My Inspiron 8600 - I Like it... I Like It alot!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Price, Performance, Screen, Video, DVD+RW, Memory, Battery, Looks. ALL EXCELLENT!

Cons: TrackStick Buttons... Not good, not good at all. Don't halt your purchase though (See Pros).

The Bottom Line: 
I am sat in my livingroom writing this review, and then I'm going to spend some quality time gaming. I'll take it to work tomorrow. Buy one! Why? Why not?

Author's Review
After reading so many reviews on notebooks I feel obliged to write my own short review on my recent purchase of a Dell Inspiron 8600. Here’s what I got:

Centrino 1.6Mhz
1 Gig RAM (Superb free double memory offer)
15.4” SXGA WideScreen
40Gb HDD
CD/DVD +RW Drive
128MB ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo
Upgrade to 3 Yr Warranty

All this cost $3750 (AUS). Comparable notebooks with similar specs were priced considerably higher than this.
The SXGA screen is superb, I think the UXGA screen would be overkill but handy for CAD or other Hi-Res activities. The marketing says its Ultrasharp, and it is Ultrasharp, probably far too good for my weary eyes!
I dropped processor from 1.7 to 1.6 and saved AUS$250 and got the 3 year warranty instead, seemed like a wise move to me, I’m sure you would hardly notice the difference in the end.
1 Gig of RAM does make a difference! Go for the free double memory offers when they come around. Check the Dell ads in magazines regularly when you are in a newsagent, you can often get an idea of what deals Dell are going to offer in the following month well before they are updated on the Internet site.
Video card is excellent, the graphics are slick and look superb on the LCD screen, haven’t tried any DX9 titles yet.
Maybe wish I got a bigger HDD, but it’s what you do with it that counts. Plus you have to draw the line somewhere.
The battery seems to last around 4 hours and only takes an hour to charge, but battery life drops to about 3-3.5 hours when gaming or watching a DVD(which look great).

A few of the negative points I have read about the inspiron 8600 are not such a problem,

PLASTIC LOOKING – everyone says it looks great! I think it looks good too.
SCREEN NOT FLUSH – Fork out extra two grand and get an apple.
HEAVY – I’m an engineer and take this out on the road with me to service calls, if you can’t handle an extra few hundred grams you need to get to the gym. For the specs and price it’s really not that heavy.
DELL SUPPORT – Haven’t had to call em yet……
TRACKSTICK BUTTONS – Yep they are shockers, did anyone at Dell check them? Ladies will break a nail trying to get these things to register a click. The normal touchpad buttons are fine (which most people use anyway).

I ordered the notebook on the 19th of December and received it on the 27th of December. I was shocked to receive this item at my door in Australia within 8 days over the Christmas period, built from scratch in Malaysia (I think). Amazing.

I like it….I like it a lot, as Jim carrey would say.

You know when Homer Simpson hugs and kisses the T.V in admiration, well it’s a bit like that. I just try not to get caught!