We VSTS developer technical specialists use VMs heavily.   So when it came time to choose a new laptop, I had to select one that would be great for Virtual PC.  My hardware criteria were the following:

  • 4GB of RAM
  • Core 2 Duo
  • 7200 RPM HD
  • 256MB graphics card for Vista Aero goodness

So when I started looking back in August/September 2006, the Core 2 Duo laptops were just starting to debut.  And I had to purchase something from our MS standards list.  I heard that Dell would have the D820 on the standards list and after looking at the specs, I was pretty excited. 

I had the machine in my hands by late October and using the factory installed XP image, I tested my VPC (a pretty demanding image that contained TFS + VSTS Team Suite). The performance lived up to and often exceeded my expectations.  I ran the image from the primary drive and performance was great!  With older laptops, I had to use an external drive for acceptable VPC performance.   I was pretty happy and so I waited for Vista to RTM so I can wipe the factory installed XP image and starting using D820 as my primary machine with Vista.  But then things started going downhill. 

First, I noticed a strange clicking noise from the HD.  Dell tech support confirmed it wasn't normal and I received a new HD in a few days.   After verifying the new HD, it was time to install Vista and migrate my data from my other laptop.  That went very smoothly.

Then I noticed that my arrow keys were not functioning.  Could this be Vista problem?  I swapped in the old XP drive [the one with clicking noise] and confirmed the arrows key were broken.  Dell sent me a new laptop.

Finally I was in business using the D820 with Vista.  But over the next two weeks or so, Vista just completely froze on me a few times so that I had to do a hard restart.  I though it was a Vista issue but running the BIOS memory diagnostic tool revealed a couple of DIMM faults.  Dell sent me a new laptop.

So now I'm on third [and hopefully last] D820 since October and so far things have been fine.  If the performance of this machine wasn't so superb, I would be a very unhappy customer.  But the combination of performance and Dell customer support has kept me seeking a refund.   But I think there are quality issues with this machine.  Other team members have reported issues like keyboard defects, power switch issues, etc.  So if I had to do it all over again, I would look at other vendors that weren't available to me at the time I made my decision such as similar machines from HP and Lenovo.  

So here are some pros and cons about this machine.

Pros:

  1. Performance is terrific. I can run demanding VPCs and it's a happy, non-frustrating experience.  I'm using less profanity now. 
  2. 1900x1200 resolution is awesome.  It may ruin my eyes but after using this resolution for a few months I can't go back to a lower resolution.
  3. Trackpad software is pretty good.  Although the new versions of the software seems are trending towards removing trackpad customizability and features. 

Cons:

  1. Quality issues
    1. Machine doesn't feel solid.  There a bit of flex.  Plastic feels OK but somewhat cheap.
    2. The side wireless power switch has no tactile feel to it so it's hard to find. 
    3. The trackpad surface feels the same as the surrounding palm rest area so sometimes I find myself mistakenly using the palm rest area for my trackpad. Doh!
  2. Of the 4GB of RAM, only 3.25GB is available with the latest BIOS.  The rest is used by the system for drivers, etc.  This seems to be a limitation of 32-bit Windows but it would've been nice to know at the time of purchase. 
  3. Only 256MB of the 512MB of video memory is really usable.  The rest is shared.  Again, this would've been a good tidbit of information to publicize at the time of purchase.    This feels like buying a 500HP sports coupe only to learn after you drive it off the lot, that only 250HP is really available.  Dell need to be more forthcoming about some of these limitations otherwise customers are going to feel mislead and ripped-off.
  4. NVidia video driver gets a 3.1 on the Windows Experience score.  Hopefully this will improve in the coming months with better drivers.  So far this hasn't effected me at all: I can run full screen DVD movies and fancy WPF applications without a hitch.

 

After 4 months of use, I'm satisfied with this laptop.  I was worried that I made a terrible choice considering the problems that I had at the beginning.  Due to those issues, I wouldn't recommend this machine outright.  So if you can't find a better machine from other vendors, then this isn't a bad choice.  How's that for a review!

Update: 3/28/2006

Recent problems:  Built-in microphone doesn't seem work all the time.  Sometimes it's available, other times it's not.  It's "enabled" but "currently unavailable".   Useless.

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Even worse, a couple of days ago, the old "creaking" noise that prompted me to swap out my first HD has made a return appearance. It's not constant & predictable like it was initially.  But when it does rear it's ugly head, it's loud and intense.  It's gone away and I haven't heard it recently.  So now I'm wondering whether my HD will fail.

Update:  12/14/2007

For the last 6 months or so, when my d820 is on battery power, it randomly stalls [no hard drive activity & drive is silent, fan can still be heard and the screen is either blank or white with static like black lines].  A hard reset is required to recover from these stalls.   There's nothing in the Vista event log that indicates a cause.  Since I'm on AC power 98% of the time, this doesn't affect me much but it's still incredibly annoying since I lose all my work and have to start again.  I've been back & forth with Dell Support since the summer and they don't have a clue.  They suggested swapping out the motherboard and seeing what happened.  I did that 2 weeks ago and that was a disaster.  The machine would have trouble booting, shutdown randomly, couldn't use port replicator, etc.  A few days later another motherboard swap occurred.  And that didn't help because today my machine stalled again while on battery.  So now a replacement d820 has been ordered and is on the way.   Pretty aggravating.  Stay tuned.

 

Bottom line:  AVOID this machine until quality issues are fixed.  Pity, since the machine does have good performance.  But the unpredictability is driving me nuts.