<p>My dad bought my older sister a laptop (Dell 8600), but she never uses it. So I might take that one to college. HOWEVER, I just got a new laptop (Dell 6000) as a gift from somebody else. So now I have to choose between the Dell 8600 notebook or the Dell 6000 notebook. So for those who know a lot about Dell computers, please tell me which laptop I should use.</p>
<p>Depends on the specs for each. Assuming that the Dell 8600 is a year or older, the 6000 should have better specs. However, we all known what assuming does.</p>
<p>The 6000 would probably be better since it has much newer components than the 8600. Dell discontinued the 8600 years ago!</p>
<p>Don't assume the 6000 is better simply because it is newer. You don't say how old the 8600 is (and contrary to above, Dell was still selling those new until a couple months ago and it is now basically being replaced by the 9300). The basic model 8600 was always a more powerful (and expensive) unit than the basic model for most other Dell notebooks that were being sold at the same time. The basic model 6000 is one of Dell's lower end models. Nevertheless, I really can't tell which one might be preferable from the post since all models can be changed/upgraded when you buy them. One factor could be the weight itself since the 8600 was always a heavy notebook and thus more geared toward being a desktop replacement rather than being constantly portable and thus the lighter 6000 may be a choice if you plan to carry it around all the time.</p>
<p>Some things to look at to compare the two:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do both have wireless network cards. If the 8600 does not that would be a large strike against it (and would make it three or more years old back when the wireless card was optional in it).</p></li>
<li><p>I am assuming both have ethernet cards (if the 8600 does not then it is more than ancient and ethernet is absolutely necessary to hook up to the internet).</p></li>
<li><p>What kind of processor is in it, Celeron, Pentium M, or Pentium 4. Celeron is Dell's low end (OK but can see speed difference from others) and Pentium M is the best for a laptop but Pentium 4 (best for desktops but very good though a severe power eater for laptops) was standard in the 8600 until a little over a year(when it switched to the new M)</p></li>
<li><p>How much memory "RAM" does it have (another very important factor). 256 mb is bare minumum these days and you will notice slower speeds on some programs if that is all you have. 512 is preferable (and actually 1 gb is even better).</p></li>
<li><p>How much storage space on the hard drive, 40 gb is probably low end today but you should have at least 20 (and if the 8600 has only 20 it is ancient) and if you want to store lots of music and photos on your computer, the more the merrier because those kinds of things consume lots of space.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>"Don't assume the 6000 is better simply because it is newer."</p>
<p>Buddy, when it comes to technology, newer is better. Technology is always getting better.</p>
<p>Now, let me give you some reasons why the 6000 is better because it is newer. The 6000 is the first consumer laptop to feature Intel's new Sonoma (Centrino) technology. The 8600 probably has the regular Centrino, without Sonoma. The advantages of Sonoma are increased performance, battery life, and mobility.</p>
<p>dude thanks so much for the advise. im gonna look at my laptops today, but i noticed that teh Dell 6000 does not have floppy disk drive......which is weird...</p>
<p>oh crud both laptops dont have floppy disk drives!</p>
<p>I dont have the product info. booklet for both laptops, so I need your help to figure out things. First, what do I look for to find out if I have wireless network card and ethernet card? Second, where can I find on the computer how much memory I have? </p>
<p>So far, I have figured out the capacity of the laptops. The 6000 has 52.3 GB while the 8600 has 25.1 GB.</p>
<p>"The 6000 would probably be better since it has much newer components than the 8600. Dell discontinued the 8600 years ago!"</p>
<p>No it wasn't. I got mine in December.</p>
<p>"oh crud both laptops dont have floppy disk drives!"</p>
<p>Floppy drives don't come standard on laptops anymore really. And I get along fine without one. You can get a USB key thing that will store much more than a floppy drive and is much more durable and easy to carry (can even go on your keychain) or use CDRs or CDRWS. Floppy drives are basically becoming a thing of the past. Like VHS vs. DVD.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Dell discontinued the 8600 years ago!
[/quote]
Damn, everyone makes mistakes, and this happens to be another one for me! :o
My fault, I got my model numbers mixed up and such. Now I remember which model the 8600 is! It was discontinued only months ago (got replaced by the 6000 in fact)! My apologies to anyone I confused/angered/etc.</p>
<p>But I do still stand by my recommendation to go with the 6000. And people rarely use floppies these days; USB keys have replaced them for good.</p>
<p>You do not need a floppy drive; they have become obsolete since you can download to either a CD disk or get a USB memory key that is small (the size of a key) and hooks into any the USB slots that are either on the side or back of your computer.</p>
<p>After you turn your computer on, click the Start button in the bottom left corner; then click on Control Panel; after it opens, click Performance and Maintenance; on window that pops up, click "see basic information about your computer." A window called "System Properties" should come up and under the "General" tab (which should be the one open when the window comes up), you should find, set out toward the bottom, the type of processor chip you have, the processor speed and the amount of RAM.</p>
<p>As to ethernet, look around the back and sides of your computer for your ports (openings you use to plug things into your computer). Among them should be a phone jack and a slot that looks like a phone jack but is bigger. That second one is the ehternet cable hook-up and if you have that slot you have ethernet.</p>
<p>For wireless, click the Start button, open Control Panel, then open "Network and Internet Connections," then open "Network Connections"; if in the window that pops-up, it says anywhere "Wireless Network Connection, you have a wireless card (note it does not matter whether it shows it as Disconnected)</p>
<p>Being disappointed over the fact that your laptop does not have a floppy drive is like being disappointed that your television is not in black and white. It's ancient history!!!</p>
<p>Ugh, I hate floppy drives! They make me angry. I've saved really important things on disks before and then when I go to retrieve the info it says the disk is corrupt...that's happened too many times to count...</p>
<p>Instead of floppys, back your info up on CDs...true, CDs are more expensive than floppy disks but you're guaranteed that your info will always be there, unlike with floppys.</p>
<p>I used to use floppy disks but they broke a lot...and none of the new computers (esp laptops) have them anymore. MUCH more efficient to just use an USB memory stick. It's like 1.44MB versus 256MB!</p>
<p>CDs aren't that expensive but you can't edit documents on them unless you use a rewriteable one, which I guess cost a bit more...</p>
<p>oh wow, i feel stupid still using floppy disks. thanks so much for all the help!</p>