Aldi Medion pc coming back on closeout?

[BigEdMuustaffa]

It's a 533 FSB, does that help any?

 

[Joony]

A friend of mine picked up three of these, pretty nice machines. Uber quite but ram needs to be upgraded to 512mb or so

 

[Karsten]

I know a few of you who got this back in Nov, have added a few more things to the system like a hard drive or a floppy. Some I think have even changed the power supply. Any comments on that?

There is plenty of expansion room. Not sure if everybody realized that you can click on the individual picks for a larger Version. In any case as you can see here. there is plenty of room for another HD as well as a Floppy. If you do install a floppy it is hidden if you leave the front access pannel closed. The floppy is mounted right below the front access ports. that leaves room for another HD below the current one.

HOWEVER. If you take a close look at the pick of the PSU you'll see that it isn't one of the strongest. If you add anything behond a floppy I would strongly suggest a new PSU. there is one other reason for it. Cooling on the PSU is passive. That is why the whole back has the vent holes.
I am running Seti on it right now and with only one fan cooling the CPU and case the whole box got quite tosty. Not so much that you would hurt yourself... but warm enought to start some concern about stablity if you do some heavy gaming.

Thanks for the cudos on the Website. I am glad to get a bit of feedback, makes it worth the hustle.

 

[Karsten]

My local Aldi still has some of these... this is still a Hot Deal.

Anyone want one? I can ship one if anyone is desperate.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: Karsten

I know a few of you who got this back in Nov, have added a few more things to the system like a hard drive or a floppy. Some I think have even changed the power supply. Any comments on that?

There is plenty of expansion room. Not sure if everybody realized that you can click on the individual picks for a larger Version. In any case as you can see here. there is plenty of room for another HD as well as a Floppy. If you do install a floppy it is hidden if you leave the front access pannel closed. The floppy is mounted right below the front access ports. that leaves room for another HD below the current one.

HOWEVER. If you take a close look at the pick of the PSU you'll see that it isn't one of the strongest. If you add anything behond a floppy I would strongly suggest a new PSU. there is one other reason for it. Cooling on the PSU is passive. That is why the whole back has the vent holes.
I am running Seti on it right now and with only one fan cooling the CPU and case the whole box got quite tosty. Not so much that you would hurt yourself... but warm enought to start some concern about stablity if you do some heavy gaming.

Thanks for the cudos on the Website. I am glad to get a bit of feedback, makes it worth the hustle.

Some questions:

Any ideas on what to do about the first PCI slot being blocked by the Video card fan?

Does the bezel come off the front or do you replace cd/dvd drives from the inside?

I was thinking of putting in an Antec 430 true power power supply but the cabling is awfully long, etc. Do you think it would fit?

Thanks....

 

[timswim78]

It looks like the system comes with XP Home OEM. DOes it come with a recovery CD or a Windows XP Home CD? Also, do you need to activate it (Windows), or has it already been activated?

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: timswim78
It looks like the system comes with XP Home OEM. DOes it come with a recovery CD or a Windows XP Home CD? Also, do you need to activate it (Windows), or has it already been activated?

Ok, here's what I found out:

Windows Home (OEM - for Medion) is installed and according to tech support already activated, but the manual says you may have to activate it if for some reason it wasn't activated it already.

Now, some medion tech people told me it's just an oem version, and can be installed on another computer if you don't use it on their computer, ie, like if you want to install Pro on this medion and move the Home version to another computer of yours. Other medion tech people have told me it will only work on this medion computer, you can install Pro over it, but you can't reinstall it (home) on another computer. Has anyone tried to install the Medion Home disc to another computer? (assuming you aren't using it on the Medion computer any more)

It says recovery CD on it, but it looks like an OEM version. Anyone know for sure?

 

[unclebud]

i thought anything labeled "recovery cd" was oem... *shrugs*
doesn't xp home (full) throw up red flags when installing/reinstalling/removing hd, vid cards?
some people have been complaining to me about that, but it could be user error
good luck regardless

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

I tried installing the disc to another computer with ME on it, and the message : XP home cannot be upgraded on this computer from ME. So I was given the choice of CANCEL only, and when I clicked Cancel, it continued with the installation asking if I wanted to get updated files from the internet. I cancelled and got out of install back to desktop. What do you think?


Also, I installe a Pinnacle PCTV pro tuner card and Studio software for video capture. I haven't tried the video capture software that comes with this computer yet. But.........for some reason, Studio will not let me capture high grade video, I called Pinnacle and they said I needed a newer version of Studio. I have Studio 8, so I installed that, and when I try to capture, I get a capture error message and it locks up. I captured manually with the tv tuner software, but the quality is not like a stand alone tv. Do you think it's the limitation of the tv tuner card? Mini window looks great, full screen is fuzzy.......

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: BigEdMuustaffa
I tried installing the disc to another computer with ME on it, and the message : XP home cannot be upgraded on this computer from ME. So I was given the choice of CANCEL only, and when I clicked Cancel, it continued with the installation asking if I wanted to get updated files from the internet. I cancelled and got out of install back to desktop. What do you think?


Also, I installe a Pinnacle PCTV pro tuner card and Studio software for video capture. I haven't tried the video capture software that comes with this computer yet. But.........for some reason, Studio will not let me capture high grade video, I called Pinnacle and they said I needed a newer version of Studio. I have Studio 8, so I installed that, and when I try to capture, I get a capture error message and it locks up. I captured manually with the tv tuner software, but the quality is not like a stand alone tv. Do you think it's the limitation of the tv tuner card? Mini window looks great, full screen is fuzzy.......

