The New 8600 Dell
 

A Lightweight Mobile Multimedia Masterpiece...

What is so special about the new Inspiron 8600 Dell...?

Inspiron 8600 Dell

A Notebook that's Licensed to Thrill!

The Inspiron 8600 Dell is licensed to thrill with its Widescreen UltraSharpTM
displays, CentrinoTM mobile technology with the fastest Intel® Pentium M
processors on the market, and the latest 128MB nVidia® GeForceTM FX
graphics card.

With DVD+RW and exceptional mobility options, including
extended battery life and its' built-in wireless connectivity, the Inspiron
8600 Dell is capable of delivering unbeatable performance and functionality.
 

What are the standard Inspiron 8600 Dell features?

• 1MB on-die L2 cache - 32 KB internal cache L1
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system
• 400Mhz Front side Bus
• Intel® 855 PM chipset designed to deliver breakthrough performance at lower power.
• 256MB 333Mhz DDR RAM
• Internal 56Kbps V.92 capable modem and 10/100 Ethernet LAN on Motherboard
• One type I/II PC Card slot
• 15.4" widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800)
• NVIDIA® GeForce4 Go 4200™ with 64MB DDR video RAM
• Ports: Parallel, Serial, VGA, S-video out, 2x USB, IR (IrDa v.1.1), IEEE 1394
• Modular Optical Drive 8x DVD-ROM drive upgrade to CDRW or CD-RW/DVD Combo
• Integrated DualPoint - TouchPad & PointStick pointing devices
• High quality audio system with built-in speakers.
• Lithium Ion 72Whr (9 cell) battery pack with Express Charge™ Technology
• Norton Anti-Virus 2003, Dell E-Support Solution Centre
• 3 Years International On-Site Next Business Day Service Support

       NB - this list for the 8600 Dell may vary in some countries.

Dimensions (15.4" LCD) Height: 38 mm (1.5 inches)
Width: 359 mm (14.1 inches)
Depth: 274 mm (10.8 inches)
Weight with travel module and 72-WHr battery: 3.13 kg (6.9 lb)
Weight with DVD drive and 72-WHr battery: 3.27 kg (7.2 lb)
 

What are the "add-ons" for the Inspiron 8600 Dell?

• Multi-media Audio/VideoCable Kit - everything you need to connect your laptop to a Hi-Fi/TV.
• DeskTop Docking Device - transform your New Notebook into a Desktop PC?
• Instead of a floppy disk drive - use a memory key that holds as much as 10 floppy discs.
• Internal Bluetooth Card - must also select the NVIDIA® GeForce4 Go 4200™ with 64MB DDR video RAM card.
• Upgrade to Windows XP professional operating system
• Upgrade to DVD/+RW Combo
• Upgrade to Complete Care Accidental Cover + On site service - Next Business Day
• Upgrade to faster Pentium M Processor...
• Upgrade to 15.4" widescreen WXGA (1680 x 1050)
• Personalise your Inspiron 8600 Dell with interchangeable LCD Back Covers
• Upgrade to a maximum of 2048 MB 333Mhz DDR RAM
• Second Hard Drive - interchangeable with the Floppy Disk Drive.
• Imaging software for a reliable, portable data backup solution.
• Upgrade to the 128MB NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650.
• Additional 6-cell "Smart" Lithium Polymer battery.

NB - this list for the 8600 Dell may vary in some countries.

Inspiron 8600 Dell - Conclusion:

Yet again Dell has shown that it never stands still...

Dell has added Centrino to the Inspiron 8500 and produced the Inspiron 8600 Dell!

The 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M from the previous model is gone. Now we have in its place is a brand-new 1.7GHz Pentium-M. The numbers may look lower BUT the speed is certainly NOT!

It is the fastest notebook I've seen in 2D testing!

As the 8600 Dell is a Centrino laptop, it is less power hungry and so you see an increased the battery life to 255 minutes under light use, which is a significant improvement!

However this is a "big" notebook and carrying the 8600 Dell around is likely to slow YOU down - it weighs in at 3.4kg. (But still lighter than the 8500.)

The 8600 has an excellent 15.4in widescreen TFT, The 3D performance is very impressive, especially if you choose the super-fast 128MB GeForce FX Go5650, which, with DirectX 9 support, is a dream to have for all your gaming and 3D modelling needs...

There is a new user interface too, featuring audio volume up/down/mute buttons and backlit LEDs for number lock, scroll lock, caps lock and Bluetooth activity.

The 8600 Dell now includes a large 80GB hard disk and the option to upgrade to a DVD+RW drive, which will write and re-write at 2/4x.

The 8600 Dell build quality could be better, just like the 8500 it can feels a little flimsy. But that said you are NOT going to be carrying around this beast too often...

There's both a touchpad and a trackpoint, plus you get both parallel and serial ports, as well as two USB 2 ports, FireWire, infrared, 10/100 Ethernet and a V.92 modem.

As the 8600 Dell now uses Centrino, you lose the 8500's 802.11g WLAN option which was great for most existing networks! The good news is that Dell can supply a suitable 802.11b/g card for you should you require it.

The superior performance and battery life of the Inspiron 8600 Dell is certainly an improvement on its predecessor, and the screen is fantastic too!

This is the FIRST serious contender for the power user who would like to move some work to a laptop, but until now has not been given the choice...

The 8600 Dell now provides one...

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