Aldi Medion pc coming back on closeout?

[Phil938]

CPU that was in the Medion is now running at 3.2ghz with Watercooling. :Q

WOW! :Q

 

[Lurker501]

Well I'm a little dissapointed in the performance of this computer. Mainly with the video and the hard drive. I overclocked the video to near ti4600 levels but it doesn't seem to do as well as I expected.

The hard drive is rediculous. The HD is formatted into 3 partitions, I tried copying a 500MB file from the C: partition to the D: partition and it took several minutes. When I copied the same file accross the network to another machine it took seconds! The HD is not a very good performer.

I purchased mine on 3/31/03, I think I'll return it before the 30 days are up and just build my own with a Radion 9700 pro. I already purchased a 120GB 7200 RPM ATA/133 drive with 8MB cache to go in my new computer. I just have to decide whether to go with Intel or save some $$$ and go with the Athlon.

Yes, I know it will come out to more than $699, but it should do alot better than this Medion PC.

<sigh> wish it would have been better.

 

[Karsten]

I'll do a test on that tonight. It doesn't quite sound right. I wonder if Memory plays a role here!

 

[FiLeZz]

Just picked up a PC for the $699 price..
As far as the slowdown on the hard drive from partions
sounds to be a security issue with ntfs

its verifying the rights as it writes.. a guess here but I have see slow transfers with PC's using 98/2000 PC on a network due to this.. just a thought try and share a partition out see what happens

 

[wumpuskiller]

. I traded the CPU (2.66) with a friends (2.53).

karsten....earlier in this thread someone mentioned that Medion tech support said the cpu's were glued to the socket. Any truth to that? Did you run into any obstacles trying to get the cpu out? If so, what was the workaround?

sorry for so many q's. i picked up one of these on 3/31/03 and got laid off the next day!! so its still sitting in an open box while i decide whether to take it back for refund (i admit i'm not spending many cycles on this decision). so any info good or bad on these pc's will weigh into the decision.


tia,
wumpus....

 

[Lurker501]

Filezz, it is shared. That's how I was able to copy the same info from another computer. By the way, just an observation, I don't think NTFS security would slow it down by several minutes. One more thing.... The other computer I have also has Windows XP on it and doesn't have this slowdown issue.

But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[cmv]

Originally posted by: 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

That is good news! I didn't expect that at all.

 

[kimdani1]

In terms of the hard drive slow down, this may not explain it completely, but when you copy a file from one computer to another, it's a continuous stream. In the case of a partition, although it appears as though the drives are separate, they are still physically on the same drive. That would mean the hard drive head would have to go back and forth reading from one section and writing to another section of the hard drive. I would think that logically this would take a longer time then reading a continous stream of data. I'm no computer scientist, but makes sense to me. As for taking several more minutes, dunno if my theory explains that all...

 

[kimdani1]

One last brainfart. If you want to test this theory out, add a second hard drive to the computer and copy files from one to the other. You can time how long it takes. Also, some computer books recommend putting the hard drive on a separate IDE chain than the DVD/CD drive.

 

[Bacinator]

An analogy to expunge on kimdani1's explanation:

Same medium (hard drive) seperate media (partitions):
You have a single cd-rom in your computer, and it's a burner, and you want to copy a CD.
You first must then copy the entire CD to your hard drive, THEN insert a blank CD to write to and complete the burn.

Different mediums (hard drives) [seperate media by physics]
You have two cd-roms, and wish to complete the same operation.
Intead of the computer saving the info, it sends the info directly to the other CD-rom (streams the information), while the burner is working.

Oh yeah, and memory IS an issue. If you have 256mb of RAM, and only a few megabytes are free for use (this is due to the Operating system using a LOT + using page file memory [hard drive space allocated to pretend it is memory]), *then* the hard drive will only transfer a file to another partition in pieces (like a walky-talky conversation).

