New Appreciation for DELL!

[dotdotdot]

... if only I was able to benefit from it!!

My friends new Dell 4200 or w/e it is - not a top of the line model, lets leave it at that, came with:

Microsoft Office 2003 Basic
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8
Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Roxio Easy CD and DVD creator
Sonic RecordNow!
17" CRT Flat screen
CD-RW drive
Good quality speakers

For Mac users who may be unaware, that is the greatest deal!

All those cancel out the cost of the machine, which is snappy and great!

A DELL to rave about! That means that tomorrow the world is over....

[tech4all]

Curious:

What kind of processor? RAM? Graphics card?

EDIT: And oh yeah, how much?

[Blue Velvet]

Good for your neighbour.

Do let us know how they get on with it over the following few months... I don't think it's going to cut much ice with the majority of people on this forum, though.

[jesse_james]

OMG a CD-RW. For serious? What a great deal!

[DavidLeblond]

Roxio Easy CD and DVD creator
CD-RW drive


Roxio Easy CD & DVD creator with a CD-RW drive is like iDVD with a combo drive ... fun to play with but actually pretty useless*

I didn't see any software on there worth crooning about though. Paint Shop Pro? meh. RecordNow! AND Roxio? Why both? Windows XP Pro? Well, that one's too easy. ;)


* Unless the DVD you want to make is below 700MB

[----Bowie----]

I never liked dell, but now they are make some really good stuff at GRATE prices. :)

[ravenvii]

Heh... considering that list of apps and iLife/AppleWorks... It's sort of like saying that getting a $100 worth pile of **** is a better deal than a $20 worth piece of gold.

And don't knock on Paint Shop Pro, that app was awesome. I wish they come out with a Mac version. WAY better than Photoshop Elements, and surprisingly close to Photoshop in many aspects.

Oh and I heard that the Dell "flat" CRT's aren't actually flat, but have a curved display covered by a flat surface to make it look like it's flat. Cheap-o.

[pseudobrit]

For Mac users who may be unaware, that is the greatest deal!

All those cancel out the cost of the machine, which is snappy and great!

[*snore*]

[stoid]

Hmmm, I don't see the iLife '05 Suite or any version of Mac OS installed.

That computer is going to wind up being unintuitive and susceptible to viruses/worms/trojans. Those alone defeat any price discount as far as I'm concerned.

[buryyourbrideau]

IMO a 13 yr old which it might be since it is the kids friend or what not having his own comp at that age....prob a whole lotta porn is gonna be on that HD and with xp= viruses and blue screen of death :p

[lordmac]

IMO a 13 yr old which it might be since it is the kids friend or what not having his own comp at that age....prob a whole lotta porn is gonna be on that HD and with xp= viruses and blue screen of death :p


And macintoshes are by far the best machines to look at prOn with because they don't get all the spy-ware and viruses, plus graphic converter con open up just every kind of picture file ever created. :D

[beg_ne]

How is this system something to rave about???

... if only I was able to benefit from it!!

My friends new Dell 4200 or w/e it is - not a top of the line model, lets leave it at that, came with:

Microsoft Office 2003 Basic


Ok great if you love MS Office and only ever want to use Outlook, Word, and Excel.

I don't see how this is so great compared to OpenOffice/NeoOffice/Appleworks?


Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8


Never used PSP8 but ok, it cant be bad. Only retails for about $75


Microsoft Windows XP Pro

Sweet, the worst OS in use today, but in a less lame version than Home.


Roxio Easy CD and DVD creator
Sonic RecordNow!


Don't these programs pretty much do the SAME THING??? And I havent had to burn anything in the last 3 or 4 years that the built in burning in XP or OS X can't do.


17" CRT Flat screen

A CRT? What do these go for these days? About $25 at Best Buy?


CD-RW drive

Ahhh, those DVD burning features in the two programs Dell thought the customer needed will get lots of use here! Not to mention being able to watch all those DVD movies...oh wait.

Good quality speakers

You can get a set of "good" quality speakers from Logitech for about $50 can't you?


For Mac users who may be unaware, that is the greatest deal!

All those cancel out the cost of the machine, which is snappy and great!

A DELL to rave about! That means that tomorrow the world is over....

Not a very good deal at all. A lot of fluff and not much else. Not even close to the value of something like a Mac mini.

[sjpetry]

And macintoshes are by far the best machines to look at prOn with because they don't get all the spy-ware and viruses, plus graphic converter con open up just every kind of picture file ever created. :D
:cool: :D

[dotdotdot]

beg_ne, lets say this Dell retails for $600.

