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We finally got both of our laptops and I have had a chance to use them. I thought I could put both reviews together to make comparison between the two models easier. This is how each is configured:
5100: Pentium 4 2.4Ghz/533FSB, 256Mb RAM, 30Gb HDD, 8x DVD Drive, 15.1" XGA (1024x768) LCD panel, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 w/ 16Mb RAM, 3 Year OnSite CompleteCare Warranty
8500: Penitum 4 M 2.2Ghz/400FSB, 256Mb RAM, 40Gb HDD, 8x DVD Drive, 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) UltraSharp LCD panel, nVidia GeForce4 4200 Go w/ 64Mb RAM, 3 Year OnSite CompleteCare Warranty
Build Quality: Both machines are very attractive in their own way and very well built. Overall the 5100 feels a bit more solid. This could be because it is thicker and a bit heavier. It has a nice 'midnight blue' top which makes the laptop look quite slick when it is closed. In reality, the 8500 with its tone on tone silver colouring is much nicer, IMHO. It looks stunning. The top lid of both units is some sort of plastic/metal mix, protecting the LCD panel. The rest of the laptops are just plastic, but still relatively well made. Neither of them is very portable. If you are looking for something to tote around on a daily basis, you would be better served by a lighter, thinner model. Not that these cannot be toted around, but they are a bit heavy and bulky.
Both machines come preloaded with Windows XP Home edition and a bunch of software that one probably does not need. First thing I did was reformat and reinstall Windows. Thankfully Dell supplies true Windows XP install discs, not 'Restore' discs. Don't be fooled by the silkscreening on the Windows XP CD - it is not a restore CD. You can boot up from it and run the pukka Windows setup routine. The only difference is a small folder added for Dell Support Centre. Also, these versions of Windows do not require activation. They are tied to the BIOS of the machine (as stated in the EULA) and therefor will not require Activation.
Now, for some comparisons:
1. Screens - there is no comparison. The screen on the 5100 is very, very poor. The backlight is clearly on the bottom of the screen and it is impossible to get uniform contrast across the entire screen. Colour rendition is extremely poor - the screen is very washed out and lighter colours can barely be distinguished. The best solution I could find left the top of the screen too dark - just so that the bottom did not appear too washed out. I was not impressed with the screen at all and I know I could not live with it.
The 8500 is another model. The WUXGA is stunning. As this is an UltraSharp screen, contrast is MUCH improved. Contrast is uniform across the entire screen area during normal use. It also allows for much wider viewing angles. Even the lightest colours are well distinguished. The resolution of this screen results in some of the sharpest images I have ever seen on a computer display. Yes, fonts will appear quite small, but thanks to the amazing resolution with a pixel pitch of .17, even the tiniest text is legible. Response times are great (better than the 5100) so there is no problem with playing games.
With a widescreen display, the provisions have been provided for applications that do not support such a resolution. The user has the option of scaling a non-standard resolution to fill the screen. As expected, this will result in some stretching. Also, since this will not be the native resolution of the panel, sharpness does drop off quite a bit. I would always recommend running at native resolution for any text-based work. You may be able to get away with it when running games. The other option is to maintain the highest support resolution and simply run it centred on the display. The result is black bars on the sides and/or top depending on the resolution. This is a nice option as it runs at a native resolution for the panel, so the sharpness is still perfect. Of course, the lower the resolution the smaller the image - an 800x600 image in the middle of a 1920x1200 display looks quite funny.
You wouldn't need to run such a low resolution, however. Most apps and games should support 1600x1200, which is quite useable.
The widescreen panel has many practical functions. You can have two windows open side by side and work in both applications. In Word you can have two pages of a document sit side by side. You also have a lot of taskbar real estate, which is nice, even though I still prefer to keep my taskbar uncluttered.
Screen Score (out of possible 5)
5100: 2.5
8500: 5
2. Input Devices - well let's get this out of the way right away. The keyboard on the 8500 is poor. You may have heard about this and it is sad to say everything you have heard is true. The problem is that the keyboard flexes as you type on it. Now, this could have been a design decision, but that excuse doesn't hold water. The reason being that the degree of flex varies significantly across different areas of the keyboard. If it was a design decision, it was implemented extremely poorly. More than likely it is just a cheap keyboard, which is unexcuseable on a company's flagship laptop. It also rattles tremendously as you type. Apparently Dell is working on a solution - hopefully it shows up soon. In the meantime Bing Fung has provided a very useful guide to a 'mod' that fixes the keyboard issue by simply adding support beneath it.
