Author Topic: Dell Outlet (and others...) (Read 841 times)

LePaul · « **on:** January 31, 2002, 11:32:15 AM »

A co-worker sent me to the Dell Outlet to check out the pricing on refurbished systems. I'm amazed how inexpensive some really nice systems are.

I know "refurbished" is generally a scary word. I bought my Handspring Visor Deluxe from Handspring as a "refurbished" unit. Its awesome. And for $99 (versus 199) I can see if the PDA craze is for me (yes yes, it is. 6.5 mb of 8mb loaded with games and stupid Star Trek Trivia and eGuides!).

I spoke to someone at Dell and they pointed out most of the refurbished systems are for a small issue, or even just a return.

Still, as I glance at their website...I see a system like...

Dell Dimension 4300
P4 1.8ghz
256mb ram
80gb IDE HDD
nVidia 64mb Geoforce2 MX with tv out
modem
network card
etc etc

$800

Or another Dell Dimension 4300
P4 1.6ghz
256 mb ram
40gb hdd
64mb nVidia GeoForce2 MX w/ TV
modem
nic
DVD

$764

---

Anyone gone the Dell route?

I'd much rather have an Athlon based system, but for the money, I could have one of these next week

mason22 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 31, 2002, 11:49:10 AM »

almost our entire office is dell refurbs.

make sure you get some sort of support/warranty with it. You;ll need it anytime you want to upgrade or add or change something. Just in case there is a bug or problem etc etc.

The only downside to dells are the proprietary parts. Make sure, when you get the one you want, deck it out NOW and not later. It'll make it easier for ya. RAM , Video, etc etc.

LePaul · « **Reply #2 on:** January 31, 2002, 11:52:18 AM »

Good points

The only thing I can think I'd want to change would be the Video Card at some point. But right now, at 14 FPS, any of these Dell systems for well under $999 sound awesome.

I really like the Alienware systems. But 2x the money.

The Dells we had here didnt strike me as being too proprietary....at least versus crap systems like Compaq.

ra · « **Reply #3 on:** January 31, 2002, 11:59:02 AM »

I have a Dell and I didn't have any problems upgrading memory, video, and sound.

ra

Eagler · « **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2002, 12:29:15 PM »

for the money, you can't go wrong with one of those Dells

LePaul · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2002, 02:01:08 PM »

They go quick, have you noticed?

As soon as some are listed (there was a nice P4 1900mhz in there, and when my screen refreshed, it was gone), they go quick. Some ugly Celeron system has been there all day

My work wants one, and gave me a $750 budget. Should be able to get at least a P4 1.4ghz with that from what Im seeing.

My thought was find one with a 16mb video card but fast cpu and just stick my Voodoo 5500 in there. Then I recalled how you guys make me drool with those FPS rates in the nVidias.

bloom25 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2002, 05:46:17 PM »

Be very careful: Those Dells are probably using the i845 chipset and SDRAM. Those systems are cheap, but perform badly. (You get what you pay for.) In addition, the video card they are bundled with is either a TNT2 M64, or those systems you mention use a GF 2 Mx 200, which is another terrible performer.

Tom's hardware just did a review of the SDRAM i845 boards. Looking at the benchmarks you can see just how bad their performance is. Tom's Hardware is at http://www.tomshardware.com .

Edit: Here's the direct link to the article - http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q1/020130/index.html

Kratzer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2002, 05:49:21 PM »

I have a Dell 4100, and I love it for two reasons: it works, and it's warrantied.

My 3dmark scores are consistently higher than comparable system, and I never have to screw with anything to get it to work.

LePaul · « **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2002, 11:15:40 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by bloom25
Be very careful: Those Dells are probably using the i845 chipset and SDRAM. Those systems are cheap, but perform badly. (You get what you pay for.) In addition, the video card they are bundled with is either a TNT2 M64, or those systems you mention use a GF 2 Mx 200, which is another terrible performer.

Tom's hardware just did a review of the SDRAM i845 boards. Looking at the benchmarks you can see just how bad their performance is. Tom's Hardware is at http://www.tomshardware.com .

