Looking At A Dell

[imported_blackcloud]

Have you guys seen the deal on the Dimension 4700? I think today is the last day but here are the options I'm looking at:
*Pentium 4 Processor 550
*3.2 GHz
*512 MB DDR2 SDRAM (2x256M)
*80 GB Harddrive
*3.5 in Floppy Drive
*16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/=RW) w/double layer write capability
*17 in. flat panel display (E173FP)
*6 month earthlink DSL included
Plus I'm getting it through the shop, so no tax and no shipping charge.
Total: $829.00
I figure I can sell the flat screen (already have one) for a couple of hundred and
the earthlink is worth $300.00 or so here, so I think this is a hell of a deal. What
do you guys think? Any Dell fans??

 

[TheOasis]

i guess if you really break it all down and sell that monitor for about $275 then yeah, i'd say thats a decent deal. i'd gte a gig of ram though.

 

[Appledrop]

good deal unless you are a big gamer

 

[imported_blackcloud]

Yeah, I can get a gig of ram for an extra $110 it looks like. I don't do much gaming at all, just music, dvds, surfing, ebay, ect. It will just be nice to have something Fast.

 

[RickH]

The Dell is a great deal. Gaming will be OK. The majority of the computer users out there actually use their computers for work/school, not kids games. R

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: RickH
Gaming will be OK.

sure, if you dont play anything released in the last 3 or 4 years. anything halfway modern will run terribly, if it runs at all.

 

[ShadowBlade]

it sucks, dell uses intel

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
it sucks, dell uses intel

...and?

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: ShadowBlade
it sucks, dell uses intel

Intels aren't bad at all. They just aren't the best for gaming and the price point. IMO I see nothing wrong with getting an Intel if you are not really into gaming

 

[RickH]

LtPage1--If he sells the monitor he can get a new P4 machine for <$600. Not everyone has the need or the cash to spend $400-500 on video cards. I have a $600 pair of VooDoos from the Quake era somewhere in the basement. They cost me a lot of sleep, and a girl, now they are worth nothing. R

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Originally posted by: blackcloud
Yeah, I can get a gig of ram for an extra $110 it looks like. I don't do much gaming at all, just music, dvds, surfing, ebay, ect. It will just be nice to have something Fast.

You can get a gig of Corsair value for $135...lol
Don't buy add-ons from Dell, ever.

 

[Plumcuda1]

Originally posted by: blackcloud
Have you guys seen the deal on the Dimension 4700? I think today is the last day but here are the options I'm looking at:
*Pentium 4 Processor 550
*3.2 GHz
*512 MB DDR2 SDRAM (2x256M)
*80 GB Harddrive
*3.5 in Floppy Drive
*16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/=RW) w/double layer write capability
*17 in. flat panel display (E173FP)
*6 month earthlink DSL included
Plus I'm getting it through the shop, so no tax and no shipping charge.
Total: $829.00
I figure I can sell the flat screen (already have one) for a couple of hundred and
the earthlink is worth $300.00 or so here, so I think this is a hell of a deal. What
do you guys think? Any Dell fans??

Isnt the 550 a 3.4? My 3.6 was a 560 ......

 

[SrGuapo]

Originally posted by: Pr0d1gy

Originally posted by: blackcloud
Yeah, I can get a gig of ram for an extra $110 it looks like. I don't do much gaming at all, just music, dvds, surfing, ebay, ect. It will just be nice to have something Fast.

You can get a gig of Corsair value for $135...lol
Don't buy add-ons from Dell, ever.

That would be DDR1 though, and he needs DDR2. Another stick of DDR2-400 will be around $80-$120, depending on brand and timings.

I assume it is onboard graphics (since you put no mention of a video card)? If yu are just doing ofice work it is a killer deal. It will easily run office programs like MS Office, acrobat, photoshop, etc. If you sell the LCD, you will definately have a great PC for a great price.

 

[halfadder]

Maybe I'm missing something here... but what kind of graphics does it have? I don't see a video card listed. Intergrated / on-board shared motherboard graphics are going to kill your memory bus performance and are going to eat into your CPU performance. Also the drivers will never even come close to those from ATI or NVIDIA for DirectX or OpenGL compliance, let alone performance. Be prepared for some games to actually crash the entire OS when you try to use them. In my experience, even a Radeon 7500 is better than onboard Intel graphics. A real GPU and real dedicated gfx ram is better than none at all.

Also, keep in mind that the included LCD only has analog VGA inputs, it does not have DVI. This will be an issue when using lower quality signals (such as cheaper graphics cards) and will affect the resale value.

How much cache on the hard drive? Is it 8MB or 2MB? PATA or SATA?

If you do buy that system, see what Dell charges to upgrade to 1 GB (2x 512 MB). Otherwise you'll have to throw out the included ram if you want a nice matched set of DIMMs for dual channel performance after you upgrade in the future.

 

[stevty2889]

If ya do get it, run throttle watch 2.0 and put it under heavy load..I had to go to water cooling to keep my 3.4 prescott from running at over 70c and throttling.

 

[beany323]

hey i got a 80 gb hd, 3.4 p4, 512 gb mem, cd burner, dvd player, 256 nvida card all for 600.

keep searching and wait for a deal..

laterz

 

[Zebo]

I don't see how this is a good deal at all especially when you don't need a monitor.

No video ?

Try this:

Antec Black "SLK1650B" $62.00
NEC 16X Double Layer ND-3520A BK, $59.99
NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive $7.00
SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM $56.08
BUFFALO B-Line 2 x 512MB DDR PC-3200 $120.00
EPOX "EP-8KDA3I" $64.50
AMD Athlon 64 2800+ $120.00
SAPPHIRE 9600SE Video Card $70

Total = $557


Getting a gig of ram, real video card, and highly OCable CPU. Probably a better case and DVD burner too.

 

[dev0lution]

Yeah...no video is a bad omen when shopping dell deals. If you were planning on upgrading by getting a video card, check the specs of the motherboard they're using on that particular one. Dell's notorious for mobo's with no AGP slot on their "specials". Good price, but lack of an upgrade path can be a pain in the @$$ later.