inspiron 8100 comes with the Intel 815EP mobo.


1) this mobo DOES support 133/100MHz SDRAM up to 512MB.

2) if you have a intel mobile processor, it WILL support speedstep.

3) the geforce 2 go card kicks ass (if you plan on playing 3d games such as quake, cs..who isn't)!

4) yes, it is heavy.. i think about 7lbs. But remember this laptop is practically a desktop replacement

5) i've read reviews on the Ultra XGA and haven't read anything real bad about them. they say it's really nice tho.

 

[ectx]

Thanks a lot ...
Anyone else cases to comment?

 

[Madferret]

if you do buy this laptop, i recommend you buy 128MB 2 Dimm, and then purchase RAM from crucial. you can get 512MB (2 dimms of 256MB) for about 170 shipped or 1 Dimm of 256 for 80 bucks. dell wants an arm and a leg for additional ram and it is not worth it.

check the hot deals forum for 15% off of crucial ram and crucial is having free shipping right now.

 

[Jejunum]

when i said it the mobo doesnt support speed step i mean the new enhanced speedstep that tualatins have; sorry about being unclear

the 3d capabilities of geforce 2go are awsome; but i dont think its worth the trade of in both power consumption and 2D quality

 

[SweBogus]

I bought the Inspiron with an 850Mhz processor and 256MB ram and it runs like h~ll. The only downside i've seen so far is that in Unreal Tournament external mice seem to lag abit, wich makes my fragrate drop by 10-20%.

Btw i tink that the GeForce2go has Xlnt 2d performance and looks, in any resolution!