Imagine how effective a 500mb file tranfer is when only 20mb of ram is free (moves the file in less than 20mb chunks, at twice the time due to having to READ AND WRITE to itself), all while other background programs are using the page-file (AKA SAME HARD DRIVE).

Hope that clears any fog of confusion that may have remained. And caps were meant for iteration, not hostility/flamage.

 

[Bacinator]

I got one last brainfart analogy too.

A hard drive writing to a different partition on the same drive would be the same as having a book with blank pages in the back, reading the book, while at the same time writing the exact same thing you're reading, word for word in the back of the book.

This analogy includes the memory issue. How many words can you read before you flip to the back of the book and start writing? Remember, it has to be verbatim (aka: exact copy).

 

[Karsten]

Sorry about not answering earlier (had a surprice visitor last night). Here is some answers:

karsten....earlier in this thread someone mentioned that Medion tech support said the cpu's were glued to the socket. Any truth to that? Did you run into any obstacles trying to get the cpu out? If so, what was the workaround?

Well... yes. That was true. Apperantly Medion used some sort of "epoxy" to glue the cpu to the Heatsink. The workaround to that was a little less gentle force, twisting it with a pair of pliers. Small risk of damage to the CPU was involved, but it worked non the less.
My friend who wanted the CPU was willing to take the gamble (no risk to me was involved).

I had to format a rather large second partition last night on the HD and while in the process of doing it I got my visitor. That's why I didn't do that test last night, but I will do today.

However, what was pointed out is quite correct. 265MB of ram for XP is very much on the low side, and a certain performance hit due to the lack of more memory is to be expected. I will do two tests. One copy with the computer as is, one with 512. However, I also have to point out that I have a complete new and fresh install of Windows XP proffesional. That might change things too, since I don't know how Medion configs where set.

Well... more update tonight.

 

[wumpuskiller]

Thanks for the feedback, karsten. Greatly appreciated.

wumpus....

 

[Karsten]

With 265MB Ram it took about 1:35sec tro copy 556MB from drive D to drive C. Same drive pratitioned into one 20 gig (C) and one 100 Gig (D).

now remember... I did a reinstall and have a clean OS. that is about the only thing that is different.

 

[Karsten]

One last bump from me... since there is still a few available around the country.

 

[Karsten]

Due to overheat issues I did returne mine. I think the memory on mine was a bit flaky... which can happen on new PC's.
I know two other people that purchased the box and love it, not having any issues either.

When I returned mine (flawless, no hustle returne) they told me they got another six. So there is still some around.

 

[thinlizzie]

Nah your problem wasn't the ram, they used ram with samsung chips, that's about the best you can buy. Maybe it lacked sufficient thermal compound. Either way mine is bullet-proof after 5 months of hard gaming!

 

[thebruiser]

My local Aldi's advertised them again this past Sunday. It's a good buy for the money.

 

[fargus]

FYI, Best Buy is starting to carry the Medion PC's now.... don't have price or specs for you, but did see stacks of them at two Virginia stores this past week.

 

[wumpuskiller]

**Never Mind**....found PDFs on the D: drive that did not appear on a disk search. Found the directory while hunting around.

Has anyone located a manual for the mobo (MS-6701) or the video card (MS-8889)? Both appear to be MSI OEMs made for Medion. Web searches have come up empty for me.

TIA for any info on these 2 boards.

wumpus....

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Is this still a good deal in light of Intel releasing 800 fsb pentiums?

 

[Miramonti]

imo, for a closeout price of $699 it sure is!

 

[Tarfin]

Originally posted by: BigEdMuustaffa
Is this stilll a good deal in light of Intel releasing 800 fsb pentiums?

Considering the cost of the components and the software its a steal. Pick one up if you can find one.


OT: Anyone buy the nicer of the digital cameras?

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Found one, am in southern new jersey. They may have more if anyone wants one, pm me....

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Anyone, anyone? Bueller? Bueller?