Decked out PC...is this a good deal?

[Arch2k]

I am looking at either upgrading my current PC, or buying a new one. I ran across this current deal Dell is offering on an XPS desktop :

Dell EPP XPS 420: Core 2 Quad Q6600, 3GB DDR2, 500GB HDD, BluRay Reader/DVD Burner, 512MB nVidia 8800GT, 15-Months AV, Vista Home Premium $936 - SlickDeals.net Forums

Here are the specs:

Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Digital Cable Support
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
Dell USB Keyboard
No Monitor
512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Dell Optical USB Mouse
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months
1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor,24x7 Phone Support
Included 10GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Year
Adobe Elements Studio for XPS™ 420


Base price is $995.43 (including shipping & taxes). I am thinking about adding the tuner/cable card for ~$100.

Is this a good deal or can I do better?

 

[fredtgreco]

I don't know Jeff, I'm sure you could get an iSomething for at least twice or three times that price.

Couldn't resist!

 

[Arch2k]

I knew there would have to be some Apple comments coming from this board! You're a PC guy though Fred, does this sound like a pretty good deal to you?

 

[VaughanRSmith]

Well, if those were Aussie dollars, I'd buy three.

 

[fredtgreco]

I knew there would have to be some Apple comments coming from this board! You're a PC guy though Fred, does this sound like a pretty good deal to you?

It does, although I have to admit I am no longer a Dell buyer, since my last Dell laptop gave me problems. But that is a pretty nice machine. My simple rule is:

Awesome system $1500
Very good system $1000
Decent economy system $500

You can check out fatwallet or slickdeals to see if there are any better deals out there.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

That's a really nice deal based on the specs. The Dell XPS line is good. You could obviously sweeten it if it allows you to take out the Blu-Ray player unless you need it.

 

[Arch2k]

Thanks for the reply guys. I was especially hoping to hear from you (Fred and Rich). It sounds good to me too, but I've only bought two PC's in the past, so I wanted a 2nd opinion. Probably pully the trigger on this one.

My wife says to Rich "Wow he has cute kids!"

 

[fredtgreco]

Yeah. If you could get some cash back, I'd avoid the online storage stuff, since even if it is good, it is only for 1 year. With those kind of specs (esp. the HD speed and RAM) you may want to pay a bit more and get a better video card (1GB). I blue ray player with a middle of the road card may not be the best combo. Either get both, or ditch the blue ray.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I just can't believe they make 1GB video cards now.

 

[Arch2k]

Don't care at all about the online storage, so probably try to return that if I get it. The blue ray is part of the deal, although I could strip it and sell it on ebay if the graphics card can't handle it. Upgrade to 768 MB video card is and extra $350, so probably won't go there for that price.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Don't care at all about the online storage, so probably try to return that if I get it.

If you already have it then turn it down. Do you back up important data online?

 

[ReformedWretch]

Too bad you couldn't trade the Bluray for a 1GB graphics card! That would be sweet.

 

[Arch2k]

Don't care at all about the online storage, so probably try to return that if I get it.

If you already have it then turn it down. Do you back up important data online?

Nope. All of my really important data will fit on my U3 thumb drive/DVD's. Eventually I would like to either utilize the extra hard drive space to back up everything.

 

[Arch2k]

Sure, Jeff. Looks great. What does it all mean, though?

It means it's cool!

 

[Arch2k]

Too bad you couldn't trade the Bluray for a 1GB graphics card! That would be sweet.

That would be sweet. Honestly though, anything will be a step up from my old 128mb card setup.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Don't care at all about the online storage, so probably try to return that if I get it.

If you already have it then turn it down. Do you back up important data online?

Nope. All of my really important data will fit on my U3 thumb drive/DVD's. Eventually I would like to either utilize the extra hard drive space to back up everything.

Just not too disaster proof. If you have so little important data then check out rsync.net - Secure Offsite Backups, Offsite Data Storage and Remote Encrypted Filesystems, Offsite Backup or especially JungleDisk - Reliable online storage powered by Amazon S3 â„¢ - Jungle Disk

For a free option there is a free plugin into GMail that allows you to treat your GMail inbox as a disk on your system.

Local backup is good but you always want something offsite.

 

[danmpem]

If you have to spend extra or trade off some of the bells and whistles to get the extended warranty, then please do it - it is worth every penny. If that web site won't sell it to you, then make sure that you can purchase the warranty through Dell. I see this happen to one of my clients almost every month. They spend $1000+ on a very nice computer, and 18 months later the motherboard dies, their cat urinates on it, or something equally catastrophic occurs, and they have no warranty.

Also, please treat your computer well - put Linux on it. As an IT, I respect what Microsoft did with some of the new aspects of Vista, but with the developments made in the last year with the Linux distributions, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't find one that is 64-bit, user friendly, has a nice GUI, runs Windows applications well, and is just right for you. Your hard drive is plenty big enough to have a dual boot. I see that you are an engineer; I'm sure there is someone at your firm who knows about this and is dying to just give you the Live CD that is in his briefcase (you think I'm joking). If you would like my on the treatment you could use to romance your computer, then please feel free to PM me.

