I have to decide by tomorrow

[Shaners]

I'm looking at a new computer.  I'd only buy a Dell because my company (GE) and Dell have an employee purchase program.

 

I have free shipping and many free upgrade options available until tomorrow at midnight.

 

Here is what I'm looking at.

 

1.9Ghz Pentium 4

256 Meg PC800 RDRAM

64 MEG video card

CD ROM

CDRW

19" .26 dot monitor

40 GIG ultra HD

turtle beach sound card

harmon kardon speakers/woofer

3 year in home warranty

 

plus a bunch of other cool stuff...

 

total price delivered to my house is $1446.00

 

Is this too good of a deal to pass up???  I have to decide by Monday night...

 

Computer Gurus please help...

[02Blue]

You definitely can't go wrong there Shaners. I Love my Dell.

 

Remember though...it's going to be outdated in a couple of years.

 

Whenever I think about getting a new 'puter, which is often, I have to ask myself "what can I do with a new one that I can't do now". And "what do I want to do that this machine can't do?".

 

 

If you have an answer to those questions at all, go for it. But, be honest with yourself.

[02Blue]

Also Shaners, since you are not a newbie to computers, why not build your own. Check it out.

 

http://www.pricewatch.com/

 

You might take a hard look at the AMD processors. Thunderbird is the word for many of my friends.

[NeXuS1]

64meg video card means nothing. you need to know who is making it and what GPU they are using. to know if thats a worth while part of the system.

 

ultra what? ultra ata100? 133? 33? 66?

what speed cdrw and what speed cd-rom ?

[Shaners]

02,

 

I'm running an AMD Athlon 850 right now.  It will be 2 years old in Feb., and I paid almost $2600 for it.  It's been a decent machine.  200Mhz front/side buss DVD CDRW etc...

 

It is getting a little "funky" though, and definatly needs a reformat.  I would do that and give it to the kids to replace their 166Mhz Celeron.

 

Dell is a good name in computers and the price seems pretty good to me.  A comparable Gateway (even with their free shipping) would be over $200 more.

 

This system needs reformatted no matter what.  So do I want to reinstall/transfer all files back on this one or on a new "Dell".  I've got 24 hours to decide...

[raventai]

if u spend a lot of time doing anything on a puter difinately think about building yourself u will not save any money but u will have a much better machine, I built my first one this summer and love it (only prob is it takes a lot of research and time)

 

www.raventai.homestead.com for specs and pics

 

sience u say the old one needs a reformat it sounds like u are running win 98 windows 2000 is much more stabil

 

win xp is based on win 2000 and is getting better by the day I am not going to switch anytime soon but sience u are getting new might as welll

[02Blue]

That would be a wonderful gift for the kids Shaners. I say go for it. Dell is good!

 

Ok, lets try every angle though. ... have you asked the kids what they think Dad? Kids these days are really smart and Shaner, I would be willing to bet that you have some of the most intelligent children around.

 

Remember, I said Thunderbird, not Athlon...BIG difference if you are into that sort of stuff.

 

Yes, definitely get rid of the Clelron Shaners

[Guest Friz]

I am in the same place you are, Shaners. Should I buy new or try and jack mine up?

I have a 200 mhz CPU, a dinosaur in today's world. But I got to thinking that I don't do anything but surf the net and do some minimal word processing. I priced some new machines and decided to just jack mine up. I'm sending it out to a local 'puter shop. They are gonna add some ram and give everything a tune-up.

I think that this will suit me fine, especially since I don't play any games or do any serious computer work.

[Shaners]

OK here it is...

Pentium4  1.9Ghz, an NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX AGP Graphics card with TV out.  The hard drive is an 40Gb Ultra ATA/100 (the same drive as in this machine).  48X CDROM (no DVD but I've never used it in this system which has it).  16/10/40 CDRW.  Harmon Kardon HK-695 Speakers/woofer.  256 meg PC 800 RDRAM. 19"/18" viewable .26dot monitor.  Turtle Beach sound card.  Windows XP.  Plus all the other standard software...(MS Works, Norton, Image Expert etc...)  

 

$1446 delivered

[illmac77]

id go for it and get a new one i just ordered a demension 8200 almost identical to what you put down.  all the deals they are having, i couldnt pass up.

[Shaners]

This is the Dell Dimension 8200 Series computer...

 

it has a 400mhz system bus with 32K level 1 cache and 256K Netburst level2 cache on the board.

[02Blue]

That's all good and everything, but my Inspiron 7000 266MHZ Pentium II (laptop) purchased in 1998 and running windows 98 with keyboard, Intellimouse Explorer, scannner and HP 952C attached when I'm home, works great for everything I do (surf and word processing). Push has not come to shove yet. I do not need a new 'puter. When I do, I will build it.

[Shaners]

That's all good and everything, but my Inspiron 7000 266MHZ Pentium II (laptop) purchased in 1998 and running windows 98 with keyboard, Intellimouse Explorer, scannner and HP 952C attached when I'm home, works great for everything I do (surf and word processing). Push has not come to shove yet. I do not need a new 'puter. When I do, I will build it.

Reformatted this 850 Athlon that I have would run fine...  But it would also be a GREAT system for the kids.

 

I have a dial up modem and usually conect at 49333 or so, so it wouldn't make much difference what processor I had for "surfing" unless I went cable (which we'll be here the first of the year).

 

I know anything I buy today will be outdated tomorrow.  But for the money this seems like a good deal, right???

 

BTW, I think I get interest free financing for 12 months too...

[02Blue]

Like I said Shaners, get the Dell. You can't go wrong.

 

It's the simplest thing to do and you will not be happy till you do it. I'm just jealous!

[Stepside Z]

I am not too smart about the hardware but I will give this input on the software. See if you can get MS Office verses MS Works. Office is a much better program suite IMHO. But then I take alot of work home with me.