Dell's latest line

[AMC]

OK guys, now ill admit, its been a while since i've been in the market for buying a desktop pc. And browsing Dell's website, i came across their new Vostro line, and ran up a PC with roughly similar specs to that which i would use (thats only basic specs mind).

What struck me most, is that for a computer where i have what i actually NEED, Its ludicrously cheap. (I'm obviously aware that market prices may have dropped.)

I have a major question, is there any known reason why vostro (and the computer im about to list) is a spectacularly bad idea.

The specs are:


PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6750 Processor (2.66GHz,1333MHz,4MB cache) edit

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English edit

HARDWARE SUPPORT : Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support edit
MONITOR: Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E198FP) - UK/Irish edit

MEMORY: 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024] edit

HARD DRIVE: 250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache edit

GRAPHICS CARD: 256MB ATI® Radeon® X1300 PCI Express graphics card edit

OPTICAL DRIVE: 16x DVD +/- RW Drive edit

ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Security/Anti-Virus Protection - English edit
Accessories
SOUND SOFTWARE Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio edit
SPEAKERS Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES No Floppy Drive edit


I get Dell next day coverage with the college I'm at, and i have a copy of microsoft office. The college also provides a copy of either sophos or symantec, so that angle is covered. I also have accesories like a keyboard mouse and speakers.

So is there a catch. I may be missing anything blindingly obvious, baring in mind, i just want this as a small pc to mess around with.

Thanks in advance for your input :)

AMC

[themoose]

What's the price for that?

The main problem seems to be that it's.. a dell. See what else you can get for the same price, make sure it has warranty though.

[utcrazy]

You have to realize that you're paying the markup with Dell.

[AMC]

The price is 400 quid. I know dell have some issues, and what do you mean by markup utcrazy? Thanks :D

There is a three year warranty I think.

Could you recommend (short of building my own) a better type of desktop, which isnt going to set me back to much more. My MAX budget for this pc at the moment is 600 quid, and i need vist business for the network etc... :)

Thanks again

[themoose]

"HARDWARE SUPPORT : Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support edit"

that's a 1 year warranty.

Anyway for 400 smackers I think you could get a better machine. Pop into PC world to see whats on offer there, and have a look on price comparison sites like pricerunner and froogle.. you should be able to find something better no problem.

Make sure you check monitors are included or add them to the price btw.

[AMC]

The 1 year warrant is the lowest i can get it to ( it wont let me cancel it ) as all machines bought throught the college have 3 years warranty anyway. and yes, 19" monitor included. but you are right, i will run a couple of comparisons, and see what i come up with. Thanks colin.

[moneyballs2]

Dell has a very very very large back log. You could be waiting anything up to 6 or 8 weeks before you get a delivery. I was going to buy a laptop with them, but the delivery was going to be 6 long weeks.

[Richard]

I ordered a PC for a client from Dell last week, it was shipped and arrived 6 working days later (Ordered on the Monday, it was delivered on the Tuesday a week after.)

Nothing but good things to say about dell, and the deal I got with them for £329, the same spec was £400 in PC world.

[AMC]

So, according to you Richard, i should buy this machine if it has the specs i want ? :) 400 is ideal for my price range, so this is the best looking option. but ill still compare. Thing is ive had ghastly experiences with the following: compaq, advent, acer. So in comparison dell is tame :P

[Richard]

If you find something cheaper, I will be amazed.

Plus - The back log is bullsh*t. I've had around 10-12 PCs from them, and all have been delivered within 2 weeks.

[jmiller]

If you find something cheaper, I will be amazed.

Plus - The back log is bullsh*t. I've had around 10-12 PCs from them, and all have been delivered within 2 weeks.Yeah, but look at what time of year it is right now. I'm sure there's alot more demand due to the back to school crowd.

[Richard]

I ordered a PC for a client from Dell last week, it was shipped and arrived 6 working days later (Ordered on the Monday, it was delivered on the Tuesday a week after.)

Nothing but good things to say about dell, and the deal I got with them for £329, the same spec was £400 in PC world.

As I said, I ordered a PC last week, delivered in 6 days

[fireshark]

Get XP, if Dell offers it.

[heymrdj]

@Fireshark, I run Vista Home Premium on a desktop and Vista Ultimate 64 bit here on my laptop, best OS hands down. Never goin back to XP again.

@OP, you get what you pay for. Dell may fit your price range, but they are typically crap if you work them too hard. But you get what you pay for. If you're just writin papers ect, you'll be good with the Dell for the price.

As for the backlog, its the Vostro laptops that are behind. Those have a 8 week backlog for the 1440 I believe.

[fireshark]

Tried Vista, didn't like it. Too much random stuff and my computer is sufficiently old that I'm better off without Vista

[AMC]

Im running with vista business because, its compatable with the network i would be running it on. Also, ive heard its a slightly stripped down version of vista, and doesnt have as many problems. I will be installing ubuntu as well i should have thought though :)

[Decker]

Go for it, DELL support is cack but you know enough to get round that, Vista business is no more than XP with bits missing (so rebuild it). :)

[AMC]

Ok then, :) ive run a comparison, and i didn't find much, so I guess ill go with this.

Plus the Backlog for desktops shouldnt be that affected as "the school crowd" are much more into the laptop market, and very few students will buy a desktop (by comparison).

Thanks for your help and advice guys :)

[themoose]

Dell customer support are the worst :p.

Just remind them of the warranty and keep on repeating your point.

[JewlzK]

I ordered a PC for a client from Dell last week, it was shipped and arrived 6 working days later (Ordered on the Monday, it was delivered on the Tuesday a week after.)

Nothing but good things to say about dell, and the deal I got with them for £329, the same spec was £400 in PC world.

I have to agree with Richard, being that we deal with Dell on a weekly basis not just for servers but for cpu's as well the Vostro is very well priced. We purchased 1 for one of our tech's its been good to him thus far.

[JewlzK]

Dell customer support are the worst :p.

Just remind them of the warranty and keep on repeating your point.


If you have a business account with them support is vastly improved...buying a Vostro would mean you'd be accessing the small business support area.

[Decker]

Really Roland, okay I suppose with Hugo yep, never thought of that. Been agonising over a couple of other office PC's going to look into that :classic2:

Servers are different the support in the UK at least is handled by Fujitsu.

[AMC]

Yeah, one on one with non business solutions, i have had a couple of issues with dell. But A year ago i was helping out some guys who had to put in an order for 300 latitude notebooks All with a set image pre installed by dell for ease of connecting to the network, having the write software and settings etc ....
During that entire process dell were great. But then they had assigned us a Hard **S project manager who seem to "hurry" things a long a bit. Tell you what, she scared the hell out of me, its no wonder dell responded in double quick time.

Im gonna order the machine beginning of next week. Thanks for your help guys.