Advice on buying from Dell

melbury

Have just been looking on the Dell site and was clicking through all of the options to get to a final price on an Inspiron 545, but have a couple of queries.

1. It says no speakers included in the price, if required they are £50 extra. Whenever I have bought a computer in the past it has always come with a couple of little speakers, so does this mean I wouldn't be able to hear anything at all?

2. It says no modem included in the price. Does this mean I wouldn't be able to go online? I am on broadband and was provided with a separate modem from my internet provider, does this mean I don't need one built into the computer.

Sorry if these questions sound stupid, but I am not at all technical when it comes to computers.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Jaffa.

melbury wrote: »

1. It says no speakers included in the price, if required they are £50 extra. Whenever I have bought a computer in the past it has always come with a couple of little speakers, so does this mean I wouldn't be able to hear anything at all?

Unless you purchase a monitor with speakers built-in, no you won't hear anything £50 is a steep amount, look around and you'll find some cheeper!

melbury wrote: »

2. It says no modem included in the price. Does this mean I wouldn't be able to go online? I am on broadband and was provided with a separate modem from my internet provider, does this mean I don't need one built into the computer.

That sort of modem is for dial-up (the old internet) all modern computers come with an Ethernet port to connect to a router (the modem from your isp) so yes you will be able to go online

Mobeer

If you have speakers already from previous PCs, why not use them?

gjchester

Minor point but it's better to buy a dell slightly over the spec than you need than to spec up a lower speced cheaper one. Dells pricing is cheap until you start upgrading bits and then it gets expensive

melbury

Mobeer wrote: »

If you have speakers already from previous PCs, why not use them?

I have currently got a Dell computer (purchased about four years ago) that came with two speakers. Do you think these would work OK on a new model?

I can't understand why they don't provide them as standard anymore.

SimbaSimon

melbury wrote: »

I have currently got a Dell computer (purchased about four years ago) that came with two speakers. Do you think these would work OK on a new model?

I can't understand why they don't provide them as standard anymore.

Yep would be fine, all speakers are pretty much standard unless you start going for more expensive ones (e.g. 5.1 surround sound).

Good luck with your dell purchase. What model are you going for?

AHAR

melbury wrote: »

I have currently got a Dell computer (purchased about four years ago) that came with two speakers. Do you think these would work OK on a new model?

I can't understand why they don't provide them as standard anymore.

They'll be fine. Your new PC may well have multiple outputs for surround sound speakers but just shove your old ones in the green socket and you're set.

Did you know you can get cashback on Dell orders through sites like www.topcashback.co.uk?

Smudge's_Lot

Melbury, I too have just ordered a new Dell and if the speakers you were quoted when 'building' your system were the A525 speakers with sub woofer, charged at £50, order the computer without and then order the speakers seperatly from Dell, where the very same speakers are quoted at £31!!

chunter

gjchester wrote: »

Dells pricing is cheap until you start upgrading bits and then it gets expensive

This is very important. Dell's pricing is a SCAM when you add extras to the basic machine.

SimbaSimon

chunter wrote: »

This is very important. Dell's pricing is a SCAM when you add extras to the basic machine.

I think "scam" is going a bit far. A lot of their PC's are sold at a loss, especially if they have good offers on. The extra bits are where they do make their money, but its not a scam when everything is legitimate.

fyi, companies do need to make money to survive.

ukjoel

Take out the warranty. Have been running dell business machines for years without a problem. In the last 12 months have bought a desktop and a laptop for home use and both have required visits from their tech guys. The desktop had 5 visits before being completely replaced and the laptop has had 2 new motherboards in the first year. I know everyone says dont bother with the warranty (and I used to say that too) but the hassle of having a PC offline can be fairly serious so I think its worth the money.