Solid working notebook from a reliable company
Written: Aug 20 '01
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Pros: Solid business working notebook, bright TFT 14" display, excellent support
Cons: This is an older model replaced by newer & better ones.
The Bottom Line: The I3800 is a great mid-tier notebook, but it's an older model, so you might as well buy one of the newer Inspiron models.
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| rfox01's Full Review: Dell Inspiron 3800 C500ST |
I bought the Dell Inspiron 3800 in August 2000 for $1800 (including S+H and extra warranty). Although this is a solid working machine, Dell has phased out this model and has newer models out sporting the latest technologies. They still have some I3800 for sale, and those should sell for much less now.
Order
Dell is the first company to offer online computer customization at their web site, though most manufacturers do that now too. I love how you can go and customize any system with whatever components you want and get a price quote.
Dell has roving promos all the time from free S+H to free components and upgrade. Each promo lasts for about 2 weeks, so if you don't care for what they are offering, you can wait a couple of weeks and see what they're offering next time. I ordered my notebook with a free 2nd battery for the 2nd modular bay, which doubles the time I can use the notebook on battery.
Note on memory: Dell's memory prices are outrageous. The more memory you have the better, but you should order a system with the lowest memory configuration and buy your memory from a memory distributor. Many people go to Crucial.com who offers one of the lowest prices on memory. And it's really easy to find what memory type you need by using their memory configuration finder.
Specifications
These are my system specs:
Dell Inspiron 3800
Intel Celeron 500 MHz (100MHz bus)
32KB L1 cache, 128KB on-die cache
14.1" TFT XGA Active-Matrix Display
8MB ATI Rage Mobility M1 2X AGP video
32MB SDRAM memory
Dual Pointing: Point Stick & Touchpad
6GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive, .5MM
Modular 24X CD-ROM drive
Modular Floppy Drive
Internal Modem V.90 56K Modem (ordered)
Xircom v.90 56 model PC card (received)
Windows 98SE w/ WinME upgrade
Microsoft Works Suite 2000
Norton Antivirus 2001
9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery, 53WHR
2nd battery (Free promo)
3 Yr Ltd. Warranty
Physical Characteristics
I received the order within a week. And there was a nice letter that informed me that instead of waiting for unavailable components and delaying my order, they upgraded the internal modem to a modem PC card for free. That's service!
The I3800 is available in 4 different colors. But I'm a ol' techie that likes my computer equipment to look like a computer and not a toy, so I'm glad one of the colors is standard dark grey.
It has a really bright 14.1" TFT with high XGA resolution. The display is really sharp and there wasn't a single dead pixel (not that uncommon even with new laptops).
The I3800 comes with a modular bay which can house a floppy drive, CD drive, DVD drive or a second battery, any of which you can bye with the notebook or separately. But at 6.5 lbs. it's not the lightest notebook, especially if you carry along the power adapter and whatever other peripherals you need.
The case looks like it's made from cheap soft plastic. But it being more flexible makes it less resistant to cracks and smudges.
Quality and Use
While a Celeron 500MHz sounds slow these days, it's fine for the average business applications. I use this laptop mostly for mobile business use, but I'm also an avid gamer.
The ATI 8MB Rage Mobility isn't as powerful as the newer ATI video in the newer laptops, but it still offers stunning 3D graphics. And while the display is bright enough and sharp for regular 2D business use, the I3800 won't give you the same gaming display richness of a regular CRT monitor.
Same thing goes for the keyboard. It's fine for typing, but many games requires complex key manipulations that really cramp your hand on the small laptop keyboard. And while the pointing stick and touchpad will serve well on business applications, you really need a mouse to make those rapid reflexes needed in games.
And its speakers are the worse I've ever heard. Generally, you can't get notebook speakers to sound like your desktop speakers with the full base and subwoofer, but I've heard better.
The I3800 includes a dual pointing device: both a pointing stick and a touchpad. Some people are real fanatical about one pointing device over another. What I found is that the pointing stick is good for precise mouse movement, while the touchpad is good for long broad strokes across the screen. The touchpad is conveniently in the center where you can reach the buttons easily. But the pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard is really sensitive that when you type you can easily touch the stick and lose your position on the screen.
The bottom of the notebook can get somewhat hot after a while, so I don't recommend you put it on your bare lap. I wouldn't worry too much about the design of the bottom getting hot. I've seen some laptops where the other side with the keyboard surface gets really warm which would be really hard to work with.
The documentation reports a 3-hour battery life. In reality, that's only true when you have the notebook running at a minimum. The more devices you're using (e.g., CD drives use up a lot of juice) and the more applications you have running, the faster you drain your batteries. With average usage, I'd say each battery only lasts about 1.5 to 2 hours max. But the battery recharge is really fast. I've never timed a full battery recharge, but I'd estimate it's about 1 hour. I've worked with other laptops that can take up to 3 times that long to recharge a full battery. One small thing I really like is that there's a LED light to indicate when the battery is recharging. That's helpful so you know when the batter fully recharged even if you have the notebook off or closed.
I bought an additional 128MB memory module from Crucial.com and installed it into the notebook with no problem. The bottom memory compartment panel popped open, the memory stick fit into place solidly, and lid closed back up securely.
Warranty & Support
Dell use to include a standard 3 year warranty with all their systems. Now they offer a standard 1 year with options to purchase 1 or 2 more years. While you can get away with a minimum warranty with a desktop system, it's really worth getting the 3 year warranty with a laptop. With a desktop, it's easy to buy your own components and replace them yourself. But laptops are tightly integrated systems that are not designed to be taken apart. Also, if for whatever reason your notebook display fails, laptop display are REALLY expensive to replace. The 3 year warranty costs an extra $119. Note also, that even if you live in a State where Dell won't charge sales tax on the notebook purchase, because warranty service is done by remote service contractors within your state, you will be taxed for the price of the warranty.
A final note on Dell's tech support. While as a whole the live phone support has gone downhill, thier tech support is still far better than many other computer vendors. And you can always check on the Dell online support, which includes excellent documentation and numerous forums.
Final Comment
The Dell I3800 is a great mid-tier notebook, and I'm happy with it, which is why I give it a positive "recommend". But it's an older model, and Dell is always redesigning new systems offering the latest technology in its systems, so for that reason, I'd suggest buying one of the newer models instead.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1800-Aug`00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: 401-500
Screen Size: 14
RAM: 32
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
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Epinions.com ID:
rfox01
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
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