My Dell Studio XPS 8100 home PC (Part 4)

... continues from Part 3 ...

Keyboard
 
The Dell SK-8165 Studio Consumer Multimedia USB Keyboard (OEM by Silitek of Lite-On Group) that comes with Studio XPS 8100 has a compact keyboard layout similar to laptop keyboard.
 
This is a nice keyboard with 12 multimedia buttons on it, which provide one-key shortcut to open your web browser, email client, Computer Explorer, Calculator, Media Player, sound control and DVD player control.

Mouse

The Dell M-UAV-DEL8 6-button Laser USB Mouse (OEM by Logitech) that comes with Studio XPS 8100 is a Class 1 laser device. Unlike those infra-red optical mouses which you can see the red light at the bottom, its laser beam is too tiny to be easily seen though.

This is a nice mouse with 4 adjustable DPI speeds (400, 800, 1200, 1600) which can be switched with a single button and indicated by nice LED lights on top of it.

It also has 2 side buttons for the function of "Previous" (left side button) and "Next" (right side button).

I have tested this mouse on glass surface, and yes, it can still function on the glass.

19-in-1 media card reader

Despite some other branded PC comes with 40-in-1 media card reader, Dell Studio XPS 8100 only comes with a 19-in-1 media card reader. Supported flash memory cards are:

• Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card
• MiniSD
• Hi-Capacity Secure Digital (SDHC) class2
• Hi-Capacity Secure Digital (SDHC) class4
• Hi-Capacity Secure Digital (SDHC) class6
• Multi Media Card (MMC)
• RS Multimedia Card (RS-MMC)
• Multimedia Card Plus (MMC+)
• Multimedia card Mobile
• Memory Stick (MS)
• Memory Stick Duo
• Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO)
• Memory Stick PRO Duo
• Memory Stick Micro
• Compact Flash I
• Compact Flash II
• Smart Media Card (SM)
• xD Picture Card (xD)
• Micro Drive (MD)

 
USB ports

The Dell Studio XPS 8100 has 8 USB 2.0 ports. 4 are behind the chasis, 2 on top of it, and another 2 are concealed behind a sliding bay door in front of it.

Note that the keyboard and mouse already used up 2 of the USB ports.

Casing, power supply unit and fan

The casing cover of Dell Studio XPS 8100 is just secured with one easily removable knob. You can easily inspect what is inside it. Anyhow, there are handles for you to lock the casing with external lock if you want.

The power supply unit (PSU) of this Dell Studio XPS 8100 is pretty small at 350 Watt only. It does not have power output socket to monitor. Interestingly, Dell provides you a separate power cord in the package, beside the power cord for computer to connect to wall socket) for you to connect your monitor to the wall socket directly.

Anyhow, so far I don't have any problem with my Dell Studio XPS 8100 using this 350 Watt PSU. I think this PC is quite "green" and save electricity consumption.

Inside the casing, below the PSU, you'll find a standard fan as cooling measure, blowing hot air out from behind of it.

Preinstalled software

Beside the Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition, and McAfee Security Center, other pre-installed software are:

• Adobe Reader 9 - to read some of the documentations shipped in softcopy format
• Dell Getting Started Guide - this will run right after the first time OS configuration is completed
• Dell Dock - can keep the Desktop cleaner by organizing the frequently used applications in this Dock and removing their shortcut links from Desktop
• Dell Support Center
• Dell DataSafe Local Backup - I don't find any use of this, other than to create the System Recovery Media. Other feature such as system backup or file backup would require additional payment to upgrade to Premium Version of it.
• Dell DataSafe Online - This is the tools for me to backup my files to the 2GB online backup storage in the Internet.
• Intel Repid Storage Technology - Utility for the Intel RAID controller
• Modem Diagnostic Tool
• NetWaiting - This is a tool to temporary put the dial-up Internet on hold when there is incoming call. No use for DSL connections.
• Roxio Easy CD & DVD Burning
• Cyberlink PowerDVD DX
• Skype