 

[Narnian]

My philosophy is go cheap. Why? Because technology advances so fast what you spend $1,000+ on today will be available for $500 in 2-3 years.

And in 2-3 years you will want to replace that system but might not have the $ for it depending what you spend now: you fall into a cycle of "PC envy" and end up paying for more than you need.

Look at what you want it for. Unless you are going to play high end video games, do heavy video editing or CAD applications, the cheaper systems are usually more than adequate.

I am on a 4-5 year cycle on my PCs - I invest in memory and an external hard drive (backup, backup and backup). Keep the disk clean and the system maintained and the performance is usually more than adequate throughout the lifecycle.

Note: I am an "ubergeek" - I have my own server at home (running MS Exchange and Sharepoint) and have 4 systems at work (2 laptops and 2 desktops, not to mention the 100+ servers I manage). I can afford any system I want - all I do is adjust my wants to something more reasonable.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

If you have to spend extra or trade off some of the bells and whistles to get the extended warranty, then please do it - it is worth every penny. If that web site won't sell it to you, then make sure that you can purchase the warranty through Dell. I see this happen to one of my clients almost every month. They spend $1000+ on a very nice computer, and 18 months later the motherboard dies, their cat urinates on it, or something equally catastrophic occurs, and they have no warranty.

Also, please treat your computer well - put Linux on it. As an IT, I respect what Microsoft did with some of the new aspects of Vista, but with the developments made in the last year with the Linux distributions, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't find one that is 64-bit, user friendly, has a nice GUI, runs Windows applications well, and is just right for you. Your hard drive is plenty big enough to have a dual boot. I see that you are an engineer; I'm sure there is someone at your firm who knows about this and is dying to just give you the Live CD that is in his briefcase (you think I'm joking). If you would like my on the treatment you could use to romance your computer, then please feel free to PM me.

Dan,

Beside Ubuntu, what Linux distros do you like that are "out of the box"? I'm intrigued but don't really want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to tweak it just so.

 

[danmpem]

If you have to spend extra or trade off some of the bells and whistles to get the extended warranty, then please do it - it is worth every penny. If that web site won't sell it to you, then make sure that you can purchase the warranty through Dell. I see this happen to one of my clients almost every month. They spend $1000+ on a very nice computer, and 18 months later the motherboard dies, their cat urinates on it, or something equally catastrophic occurs, and they have no warranty.

Also, please treat your computer well - put Linux on it. As an IT, I respect what Microsoft did with some of the new aspects of Vista, but with the developments made in the last year with the Linux distributions, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't find one that is 64-bit, user friendly, has a nice GUI, runs Windows applications well, and is just right for you. Your hard drive is plenty big enough to have a dual boot. I see that you are an engineer; I'm sure there is someone at your firm who knows about this and is dying to just give you the Live CD that is in his briefcase (you think I'm joking). If you would like my on the treatment you could use to romance your computer, then please feel free to PM me.

Dan,

Beside Ubuntu, what Linux distros do you like that are "out of the box"? I'm intrigued but don't really want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to tweak it just so.

-Fedora Core (it's the end user version of Red Hat. Very nice.)

-Knoppix (Currently the most popular Live CD. It's great if your Windows system crashes and you need to get files off fast.)

-Debian.......Ubuntu is based on Debian which is directly based on the Linux kernel. Ubuntu installs with a bunch of 3rd party applications and either the GNOME or KDE GUI. If you want Debian to install with a GUI, then it's just a check-box away in the setup menu. The only downside for someone who may not have a whole lot of time is that you don't get the Synaptic Package Manager (which is a great "find it fast in the repository" feature which comes stock in Ubuntu). All of this is available if it's installed via command-line in Debian. This should not be confused with other distros in which the user may spend several hours in the command line interface; Debian is quick and as about as painless as it gets while working in the command line.

There are others than what I have here, but these are what I am most familiar with. Although I have not personally tried them, I here Suse and Mandriva are good too. If someone here wants to contest that, please feel free.

Here is a great reference page for apt-get commands (for the console on Debian-based distros)

O'Reilly's Desktop Linux Pocket Guide Besides blank CD's, this is the only financial investment I have ever made that's Linux-related. It's a nice, short book in plain English, which gives very relevant introductions and technical specs on five major distros (Fedora Core, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Suse). It is 2 1/2 years old, so it is somewhat outdated, but I use this very, very frequently for reference. Really, the only parts that are outdated are the bits of commentary on how to get past tough spots in the installation screens. Most of the tricky parts have all been fixed since the book's publication.

