Anyone uses a DELL Inspirion8200 ????

stewas · Post by **stewas** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 7:28 pm

hola you freax out there!

does any1 uses live with a dell inspirion laptop ??? what are your experiences over all with that dell ??

i have sold my old laptop cause it was total crap ( a gericom), now im planning to get a new laptop and i decided after long thinking to stay on windows. so that dell8200 seems a good solution to me --> the intel chipset, good grafx and hd, and up to 1 gig of ram.

SO IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS WORKING ON SUCH A MACHINE AND CAN TELL ME LITTLE BIT OF HIS EXPERIENCES WITH IT ??

THX A LOT !

Cheers. stewas

ProtocolDroid · Post by **ProtocolDroid** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 8:19 pm

I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend this machine to you. I have been using it for a few months now, and it has not failed me yet. Contrary to popular belief it seems, Dell tech support is great, and they helped me with my own lack of knowledge of installing requred system software. I always like to do a fresh install of Windows when I get a new machine, because there is so much crap that these companies load onto them. I had a question about installing a graphics driver, and they were very comprehensive in describing to me what I was doing wrong.

I think it would be fair to you to present the fact that there are people who have problems with the 8200 as well. It is quite bulky, but this is something I don't have any problem with, as it is quite literally a desktop replacement system. The problems that people seem to have had with the machine stem mostly from Dell's unfortunate instances of sending out lemon machines once in a while. Check out some reviews of it and you will see what I mean. Like any other product, some like it, some don't.

Live runs spectacularly well on the 8200 running xp, and using a tascam us224 usb powered interface. I also use the oxygen 8 and kenton control freak, and have had no problems getting any of the usb stuff to work flawlessly with the 8200. Reason and all my other sound apps run extremely well, too.

For gigging, this machine has never come close to letting me down. I take it out to play downtempo/idm and techno sets all over the city quite often, and it has performed exceptionally in all of these instances. It has two fans, which is a real help when you are playing a hot club. I would, however, invest in a simple, small desk fan to put on it when in a club environment for extra protection against overheating.

I really hope this stuff helped you, and if you have the money to drop, I would say pick up the 8200.

peace,

- Nick

stewas · Post by **stewas** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 6:59 am

thanks for your reply!

i wonder how dell comes to that unbelievable huge ram prices they want.

760 Euro for 2*512 mbyte ddr-ram chips ..... hmmmmm
they must be insane

ProtocolDroid · Post by **ProtocolDroid** » Wed Feb 05, 2003 10:16 pm

No problem, I hope that whatever choice you make, it ends up being the right one for you.

It's a big world of choices out there when it comes to buying a new machine.

g'luck,

- Nick

Hexadecimal · Post by **Hexadecimal** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:29 am

I've been using an Inspiron 8200 for about 5 months now and have no complaints - it's been quite a joy. It replaced an Inspiron 7500 as my main laptop.

The 7500 was good, but had some drawbacks (noise through USB audio when plugged in, battery "memory" issues), but the 8200 has none of these problems. My experience with it has been excellent. My only complaint so far is a rather minor one - the built in LAN jack is in a lousy position.

And you're right about the RAM prices. I ordered mine with just a single 128MB slotted and added a good quality 512MB myself for half of what Dell was charging.

Hexadecimal
www.freesidemusic.com

stewas · Post by **stewas** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 3:44 pm

thx mates!

i suppose i will order my inspirion next month but there is one big question left:

should i take the 3 year or the 1 year warranty option ??
the 1year option would punch down the whole price over 300 euros.

when i order the 1year warranty model i am in fear of getting a "resell" model wich was sent back to them for repair or something like that ...

what do u think ? can i thrust them ???

cheers! stewas

Hexadecimal · Post by **Hexadecimal** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 6:20 pm

stewas wrote:thx mates!

i suppose i will order my inspirion next month but there is one big question left:

should i take the 3 year or the 1 year warranty option ??
the 1year option would punch down the whole price over 300 euros.

when i order the 1year warranty model i am in fear of getting a "resell" model wich was sent back to them for repair or something like that ...

what do u think ? can i thrust them ???
cheers! stewas

In the U.S. at least, it'd be very illegal for them to sell a refurb as new. I think unless you're dealing with a really low-budget company (like the old Packard Bell) you won't have to worry about it.

I have the three year waaranties on my 7500 and 8200. I got the 7500 used and it already had it. Made use of the warranty (and on-site service) twice - once when a wire or connector in the screen went bad (or got loose) and once when the battery developed a memory after I used it sporadically. It was definitely worth it in this case because I didn't have to ship the laptop off for the work and I had no other backup laptop at the time.

I'd say get the 3 year warranty if you can. Gigging a laptop can be a bit harsh on it (smoke, temperature, fog juice, bainging around) even if you treat it with kid gloves. For me I'd say the piece of mind is worth it, but it wasn't going to break my bank to spend the extra $300.

Hexadecimal
www.freesidemusic.com

ProtocolDroid · Post by **ProtocolDroid** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 6:22 pm

... I would def. go with the 3 year warrranty. You may thank yourself later if something fucks up. I have all the best warranty options on this thing, and being a firm believer in preparing for shit so it doesn't happen, I would suggest you do the same.

peace,

- Nick

stewas · Post by **stewas** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 4:32 pm

ok.

so i will wait one month longer with my ordering.

nice to get such an excellent feedback

A PEACEFUL WEEKEND TO YA ALL !!!!!

FUKK WARHEADZ LIKE THE BUSH-ADMINISTRATION!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 6:11 pm

Dell's internal sound is aweful. There is this ground hum that drove me crazy untill I got a MOTU. Dell's are great for the cost but the parts are built by the lowest bidder. I'll stay away from them all together. Support is great if you need it though. Funny that they still haven't fixed the hum problem.

stewas · Post by **stewas** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 6:31 pm

Anonymous wrote:Dell's internal sound is aweful. There is this ground hum that drove me crazy untill I got a MOTU. Dell's are great for the cost but the parts are built by the lowest bidder. I'll stay away from them all together. Support is great if you need it though. Funny that they still haven't fixed the hum problem.

you say: no dell ?
what kind of pc laptop u prefer?

Protocol Droid · Post by **Protocol Droid** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 4:45 am

I Have never had a problem with this. Anyway, you really should be breaking the ground off your power strip anyway when playing large clubs.

- Nick

Hexadecimal · Post by **Hexadecimal** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 5:39 am

There's not a computer on the market that I'd buy and use the OEM internal sound on. The inaccuracies in frequency reproduction of most of them are so bad the noise isn't even necessarily your problem anymore.

Sp whatever you do don't rely on the OEM laptop soundcard for your mixing. Get a Quattro, get an EMI, anything, just don't think you're hearing the true sound of your music on an internal laptop soundcard.

My 8200 does not have the USB noise issue the 7500 had. In some environments The ol' 7500 would pass on power noise from big club power through the USB cable into my EMI and Quattro. Running the 7500 on battery eliminated the problem.

Hexadecimal
www.freesidemusic.com

Anyone uses a DELL Inspirion8200 ????

Anyone uses a DELL Inspirion8200 ????

8200 rocks

cool

Re: Anyone uses a DELL Inspirion8200 ????

man...

umm no