Dell Pentium 4 630, 160GB, 1GB Mem, 17" TFT - £531 Incl.

swapmeetpete

Rockman wrote:

This is probably a silly question but do you need to pay extra for the modem if you are for using Broadband or should you get the modem anyway as a back-up? Also is it best to go for the internal flash card or the floppy disk drive.

Thanks

You don't need the modem for broadband. Staying with the default spec is more forward looking; if you find you need a floppy or a modem you can always add them later but you probably won't miss them.

amancalledchip

floppys arnt needed at all.( unless you have data on floppys)

the hard drive has an unseen partition with all the software on it.
if you need to wipe the hard drive , and start again, you just press one of the F keys at boot up.

the motherboard has an RJ45 connection onboard.(which is the connection BB uses)
The modem is only required for dialup people.

Rockman

Seems a very good spec at the price-just afraid that the new deals from tomorrow will be even better.

biglugs

From the November price list I saw in the latest issue of Computer Buyer (I think it was) I think these prices will NOT be around tomorrow, but the may come back towards the end of the month as they try to shift stock for Christmas.
Just been to PC World and Currys and there's no way you can get a machine of this sort of spec or quality from them.
If you REALLY need a floppy drive buy an external USB powered one for yourself - at least you can sell it on if you no longer need it, or share it amonst laptops etc. Besides no-one uses floppies (or so I thought until my wife brought work home on one the other night!!)
You don't need a modem if you have broadband - I removed mine and all the modem software because I wanted a cleaner machine.
You will not get a Windows XP disk with this machine - you have to recover to the original factory settings if you have serious problems. You can always borrow one from work or friends if you really need to recover, since you already have the licence number. All the Dell drivers required are available for download on their support site - probably better than you'd get buying a Medion PC from PCW.
I'm almost tempted to get another one of these (from the business site) for my daughter because I could get about £250 selling all the bits on her current PC, making it a pretty cheap upgrade.

smashed

To be frank... you dont need Floppy discs.. because they only hold 1.44mb.
Hotmail will let you send an email with 10mb.... and will do so quicker than it takes to save to floppy, and is quicker to access too.
Therefore, as long as you have internet access, floppys are extinct

biglugs

Therefore, as long as you have internet access, floppys are extinct

Unless your partner happens to work in teaching where the Government hasn't yet provided enough money for schools to get away from these. And that in a school which has been designated as a Science Specialist school!!

smashed

Surely they have the net tho? And therefore floppys are still not required?

odowdchr

smashed wrote:

To be frank... you dont need Floppy discs.. because they only hold 1.44mb.
Hotmail will let you send an email with 10mb.... and will do so quicker than it takes to save to floppy, and is quicker to access too.
Therefore, as long as you have internet access, floppys are extinct

...unless you need to press F6 and load SATA or RAID drivers that Windows installation doesn't support and you need to load from a floppy....as i found out when I ordered a Shuttle with only a card reader... :rolleyes:

biglugs

I think not all their machines have net access!

eightpints

anyone needing to copy stuff from work for home use would surely be better off buying a small usb memory stick than messing about with floppys if you haven't got internet access.