Dell 5150 Dual Core 2.8GHz inc 19" LCD Monitor & Free Printer £429 (merged)

wildeep

any success/failure stories about graphics cards for this machine? I still don't know which one to get...

Pretty_Thing

wildeep wrote:

any success/failure stories about graphics cards for this machine? I still don't know which one to get...

My 5150 is up and running now with a Gigabyte 6600GT and 2GB of memory

There are plenty of threads on the Dell forums about what will and will not fit.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums?category.id=dimension

Search under video or upgrades for 5150 or E510 - both the same machine.

borgs

Got my machine. Very happy with the actual PC but not so happy about the TFT unfortunately - I may have a duff one.

What do people think of theirs? I have a Dell 1905FP at work. Resolution wise there is not much that I can see but on the E196 I have:

1. A lot of light bleed from the top and bottom of the display. Not very nice when viewing letter boxed movies.
2. A very small angle of view - just have to move my head for colours to change hue.
3. Seems brighter at the top than the bottom.
4. I have a stuck pixel :-(

Can people who went for the upgrade please check their 1907FPs to see if they exhibit the same problems?

Thank you

needstoknow

my adivce is stop going to dell! use ur local pc shop and u get better spec and price, or build it your self! not tht hard

adamzetec

needstoknow wrote:

my adivce is stop going to dell! use ur local pc shop and u get better spec and price, or build it your self! not tht hard

Well thanks for the advice, but if you break down this deal into each individual component at £429 including a 19" monitor, you couldn't buy the equivalent components for less.

The 2.8ghz dual core cpu is nearly £160, monitor £192.99, thats £352.99 already without a motherboard, RAM, PSU, case.... need I go on? Poor advice on your part really.

fairytooth

adamzetec wrote:

Well thanks for the advice, but if you break down this deal into each individual component at £429 including a 19" monitor, you couldn't buy the equivalent components for less.

The 2.8ghz dual core cpu is nearly £160, monitor £192.99, thats £352.99 already without a motherboard, RAM, PSU, case.... need I go on? Poor advice on your part really.

I totally agree adam. Dell can be a pain in the a*** but no-one can really compete with their deals. :T

borgs

needstoknow wrote:

my adivce is stop going to dell! use ur local pc shop and u get better spec and price, or build it your self! not tht hard

Not very helpful and if you'd read my post then you would see that it is the TFT, not the PC, that I'm unhappy with.

So, you build TFT monitors do you?

mrm3

needstoknow wrote:

my adivce is stop going to dell! use ur local pc shop and u get better spec and price, or build it your self! not tht hard

For about £350 (quidco and epp, double ram, free delivery) I got delivered:
a silent 5150 with nice case
2.8 dual core (£150)
19" TFT (£175)
1gig ddr2 ram (£50)
Windows Media centre (£80)
BTX motherboard (£30)
PSU (£30)
DVD (£10)
Delivery (£60)

blah blah blah...

Already sold 19" TFT for £175.

I own two of these and up to last year I used to build them like my gaming machine where the gfx card alone cost £350.

Anyone that suggests it is cheaper to build your own is a loonatic or is out of touch with Dell's aggressive pricing. Build you own if you really want some particular high end components for gaming etc but don't expect value for money. Build your own is good fun too... just costly.

biglugs

I have the Dell E196FP and it works fine - no colour bleeds or anything so you may have a duff one. Suggest you speak to Dell about it. I did though have to mess with the graphics properties on my 6600GT card to get the best out of this because I had to reduce brightness and gamma settings down to 0.9 each otherwise it is a little bit "washed out".
Something else I noticed recently - my 5150 fan kept spinning up and down every few minutes. Checked out some forums and it appears that the dust on the cooling fins makes the processor overheat and the fan spins up to compensate. I opened the case and blew A LOT of dust away and that seemed to cure it.
I then did something rash and decided to take the black plastic cowling off the cooler to see if I could clean the cooling fins better, so I unscrewed the two screws holding this on. It then flips up with a bit of effort. I then had a D'OH!!!! moment - the cooler flips up with the cowling and comes away from the processor, thereby breaking the seal with the thermal paste. Can I suggest that other Dell owners DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!
I put the cooler back on and it seems fine, but won't be messing with that part of my PC again if I can help it.

borgs

biglugs wrote:

I have the Dell E196FP and it works fine - no colour bleeds or anything so you may have a duff one. Suggest you speak to Dell about it. I did though have to mess with the graphics properties on my 6600GT card to get the best out of this because I had to reduce brightness and gamma settings down to 0.9 each otherwise it is a little bit "washed out".
Something else I noticed recently - my 5150 fan kept spinning up and down every few minutes. Checked out some forums and it appears that the dust on the cooling fins makes the processor overheat and the fan spins up to compensate. I opened the case and blew A LOT of dust away and that seemed to cure it.
I then did something rash and decided to take the black plastic cowling off the cooler to see if I could clean the cooling fins better, so I unscrewed the two screws holding this on. It then flips up with a bit of effort. I then had a D'OH!!!! moment - the cooler flips up with the cowling and comes away from the processor, thereby breaking the seal with the thermal paste. Can I suggest that other Dell owners DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!
I put the cooler back on and it seems fine, but won't be messing with that part of my PC again if I can help it.

Thanks for that. I'll phone Dell tonight and hopefully arrange a replacement. I'm hoping that will all go smoothly and I get one without light bleed and no stuck pixels - fingers crossed. It's just as well there is the light bleed problem as I doubt they'd replace it if the only problem was 1 stuck pixel.

Thanks also for the tip about the cooler housing - I'll definately leave mine alone.