To DELL, or not to DELL - That is my question...

[homerpez]

Hope I get some lively responses with this one...

I'm thinkin' about getting a Dell. Specifically, a Dell Dimension 8200 series, with the P4 2.53 Ghz processor, RDRAM, large hard drive, and the max-our 128MB Geforce Ti 4600 board. Mainly, I'd be opting for here rather than anywhere else since they have in-store credit.

That, and for some reason the "faster" P4 machine (8200) is turning out cheaper than the "slower" one that uses SDRAM... so...

Anyway, I'm hanging on a few questions, perhaps someone with more intimate knowledge of Dell's can help me out.

First: Does anyone know WHICH 128MB Gefore Ti card they ship? Nowhere on the Dell site answers this question. There are several brands of them! In fact, if it's not the one with video capture "IN", I'm looking elsewhere...

Second: Has anyone bought one? How does it work for you?

Third: Can you update their "Home" Windows XP (which I suspect is "fake" Windows installed by a Dell install disk) with an upgrade XP Pro CD? I know XP Pro can go over XP Home, but how about the "Dell" flavor of Home? (I have the "Pro Upgrade" disk, and if I can install it over their pre-installed "Home", I save $99. )

Any help/advice is appreciated... if I don't go Dell I'm thinking of just saving (yuck) pennies and nickels and buying a new Athlon fast-as-they-go MB combo, then getting the Geforce Ti board (with capture!) later on... then just retrofit into my currect setup... it'd be cheaper, but take longer (and I'm selfish and impatient!)

Thanks for the advice...

[Craig Tucker]

I would only have one piece of advice, build your own. That way you determine and know the exact specification of your machine, and can shop around and get the best deals on individual components.

I have built my last 3 PC's, and I don't think I could have bought a ready made one from a major company such as dell or tiny, with the specifications I wanted for my current machine. Particularly at the prices I paid. Building your own also makes upgraging at a later date that much simpler.

Craig

[SteveDVD]

Yea when you mkae your own you get what you want and how you want it. It's like ordering food at a restaurant but you have to but it together. I just built my last PC around Christmas and it's really not hard at all... The building only take a hour or so.......

[homerpez]

That's exactly what I've done to-date, every so often I'll change or add SOMETHING, and when it's time for a new CPU etc, I'll snap up a motherboard combo from a local store who bundles/tests them, and then swap that out.

Mostly I was thinking Dell this time because of ease. I don't feel like screwing around, I don't have the money saved, etc... and if they are offering the Geforce Ti WITH the video cap feature, I'm sold...

But yeah it looks like I'll do it myself... thanks guys..

[devinemi83]

Dell is very good. I am a very proud dell user. The only probs I have had are because of windows not the machine. Not one of her factory parts have broken yet. And it was made in late 1999. I did encounter a problem when I installed a video capture card, I fond out dell didnt put all the cabs on my machine. I just got a standard rescue disk. It didnt have them either, I had to download them. But the support has always been great to me and fast when I needed them. So if you dont want to build one, I would say "dude get a dell"