By
Phatsac |
Published
Dec 23 2005, 07:50 PM
Dell Inspiron 9300
If you are in the market for a new laptop or desktop replacement and
love to multi-table, then the Dell Inspiron 9300 is for you. I’ve
had mine since September and it is an absolute jewel. My last
laptop was the Dell Inspiron 600m and when it basically blew up on me,
I swore I would never buy another Dell laptop. However, a friend
of mine sent me a link for a Dell coupon for 40% off so I couldn’t turn
that deal down.
There are so many great things about the 9300 I don’t know really where to start.
The 17” wide-screen display is brilliant and allows for easy 4
tabling. I recommend upgrading ($125) to the Ultrasharp UXGA
Display with Truelife. Both DVDs and games come to life with the
vivid picture.
As you can see, 4 tabling with no overlap is standard. If you are
playing on a screen with overlap, you won’t believe how much your game
will improve when you can actually watch all the tables without
constant clicking. I sometimes even 6 table and the overlap isn’t
bad at all.
Dell offers a multiple processor speeds of the Intel Pentium M
processor. I went with the minimum (1.8GHz) because the extra
cost for the speed really isn’t worth it unless you really, really need
it. I also recommend upgrading to the 1 GB Dual Channel
Ram. The combination of the processor and the upgraded RAM has
impressed me. The laptop has never frozen once—even while 6
tabling on different sites, having multiple internet windows and IM
windows open, and listening to mp3s. The only slow down I’ve
noticed is when I’ve tried to play poker while burning a DVD.
This was actually really stupid of me because the DVD copy will be
pretty poor quality if other programs are running
simultaneously.
The wireless network card runs like a charm. I went with the
basic Intel 2200 B/G and it has not disappointed. It will detect
and connect to wireless networks at my neighbor’s house (2 doors down).
The keyboard sits perfectly under the display and is the most
comfortable of any laptop I’ve ever used. The keys are nice and
large and the space to rest your hands is more than adequate.
There are lots of USB ports: 6 on the rear and 2 on the left of the
laptop so you can plug in all sorts of extras like a mouse, printer, or
external hard drive. There is also a DVI output for plugging in an
HDTV monitor (not that you would need to).
The 8x DVD burner is another must upgrade ($79). Copying DVDs and
burning CDs is a piece of cake, although you will most likely need some
other software because the standard software (Sonic!) doesn’t allow for
compression. I recommend DVD Shrink and Nero Ultimate
Edition.
If you play video games, a final must upgrade is the graphics
card: ATI Mobility Radeon X300 ($49). This card plays most
games easily, though it did have a little bit of trouble playing
Half-Life2/CS:Source. However, once I reduced some of the
graphics options within the game, it ran really well.
The only drawback on the 9300 is its size, but if you are looking for a
laptop to multitable you can’t really complain about that. The
9300 is deceptively light with respect to its size: it only weighs
about 8 lbs.
Obviously, I highly recommend the 9300. The base system starts at
$1,149 and with my recommended upgrades it is $1,498. You can
always find Dell coupons online so be sure to search before you
buy(www.slickdeals.net is a great site).