There are no real issues with the keyboard on the 5100. It is solid and has a nice feeling to it.
Keyboard Score:
5100: 5
8500: 2.5
The touchpads between the two models are different. The 5100 uses a touchpad from Synaptics. It offers a great degree of customisability. One can set up 'tap zones' in each of the four corners for such actions as right-clicking, browser back/forward. Actually, the range of options for the tap zones is quite large. There is also a scrolling feature. My only beef with the Synaptics pad is the feel when it is tapped - there is a hollow, sort of rattling sound. Otherwise is it works very well.
The touchpad on the 8500 is from Alps. It does not perform quite as well as the Synaptics model, IMHO. It offers a similar range of features however. The feeling on the 8500 is much better - when you tap it it feels like there is a brick under it. Very solid. The 8500 also offers a pointer stick in addition to the touchpad. I have not used the pointer stick, so I cannot offer any thoughts.
Touchpad Score:
5100: 4
8500: 4
3. Performance - both machines perform very well when running standard applications. The 8500 has a bit of an edge with its faster hard drive (the 40Gb runs at 5400 RPM vs. the 30Gb at 4200 RPM). Gaming performance is where you will find the divide. The 8500 has a much more powerful video card. While the 5100 will be fine for the casual gamer, the ATI card cannot offer the latest effects such as pixel shading. Running Morrowind at 1600x1200, the 8500 does not even flinch. Combined with the stunning resolution of the panel, the 8500 clearly takes the lead and is a first-rate gaming machine.
Performance Score:
5100: 3
8500: 5
So, there are some of my thoughts. In general, I prefer the 8500 over the 5100. While the keyboard does suck, that can be fixed (and it may even be official soon). The stunning WUXGA screen, combined with the awesome nVidia video card make for a great gaming machine. It also sounds like the video card is upgradeable. As long as Dell provides the necessary cards, the 8500 should have a nice long life ahead of it.
5100: Pentium 4 2.4Ghz/533FSB, 256Mb RAM, 30Gb HDD, 8x DVD Drive, 15.1" XGA (1024x768) LCD panel, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 w/ 16Mb RAM, 3 Year OnSite CompleteCare Warranty
8500: Penitum 4 M 2.2Ghz/400FSB, 256Mb RAM, 40Gb HDD, 8x DVD Drive, 15" WUXGA (1920x1200) UltraSharp LCD panel, nVidia GeForce4 4200 Go w/ 64Mb RAM, 3 Year OnSite CompleteCare Warranty
Build Quality: Both machines are very attractive in their own way and very well built. Overall the 5100 feels a bit more solid. This could be because it is thicker and a bit heavier. It has a nice 'midnight blue' top which makes the laptop look quite slick when it is closed. In reality, the 8500 with its tone on tone silver colouring is much nicer, IMHO. It looks stunning. The top lid of both units is some sort of plastic/metal mix, protecting the LCD panel. The rest of the laptops are just plastic, but still relatively well made. Neither of them is very portable. If you are looking for something to tote around on a daily basis, you would be better served by a lighter, thinner model. Not that these cannot be toted around, but they are a bit heavy and bulky.
Both machines come preloaded with Windows XP Home edition and a bunch of software that one probably does not need. First thing I did was reformat and reinstall Windows. Thankfully Dell supplies true Windows XP install discs, not 'Restore' discs. Don't be fooled by the silkscreening on the Windows XP CD - it is not a restore CD. You can boot up from it and run the pukka Windows setup routine. The only difference is a small folder added for Dell Support Centre. Also, these versions of Windows do not require activation. They are tied to the BIOS of the machine (as stated in the EULA) and therefor will not require Activation.
Now, for some comparisons:
1. Screens - there is no comparison. The screen on the 5100 is very, very poor. The backlight is clearly on the bottom of the screen and it is impossible to get uniform contrast across the entire screen. Colour rendition is extremely poor - the screen is very washed out and lighter colours can barely be distinguished. The best solution I could find left the top of the screen too dark - just so that the bottom did not appear too washed out. I was not impressed with the screen at all and I know I could not live with it.
