Carla Thornton

Dell Inspiron 8200

This muscular desktop replacement includes dual pointing devices, high-end ports, and a high-resolution 15-inch screen driven by an NVidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics processor with 64MB of DDR SDRAM. The 8200's optical drive (an 8X DVD-ROM drive in our review unit; a DVD/CD-RW combination drive is available for an extra $120) is fixed. The floppy drive, located on the front, is modular, so you can carry two optical drives or two batteries at once--perfect for long work sessions away from an outlet or for back-to-back DVD movies.
The battery life, just under 2.5 hours on a single battery, is rather disappointing; we've seen much longer battery lives on other, lighter Inspirons. The heaviest 8000-series notebook yet, the 8200 weighs 9.4 pounds with its AC adapter and 8 pounds without it. Dual-purpose shortcut buttons above the keyboard let you control music CDs or launch applications, but you have to use a software utility to switch between the two modes.
The sturdy dark-gray case sports a FireWire port and an S-Video port for connecting to a TV or video recorder. An included adapter converts the latter port to composite video, and you also get an S/PDIF port for connecting digital audio devices. The hard drive is a snap to remove: All you do is remove a single screw, and it slides out. You can swap the notebook's palm rests for a different set in purple, blue, gray, or yellow with Dell's $19 insert kit; for an extra $39, you can change them to iridescent jade, among other colors. We like the 8000 series' big keyboard, but the eraserhead's mouse buttons are still small and concave and don't feel comfortable against the fingertips. Like its predecessors, the 8200 boasts pretty strong sound, but it still lacks a dedicated mute button--you have to use a function-key combination. Wireless network antennas are built in, but the 802.11b network MiniPCI card costs another $159. Though Dell now also offers a version based on the 1.8-GHz Pentium 4-M CPU, our review unit came with a 1.7-GHz/1.2-GHz Pentium 4-M processor--and it didn't break any speed records in our performance tests. Its PC WorldBench 4 score of 100 is the best score we've recorded so far from a Pentium 4-based notebook, but this Inspiron still earned a lower score than the typical 1.2-GHz Pentium III-M notebook. Electronic information in the Windows Help and Support Center serves ably as a reference manual, though a printed manual would be useful if the notebook failed to boot.
The Inspiron 8200 is the SUV of the notebook world: While it's big and has lots of features, the mileage is disappointing. Judged on graphics prowess alone, the 8200 matches any other high-end notebook out there, but it's expensive and the battery life is below average.

Buying Information

Dell Inspiron 8200 PC WorldBench 4 score of 100, 1.7-GHz/1.2-GHz Pentium 4-M CPU, 256MB of 266-MHz DDR SDRAM, 512KB L2 cache, Windows XP Home, 15.1-inch active-matrix screen, NVidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 40GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in V.92 modem and network adapter, touchpad and eraserhead pointing devices, 9.4 pounds (including AC adapter and phone cord); Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition. One-year parts and labor warranty, free unlimited 24-hour daily toll-free tech support. $ 2379 PC WorldBench 4 score of 100, 1.7-GHz/1.2-GHz Pentium 4-M CPU, 256MB of 266-MHz DDR SDRAM, 512KB L2 cache, Windows XP Home, 15.1-inch active-matrix screen, NVidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 40GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in V.92 modem and network adapter, touchpad and eraserhead pointing devices, 9.4 pounds (including AC adapter and phone cord); Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition. One-year parts and labor warranty, free unlimited 24-hour daily toll-free tech support. http://www.dell.com 800/388-8542