The Test System In Figures
3. The Test System In Figures
For our tests, we used the Inspiron 8600 with a 15.4" WSXGA+ display and ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo with 128 MB of video memory.
| Dell Inspiron 8600 | Asus M6800N | Dell Inspiron 8600 | Blackbox-M11 | Yakumo Q8M Power64 XD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Two-Spindle / All-In-One | Two-Spindle / All-In-One | Two-Spindle / All-In-One | Two-Spindle / All-In-One | Two-Spindle / All-In-One |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 357mm x 36mm x 276mm / 14.01" x 1.42" x 10.87" | 352mm x 37mm x 272mm / 13.85" x 1.46" x 10.71" | 357mm x 36mm x 276mm / 14.01" x 1.42" x 10.87" | 360mm x 60mm x 270mm / 14.2" x 2.4" x 10.6" | 333mm x 47mm x 285mm / 13.1" x 1.85" x 11.2" |
| Weight of unit | 3510g / 7.72lbs | 2960g / 6.51lbs | 3510g / 7.72lbs | 4400g / 9.68lbs | 3985g / 8.77lbs |
| Weight of charger and cable | 440g / 0.97lbs | 414g / 0.91lbs | 440g / 0.97lbs | 1300g / 2.86lbs | 735g / 1.62lbs |
| Battery Weight | 470g / 16.59oz | 426g / 15.00oz | 470g / 16.59oz | 650g / 22.95oz | 675g / 23.83oz |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad +Trackstick | Touchpad | Touchpad +Trackstick | Touchpad | Touchpad |
| Display Size | 15,4" | 15.1" | 15,4" | 15,4" | 15" |
| Display Resolution | 1680x1050 | 1400x1050 | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 | 1024x786 |
| CPU | Pentium-M 1.7 GHz | Pentium-M 1.5 GHz | Pentium-M 1.7 GHz | Pentium4 2.40 GHz HT | Athlon 64 Mobile 3000+ |
| Memory Type | PC2700 DDR SDRAM | PC2700 DDR SDRAM | PC2700 DDR SDRAM | PC3200 DDR CL3.0 | PC2100 DDR SDRAM CL2.5 |
| Amount of Memory | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel 82855PM (MCH) | Intel 82855PM (MCH) | Intel 82855PM (MCH) | Intel 865 | K8T800 |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M | Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M | Intel 82801DBM ICH4-M | Intel ICH5 | VT8235 |
| Graphics Controller | ATI MR9600 Pro Turbo 128 MB DDR 337MHz /243MHz (core/memory) | ATI MR9600 64 MB DDR 317MHz /210MHz (core/memory) | Nvidia Geforce FX Go5650 128 MB DDR 325MHz /295MHz (core/memory) | ATI MR9700 128 MB DDR 445MHz/ 263 MHz (core/memory) | ATI MR9600 64 MB DDR 350MHz /200MHz (core/memory) |
| Hard drive bay | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2.5", 9.5mm height | 2.5", 9.5mm height |
| Ethernet | Broadcom 440x 10/100 MBit | Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit | Broadcom 440x 10/100 MBit | 10/100 MBit | VIA compatible 10/100 MBit |
| Bluetooth-Radio | Dell Truemobile 1300 | - | Dell Truemobile 1300 | option | No |
| Modem | BCM V.92 56K Modem | Soft K56 Dta Fax SmartCP | PCTEL 2304WT V.92 MDC Modem | Smart Link 56k | Smart Link 56k |
| Audio | Sigma Tel C-Major | SigmaTel C-Major Audio | Sigma Tel C-Major | SigmaTel C-Major Audio | C-Media AC97 |
| Battery Capacity | 72 Wh | 63.64 Wh | 72 Wh | 95 Wh | 97.68 Wh |
| DVD-/CD-R/RW-Drive | NEC ND-5100A 4x/4x/8x/ /16x16x24x DVD+R/+RW/ /CD-R/-RW | Toshiba SD-R2512 8x/ /24x24x24x DVD-/ /CD-R/-RW Combo Laufwerk | NEC ND-5100A | DVD+RW-Drive | Panasonic UJ815 A 2x/1x8x/ /16x8x24xDVD-R/-RW/ /CD-R/-RW (Multi-DVD)+2x DVD-RAM |
| Harddisc | Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 HTS7260- 60M9AT00 ATA-6 60 GB/ 7200rpm/8 MB | Hitachi Travelstar 80GN IC25N08- 0ATMR04 ATA-6 80 GB/ 4200rpm/8 MB | Fujitsu MHT2060AT PL ATA-6 60 GB/ 4200rpm/2 MB | 80 GB | Seagate Momentus ST94011A ATA-6 40 GB/ 5400rpm/2 MB |
| PC-Card Slot(s) | 1xtype II ( L) | 1xtype II ( L) | 1xtype II ( L) | 1xtype II | 1x type II (R) |
| Floppy Drive | No | No | No | No | |
| USB ports | 2x USB 2.0 (2x B) | 2x USB 2.0 (2x B) | 4x USB 2.0 | 4x USB 2.0 (R,B) | |
| 1394 ports | 1x (L) | 1x (L) | 1x (L) | 1x | 1x (F) |
| IR port | IrDA 1.1 (L) | IrDA (L) | IrDA 1.1 (L) | No | Yes (F) |
| Serial Ports | Yes (B) | No | Yes (B) | No | No |
| Parallel Ports | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | No | Yes (B) |
| VGA out | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | Yes (B) | Yes | Yes (B) |
| PS/2-Connector | No | No | No | No | No |
| Headphone/ Microphone/ Line In Connector | Yes(L)/Yes(L) | Yes(L)/Yes(L) | Yes(L)/Yes(L) | Yes/Yes | Yes/Yes/No (F) |
| Video-In/Out | No/Yes ( B, S-Video ) | No/Yes ( B, S-Video ) | No/Yes ( B, S-Video ) | No/Yes (S-Video) | No/Yes (S-Video) |
| B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side | |||||
| Extras | CD-Player feature | 4 in 1 Cardreader (F) | |||
It wasn't just in 3D graphics that Dell went with a top scorer - also in this notebook are a faster, power-saving mobile processor, the Pentium-M 1.7 GHz, as well as the fastest notebook hard drive on the market, Hitachi's Travelstar 7K60.
Additionally the test device was equipped with a 4x DVD+R/RW burner, along with WLAN and Bluetooth modules. On the other hand, we think only two USB 2.0 ports falls a little short for a machine of this size.
The keyboard has good travel and the key force is pleasant, although the strokes give off a somewhat rattling noise. Instead of a mouse, the device has both a track stick and a touchpad. In our opinion, the approach is a good idea. However, the touchpad buttons have a barely perceptible point of resistance, which cuts down on functionality.
The maximum brightness (149 cd/m²) of the large-format display impressed us less than the high black/white contrast of 339:1. In combination with the sizable diagonals of 15.4" and an aspect ratio of 16:10, it is very well suited for playback of DVD videos. However, for game play, ghosting effects appear during very fast scenes, as the monitor's liquid crystals fall sluggishly short.
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