Archived Expert Review


This review is from our archive. The manufacturer has informed us that this model has been discontinued. However, it might still be available for sale. The MSRP and warranty were valid at the time the model was discontinued. We hope you'll find our other Laptops reviews and pricing useful.



Expert Review
Dell Inspiron 9200 series portable computer

Enlarge Image





Expert Rating:  3  (what's this?)

Expert Review

Dell Inspiron 9200 series portable computer

Date Published: 2/8/08

Dell's Inspiron 9200 line of notebook computers combines multimedia power with a 17-inch wide screen to make portable computers that feel like you're bringing the desktop along with you. The sharp-looking silver and white laptop isn't light (it weighs close to eight pounds), but it performs beautifully.

The baseline price includes a 1.6GHz Pentium M 725 processor and 512MB of 333MHz RAM, providing an excellent power core for any applications you can throw at it. You can add a faster CPU if you need more megahertz: a 1.8GHz Pentium M 745 will cost $100, while the 2.1GHz Pentium M 765 costs $500, stepping the power up nicely.

The 17-inch UltraSharp WideScreen is looks beautiful while watching movies or gaming. And speaking of gaming, there's an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128MB of video memory inside the 9200--enough for almost any cutting edge game.

The default optical drive is an 8X DVD-ROM, able to play DVDs but without any burning capabilities. For $49, you can make it a combination DVD-ROM drive and 24X CD-RW drive. Or, to burn your own DVDs, $199 will get you the 8X DVD+/-RW burner that burns to both DVD+R and DVD-R disks as well as Double-Layer media, which houses up to 8.5GB on a single disk.

Storage space starts at 40GB, a decent amount of room for the average user. But if you'll be using a lot of video or installing many games on your 9200, you may want to expand. You can increase the drive to 60GB for $49 or double it to 80GB for $125.

The default six-cell battery in the 9200 will provide a little over three hours of life on a single charge. You can bump that to over five hours with the $99 upgrade to a nine-cell battery.

In addition to a modem and network interface, there's integrated 802.11b wireless connectivity. The 9200 also supports Bluetooth for $49 extra.

While there are lighter and less expensive laptops on the market, the Dell Inspiron 9200 is one of the better looking and feeling systems we've tested.

Pros: Large screen, great components
Cons: Expensive



[Note: In 2006, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of about 2.7 million lithium-ion battery packs used in Dell laptop computers. To learn more, follow this link]



Warranty
1-year limited



Expert Rating Scale

 
   Value
   Is it appropriately priced?
   Performance
   How well does it work?
   Ease of Use
   How easy is it to operate?
   Features
   What's included?
   Overall
   What does Consumer Guide® think?




Compare Prices on Laptops
Dell XPS M1330 PC Notebook photo
MPN: XPS-M1330, 13.3 in. WXGA TFT Active Matrix, DVD±RW, 3.97 lb., 1 x ExpressCard, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394a (FireWire), VGA o...

Stores Selling: 4
$350.00 -
$1599.00
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (DNCWEA1) PC Notebook photo
MPN: DNCWEA1, Core Duo 1.33 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, 10.1 in. WSVGA, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 1 x SD Card Slot,...

Stores Selling: 1
$399.00 -
$399.00
Sony VAIO  VGN-N365E/B PC Notebook photo
MPN: VGN-N365E/B, Core Duo 2 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB hard drive, 15.4 in. WXGA TFT Active Matrix, Dual Layer DVD±RW/DVD-RAM, Micros...

Stores Selling: 1
$949.00 -
$949.00



  Looking for More?


Explanations

Expert Reviews
Hewlett-Packard Pavilion dv2800t Artist Edition laptop computer
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ
Gateway T-1630 laptop computer
Apple iBook G4 12-inch portable computer
Averatec 7100 Series Portable Computer

Prices
Hewlett Packard Compaq Evo Notebook N610c (470048-956)
Dell Latitude™ C640 PC Notebook
Sony VAIO® N385E/B PC Notebook
Dell Inspiron 4000 PC Notebook
Sony VAIO VGN-N395E/B PC Notebook



Price Range


Laptop Type


Family Line


Weight


Installed RAM




Narrow Your Search







ATTENTION! We recently updated our privacy policy. The changes are effective as of Thursday, October 30, 2008.

To see the new policy, click [here]. Questions? See the policy for the contact information.

Magic Debugger

release: 8.4.3-qa1
content_id: 259082
type: review
category: sub-cp-laptops

brws title: Dell Inspiron 9200 series portable computer Review: Powered by ConsumerGuide and HowStuffWorks

meta d: Dell's Inspiron 9200 line of notebook computers combines multimedia power with a 17-inch wide screen. Read the full review on Consumer Guide.

url: http://shopproducts.howstuffworks.com/Sony-VAIO-VGN-N395E-B-PC-Notebook/SF-1/PID-42659518