Dell Dimension Desktop PC for £233-83 incl delivery and VAT

calibrax

talkshop wrote:

I presume you work for Dell.

The Dell PC's are ok as long as you never want to upgrade, as nothing is standard. Virtually nothing can be upgraded except by using Dell's own products which of course are very expensive. A new motherboard with CPU is required if you want more speed. You will always be stuck with a Celeron if you buy a Celeron.

Nope, I don't work for them... I just don't think they deserve the bad reputation that some attribute them with. I'm a systems analyst, and I have used Dells for a number of years now, and never had any problems at all.

And your comment about the Celeron... would you buy a Ford and then try and put a Ferrari engine in it?

Ok, the Dell power supply and the motherboard can't be upgraded because they are not standard. Everything else can be upgraded with no problems, they are standard parts. But lets face it, if you're looking to do any sort of major upgrade involving the motherboard, then you'll have had your current system for 6 months or more, and technology will have advanced in that time - i.e. the new processors will not be compatible with your motherboard, you need a different type/speed of memory, etc. And this applies whether you have a Dell or not. You're usually better just buying a new, up-to-date system, and selling your old one.

Incidentally, at home I have a two year old Dell Dimension 8200 2.0GHz. I've upgraded it by adding a Radeon 9700 Pro video card, a second 120GB hard disk, a DVD-RW, and a faster CD-RW. It runs Half-Life 2 at 1600 x 1200 with no problems at all. So I haven't felt the need to upgrade the processor yet, and when I do, I'll buy a nice new Dell with the latest top spec processor. Which will do me for another couple of years gaming before the software catches up with it!

Steve

biglugs

I've just upgraded my Dimension 3000 by adding a PCI graphics card and it worked like a dream - open the case, slip in the card and screw it down, power up and the card was recognised immediately with basic drivers already included in XP. Then ran NVIDIA drivers and restarted. Total upgrade time around 10 minutes.
If you need extra memory there's a spare slot for that, if you want a DVD/RW you can put one of those in - there's a spare slot, or you could just replace the existing drive in about 5 minutes.
Just don't buy one of these basic Dells if you're planning to replace every bit of it over the next couple of years - better to keep the machine as it is with a couple of minor upgrades possible, and then when it's outlived its usefulness get another machine.
As for payment I just bought 3 Dimensions and Dell put a charge on my card immediately the order was confirmed, but the funds weren't actually removed from the card until 2 days after delivery.

emc

ferretktf wrote:

For under £200 this seems to be a great "Basic" machine for someone like my 65-year-old mother

I agree that this type of machine is ideal for someone who just wants a computer to do the basic computing tasks and internet browsing. In my case I took up two recent offers of this type from Dell, for members of the family who need computers for secondary school work and for university. Their 2400 and 3000 celerons with 512 mb ram are fine, although I did opt to double the hard drive to 80 Gb on the second machine.

I don't anticipate having to upgrade these machines in the foreseeable future, such as changing the graphic card or adding another hard drive. However as the earlier posters have said, Dell offer a range of configurations so that the purchaser can start with the required spec, and if necessary the machines can be upgraded within reason.

Oh, and I don't work for Dell either, and in fact have a couple of small complaints in connection with the second order.

Firstly, the delivery company agreed to an evening delivery between 5 pm and 9 pm, but the delivery man turned up at 1 pm. Secondly, a few days after the delivery, Dell sent me an e-mail offering another machine, which they had already scheduled for delivery on the 28th of this month!

MikeT_3

Your not on your own EMC, Dell seem to have got themselves into a right pickle with these 3000 orders. I have to guess that they handed loads of orders over to some CC agents to deal with by phoning first to see if you still wanted the units and then to try and sell you upgrades. What they forgot I think was to clear these orders from whatever database they were on before transfer as I keep hearing of people who have got or have on the way 2nd duplicate orders.
Its of course your call as to if you cancel or accept the "almost" gift from Dell and pass it on to someone

fourmi

Is there a method to find systems which don't include monitors, or to remove monitors from systems you have found?

acc

fourmi wrote:

Is there a method to find systems which don't include monitors, or to remove monitors from systems you have found?

Sometimes you can remove the monitor by adding an a to the E-value Code.

hooplah

Well mine arrived and I'm very pleased with it. Hooooray! (except that I managed to delete all 30 gb of my ipod music and have no way of getting it back - booooo!)

However, can anyone out there tell me, am I allowed to tinker with the computer - i.e. add things like a dvd burner - without ruining my warantee?

It not exactly the best one I've ever had but I just know that if I invalidate it the processor will burn out or something similar within seconds.

:eek:

acc

hooplah wrote:

Well mine arrived and I'm very pleased with it. Hooooray! (except that I managed to delete all 30 gb of my ipod music and have no way of getting it back - booooo!)

However, can anyone out there tell me, am I allowed to tinker with the computer - i.e. add things like a dvd burner - without ruining my warantee?

It not exactly the best one I've ever had but I just know that if I invalidate it the processor will burn out or something similar within seconds.

:eek:

Well done on getting your computer, but tinker with care.

Having bought their Dell pcs at these 'special' prices, people are quite rightly adding memory and drives themselves to avoid the expensive Dell upgrade costs, but the Dell terms and conditions say

Dell does not give a warranty guarantee protection for:
* damage caused by incorrect installation, use, modifications or repair by any unauthorised 3rd party or yourself;
* damage caused by any party (except Dell) or other external force;

iwantitnow

Looks like Dell have come out with even better deals today starting from £221
as posted by smelltherat at rpoints


http://www.rpoints.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=91092

emc

acc wrote:

Having bought their Dell pcs at these 'special' prices, people are quite rightly adding memory and drives themselves to avoid the expensive Dell upgrade costs,

Dell were charging about £80-£90 for adding a chunk of memory which they were selling on their website at about £16!