$600
-$25 (CRT)
-$50 (Speakers)
-$150 (XP Pro)
-$70 (PSP8)
-$150 (Office)
-$30 (CD-RW)
-$150 (Roxio + RecordNow)
--------
$-25
-$200 for Motherboard, KB, mouse, RAM, etc....

$-225

An example of the software paying for itself.

Sure, a Mac mini is better, but its more expensive and comes with less stuff...

Office 2003 - ask any Office for Mac user on here, it is a great app

PSP - a great app

Roxio CD+DVD - works great for CDs, buy a DVD burner and it works great for DVDs

Sonic RecordNow! - works great for CDs, images, backups, etc. picks up where Roxio left off...

XP Pro - ok, its not the best... but by far its not the worst - and its Pro - home is much worse... Windows XP is the 2nd greatest OS, dispite what people here say.

[applekid]

Download the drivers for all of the Dell hardware while they still have a chance.

It's an ****** pain in the arse with Dells because they don't seem to ship the machines with a backup copy drivers on disc nor are the drivers in the Windows XP OEM any good. Maybe they changed that, but my friend's Dell lacked those necessary discs.

Sorry, bub, but once the spyware gets through, all hell breaks loose when you try to reinstall on a Dell. Tell them to beef up security while they're at it. My friend bought his Dell when that stuff wasn't enough to worry manufacturers to give away security software.

[tech4all]

I'm still wondering about the CPU, RAM, and graphics card (if it has one) VRAM.

[pseudobrit]

An example of the software paying for itself.

And with the s/w listed, the only way I'd buy it is if it did pay for itself. Like, if Roxio gave me $100 for buying a $50 programme. And I still wouldn't install it.

I wouldn't run WinXP if it were free and came with a free PC.

I'd sooner pay out the nose for a Mac than suffer a Windows machine for free.

[The Past]

Let's give it six months and then have this discussion. Not entirely sure if there will be much to rave about then (not that I see much now anyway).

[The Past]

graphics card (if it has one)

:D

[Sun Baked]

I'll hold my breath on some of the software that comes with the Dell, since some of it tends to be "expiring timed demos" -- if all that software is still active in 90 days, let up know.

otherwise you may find crippleware on the computer.

[daveL]

... if only I was able to benefit from it!!

My friends new Dell 4200 or w/e it is - not a top of the line model, lets leave it at that, came with:

Microsoft Office 2003 Basic
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8
Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Roxio Easy CD and DVD creator
Sonic RecordNow!
17" CRT Flat screen
CD-RW drive
Good quality speakers

For Mac users who may be unaware, that is the greatest deal!

All those cancel out the cost of the machine, which is snappy and great!

A DELL to rave about! That means that tomorrow the world is over....
Great! Buy 10! Who cares?

[cjc343]

Mac Mini, 1.42 Ghz

Cost: $600


$600
-$129 ATI Radeon 9200
-$62 80gb Ultra ATA HD
-$86 CD-RW/DVD-ROM
-$72 256mb Memory
-$129 Mac OS X Panther
-$79 iLife '05
-$79 Appleworks 6
-$70 Quicken 2005
-$14 56k Modem
-$15 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet Modem


=

-$6

Oh Em Gee. They are paying US six dollars to buy a Mac Mini.

[Cybernanga]

It's sort of like saying that getting a $100 worth pile of **** is a better deal than a $20 worth piece of gold.

Give me a $100 pile of manure, and i'd sell it so that I could go out and buy FIVE $20 gold pieces!

[jiggie2g]

I have to admit Dell is getting better and more competitive these days and when they have those 30% off deals no one can comptete with them. I may actually be purchasing a Dell Inspiron 6000 soon. I can get a Inspiron 6000 with same same specs as top end powerbook a less powerful Video card for the same money as a top level iBook, of course powerbook is a bit tinner and lighter, but only half as powerful.

[iJon]

beg_ne, lets say this Dell retails for $600.

$600
-$25 (CRT)
-$50 (Speakers)
-$150 (XP Pro)
-$70 (PSP8)
-$150 (Office)
-$30 (CD-RW)
-$150 (Roxio + RecordNow)
--------
$-25
-$200 for Motherboard, KB, mouse, RAM, etc....

$-225

An example of the software paying for itself.

Sure, a Mac mini is better, but its more expensive and comes with less stuff...

Office 2003 - ask any Office for Mac user on here, it is a great app

PSP - a great app

Roxio CD+DVD - works great for CDs, buy a DVD burner and it works great for DVDs

Sonic RecordNow! - works great for CDs, images, backups, etc. picks up where Roxio left off...