The 8500 is another model. The WUXGA is stunning. As this is an UltraSharp screen, contrast is MUCH improved. Contrast is uniform across the entire screen area during normal use. It also allows for much wider viewing angles. Even the lightest colours are well distinguished. The resolution of this screen results in some of the sharpest images I have ever seen on a computer display. Yes, fonts will appear quite small, but thanks to the amazing resolution with a pixel pitch of .17, even the tiniest text is legible. Response times are great (better than the 5100) so there is no problem with playing games.
With a widescreen display, the provisions have been provided for applications that do not support such a resolution. The user has the option of scaling a non-standard resolution to fill the screen. As expected, this will result in some stretching. Also, since this will not be the native resolution of the panel, sharpness does drop off quite a bit. I would always recommend running at native resolution for any text-based work. You may be able to get away with it when running games. The other option is to maintain the highest support resolution and simply run it centred on the display. The result is black bars on the sides and/or top depending on the resolution. This is a nice option as it runs at a native resolution for the panel, so the sharpness is still perfect. Of course, the lower the resolution the smaller the image - an 800x600 image in the middle of a 1920x1200 display looks quite funny.
You wouldn't need to run such a low resolution, however. Most apps and games should support 1600x1200, which is quite useable.The widescreen panel has many practical functions. You can have two windows open side by side and work in both applications. In Word you can have two pages of a document sit side by side. You also have a lot of taskbar real estate, which is nice, even though I still prefer to keep my taskbar uncluttered.
Screen Score (out of possible 5)
5100: 2.5
8500: 5
2. Input Devices - well let's get this out of the way right away. The keyboard on the 8500 is poor. You may have heard about this and it is sad to say everything you have heard is true. The problem is that the keyboard flexes as you type on it. Now, this could have been a design decision, but that excuse doesn't hold water. The reason being that the degree of flex varies significantly across different areas of the keyboard. If it was a design decision, it was implemented extremely poorly. More than likely it is just a cheap keyboard, which is unexcuseable on a company's flagship laptop. It also rattles tremendously as you type. Apparently Dell is working on a solution - hopefully it shows up soon. In the meantime Bing Fung has provided a very useful guide to a 'mod' that fixes the keyboard issue by simply adding support beneath it.
There are no real issues with the keyboard on the 5100. It is solid and has a nice feeling to it.
Keyboard Score:
5100: 5
8500: 2.5
The touchpads between the two models are different. The 5100 uses a touchpad from Synaptics. It offers a great degree of customisability. One can set up 'tap zones' in each of the four corners for such actions as right-clicking, browser back/forward. Actually, the range of options for the tap zones is quite large. There is also a scrolling feature. My only beef with the Synaptics pad is the feel when it is tapped - there is a hollow, sort of rattling sound. Otherwise is it works very well.
The touchpad on the 8500 is from Alps. It does not perform quite as well as the Synaptics model, IMHO. It offers a similar range of features however. The feeling on the 8500 is much better - when you tap it it feels like there is a brick under it. Very solid. The 8500 also offers a pointer stick in addition to the touchpad. I have not used the pointer stick, so I cannot offer any thoughts.
Touchpad Score:
5100: 4
8500: 4
3. Performance - both machines perform very well when running standard applications. The 8500 has a bit of an edge with its faster hard drive (the 40Gb runs at 5400 RPM vs. the 30Gb at 4200 RPM). Gaming performance is where you will find the divide. The 8500 has a much more powerful video card. While the 5100 will be fine for the casual gamer, the ATI card cannot offer the latest effects such as pixel shading. Running Morrowind at 1600x1200, the 8500 does not even flinch. Combined with the stunning resolution of the panel, the 8500 clearly takes the lead and is a first-rate gaming machine.
Performance Score:
5100: 3
8500: 5
So, there are some of my thoughts. In general, I prefer the 8500 over the 5100. While the keyboard does suck, that can be fixed (and it may even be official soon). The stunning WUXGA screen, combined with the awesome nVidia video card make for a great gaming machine. It also sounds like the video card is upgradeable. As long as Dell provides the necessary cards, the 8500 should have a nice long life ahead of it.
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