Packing just about everything you'd want in a desktop-replacement laptop, the Dell Inspiron 9300( dell inspiron 9300 battery )has an expansive 17-inch wide-aspect display, plenty of handy connections and drives, and a bevy of top-notch components, including Nvidia's robust GeForce Go 6800 graphics chip. Delivering nominally lower productivity performance than the prior Inspiron 9200 model, the Inspiron 9300 provides a slightly improved gaming performance and a number of refinements, including Microsoft XP Media Center 2005, an optional TV tuner, and two additional USB 2.0 ports, for a total of six. It's not cheap--our loaded configuration costs $2,858--but we recommend it to home and business users who want power and features in a relatively portable rig.
The body of the Inspiron 9300 is crafted out of sturdy and stylish magnesium alloy and measures 15.5 inches wide, 11.3 inches deep, and 1.6 inches thick; it has an attractive silver hue with white trim. At 8.2 pounds, the Inspiron 9300 is on the lighter side of robust desktop replacements, weighing more than a pound less than the HP Pavilion zd8000, not like the digital camera battery Still, it's far too heavy for regular travel. With such a big case, the Inspiron 9300 can afford to include a big keyboard, though it lacks a separate number pad, which the HP Pavilion zd8000 has. The mouse buttons are downright huge, and the touch pad is adequately sized. The latter features arrows running along its right and bottom edges, outlining where to place your finger when using the software-enhanced pad to scroll through documents or Web pages. The Inspiron 9300's two speakers and internal subwoofer deliver crisp and rich sound, unlike the weak, flat strains that trickle out of most laptops. Better yet, because the speakers sit in the corners of the laptop's front edge, your hands won't muffle them while you're typing. Sandwiched between the speakers, a row of seven buttons lets you control disc playback and adjust or mute the volume. The buttons are handy, but we wish they let us play discs without booting up the system--a feature standard on other laptops, digital camera Though the Inspiron 9300 runs Media Center, the bundled TV-tuner box is rather bulky and probably too big to bring on the road.
Our test unit had a bright, vast 17-inch wide-screen display with a WUXGA 1,900x1,200 native resolution. It made newer games such as Half-Life 2 really shine, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching a DVD movie. We must note, however, that the antiglare coating on the Inspiron 9300's WUXGA screen creates a somewhat sparkly effect that's most noticeable against white backgrounds; we've heard from a number of irate users who have found this intolerable, so beware.
There's no dearth of ports, jacks, or slots: the Inspiron 9300 ( dell inspiron 9300 battery ) offers FireWire, S-Video-out, VGA, and six USB 2.0 ports; 56Kbps modem, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks; one each of Type II PC Card and Secure Digital slots; and a swank DVI port, should you want to connect the laptop to an even bigger digital LCD. Last, but definitely not least, the Inspiron 9300 includes a cutting-edge multiformat, double-layer DVD drive, which is fixed and cannot be swapped out for another drive.
Like all of Dell's laptops, the Inspiron 9300 is extremely configurable; our Inspiron 9300 series review includes more details about the available components. At $2,858 (as of May 2005), the configuration CNET tested was quite expensive. Our test model had a blazing Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 graphics chip with an ample 256MB of dedicated video RAM; a power-saving 2.0GHz Pentium M processor; 1GB of speedy 533MHz system memory; a moderately fast 5,400rpm 80GB hard drive; and a giant 17-inch wide-screen display. Our Inspiron 9300 test unit flew through CNET Labs' benchmarks, so if you're low on dough, consider getting a unit with a slower, less expensive processor and less memory; if you're looking for a significantly less expensive, lower-octane desktop replacement, check out the Toshiba Satellite P35-S611.
Our test model featured a 2.0GHz Pentium M 760 CPU with a 2MB L2 cache--an extremely robust mobile rig which outscored many comparably clocked systems we've tested. It held its own in 2D application performance and edged out other powerful laptops on our latest 3D graphics tests; the Inspiron 9300 will undoubtedly deliver strong performance for office and content-creation apps. The Inspiron 9300 even bested the mighty Voodoo Envy m760 on our Half-Life 2 gaming benchmark, revving up to a speedy 64.60 frames per second, though it proved no match for our top gaming machine, the Dell XPS Gen 2. The Inspiron 9300's performance is more proof that a fast Pentium M coupled with Nvidia's latest and greatest graphics solution is a worthy competitor to a heavier, more unwieldy Pentium 4-based machine.
