The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Inspiron Question..

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Shredder, Jul 23, 2007.

  1. Shredder

    Shredder Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hey all,

    I'm thinking of getting an Inspiron for three reasons.
    1 - Blu Ray drive, and that's needed for a movie review before an interview is done

    2 - Company has the no payments for 90 days option with Dell, which will give me time too save up for it...

    3 - Verizon Wireless Broadband Card built in. No need too carry a PCMIA(sp?) card around as extra baggage...

    So, a couple of questions.

    - I need a sound card option that can hopefully be outputted too a standard 5.1 Home Theater setup and get sound as good as a Home Theater Omega Striker card. Or Creative Labs Xi-Fi. This is not a deal breaker, but on the wish list. Do I get Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition [add $25 or $1/month1] or Creative Labs Express Sound Card [add $75 or $2/month1] for this option?

    - I need a Video card for the Blu-Ray drive, but does the provided choice, 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT [Included in Price] offer HDMI output? I notice the ones on the Hewlett Packard site do, but they are not the same model and the Dell site makes no mention of it.

    - How much time will the 9 cell battery give me? My HP notebook bought in 2006 barley gave me 1 hour on light load.

    - The blu-ray drive. How does it look on the (1920 x 1200) screen choice? As good as a stand alone PC monitor?

    - Finally, how does the built in broadband card from Verizon work? You just activate the service and if the area is covered your good too go without having too carry that extra card around?

    Thanks for any and all help :).
     
    Shredder, Jul 23, 2007
    #1
  2. Aggie384

    Aggie384 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    60
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    The Creative labs express card is an X-Fi card, so yeah I think you would get 5.1 sound.

    The Inspirons do not have HDMI ouput, which I think is retarded since they give you the option for a Blu-ray drive.
     
    Aggie384, Jul 23, 2007
    #2
  3. Shredder

    Shredder Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Aww man... do they at least have DVI output?

    Sound card - So this card does NOT stick in a slot on the side, it is in the actual machine itself? Just want too be clear on that..
     
    Shredder, Jul 23, 2007
    #3