Awesome refurb P4 deals @ dell !

[jaybittle]

Actually, I noticed on some of the "spec" sheets, that the promotion was extended to Mar 29 2001 ?

Anyone confirm this ?

--jb

 

[Santa]

It appears that they changed the promotion a little. it is "up to $300" now and as you noticed jaybrittle it is on until 3/29. You also do get a choice of Color Printer or Digital Camera to go with it.

Just saw some more info on it..

$75 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced from $400 to $799
$150 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced between $800 to $1299
$225 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced between $1300 and $1999
$300 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced over $2000

Shipping and any Applicable Taxes Extra - Limit One Per System

Printer: Lexmark Z32 Color Printer (098017) does not include printer cable.
Scanner: UMAX Astra 3400 (253101)
Digital Camera: JamCam (973511)

Offer expires Midnight CST 03/29/2001.

 

[k-train]

Looks like they have changed their discounts. The P4 may not be quite as good a buy, but they have at least discounted all of their refurbished units, and thrown-in a future x-mas/birthday gift you could give to somebody.

I also noted the P991 for only $325 as an add-on, but I haven't called to see if the P991 monitors are refurbished units also.


From the website:

$75 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced from $400 to $799
$150 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced between $800 to $1299
$225 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced between $1300 and $1999
$300 off any Refurbished Dimension PC priced over $2000

Shipping and any Applicable Taxes Extra - Limit One Per System


Choose one of the following for free:
Printer: Lexmark Z32 Color Printer (098017) does not include printer cable.
Scanner: UMAX Astra 3400 (253101)
Digital Camera: JamCam (973511)

Offer expires Midnight CST 03/29/2001.

Add a Dell P991 19" Trinitron Monitor (18.0" viewable) for only $325

 

[Punamo]

Just got my 1.4GHz system. Playing around with it now...

Damn WinMe sucks big time, it feels even slower than my trusty P233MMX with NT4 installed, what a shame.

 

[Cybrwolf]

got my 1.5 2 days ago, I love these frame rates in Quake 3, even Team Arena plays smooth as glass. And yes, Win ME sucks LOL! Will probably upgrade to XP when it comes out

 

[grlaw]

I recieved my computer on Wednesday. Out of the box, I could tell that everything had been used. The keyboard had some type of dandruff looking stuff on it -- but, who cares, I don't need it. I set it up with no problem. I started using it and noticed freezes going on a lot. About every time or so. After contemplating whether to return it, I formatted it and installed Windows 2K. Currently, the computer works beautifully, although I would like more RAM (I have 128MB). Anyone else get similar problems in the beginning?
Again -- thanks to Iweanosox -- YOU ROCK!
grlaw
BTW, this computer's speed totally obliterates the speed of my old Athlon 700. The hard drive, which has been subject to much dicussion, seems faster then my old Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 40 7200 RPM 30GB. Actually, It seems a hell of a lot faster. Since I have installed Win2K, the computer hasn't frozen once and NO BLUE SCREENS!
YOU SUCK WinME!

 

[mukzz]

i wouldn't know what to say grlaw.. i got mine on wednesday too... and man!! its blazin'... and i think mine was not even opened by anyone... it looks absolutely brand new... the keyboard is still in its original wrapping...and for some reason, trust me i am not unhappy, but i got a 40GB SCSI HDD and it is just bleedin' away like a workstation...it also has 2 IDE bays.. woohoo!
the only problem i had is sync-ing my old gateway monitor which cannot take the higher reso the Radeon opens out... i have some freezes while playing NFS5 and Quake III...but its OK at 85Hz and 800x600...
but win2k is behaving itself too well..
my only problem is... i dont have a compatible Oracle EE to put on it... and my superfast 56k connection would take just abt 150 hours to d/l the EE from the oracle site... *sigh*

 

[Punamo]

Yeah installed W2K and it's butterly smooth now!

Thanks to the original poster about this deal.

Anyway, which discussion is more appropriate to talk about systems stuff? The gen hardware section?

 

[grlaw]

mukzz: I guess you are under the impression that I am disappointed that the keyboard looks used. Frankly, I don't give a crap. The computer looked brand new, and that's what mattered. I would recommend Dell Refurbished Systems to anyone .

 

[grlaw]

I still want to upgrade to 256MB of RAM. WIll this stuff work? I think so...
http://www.ibuyer.net/prod.html?id=455110
As you can see, I am not too hardware savvy. If you have any tips for me, I am happy to accept them.
grlaw

 

[DogbertFuz]

Slow but doable?! Last time I heard fastest IDE at 80gigs was 5400 RPM, unless you want to go SCSI or RAID, because of it's density, it's damned fast.

Good deal.