The Inspiron 9300 delivers exceptional design, features, and performance, but its warranty maintains the status quo. Dell backs the Inspiron 9300 with an industry-standard one-year warranty on parts and labor, available by mailing your laptop back to Dell; upgrading to three years of warranty protection costs $269. Toll-free telephone support also lasts for just a year. However, Dell offers a long list of warranty-extension options, including onsite repair, night and weekend service, and accidental-damage coverage, for up to $389. Since you'll be shelling out a pretty penny to get the Inspiron 9300, protecting your investment with at least a two-year warranty is a good idea. The best part of Dell's support Web site is the customer forum, where users can go to get help from other Inspiron owners and Dell reps who moderate the discussions. Otherwise, the site offers the typical knowledge base and downloads sections.
Design
The frame of this Dell is more or less a larger version of the Inspiron 9300 ( dell inspiron 9300 battery), but with a larger palm rest and array of ports. The form remains as a solid plastic material, though the chassis is much heavier at 3.6kg. The screen is locked by two rather flimsy latches which don't clamp down properly until the lid is forced down. However, when swiveled open, an expansive 17-inch reflective widescreen with a resolution of up to 1,920 x 1,200 awaits you. We preferred adjusting the screen to 1,440 x 900 pixels as we felt we were squinting our eyes at the higher res.
You get huge but firm mouse buttons with a four-way scroller lying on the touchpad. The keyboard, appearing to be almost dwarfed by the Inspiron's frame, delivers snappy and responsive feedback. While there are no quick launch buttons, seven useful self-explanatory media buttons line the front edge. With such a huge system, we were surprised that no remote was provided to optimise the use of the Dell Media Experience application meant to control DVD/MP3 playback. Also considering the amount of free space there is on the chassis, we were surprised to find no dedicated Wi-Fi switch.
Features
Most of the features packed into our system are top-notch material. Our test unit uses the high-end Pentium M processor 760 (2.0GHz), a huge 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM and a 60GB hard drive. At the left edge is a DVD±RW burner with dual-layer support to burn 8.5GB DVDs. The graphics are powered by the superb 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 6800, just a level below the 6800 Ultra seen on the Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (not available in the region unfortunately). The unit is highly customisable so you can downgrade to a 730 chip, change the RAM or get a less powerful graphics chip like the 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300.
You have a wide range of connectivity options on the unit with highlights such as six USB ports (more than the usual two to four), FireWire, S-video out and DVI-D ports. On the other hand, S/PDIF support is lacking and the ability to read just a single flash card format (SD) is not enough. Many notebooks already come with 4-in-1 flash readers. For a desktop replacement, this is even more unacceptable. The speakers and the subwoofer lying at the 9300's base produce superb sound quality with great bass reproduction audible as far as three to four rooms away. You get a wide range of networking devices such as a 802.11b/g wireless card, Bluetooth, fast Ethernet and a 56K modem.
Performance
We whipped out our usual benchmarking software, MobileMark 2002, to test the performance and battery life of the Dell. The 235 score we obtained was good by general notebook standards but definitely not the top in the 2.0GHz range, especially when the Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 was able to get a slightly better 237 score running on 1.73GHz.
Gaming performance is by far the Inspiron's forte. With an astonishing 8,118 result when using 3DMark03 and 3,004 in 3DMark03,dell inspiron 9300, dell 9300 battery ,this whipped all other laptops that dared to contend for the throne of the best gaming notebook. As such, the Acer TravelMate 8104WLMi boasting a score of 5,700 (3DMark03) fell into second spot in terms of mobile gaming machines we've tried.
Battery life didn't do too well, clocking 179 minutes (about 3 hours) with the additional nine-cell Lithium-ion battery before dying on us. But does anyone really care so much about this when you're probably going to leave the unit at home anyway?
The default option on Dell's Web site is a one-year next-business-day onsite warranty which covers parts and labour including phone support and battery coverage. A great array of extended warranty options is offered, such as three years of service, accidental damage protection and onsite repair. You can also access Dell's online support site to find additional help such as FAQs and downloads for your notebook.
Loaded with Windows XP Professional Edition with Service Pack 2, the Dell comes with a software bundle which includes Power DVD, Sonic MyDVD, Sonic RecordNow! 7 and Microsoft Works 7.0. The Dell Media Experience application opens up an interface where you can choose to play music, pictures, videos and an option to connect to the Net for software support.
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