Dell Vostro PC - Any good? Any advice?

leezuk1

Am looking for a basic PC for my son 10) - which can upgraded later if needed. I've looked at the Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower - 2nd level as this has free memory upgrade at the moment. Firstly anyone know if Dell are likely to reduce these before Christmas, secondly whether the graphics card is OK or should I go for the next level up and finally whether this is a good buy? We have screen, speakers, accessories etc already.

Many thanks for any feedback tonight as I need to order by midnight to get the current offer.

mattogier

Try looking at a DGS (Dixons, Currys PC World) refurbed machines on their websites.

Mobeer

I expect there will be another offer tomorrow - Dell always seem to have something on offer.

The graphics (Interl X3100) are ok for office work and 2D games, but won't cope with recent games using 3D graphics.

The upgrade options are overpriced - you can get a better detail from Scan, or try the default X3100 option for a while, then upgrade later if needed.

For outlet machines I would recommend the Dell outlet, but it's not working for me at the moment.

leezuk1

Thanks for the advice - might take a chance and wait to see if there are further offers. Thought as much about the graphics card but was going to do just what you advised and get the basic card and upgrade as need be at a later date.

Not tempted to go down the refurbished route as bit dubious about refurbished goods - I know I've returned items that the fault kept recurring then the warranty ran out - and got a refurbished ipod that never worked (did get a refund though).

patman99

The Vostros are a good spec for a sub-£200 PC, granted, you will need to buy a monitor, but then last year I bought an ACER from ASDA for £179 without a screen, and it only had 512Mb RAM in it.

The beauty of these cheap starter units is that as money becomes available you can add/upgrade the video card, memory, harddrive etc. for much less cost than buying a new higher-spec PC to start with.

The Vostro 410 is the best-specced of the bunch, as it already has a dedicated nVidia card fitted, and has some security features not on the other models.

My son is 15, and his desktop isn't up to playing games, but then thats what a console is for.

If you live near an Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys store, then there is a good chance they will stock some kind of PC for Xmas, so you could grab a bargain off the shelf & potentially earn some points as well (and avoid Dell's delivery charges).