 

[Cybrwolf]

I guess i should add that my system looked unused to me, keyboard was still in the plastic bag and mouse, software, etc, still in sealed packages. I only got a ATA100 7200 60 HD (man! SCSI, nice deal mukzz!) but did a defrag and I've never seen one go so fast before, so I'm not complaining grlaw, remember you have to buy RDRAM in pairs and PC600 and PC800 are not compatible. If you use both, it will run at the PC600 speed for all of it.

 

[Punamo]

Mine looked unused too.

Opened the case to check out the stuff, all looked new. Found out the 40Gig hard drive is actually a Maxtor (way faster than my WD 3.1Gig). \

All in all a great deal. Now if I get a good monitor to complement that...

 

[AbsolutPower]

The computer I ordered last friday isn't here yet. Ugh. Question, in terms of 2D performance (not games), which is better, the GeForce2 GTS or the ATI Radeon DDR? I wanted a system with the Radeon but the only system that matched my other preferences had a GeForce2 in it.

 

[hopster]

As far as 2d performance is concerned, the Radeon rocks. But is it really relavant? I mean, how bad is the worste of 2-d performance these days? I really don't notice a 2d difference in terms of every day use and I have both.

 

[ElFenix]

the geforces usually have bad filters bettwen the chip and the vga connector which affect clarity at resolutions 1280x960 and above. its worse on trinitrons. i dunno if the dell uses good filters or not.

 

[grlaw]

Hey guys...for my computer, should i get ECC or NON-ECC RAM?
The type or RAM I have is listed below...

 

[RobK]

I believe all Rambus ram is ECC right now. Either way, given a choice, pick ECC. It reduces errors w/o a speed decrease.

 

[Mr.Diggler]

<< Hey guys...for my computer, should i get ECC or NON-ECC RAM? >>



Non-ECC. Unless this is for a server, ECC isn't necessary or even noticeable. And if you're using a P4 machine for a server...that'd be funny.

Actually, if you are going to use it with the RAM you already have in your machine, you need to buy the same type. Mixing ECC and non-ECC cancels out the ECC. I would be shocked if your Dell came with ECC sticks, so buy non-ECC.

I'm surprised to see P4 systems built with PC600 RDRAM...it just doesn't make sense to me to try to save a little money with PC600 on such an expensive chip.

I use PC800, 512mb with my P4.

You can buy a 128mb stick of PC800 for less than $140 now.



<< I believe all Rambus ram is ECC right now. Either way, given a choice, pick ECC. It reduces errors w/o a speed decrease. >>



RAMBUS comes in ECC and non-ECC. ECC is generally accepted to have a 2-3 percent performance hit in SDRAM...I do not know if that holds true for RDRAM or if it might even be a little more with the quad-pumped business going on.

 

[KeyserSoze]

IMPORTANT::

You all can get an extra 5% off if you say your a student or member of an educational institution. This will only work if you are one of the previous. They ask for a copy of your id, you need to fax it to their 800 number. Also, they charge 40 bux LESS on shipping.

Be sure to call them and ask them about that. I just bought a Dimension 4100 Series (PIII). BUT, you do not get in on the free printer/scanner/webcam deal. They give you one or the other on promotions.


Good luck yall.

 

[grlaw]

A couple of more questions, and btw, thanks for helping me -- you guys are tremendous:
1) Whenever I run a program that takes up a lot of resources (such as Giants: Citizen Kubuto), my computer tends to freeze. Do I just need to get more RAM? I have scan disked it and defragged (It was heavly fragmented and there were errors on the hard drive), but the problem still persists.
2) I understand that you need to buy RDRAM in pairs. I have 128 MB's (two 64MB RIMMS), does this mean I need to get two 64 MB RIMM's if I want to upgrade to 256 MB RDRAM?
3) I am a little pissed about the first problem. When the computer had ME, it would freeze a lot more. When I put on Win2K, I thought that porblem would be taken care of. Is this computer just a pos, or is it too little RAM. Oh, BTW, FYI, I am running right now Outlook Express, Winamp, Internet Explorer, and AIM at the same time without any problems. Thanks.
grlaw

 

[VBboy]

P4 blows, get AMD 1.2 or 1.33 GHz

 

[cmv]

Dell uses Case Edge cases so it sure ain't worth $175. You can buy Case Edge at bunta or mwave (can't remember which one or maybe at both).

 

[grlaw]

Hey, guys, I jsut called Dell to see what they had to say about the problems I have been having. Their response was, &quot;We cannot answer any questions if you have installed a different operating system than what was originally installed&quot;. I have dealt with Dell for 10 years, I HAVE NEVER HEARD THAT!!
My approval for Dell is slowly dropping....
Best Regards,
grlaw

 

[convex]

dell has never supported non factory installed os's that didn't come with the system. sometimes a tech will help you out with a non factory installed os, but dell policy says not to (due to the fact that the systems might not have been tested for compatability with that particular os).