Dell Vostro 220 $399

[Zap]

New deal!!!

Dell Vostro 220

Core 2 Duo E7400
Windows Vista Home Basic (add $29 for Home Premium)
3GB DDR2-800 dual channel
choice of 19" LCD monitors (E198FP, S1909WXF)
DVD burner (add $10 for a second optical DVD-ROM)
250GB SATA HDD (add $10 for 250GB)
Dell USB keyboard (add $30 for multimedia keyboard)
Dell USB optical mouse
1 year on-site warranty (add $69 for 3 year warranty)

$399 plus tax/shipping

Free shipping if total over $499


$20 less for a faster CPU, more RAM and more HDD, but smaller monitor.


---------- old deal 2/18/09 ----------------

Dell Vostro 220

Core 2 Duo E7400 CPU
Windows Vista Home Basic (add $29 for Home Premium)
2GB DDR2-800 dual channel
choice of widescreen LCD: 22" E228WFP or 21.5" S2209W
DVD burner (add $10 for a second optical DVD-ROM)
160GB SATA HDD (add $10 for 250GB)
Dell USB keyboard (add $30 for multimedia keyboard)
Dell USB optical mouse
1 year on-site warranty (add $69 for 3 year warranty)

$419 plus tax/shipping

The Vostro 220 mini tower is a nice little computer. It is standard micro ATX case and motherboard, using a standard ATX power supply (decent 300W). It has a PCI Express x16 slot and the power supply can easily handle any card that does not need additional power, and the power supply can easily be switched. Some nice add-ons are in parenthesis after the part.

Basically if you want a quality budget system, you just CAN'T beat the price including Windows and a monitor.

 

[moro310]

Bump for this, I got my buddy one of the E7300 ones for a similar price last month. Sold the 22" on Craigslist for $190, popped in a $90 radeon 4830, now he has a nice basic gaming rig for around $330

 

[Phew]

These Vostros are the most absurd deal ever. Subtract the cost of the monitor and Vista, and you basically have a 2.8 GHz dual-core machine for about $150. You can't build anything equivalent for anywhere close to that. Just throw in a 4670 or 4830, and you can game on it too.

We've bought several at work, and I've recommended it to several friends. If you don't get all the extra crap (warranty, upgrades), Dell can't possibly be making money on these.

 

[mshan]

Does waking from sleep work properly, and how silent / quiet are these computers?

 

[Phew]

My Vostro 200 at work can't resume properly from sleep, don't know if they fixed that with the 220. Both models are quieter than any machine I've ever built by a longshot.

 

[nobodyknows]

Does anybody know what this machine has for pci and pci-e expansion slots?

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: nobodyknows
Does anybody know what this machine has for pci and pci-e expansion slots?

Tech Specs (click Tech Specs tab)

Expansion Slots
PCI: 2 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 1 Slot

 

[R Nilla]

double post.

 

[wota]

right now there's also a no os version that's a bit cheaper and comes with a larger hd. on the frontpage of SD.
good deals, very tempting.

 

[nobodyknows]

Originally posted by: wota
right now there's also a no os version that's a bit cheaper and comes with a larger hd. on the frontpage of SD.
good deals, very tempting.

? Got a link ?

 

[imported_Mordor]

What is the shipping cost?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: wota
right now there's also a no os version that's a bit cheaper and comes with a larger hd. on the frontpage of SD.
good deals, very tempting.

That one also only has 1 gig of RAM.

 

[wota]

Originally posted by: nobodyknows

Originally posted by: wota
right now there's also a no os version that's a bit cheaper and comes with a larger hd. on the frontpage of SD.
good deals, very tempting.

? Got a link ?

link

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: wota
right now there's also a no os version that's a bit cheaper and comes with a larger hd. on the frontpage of SD.
good deals, very tempting.

That one also only has 1 gig of RAM.

oh yeah, $10 to upgrade to 2gb. but remember this model only has two ram slots, so it's probably advisable to just get 1gb and buy 4gb for $20AR from frys to replace it.

 

[car whore]

I picked one up -- almost bought last month's deal for the same cost except 7300, but decided this time to step up to 24" since there is so much savings in here. I definitely plan on buying a nice VD to cover this.

