Dell Inspiron 7000 A366LT

Dell Inspiron 7000 A366LT

SUMMARY

PRO: Fastest notebook we've tested, panoramic screen, huge hard drive, DVD-ROM drive CON: Heavy, poor audio

A $102 price drop puts this heavy and full-featured desktop replacement in the driver's seat. Tipping the scales at 10.4 pounds (including AC adapter) and measuring 12.9 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and 2.2 inches thick, the Inspiron 7000 A366LT is one of the chunkiest notebooks we've evaluated: It throws in everything except the kitchen sink, but you won't want to lug it around on many long trips. Nonetheless, you can't beat its combination of computing speed, desktop comfort, and battery life.

Intel's next-fastest mobile processor and 256KB of onboard level 2 cache helped the A366LT earn a PC WorldBench 98 score of 191, the highest we've recorded for a PII-366 notebook equipped with 64MB of RAM. (Quantex's H-1410, with 128MB of RAM, also scored 191.) With a beautiful 15-inch screen, a comfortable keyboard, and a 10GB hard drive, the A366LT makes an ideal primary PC, especially when teamed with Dell's optional $149 port replicator.

Like many of today's top-of-the-line notebooks, the A366LT also offers a modular bay that can accommodate any one of several devices. In place of the DVD-ROM drive and floppy drive, which come stacked in a combined module, you can insert a second battery ($119) or an Iomega Zip drive ($139). Order a combo CD-ROM/floppy drive in place of the DVD-ROM drive and you save $199.

Unless you make a lot of transcontinental flights, the A366LT's 3.3-hour battery life--the best on this month's power chart--should offer plenty of endurance. Our only caveat: If you plan to use this notebook's TV-out jack for watching DVD movies, editing video, or making big-screen presentations, buy a set of external stereo speakers. Despite its size, the 7000 suffers from weak built-in audio.