If you like the 8500, you'll be happy with the 8600, which has the same chassis.

The 9100 is larger and heavier, and less portable.

You can't recycle RAM from an 8500 into either the 8600 or 9100, both of which need faster RAM.

 

The 9100 is huge. Think 10lbs, about 2in. tall when closed.If all you want is medium games and great all around laptop, the 8600 is a much better choice.

Yeah i know i already have 333 512mb stick of ram in the closet that will fit the 8600. What i meant is that it would be nice if you could order a stripped laptop without an OS, hard drive and ram. Sager would let you do this last year and it brought the prices of the laptops down considerably. Since i already have all that stuff laying around it would had been nice if it was an option. Only thing that scares me about Sager is what happens when it breaks. I have vendors i can order parts from at work, but doubt Sager parts are numerous as Dell parts.

I can't let this thread go without something positive about the 9100!!

I have the 9100 and love it.  I chose the 9100 because I want the raw power.  I do some serious development work and also some serious game playing.   I carry my laptop to work everyday, just bought some extra power supplies to have where I normally go to everyday.  Those things weigh quite a bit.  If your looking for ultra portable, the 8600 is the way to go.  The weight is no worse for my 9100 than the 8000 was.  Love my 9100, wouldn't touch an 8600 with a ten foot pole!! 

Also, there is no docking station for the 9100, which is the biggest draw back in my opinion.  Not sure the 8600 has one or not.

Good luck, you won't go wrong either way!

And I am exactly the opposite (no offense!). I wouldn't touch the 9100 - I want reasoable speed (i do some development too) and a light package, and a dockling station was a must. There is a very nice one for the 8600.

I hear you.  I really complained about the docking station when I first got it.  Amazing it doesn't come with one.  The USB ones just aren't the same.

I love it the laptop.  It ways the same as my 8000 did and I always have it plugged in, 98% of the time I have it plugged in so really the battery life never came into play. 

It is such a tough question to answer.  I spent several weeks deciding on which one to get.  There is plenty of info in this forum to give you a good list of pros and cons.

Good luck.

well.. i was thinking before i bought my 8600.. my issue was the 9100 are roo heavy for me.. but the dual channel and 8x agp graphics attracts me much.. but at last i go for the 8600 because the carry case + 8600 weights at around 5kgs/11lbs.. haven't get an APR yet, but soon.. i guess the main drawback of a 8600 w/o APR is just the i/o ports problem..

Hi, I bought a 9100 and then returned it and bought an 8600 instead. Here are my reasons:

1) The battery life of the 9100 was terrible, I got almost exactly 1 hour out of the main battery while playing games.

2) You cannot buy a modular bay battery for the 9100 to extend the life.

3) On the back bottom of the 9100 there are two fan inputs which make it impossible to use it on you lap, or anything soft, as you block these ports.

4) The back of the 9100 got extremely hot while playing games, not enough to burn you but enough to make it very uncomfortable if you have it on your lap.

5) The 9100 is twice the height of the 8600 and 2 or more pounds heavier

After playing with the 8600 I found the battery life excellent, I can play the same games as I did with the 9100 only now I have five hours of battery life, this includes using a modular bay battery, the bottom does get a little warm but nothing like the 9100 and as for performance I see no advantage to the 9100, The 8600 plays the same games such as Far Cry at the same, if not better, settings. The 8600 feels much lighter and manageable to carry around and overall I am extremely happy with it.

Returned System:

INSPIRON 9100
Pentium4 3.2Ghz
15.4" WUXGA+ (1900x1200) Display
1GB RAM (2x512mb)
60GB 7200RPM drive
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Pro
4xDVD+RW
Dell 1450 WLAN 802.11/a/b/g
WinXP Pro

Current System:

INSPIRON 8600
Pentium-M 755 2.0Ghz
15.4" WUXGA+ (1900x1200) Display
1GB RAM (2x512mb)
60GB 7200RPM drive
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo
4xDVD+RW
Intel PRO 2200 WLAN (802.11b/g)
WinXP Pro

I also wanted to show my support for the 9100. If you are a computer professional and you are generally sitting during the day then get the 9100. If you are always on the go while are work/home then I would look at the 8600.  But for performance, hand down the 9100 kicks booty. I bring mine to work every day and actually use it now instead of the PC assigned to me in my MIS dept. (The laptop just does a perfect job of anything)  I connect 2 flat screen monitors to the back of the laptop and do dual monitor while at work. At home I'm fine with just use the 1 screen. (2 monitors are great for my application development process)

If you want to have just as much power as a Dell Percesion yet portable. I'd recommand the 9100 or XPS.  The only thing you lose out on is body weight from carrying the laptop around with you. (All the rest of my coworkers come in with suit cases or laptop bags. There I am with my book bag eBag)  (check out ebag ' site. Really cool laptop bags for everyone)

-Stuart

 

I am the exact same way.  Heat, this thing is so much cooler than my I8000 was.  I can't compare it to the 8600 but this thing never over heats and I cannot noticable feel heat when I go to put it in the bag.  I am a member of a clan and play games regularly, for hours, and it never over heats or gets hot.  Maybe doing that while it is on your lap stifles are flow, but when on my desk, never.  It is hard to compare everyone's personal experiances, I compare my personal experiance with my previous laptop, which I am sure the 8600 is alot better than the I8000 was.  So your opinion is obviously different than mine.

I carry it to work everyday, love it.  When my video card upgrade comes out, I will have 1 up on all you 8600 owners   I am only yanking your chain.  To each his own, I think about the 8600 often, with the docking station, but I wouldn't trade the 9100 for it! 

Well in the meantime my company Tandy Inc, part of Radio Shack Inc. decided that although we had good profit margin at our center and always have been number one service center for many years they are closing down 19 more centers, including mine. So now i am jobless and had better not spend money on a laptop. I am not understanding corporate America anymore.

"I am not understanding corporate America anymore."

Keep Bush in office and it will only get worse.  (whoops!)

I really do not blame the president. The problem with business these days they have forgotten about the customer and the employee.