Pretty hot: 1.6ghz system for $699

[amdskip]

not at my local store

 

[PullMyFinger]

Theres 4 stores in conn. anyone L00k yet?

Unfortunately, all 4 stores are over an hour away from me. Anyone in the western side of the state able to check these out?

 

[Karsten]

LOL... I didn't even know the store from my Fatherland has made it over into the states.

Aldi is a shop similar to Kroger or Publix... however they do specialize in NO thrill's service and cheap food.
They have been around in Germany as long as I can think and in recent years have gotten into these special deal where they sell the most unusual items (for a food store). I actually stood in line for my cousin back in Germany about 2-3 years ago to buy a TV. They even wanted to sell a car at one point on a special... but the courts had a look at it and something about German law didn't let them do it. But that is a different story.

In most cases they do undercut the competition quite a bit since they can leverage a LARGE distribution network. In general most people buying these special items like Laptops, desktops or TV's are quite happy with the results. Just do not count on ANY service after the purchase. You will be all on your own!

Hope you guys find what you where looking for!

Karsten

PS. The translation of that review.... boy oh boy was that bad. All in all they give it good marks with little to no problems. Just remember they write the review from the German perspective, and that is being used to these special deals at their store.

 

[creektech]

Couldn't find the deal at my local stores in OH.

 

[RightHere]

I went to at least 7 Aldi's in IL looking for these. I found them at one, waited in line for over an hour and then their *lame* ATM system fooked me (my card works on one of the networks they support, but they declined my card...bastages!!). Finally got a relative's ATM and went to a second store and it worked...unfortunately, he wanted the computer (DOH!). All of the stores I went to said they sold out in less than 90 minutes.

I'm back in WA now and can't go looking at any more stores. So I'm hoping there's an east coaster that is willing to hook up a few AT folks. Maybe the PA folks can hook us up...how many Amish folks need PC's?

The computer is indeed a sweet deal. It even includes Nero 5.5 for your burning pleasure. It's got the "Designed for Windows XP" logo, so it should be a stable system. It boots in like 25 seconds (from power-up to the desktop). I didn't get to pop the hood, but I did notice that the BIOS had the RAM configured as PC100 instead of PC133, so I fixed that. It didn't include a crapload of software or things in the system tray (like most systems do these days). That's fine with me though, since I wasn't looking at this deal for the software.

I called the only IL number for Aldi that I could find. They said that they WERE getting more in, but they had no idea when ("it could be this time next year"). Some stores told me they weren't getting more in. Other stores said they were ordering more. One store put me on a list. With all of the conflicting info, it's hard to figure out what the real story is. Perhaps some of you guys can call the Aldi's in your state and we can compare info. They did admit that they completely underestimated the demand. They had hundreds of pamphlets at each store describing the deal, but only 40 or 50 computers per store. They also advertised in a lot of newspapers. If they don't get these back in stock (in large quantities), they are doing nothing but making potential customers very angry. It's not like it was a loss leader to get you to come in and buy something else...they had separate lines for the PC's and the food. If I could find an email address on their lame website, I'd let them know what I think about this deal...

 

[purpleD]

I just checked the Champaign, IL ALDI, but no luck. They had no idea what I was talking about. Sucks they are unlisted so I couldn't call ahead and ask.

-Glenn

 

[diogenes571]

Has anyone checked the Raleigh, NC store yet?

 

[horseplayer]

I just got back from a store here in Charlotte. The manager says they're not getting any of these. Only the stores in the north.

Anyway according to one German website, they're planning to release a model in the spring using either DDR or Rambus. If the price is anywhere close to this deal, I'll drive to Jersey if I have to.

 

[barfarf]

The motherboard is a MS-6399 Bios version 1.0. I got that from using the online live update bios from msi's website. The are no bios updates but you can get an update for the c-media onboard sound and the intel chipset inf update. After looking around on google i think the chipset is an intel 845. I also noticed my memory settings were set to 100 not 133. I fixed that.

peace out
chris