Edit: Here's the direct link to the article - http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q1/020130/index.html

I read the article, and do not see where they really come out against the board/chipsets at all. If anything, they explained how and why such a chipset would be popular...SDRAM is plentiful and inexpensive.

For me, I could swing an $800 system like the Dells on that Factory page. Sure, spend more and I could have a killer system. But we're talking Saturns versus Cadillacs. And right now, at 12 FPS, that Saturn seems mighty tempting.

Whatcha willing to build me for $800

bloom25 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 01, 2002, 02:36:13 AM »

They don't say anything bad about the boards, because they don't have to. The performance hit speaks for itself... If you compare those benchmark results, which use a 2 Ghz P4, with other reviews you can see just how badly a system using i845 would perform. In Tom's article you don't have a direct reference to compare to, but I suggest you look. Those "savings" from the cheap SDRAM do not result in a "higher bang for the buck" ratio. I do know from memory that a P4 2 Ghz on an i845 board with SDRAM can be outperformed by a 1.5Ghz P4 on a i850 board in many benchmarks. Even though Rambus ram (used on i850) does cost more than SDRAM, the price premium of the 2 Ghz P4 over the 1.5 Ghz processor more than makes up for the difference. I hesitate to mention AMD here because I don't want anyone to think this is an AMD vs Intel issue. ( I also don't have the time right now to look up exact numbers.

)

Onto your $800 question: (

)
Can you reuse the monitor, floppy, cd rom drive, case, keyboard, mouse, speakers, cables, etc? You may also be able to reuse your soundcard and possibly the hard drive. If you can reuse some of these components, especially the monitor, I can guarantee that you can build/have built for you a system that could easily outperform an $800 Dell system.

I'm very pressed for time tonight, but I'll write some more later on on this topic.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 01, 2002, 07:50:51 AM »

Hmmmm,

1.7Ghz P4
40GB HD
3 1/2 Floppy
52X CD-Rom
512M 266 DDR Ram
Mid-Tower Case w/300W P4 Power Supply
64MB DDR Gf2 Titanium w/TV Out
10/100 Ethernet NIC
Sound Card
2 additional cooling fans
(NOTE: Motherboard is Intel Northwood ready)

All new, no used stuff.

How's that for $800.00 (U.S.) You still need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and operating system. Does not include shipping.

mrsid2 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 01, 2002, 08:39:15 AM »

http://www.azzo.com/test2/systems.html

Good value computers.

LePaul · « **Reply #12 on:** February 01, 2002, 10:26:51 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Hmmmm,

1.7Ghz P4
40GB HD
3 1/2 Floppy
52X CD-Rom
512M 266 DDR Ram
Mid-Tower Case w/300W P4 Power Supply
64MB DDR Gf2 Titanium w/TV Out
10/100 Ethernet NIC
Sound Card
2 additional cooling fans
(NOTE: Motherboard is Intel Northwood ready)

All new, no used stuff.

How's that for $800.00 (U.S.) You still need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and operating system. Does not include shipping.

You resell PCs? Neato. Anything with an AMD?

I've got all the accessories (oodles, man, oodles...I have multiple web servers and lots of spare parts *just in case*)

Curious what Bloom describes.

mason22 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 01, 2002, 12:43:00 PM »

damn...go with Skuzzy's ....!! especially if you've got all the accessories.

Skuzzy · « **Reply #14 on:** February 01, 2002, 01:26:39 PM »

I have not brought myself to be able to resell AMD yet. I just build solid hardware and use the best I can get to put it together.

I have not been able to put together an AMD system that I consider stable enough to stand behind. You have to understand what I mean by that. AMD is a fine processor, but the supprt chips for the rest of it are still lacking,..at least using my yardstick they are lacking a bit.

Let's see, the above system has names like ASUS, Intel, IBM, Antec, Crucial, and Hercules stuffed in it.

I approach computers like washing machines. I just want them to work,..no fuss,..no muss. I don't care about bragging rights, I just want them to work and work and work. I like upgradibility too and the above system is pretty upgradeable.