Do you have antivirus software running? My computer will freeze everytime I try to capture video if my Norton AV is running.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

nope, no antivirus at all.......I'm also wondering about the maximum resolution as captured with the pctv pro card....I want the same resolution as I see when watching tv.......or so.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[TeacherTim2]

Anyone know what version of VideoDirector comes with this machine? Every time I run it, it crashes at the start-up screen and I can't figure out what update I need.

Thanks!
TeacherTim

 

[FuzzyBee]

Aldi just came to Atlanta, but I don't think they have these there.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: BigEdMuustaffa
nope, no antivirus at all.......I'm also wondering about the maximum resolution as captured with the pctv pro card....I want the same resolution as I see when watching tv.......or so.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I think that the Max. resolution for capturing TV is 320x240. IF you capture from SVIDEO, I think it is more like 480x320.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: timswim78

Originally posted by: BigEdMuustaffa
nope, no antivirus at all.......I'm also wondering about the maximum resolution as captured with the pctv pro card....I want the same resolution as I see when watching tv.......or so.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I think that the Max. resolution for capturing TV is 320x240. IF you capture from SVIDEO, I think it is more like 480x320.

So then TV can be captured at a higher resolution by using a VHS vcr to record the tv program on tape than using a capture card to burn it to cd or dvd? If this is true, I should use the tuner in a vcr and pass the signal to the pc via svideo if I can....


Any thoughts?

 

[Karsten]

Since this has surfaced again I just figured I give a quick update. AS of last Wed. my Medion has died!
Not sure whats up but it won't boot anymore behond a certain XP startup screen. Neither regular nor safe mode will work.
I wonder if the HD bit the dust... or the cooling for running Seti 24/7 wasn't adequate... that baby got warm. I'll have some time tonght to do a restore... see how that will turn out and post a follow up here later.

 

[Busie23]

I just stopped by one of my local Aldi's because they still had the poster up in their window with the pc, but they were sold out. The lady at the register said they were getting more next week. Wonder if the will drop in price anymore?

 

[nealh]

anybody else get the wireless joystick and pad...mind did not have the installation cd....

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: Busie23
I just stopped by one of my local Aldi's because they still had the poster up in their window with the pc, but they were sold out. The lady at the register said they were getting more next week. Wonder if the will drop in price anymore?

I'm thinking they'll be getting "more" from other stores that haven't sold what they had leftover from the black friday sale. I'd definitely like to know if they drop the price again. If the price does drop again, all those who bought their Medion within 30 days of the (hope so..) price drop, should be able to get a refund pretty easyily...

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Originally posted by: Karsten
Since this has surfaced again I just figured I give a quick update. AS of last Wed. my Medion has died!
Not sure whats up but it won't boot anymore behond a certain XP startup screen. Neither regular nor safe mode will work.
I wonder if the HD bit the dust... or the cooling for running Seti 24/7 wasn't adequate... that baby got warm. I'll have some time tonght to do a restore... see how that will turn out and post a follow up here later.

I'd be curious as to your findings if it's the hd or something else since I plan on adding devices to mine. Its more than likely the hd or just messed up xp? since it will boot into bios right?

 

[Karsten]

Update on the Hardware issue.

Well... me running SETI basically overwhelmed the single fan that cools the box.
I did a reinstall of XP and installed SETI on that clean install. Next time I checked the status of the box it had reset yet again. However, no reinstall needed. The OS was still intact.

After that I installed two fans. One in the back, where there is a designated spot for it to increase Outflow. The other one (small fan) in the front to suck in some fresh air. That Samsung Hard-drive gets VERY toasty! I think that is where the failure came from!

Checking this morning the Comp was still humming and crunching SETI.

 

[KDaver]

I have had mine since the Black Fri. event. SETI runs great on it for me.
I get 2.5 hours for High angle and about 3.5 hours for the really low ones. and just about 3 hours for the mid range.
it has been flawless running 24/7


Just so everyone knows. the 512 MB PC2700 Kbyte ram from BB runs great in this computer
Link to message with RAM

I picked up the RAM the other day and it has been flawless running SETI 24/3

 

[Karsten]

Mine is still running after adding the Fans. So it was defently a heat issue for me.

 

[cmv]

[qI'm thinking they'll be getting "more" from other stores that haven't sold what they had leftover from the black friday sale. I'd definitely like to know if they drop the price again. If the price does drop again, all those who bought their Medion within 30 days of the (hope so..) price drop, should be able to get a refund pretty easyily...[/quote]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume Aldi would give a refund for lower prices later on -- they run a very tight ship.

 

[Karsten]

Acctually... when I paid for my Box the Manager rung me up. He said the following:

You can bring back the Box if anything goes wrong within 30 days.
We will pricematch / adjust the price for 60 days if you see it lower. But the receipt is a MUST!

So i don't think there should be any issues having the price adjusted.

Little side note. I traded the CPU (2.66) with a friends (2.53). He is into Overclocking and wanted to give it a whirl, since even with Watercooling his CPU didn't perform too well.
Well... I made him really happy. The CPU that was in the Medion is now running at 3.2ghz with Watercooling. :Q