[CLOSED] - Dell 8400 £421 inc P4 2.8/512/320GB/17"

iyiarz

Good advice blue_max, but this is a very good deal.
I priced up the parts (not the cheap ones) on Dabs to build a similar machine and I was way over this price very quickly.

Dell machines are built with very good parts and even
their monitors are usually re-badged Sony's
and the ones we have in work have CL2 memory.

This is a pretty powerful and upto-date machine
with PCI Express..

harrym, I know I would re-build the machine as two seperate drives anyway when I recieved it.
Need the space and performance.
Its just that upgrade is only £30 for an extra 160gb drive.

babybimbles

I ordered one yesterday as the 4700 wasnt showing but I really want to go for that as for an extra £44 I get 250mb rather than 80mb for £377.

Also is it worth paying another £30 for CDRW/DVD-ROM or not?

total coming up to £421

iyiarz

I'd buy an NEC 3500 DVD Writer instead... £45 from Dabs or SVP....

babybimbles

I ordered one yesterday as the 4700 wasnt showing but I really want to go for that as for an extra £44 I get 250mb rather than 80mb for £377.

Also is it worth paying another £30 for CDRW/DVD-ROM or not?

total coming up to £421  :)

sorry should have said went for the 3000

babybimbles

I'd buy an NEC 3500 DVD Writer instead... £45 from Dabs or SVP....

hmmm, am a bit clueless on all this as my current pc only has a cd rom. Is the dvd writer you state a combo as the one +£30 that I ordered is.

How does my order sound to you: It was the 3000 (although I want to try to get the 4700 as it was unavailable yesterday)

80gb
dvd/cd combo
15" flat panel monitor
pentium 4 = £377

4700 would be:

250gb
dvd/cd combo
15" flat panel monitor
pentium 4 - £421 ???

I am still waiting for my order confirmation so that I can ask them to upgrade.

Also what is their returns policy? 8)

thanks!

iyiarz

The 3000 is not a good deal. It has its graphics card on board (Slow) and I know the 2400 doesn't even have an AGP slot!

Hmm, I'd go for the 8400 deal as above. You get more for your money.

A DVD Writer is essentially a CD/DVD Reader and CD/DVD Writer in one unit...

Most of the Dell systems you are looking at come with a CD Writer which is probably the best to go for and get an extra drive like the NEC from somewhere else.

iyiarz

Otherwise go for the 4700 with 15" TFT and upgrade the Graphics Card... £386.58 inc

babybimbles

Otherwise go for the 4700 with 15" TFT and upgrade the Graphics Card... £386.58 inc

my kids watch kiddies dvds so I thought the combo was ok for £30 ???

blue_max_3

iyiarz,

Yes that particular model (8400) is a good spec, but going through this 'back door' doesn't really save you very much compared with going through the 'proper' channels (home and small business). The 2 x 160gb hard drive is still an option there at £30 or £35, I forget.

I have been looking because I have been tempted by the fact that it is portrayed as a 'secret' bargain and seeing it at near the same price through the 'correct' entrance to the website was an eyeopener. I don't need to upgrade my 3000 but 'bargain frenzy' can take over.

Personally, I would go for a striped raid, where two disks are treated as one volume. As two sets of heads are writing together it tends to be quicker. It's still 320Gb though. They are quite reliable these days.

Graham

iyiarz

Heh, yes. Never intended it to be any kind of secret bargin, just cheap.. Especially with the Hard Disk upgrade.