XP Pro - ok, its not the best... but by far its not the worst - and its Pro - home is much worse... Windows XP is the 2nd greatest OS, dispite what people here say.
Don't you have some homework or something you should be doing?

It's like going on a Honda forum and saying your Toyota is better. Even if it's true no one gives a s***.

jon

[Sun Baked]

It's sort of like saying that getting a $100 worth pile of **** is a better deal than a $20 worth piece of gold.Probably closer to the this mangled saying...

"10 pounds of **** in a flawed 1 pound MicroSoft sack... with a 'contents under pressure' warning."

Personally I don't want to be around when the obvious happens.

[ravenvii]

Give me a $100 pile of manure, and i'd sell it so that I could go out and buy FIVE $20 gold pieces!

We're assuming we're keeping those here, just like he is keeping his Dell... see? :D

[Abstract]

How is this system something to rave about???



Ok great if you love MS Office and only ever want to use Outlook, Word, and Excel.

I don't see how this is so great compared to OpenOffice/NeoOffice/Appleworks?



Never used PSP8 but ok, it cant be bad. Only retails for about $75


Sweet, the worst OS in use today, but in a less lame version than Home.



Don't these programs pretty much do the SAME THING??? And I havent had to burn anything in the last 3 or 4 years that the built in burning in XP or OS X can't do.


A CRT? What do these go for these days? About $25 at Best Buy?


Ahhh, those DVD burning features in the two programs Dell thought the customer needed will get lots of use here! Not to mention being able to watch all those DVD movies...oh wait.

You can get a set of "good" quality speakers from Logitech for about $50 can't you?



Not a very good deal at all. A lot of fluff and not much else. Not even close to the value of something like a Mac mini.

Man, your argument is so weak, just as weak as DotDotDot's, but at least her's gives credit where credit is due. Dell does sell good value computers, and if you say "Oh, its just $50"....well, add up the cost of all those parts, and paying a small amount of money and getting a lot back isn't a bad thing.

On the other hand, the Mac Mini is also good. I just don't think that the Dell computer is actually bad.

My Uni is buying me a pretty decent Dell with a P4 3.2GHz (at minimum), 1 GB of RAM, Combo drive, and a 17" Dell LCD. So yes, unlike some of you, I'd take a Dell for free. :cool: I'll tell you all how it goes.

[pseudobrit]

I just don't think that the Dell computer is actually bad.

Neither do I; I'd have no problem with the Dell if it could run OS X.

It cannot; it is junk.

[stubeeef]

I begged the company to get me either a 12" ibook or 12"pb, not picky, instead they spend over 2500 on a dell x300 with lots of ram and xp pro. Whatever, it has a nice form factor (I own a 12"pb) because there is no internal optical drive.
Everytime I cut it on I run adware and update virus software and ensure it is on, there goes 3-10 minutes everytime. If I have it on for a few hours I run adware again. BTW this site loads a pc with junk!
Anywho, while I like to play the internet backgammon, the dell is way overpriced for what I get. A 12"pb would kill the x300 in value.

[scem0]

I think people are underestimating Windows. I've used Macs and Windows all my life, and I know there are a lot of misconseptions that fly between Mac people and PC people. The truth is, OS X is amazing, but it isn't some God sent Operating System that puts every other OS in its shadow. Windows XP can hold its own against OS X very well and outshines it in many respects. For example, to burn/reburn CD-RWs in Mac OS X you have to open 'Disk Utility' and erase the disk from there. On Windows XP, when you open the disk window, it is conveniently located on the left. As for virus problems, it really isn't a problem for anyone at this forum. Install ad-aware, use firefox, and you're a virus free individual. I only run ad-aware once a month... I never have any problems, just those lists of things i've viewed and such.

I really do think that Windows is a satisfactory OS - certainly not as bad as one might think after reading this thread. It might not be as good as OS X, although it might be better depending on your situation, but it gets the job done, and Wintel computers are cheap as hell. In this poor student's opinion, its worth saving the hundreds of dollars on the computer to have a slightly worse OS.

scem0

[Abstract]

12" PB? Did you pos in the wrong thread? :p

[BornAgainMac]

Windows XP Pro is a great gaming O/S. Those $600 dollar PC systems are not great gaming platforms.

[monkeydo_jb]

OMG a CD-RW. For serious? What a great deal!

Hahaha, funniest post I've read all day.

[Mechcozmo]

My Uni is buying me a pretty decent Dell with a P4 3.2GHz (at minimum), 1 GB of RAM, Combo drive, and a 17" Dell LCD. So yes, unlike some of you, I'd take a Dell for free. :cool: I'll tell you all how it goes.

I take anything thats free.... it would make a nice fileserver or something. :D