Dell - a good deal?

[Kendo]

Looking at posts on this site, most people seem to have a bit of an aversion to Dell. I have just ordered a PC from them and I feel I got a good deal. My current PC I built myself, so I could do so again, but I felt that I wouldn't get much more for the money, apart from grief when things go wrong! Here's the spec for what I ordered and I would be interested in your opinions.

Dell Dimension 4600
* Intel 865PE chipset with support for Dual Channel DDR
*Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.80GHz
*512MB Dual Channel DDR 333 (2X256MB DIMM)
*Floppy drive (I knew that would impress you!)
*80GB (7200rpm) IDE Hard Drive
*Dell 17" UltraSharp (17.0" VIS) (with Height Adjustable Stand) Analogue/Digital Flat Panel Monitor {I needed a higher spec than the standard 17'' flat panel for photography work}
*4x DVD+R\+RW with DVD Authoring Software
*16x DVD ROM Drive
*128MB nVidia GeForce FX5200 with DVI, Dual Monitor Support and TV-OUT via S-Video
*Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem (Have ADSL modem from ISP anyway)
*Multimedia keyboard
*Optical mouse
*Onboard sound (don't need anything fancy just now)
*8 USB 2.0 ports, 3 PCI slots and AGP 8x slot
*Ethernet card
*Support For Intel Pentium 4 Processors with 533MHz System Base

*Windows XP
*Microsoft Works
*Norton AntiVirus 2003 (I have McAfee do won't need)
*3 Year On-Site Next Business Day Service Support


With all the combined special offers form Dell until Wed 26/9/03, this is costing me £1150 inc VAT & Delivery.

 

[captain_nemo]

Seems like a decent setup for the money kendo.

The most impressive thing to me is that such a good monitor is included in the price.

That things got to be worth several hundred by itself.

Nice one.

I'll still never buy a Dell though. The guy's already got too much money

 

[Kendo]

Yes, the monitor has a 500:1 contrast ratio, which is reasonably good I think. I don't think your average computer fair would have a monitor like this for a decent price. Dell sell it by itself for £475 inc VAT.

I'm also impressed with getting the next day on-site warranty for three years thrown in.

When it comes to upgrading though, my trusty computer fair will be the place I go!

 

[captain_nemo]

Does the Dell warranty cover you upgrading the computer yourself?

Usually with these things if you do anything so much as peek into your computer you 'Void!!!!' :angry: the warranty, and if you want an upgrade you have to get the man from Dell (Monty?) to come round and do it for you.

I don't know what the ins and outs of the Dell warranty are but you should read it carefully before setting out to upgrade the PC yourself.

 

[Kendo]

Good point - I don't know. However I have read somewhere that, unlike say your warranty on your washing machine, PC warranties do allow a certain level of meddling inside the box due to the nature of PCs. E.g. I will probably want to slave my old HD to copy data to the new one - I certainly wouldn't expect to have to get the man from Dell Monty to do it.

Should I introduce a virus and bugger the whole thing up and require an engineer visit then I expect I'd have to pay for that, but I'm not planning on doing anything foolish like that!

I might also get a decent sound card, and I would expect to be able to put it in myself without jeapordising the warranty.

I will ask though.

 

[Ian]

I think large companies sometimes say you need a qualified person to add/change components, and then it is still covered. I think they mean either at a dell repair centre, or perhaps somewhere like PC World.

I could be wrong though

 

[Kendo]

Perish the thought that some numpty at PC World could be regarded as 'qualified'!

 

[Cornish Celt]

Dell upgrades

Yep, be very very wary of doing DIY upgrades to a Dell (and many others). Some of them DO let PC World :crazy: do an upgrade (though only the Almighty knows why), but keep in mind that they will change you for doing it! Some manufacturers and suppliers are quite happy for you to insert (for example) a new modem, but will not then give support to problems that are modem related. The message is .......... ask ......... then ask again ...... as you may well get the wrong answer on the first call.

 

[MooseMan]

If you wait until it is out of warranty you can do it yourself though.