Dell Inspiron 546 deal any good?

loulou1971_3

Hi - am looking to buy a new computer and am interested in the current Dell deal on the above with upgrade to the AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 810 (2.6Ghz, 6MB) processor.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/desktops_great_deals?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cid=DTOffer&cs=ukdhs1&dgc=IR&lid=DHP_BB1

I only really use my computer for general email, surfing, pics, tv online etc but this looked like a good deal (I may be totally wrong!) as it has £169 off plus free hard drive upgrade to 640GB and free memory upgrade to 4GB and good customer ratings.

But I'm trying to ascertain if the Phenom processor is a Phenom or
Phenom ii - when I click on the "what processor should I use" box it explains the Phenom as a ii but wondering if this is a general description box....and whether that makes a difference in speed etc anyway.

Currently have an Emachines E4220 Pentium D CPU 3.00Ghz 2.99Ghz 2038MB 32 bit with Vista - it's been an utter nightmare from day one blue screening more and more as time went on (page fault in non-paged area) - Microsoft diagnostics say it came with corrupt registry/missing files, Gateway service say download Vista Service Pack 1 but it blue screens every time I attempt to download any updates and no-one can find an answer....a letter to Tesco (where I bought it) will have be written, as they initially said contact Gateway, but I've just had enough and want to start from scratch!

Any help gratefully appreciated - is the Dell one a reasonably good computer?? It may be hi-tech for my needs but I just thought I may as well spend a bit more now and not have to get another computer for a long time!

Many thanks!

Loulou1971

closed

Have you tried putting back your existing machine to factory settings (after backing up your data)? ALT F10 at boot.

Mickey247

The Dell machine does seem like a well spec'd computer, I have an HP machine here which runs an AMD Phenom and I highly rate it, with that amount of ram it will be very quick too. I wouldn't worry too much about having 640GB of storage space unless you like to save movies on your machine.

This all being said, sadly any computer regardless of manufacturer, specification etc can go wrong and Dell are known to use indian call centres to "support" their customers. Thier delivery can be slow too.

loulou1971_3

Many thanks closed and Mickey247 - yes had tried factory settings but sadly no joy...

I ended up spending a bit more and going for an Inspiron 570 Phenom ii quad core - prob way more than I need spec-wise but it'll do me for a long time!

You're right about the Indian call centres Mickey - I needed to confirm my order today as my bank had with-held payment checking for fraudulent activity (Dell had put a cable though first for £16 which went through fine then tried the larger cost of computer which bank picked up on - apparently fraudsters often try to put a small amount through online first then go for larger one) so after confirming it was ok told me to phone Dell and ask them to present my card again for payment.....an hour later I was ready to bang my head against the wall "we can't find any details for your order number" but I have a confirmation email "oh yes the cable is showing but no computer" "I'll put you through to sales and you can buy a computer there" "all our applications have gone down please phone back tomorrow" err but can't you phone me back when they're working again you're open for another 3 hours "I think they will be down for 3 hours please phone back tomorrow".

Phoned my bank back in frustration who told me Dell had tried the purchase again an hour before and it had gone though fine. Grrrrrr!

Luckily I get 2 year free in-home repair with the computer so as long as I can get through to someone and book an appointment if anything goes wrong I'm hoping it'll be ok - have great recommendations from friends about Dell computers so fingers crossed! And to be honest anything's got to better than the constant blue-screening I currently put up with.

Thanks again!