New Computer Specs

[legionofangels]

Here is the new computer I purchased today, should get it next week since it's already Thursday. What do you think? Sounds good, sounds bad? Just gathering thoughts. What should I upgrade to down the road?

Order Details

Item Number Quantity Item Description
223-6787 1 Vostro 200, Mini Tower Intel Pentium DualCore CPU E2200 (2.20GHz 800FS)
311-7406 1 3GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHZ 2X1GB+2X512MB
310-9322 1 Dell USB Keyboard
320-5664 1 Dell 20 inch Wide E207WFP Analog Flat Panel Monitor
320-6979 1 128MB ATI RADEON HD 2400 PRO 200MT
467-5432 1 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive 7200RPM, 8MB Cache
341-5285 1 Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader
420-8547 1 Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic SP1 Vostro
313-5467 1 Dell Resource CD, Vostro 200
420-6581 1 Image Restore,Vista,Dell OptiPlex,Precision and Latitude
420-7236 1 Backup media for Vista Home Basic
420-7293 1 Dell Icon Consolidation
420-7658 1 Dell Support Center 2.0 for Dell Vostro
420-9054 1 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.0,with Media, for Dell Vostro
310-9326 1 Dell Scroll Mouse
430-2501 1 Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
313-5469 1 No Modem Requested
410-1100 1 Adobe Reader 8.1
467-0668 1 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
420-7241 1 Roxio Creator
313-5672 1 Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
313-5461 1 No speakers
420-7262 1 No Pre-installed Security Software
420-7280 1 No Internet Service Provider Requested
467-4135 1 Microsoft Works 9.0, English for Dell Vostro Desktops and Notebooks
988-7347 1 No Warranty beyond 1 year
986-5280 1 Basic Support: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response Initial Year
983-4250 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
989-5897 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year
420-7179 1 Dell DataSafe 2.0 Online, No Install
420-7185 1 Dell Support 3.4, No Install
310-8625 1 You have chosen a Windows Vista Basic System
462-4506 1 Purchase is NOT intended for resell
310-8977 1 Info SKU-Software and Peripherals products and solutions catalog included in system boxes
Subtotal: $589.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $24.17
Total: $613.17



Order Details

Item Number Quantity Item Description
A0954428 1 Microsoft Office Live Small Business
Subtotal: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Total: $0.00

[KURTZ]

what i think? it's a PC for kids ... however depends what is the use that you wanna do ... if your use is only 'surfing' over the net it's good ...

this is my spec:
CMST STACKER STC-01 Black | SilverStone Zeus ST75F 750W [Quad 12V] | Asus COMMANDO | Intel E6600 L637FO43 @3,2ghz cooled by Zalman 9700NT | TEAM Xtreem Dark DDR2 800 CL "Dark" | Sapphire 1900XT | LG GSA-H30N 16X 8.5Gb (SataII) | WD Raptor 74GB (Sata) | Samsung SM226BW | Creative X-FI XGamer | Razer Lachesis 'Wraith Red'

[Wayne Luke]

Buying a computer today, I wouldn't purchase a dual-core processor. They are already reaching obsolescence with tri-core and quad-core becoming common in the workstation and 8 to 16 cores being used in servers.

3 GB of RAM is a holdover from Vista pre-SP1 to reduce irate support calls on "Why isn't all of my memory showing up? I purchased 4 GB and it only shows 3." 4GB should be the minimum now. Of course if you want more you need a 64-bit OS.

If you want to play any games, you'll need to ditch the on-board video chip. You'll need a dedicated card with at least 256 Megabytes of RAM for DirectX 9 games and 512 MB for DirectX 10 games. At least to get decent performance. I could see Word 2007 and Adobe Reader having problems with the onboard graphics as well if you open large files with lots of images. Can cause problems on websites with a lot of media embedded as well.

The hard drive is tiny. Vista alone is going to take 10 GBs. Probably another 10GB of stuff installed by Dell. You should really consider a larger hard drive if you want to store any appreciable amount of media or database backups from your website.

Also consider Windows Home Premium. Basic is really going to limit what you can do with your computer in the long run.

[KURTZ]

totally agreed with Wayne he speaks english better than me

just a little thing about the games: it depends what games you play, cause if you play Crisis (for example) i'm sure that 512ram aren't enough (obviously if you wanna play that game at maximum detail)...

[Jase2]

Most computer nowadays require 2gb...more commonly in Vista, however.

Each person is different. We cannot say whether them system specs are good enough for you, because we don't know what you do on your computer. Do you just use your computer for general browsing, reading emails, ect ect, do you play the odd game?, do you play extreme games...so on and so forth. These are the questions you really should be answering and letting us know, only then will we be able to advise whether them system specs are suitable for your needs.

If you're going with Vista, and you just use your computer for general browsing, reading emails ect., then Home Basic will be fine. If you want more from your PC, and you play high-end games, then consider Home Premium with a minimum of 2gb. Also be aware, if you're going to be running a x86bit OS, then you cannot go higher than 4gb -- this is because x86 OS's don't read any above that, so your memory will just be wasted. If you want more, then you would need x64.

[Boofo]

That is Dell for you. Still behind in technology and high in price.

[Jase2]

They still make pretty good revenue: http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...080530?sp=true



They were also bringing out a new mini PC -- looks pretty good!

Everyone's behind in technology. It moves so fast. You could buy a top-end graphics card now, only for it to be sub-standard in 6 months time.

[KURTZ]

Originally Posted by Jason

Also be aware, if you're going to be running a x86bit OS, then you cannot go higher than 4gb -- this is because x86 OS's don't read any above that, so your memory will just be wasted.

a x86 SO reads at maximum 3,5gb not over ... but there is a question about this, cause someone has said that the OS 'reads' 3,5GB but in realty you can use 4GB (if you have 4 1GB sticks)

[Jase2]

That is because it has to address memory for your video memory. But, it is capable of addressing all 4gb RAM, however, some is set aside for hardware devices (PCI-E, PCI, etc.) which is why you will see Windows reporting something less than 4GBs.

Usually you will see somewhere between 2.75GB and 3.5GB available.

[legionofangels]

Again, I didn't post this to brag but to get responses on is it good, bad, or what would you change in it.

I should have listed what I use it for right away. Obviously I do my website of course, but aside from the that Windows Media Player, Watch DVD's on my pc, Windows Live Messenger, Firefox and always multiple tabs.

As far as programs I use Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop 7.0 a ton, those are my biggest programs that I use. Other than that, I never game on the pc. Let me clarifiy I never play PC games but I will use a ROM or Emulator every once and a while, but again very rarely.

Interesting points and I'm never sure on what processor to choose.

In closing yeah, I called today becuase the salesman didn't give me the free upgrade that was listed as the special, changing 80 GB Harddrive to 320 GB harddrive. It was a real hassle, I was like...why would I have not wanted the special? what a joke