I know everyone mentions 4670 and I hear a lot about the 9500 GT. I've also seen mentioned the 4830. Are all of these 512mb? And since I'm a noob (i understand 75% of what's talked about on this forum) break down the best value vs. most expensive of the 3?

 

[car whore]

Originally posted by: Mordor
What is the shipping cost?

Depends on your zip -- most locations it's about $30, but just sign-in & check it out. Or just upgrade to $499 or higher & get free shipping!!

 

[datwater]

Ordered one today and just checked status and it got cancelled with no explanation.

Edit: I think they just wanted me to call and check the status so they could try to sell me upgrades, antivirus, printers, scanners, etc ... after saying no to everything they "uncancelled" it. Say it will ship on 02/18. That's quite a delay for something that's on their advertised special ... not a custom order. Oh well. Cheap enough I guess that I should not complain.

 

[car whore]

With my order I'm shipping the sameday, but no scam cancel yet

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: car whore
I know everyone mentions 4670 and I hear a lot about the 9500 GT. I've also seen mentioned the 4830. Are all of these 512mb? And since I'm a noob (i understand 75% of what's talked about on this forum) break down the best value vs. most expensive of the 3?

All the cards are available as 512MB versions, and some are available as 256MB or 1GB versions.

If you're counting just the card and taking current deals into account, the best performance card out of the three you mentioned is the 4830. HOWEVER, it requires a 6 pin PCIe power plug to work. The power supply "as is" in this Dell Vostro 220 does not support that. You can buy a replacement aftermarket power supply to support it or buy some adapters.

The 4670 and 9500 GT do not need that power plug, so will work fine without having to do anything else besides install drivers. The 9500 GT is available with GDDR3 memory or DDR2 memory. The ones with GDDR3 memory are much faster, and are competitive with the 4670. However, they seem to cost a bit more. The ones with DDR2 are not as powerful.

What games do you play?

 

[krylon]

Does this Vostro have any free 4 pin molex when it ships so that I could use a molex to pci-e adapter? Or would I have to split it off a current device?

 

[Phew]

No Molex, you need a SATA to pci-e adapter.

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: Phew
No Molex, you need a SATA to pci-e adapter.

Can you confirm it has an open sata power plug or two so I wouldn't have to split off another device?

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: Phew
No Molex, you need a SATA to pci-e adapter.

Link? I don't see those at Newegg. Otherwise it's SATA to Molex, and then Molex to PCIE.

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: Phew
No Molex, you need a SATA to pci-e adapter.

Otherwise it's SATA to Molex, and then Molex to PCIE.

This is the only solution I've found, apart from making your custom adapter. How many open SATA power adapters are there on this Vostro?

 

[car whore]

Originally posted by: Zap

All the cards are available as 512MB versions, and some are available as 256MB or 1GB versions.

If you're counting just the card and taking current deals into account, the best performance card out of the three you mentioned is the 4830. HOWEVER, it requires a 6 pin PCIe power plug to work. The power supply "as is" in this Dell Vostro 220 does not support that. You can buy a replacement aftermarket power supply to support it or buy some adapters.

The 4670 and 9500 GT do not need that power plug, so will work fine without having to do anything else besides install drivers. The 9500 GT is available with GDDR3 memory or DDR2 memory. The ones with GDDR3 memory are much faster, and are competitive with the 4670. However, they seem to cost a bit more. The ones with DDR2 are not as powerful.

What games do you play?

Excellent info and the power plug explains why I haven't seen much about the 4830 compared to the other two.


As far as games...
I'm a heavy console gamer looking to step back into what got me started in gaming.

> Far Cry 2

> COD:WOW

> BF:2 & BF:2142

> Brother in Arms

Expecting to find more strategy/FPS style games and then pile on some sweet driving/simulation games. And of course open to suggestions for add-on's going forward.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: car whore
> Far Cry 2

> COD:WOW

> BF:2 & BF:2142

> Brother in Arms

FarCry2 is probably the most demanding game out of the bunch. The rest will probably run fine on the 9500 GT and 4670 up through 22" LCDs.

EDIT: When I say "run fine" I really mean "give you a decent gaming experience." If squeezing the last iota of AA and AF performance makes or breaks your gaming experience, well then maybe stick with console gaming where they don't give you those options to agonize over.