To learn more about different distros, check out
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.
Distributions - Linux Downloads Directory (This site helps find just Live CD's, Install Discs, etc)
Ubuntu Forums

Are you familiar with any virtual machine programs like VMWare? VMWare is very popular and the military uses it, so it should be pretty easy to get a Workstation license at no cost. I like using my VMWare to play around with new distros, especially if I don't have the time to really get it perfect on my computer, or if I just want to test and not run the risk of crashing my computer by doing something stupid.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to ask. I love talking about this stuff.

 

[KMK]

How about this:

Mac Pro

8 cores standard, up to 3.2 GHz
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1
16x double-layer SuperDrive
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

Sweeeeeet!

 

[danmpem]

How about this:

Mac Pro

8 cores standard, up to 3.2 GHz
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1
16x double-layer SuperDrive
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

Sweeeeeet!

It's so fast, it ships within 24 hours!

 

[KMK]

How about this:

Mac Pro

8 cores standard, up to 3.2 GHz
Two 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Harpertown” processors
2GB memory (800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with 256MB memory
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1
16x double-layer SuperDrive
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$2,799.00

Sweeeeeet!

It's so fast, it ships within 24 hours!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

If you have to spend extra or trade off some of the bells and whistles to get the extended warranty, then please do it - it is worth every penny. If that web site won't sell it to you, then make sure that you can purchase the warranty through Dell. I see this happen to one of my clients almost every month. They spend $1000+ on a very nice computer, and 18 months later the motherboard dies, their cat urinates on it, or something equally catastrophic occurs, and they have no warranty.

Also, please treat your computer well - put Linux on it. As an IT, I respect what Microsoft did with some of the new aspects of Vista, but with the developments made in the last year with the Linux distributions, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't find one that is 64-bit, user friendly, has a nice GUI, runs Windows applications well, and is just right for you. Your hard drive is plenty big enough to have a dual boot. I see that you are an engineer; I'm sure there is someone at your firm who knows about this and is dying to just give you the Live CD that is in his briefcase (you think I'm joking). If you would like my on the treatment you could use to romance your computer, then please feel free to PM me.

Dan,

Beside Ubuntu, what Linux distros do you like that are "out of the box"? I'm intrigued but don't really want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to tweak it just so.

-Fedora Core (it's the end user version of Red Hat. Very nice.)

-Knoppix (Currently the most popular Live CD. It's great if your Windows system crashes and you need to get files off fast.)

-Debian.......Ubuntu is based on Debian which is directly based on the Linux kernel. Ubuntu installs with a bunch of 3rd party applications and either the GNOME or KDE GUI. If you want Debian to install with a GUI, then it's just a check-box away in the setup menu. The only downside for someone who may not have a whole lot of time is that you don't get the Synaptic Package Manager (which is a great "find it fast in the repository" feature which comes stock in Ubuntu). All of this is available if it's installed via command-line in Debian. This should not be confused with other distros in which the user may spend several hours in the command line interface; Debian is quick and as about as painless as it gets while working in the command line.

There are others than what I have here, but these are what I am most familiar with. Although I have not personally tried them, I here Suse and Mandriva are good too. If someone here wants to contest that, please feel free.

Here is a great reference page for apt-get commands (for the console on Debian-based distros)

O'Reilly's Desktop Linux Pocket Guide Besides blank CD's, this is the only financial investment I have ever made that's Linux-related. It's a nice, short book in plain English, which gives very relevant introductions and technical specs on five major distros (Fedora Core, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Suse). It is 2 1/2 years old, so it is somewhat outdated, but I use this very, very frequently for reference. Really, the only parts that are outdated are the bits of commentary on how to get past tough spots in the installation screens. Most of the tricky parts have all been fixed since the book's publication.

To learn more about different distros, check out
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.
Distributions - Linux Downloads Directory (This site helps find just Live CD's, Install Discs, etc)
Ubuntu Forums

Are you familiar with any virtual machine programs like VMWare? VMWare is very popular and the military uses it, so it should be pretty easy to get a Workstation license at no cost. I like using my VMWare to play around with new distros, especially if I don't have the time to really get it perfect on my computer, or if I just want to test and not run the risk of crashing my computer by doing something stupid.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to ask. I love talking about this stuff.

There are a few "must have" apps for me that, unfortunately, will run only on Windows and Mac. I've been increasingly interested in moving the direction of Linux.

It's obviously the OS that the dedicated server for this website runs on. I like playing around with some command line things. I'm an old DOS fan (which was kind of a ripoff from Unix and CP/M to begin with). It's not that I can't figure out OS's but it's really a matter of time with me. There are things in the Windows architecture that I dislike but it is what it is and, for me, the apps drive my requirements.

I've thought about dual-booting and using the apps I need for most things but there are definitely some apps I would have to go into Windows for (Adobe products and some Macromedia) and if I ended up wasting time going back into Windows all the time it would just be a waste. I also used Mozy to back up key data on my hard drive and that's Windows based.

I just don't know if it'd be practical for my work flow but I've thought about tinkering even though my time to tink is really limited.

 

[danmpem]

Try Wine here. It runs Windows Apps and is available in most major repositories (I knew I forgot something above).