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Why has Dell removed all the ports from the 8600?
It was getting more and more likely that I was going to be buying a 8600 in the next week. Now I find out they have removed the IR port, the serial port and the printer port and the only port that is on the back of the machine is a VGA port, what is that about? I mean their cheap plastics are bad enough that they use, now they are removing ports left and right?
Settles that, no Dell for me! I'm so glad I found this out before I bought, got it home and then blew up at the world hehe.
Message Edited by Sseaott on 06-10-2004 08:57 AM
dagrizz
34 Posts
0
June 11th, 2004 16:00
Robert:
You are pretty spot on about the ports. I am not sure about the reliability issue. I have never had a crash that was atributeable to the legacy ports.
More and more of the software that uses them are slowly changing to using USB for the access keys. These packages could also be tied to a NIC in the system. But that limits portablity of the software. If you change NIC's then you need to go back to hte vendor and get a new liicense file, ususly at a fee. The dongles amke it easy to moce the software from one system to another.
The only thing that some one can do when pruchasing one of these new sysems is to do their home work up front and make sure that all of the ports that are needed are in fact installed on that system.
THe new interfaes are much better from all stand points.
Mike
www.vts4pcb.com
RandyB
518 Posts
0
June 11th, 2004 23:00
You're right! The Eurocom " EUROCOM Mirage D-870P" IS more expensive; but, it has 400MHZ RAM as opposed to the Sager's 333MHZ. It also has the Radeon 9700/256MB memory as opposed to the Sager's Radeon 9000/64MB of memory.
Oditius
808 Posts
0
June 12th, 2004 00:00
Since you have the parallel, serial, and the eraser head mouse stick, you have the IR port. (Activate it in BIO's) Yes, I believe it is the little red plastic glasslike peice under the PCMCIA port. Funny thing is, this has only one. On the right-rear side there is what looks like should be an extra USB port, but it is blocked of with a plastic cover. It has the symbel for a USB port, but I don't think anything it there. I wonder if I could install one?
buddy1065
21 Posts
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June 12th, 2004 11:00
The Eurocom came out to $3218 while the Sager came out at a mere $2690 with both configured at
3.4 Ghz with 800 Mhz FSB
80 Gig 5400 RPM HD
internal Bluetooth
4xDVDRW
17" 1680x1050 LCD Display
512 MB RAM
256 Radeon 9700
With perhaps a few minor differences I see no contest as to which setup I would buy, IF I wanted a PC laptop. I used to buy Sager top of the line laptops all the time; I've had at least 3, but the Windows video editing software at that time made me switch to Macs.
My Apple Rep is giving me a brand new 17" this comming monday or tuesday for my 1 year old 1 Ghz model that had an intermitant display problem they could not pinpoint. Personally I prefer toting a 1" thick 6.7 lb laptop over a 1.7" thick, 10 lb laptop any day. My Powerbook edits video like a dream and plays back full screen uncompressed DV or full screen DVD movies without a flicker...that's why I bought it. It also discovers wireless signals for me without adjustments; I surf the web all day wirelessly at my job sometimes, bootlegging the internet for free. I absolutely love my Aluminum 17" model and can't see any other laptop that is as portable, looks as cool, and no blue screens. Just my honest opinion.
Message Edited by buddy1065 on 06-12-2004 07:26 AM
RandyB
518 Posts
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June 13th, 2004 00:00
"I absolutely love my Aluminum 17" model and can't see any other laptop that is as portable, looks as cool, and no blue screens. Just my honest opinion."
...just wait for a few more months.
Robert in Austi
4 Posts
0
June 15th, 2004 16:00
Rodney Ulanowicz, thank you! I turned my IR on and synched my Treo 600 without a hassle. Took a long time (the Treo 600 has a VGA camera on it, and I had snapped some photos that it needed to sync, but it was hassle-free. This is good -- I leave my USB sync cable at work (there is a second plug on the cable which goes to the AC adapter, so at work, it can charge and sync), and if I need or want to sync at home, I can IR sync. But...
This morning, I booted up. Nothing unusual (other than the 6 power switch attempts it took to turn on). I ran one program, turned it off. When I turned it on again, it said that it had recovered from a serious error, and sent a batch of reports to Microsoft, which said it was a driver error.
I'm really wondering about this 8600 -- I need to get the power-on thing fixed (apparantly, a motherboard swap does it), but this is one flaky system. It cost upward of $2800 with everything on it (DVD burner, 512 RAM, 128 vRAM, ext warranty, etc.) I love the screen, and the system seems okay once you get it on, but I've had more blue screens on startup and picky issues than I have ever had with my cheap Compaq Best Buy special -- $1000 after rebate, with 802.11g, bought in November. The Dell screen is much nicer, but ... the cheap 'paq turns on when I press the on-off button. Sigh...