This Inspiron 8000 features a 15-inch screen
with a native resolution of 1400 by 1050 (a 1600-by-1200 screen also is
available), dual pointing devices, and a set of dual-purpose buttons that can
either control audio CDs or launch applications. The sensible bay design
includes a fixed 8X DVD-ROM drive and a removable floppy drive; this
arrangement lets you carry two optical drives at once, for instance, or two
batteries and a DVD-ROM drive so you can watch back-to-back DVD movies on your
next cross-country flight. Some users may not like the springy, somewhat
noisy keyboard. Dell could have given the 8000's four dual-purpose buttons a
more elegant design, too: Instead of simply flipping a hardware switch as on
other notebooks, you must use a software utility to toggle between CD-playing
and file-launching modes. The 900-MHz 8000 is heavy--even with a travel module
in the floppy-drive bay, the notebook weighs 7.5 pounds--and its PC WorldBench
2000 score of 141 in our speed tests lagged somewhat behind the average score
of Pentium III-850/700 notebooks running Windows Me. This thick, dark-gray notebook comes with two
USB ports and a number of heavy-duty multimedia ports, including a fast
IEEE-1394 connection for digital video editors and an S-Video port for using a
television or other large screen as a monitor. An included cable adapts the
S-Video port for use as a composite video port or S/PDIF-out connection.
Despite this notebook's many multimedia frills, the sound is a little
disappointing, with middling volume and weak bass. However, like its
lighter-weight sibling the Inspiron 4000, the Inspiron 8000 boasts an
easy-to-remove hard drive--handy if you like to keep important data under lock
and key. Bored with the same old look? You can pop out the included dark-gray
palm rests and swap in one of four other colors, including bright yellow; the
set costs only 20 bucks extra. Documentation is plentiful but mostly
electronic, and it's a little disorganized, with multiple shortcuts to the same
manuals. Small to medium-size businesses seeking a
well-equipped desktop replacement for multimedia pros will find that the
well-rounded 8000 almost does it all. Performance is a little disappointing for
a Pentium III-900, but the $2295 price is well below what we've seen for other
similar models.
Buying Information
Dell Inspiron 8000 PC WorldBench score of 141, Pentium
III-900/700 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows Millennium Edition,
15-inch active-matrix screen, NVidia GeForce2 Go graphics chip with 16MB of
SDRAM, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in network adapter, V.90 modem,
touchpad and eraserhead pointing devices, 9.2-pound weight (with AC adapter and
phone cord), Microsoft Works suite 2001, three-year parts warranty, one-year
labor warranty, free unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support. $ 2295 PC WorldBench score of 141, Pentium
III-900/700 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows Millennium Edition,
15-inch active-matrix screen, NVidia GeForce2 Go graphics chip with 16MB of
SDRAM, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in network adapter, V.90 modem,
touchpad and eraserhead pointing devices, 9.2-pound weight (with AC adapter and
phone cord), Microsoft Works suite 2001, three-year parts warranty, one-year
labor warranty, free unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support.
| 