Dell's Monster Notebook

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.techtv.com/news/products/story/0,24195,3616572,00.html' target='_blank'>http://www.techtv.com/news/products/story/0,24195,3616572,00.html</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/3616574.jpg" />"When the big boys come to play, you know you're doing something right. Right? On Thursday, PC heavyweight Dell takes on the likes of Alienware and Voodoo -- relative PC upstarts -- with the company's first gaming notebook. Packed with performance, the Inspiron XPS notebook will also please performance-hungry users such as video editors. Radical cool looks? Maybe not, but the guts of this machine are nothing less than top-of-the-line, marking Dell's arrival in the lucrative gaming market."<br /><br />Wow - imagine doing video editing with THIS thing sitting in your lap! Once you got over it burning your thighs, I think it would be a lot of fun to use. ;-) Killer specs: Pentium 4 3.4 Ghz, 1 GB DDR 400 mhz dual-channel memory, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, 60 GB 7200 RPM HD, gigabit ethernet, DVI output, WiFI, and Bluetooh. Amazing! 8O<br /><br />I'm in the market for a multimedia-friendly notebook, something that I can use as a digital media editing workstation, for both video, audio, and photos. This looks tempting, but I have to wonder what the grudge against Firewire is. Why only one wee 4-pin port? Why not a full 6-pin port, or even both (it's a nine pound laptop after all). I'm a big fan of Firewire, so it's frustrating to me that these vendors don't give us more ports (on both desktops and laptops). Yes, USB 2.0 is a great solution, but if you've got a Firewire hard drive and a DV camera, you're out of ports (unless your hard drive has bridge port, which many do).

[Gary Sheynkman]

I dont think I CAN imagine it on my lap....I would be stuck under it indefinatly :lol:

[Suhit Gupta]

I dont think I CAN imagine it on my lap....I would be stuck under it indefinatly :lol:
Weighing in at 9lbs, I think you might be ;-).

Suhit

[Kevin Jackson]

9 lbs -- my shoulder aches just thinking about it. Come to think of it, I could use something to help me get a workout during those long walks through the airport to catch my connecting flight :)

I just asked my boss for a new laptop -- I wonder if I could talk him into getting me this one :lol:

:werenotworthy: (me begging)

:shocked!: (my bosses reaction)

:D

Cheers.

[Crocuta]

Wow, this takes me back to the days of the early Compaqs, when a portable computer was the size of a suitcase and weighed in around 30 pounds. :lol: Seriously, though, I can see a market for a system like this.

However, I'm a bit worried about whether Dell will have done things right. Jason's comment about the 4-pin Firewire is right on point and it makes me wonder where else they may have cut corners. Dell is well known for putting sub-spec versions of ports in their laptops. (Just check out their support forums for lots of complaints on the topic.) My D600, for example, won't run an external device from the USB 2.0 port because Dell didn't think it was important to make the port actually deliver the specified 500 mA to the USB port. My external drive only needs 350 mA, but Dell doesn't even provide that, so I have to plug in an auxilliary cable to the PS/2 port as well... oh yeah, that's right. Dell didn't put a PS/2 port on this model. :really mad:

Just check this stuff out before anyone plunks down the dough for a top-end system like this.

[Suhit Gupta]

Wow, this takes me back to the days of the early Compaqs, when a portable computer was the size of a suitcase and weighed in around 30 pounds. :lol: Seriously, though, I can see a market for a system like this.
Sure, it would fit perfectly into the LAN parties and/or desktop replacement niche quite well. :)

Suhit

[Phoenix]

The Dell has some good specs, but I just purchased a Sager 8890 from a company called PC Torque.

The Sager is even better equipped and from personal experience I can say without hesitation that PC Torque offers fantastic customer service. My personal experience with Dell was crap and I'd never buy from them again, but aside from that, the Sager is better equipped. One of the greatest features of buying a laptop from PC Torque are the SagerForums that they help host. This is a great support resource that the other resellers just don't offer, but should.

In the Sager, you can have two internal optical drives or dual hard drives set up in a raid system. The Sager also has an internal TV tuner. They also offer a dual format +/- DVD-RW drive as one option, which is what I have.

You can also get custom paint jobs on the laptops as well. Granted, this is not cheap, but I got a Cyan/Purple chameleon color with high gloss, and it's gorgeous. I'll have this laptop for three or four years, so I splurged.

They also offer an 8790, which is available for ordering. This is much like the 8890, but without the ability to house two optical drives at the same time. It has a 256MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card. The 8890 has the 128MB version, although this may be upgradeable. I don't think there is much of a performance gain between the two graphics cards beyond maybe 15%, but still... The 8790 also has a built in video camera as well, which is cool, but I question its true usefulness. Still, both the 8890 and the 8790 are great machines. Very powerful, very fast. And all the ports and features you could want.

There are things that I'd like to change on the laptop. Of course, there are things that a person would like to change on any laptop. Maybe the successor to the 8890 will have these changes, but that's another story. One man's bone is another man's steak.

Worth a look if you're in the market for a high end laptop. Just research the forums thoroughly, register and ask questions, then make your decision.

http://pctorque.com/
http://notebookforums.com/

[David Prahl]

Have you guys heard about Acer's new notebook? Just under 17 pounds?!? 8O

[Kevin Jackson]

Have you guys heard about Acer's new notebook? Just under 17 pounds?!? 8O

I just checked it out on the Acer site -- but I think they've misnamed it.
Rather than the Aspire 1710 shouldn't they have named it the Perspire 1710 :roll: :wink: (It's pretty bad when you roll your OWN eyes at your jokes)

[Suhit Gupta]

Yeah, their Aspire series (the 1700 and the 1710) are ridiculous. But at least they aren't selling them as typical laptops. I mean, they are selling them as true desktop replacements.

Suhit

[Phoenix]

Acer - blech! The only thing they have going for them are their huge screens. I don't doubt that they're making better laptops, but I've seen the specs on their desktop replacement system and it leaves a lot to be desired.

Anyone would be better off spending their money on something else.