P1Fanatic

The girlfriend is after a PC. I normally build my own so havent really bought one off the shelf before but Ive heard Dell have a fairly good rep.

She basically wants it for going online and doing some graphics design - nothing hardcore just Photoshop type stuff but wants it to last a good few years spec wise so is looking to spend about £1k.

She has a grand to spend and quite fancies a Dell. Ive had a look at the spec and seems ok other than they dont seem to offer any Wireless options (routers but no cards which seems strange). She also wants a TV Card so can watch TV in her room. Would prob by this and Wifi Card seperate as long as PC has two spare PCI slots.

The GeForce 7900GS seems enough for her usage.

I wasnt too sure about their own monitors but they seem to get good writeups as individual components so cant be that bad.

Anyone had any issues with Dell or spot something in the following Spec for a Dimension 9200?

Cheers,
Simon

Components
PROCESSOR Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT Basic Package, 3 Year At-Home Service edit
MONITOR Dell™ 19" UltraSharp™ Digital/Analogue Flat Panel (1907FP) - UK/Irish edit
MEMORY 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz [2x1024] Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x160GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache] edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7900GS graphics card edit
Accessories
SOUND CARD Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability edit
SPEAKERS Dell™ A525 Speakers with Subwoofer edit
KEYBOARD Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY) edit
MOUSE Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MODEMS No Modem edit
Services & Software
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Security/Anti-Virus Protection edit
MICROSOFT SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 8 - English edit
PHOTOGRAPHY SOFTWARE No digital photo sharing or editing software selected. edit
Also included with your system
Gedis Bundle Reference List D02925a Dimension 9200
Shipping Documents 9200 Documentation with UK Power Cord
Adobe Reader Adobe Reader 7.0.8 - English
Order Information Dimension Order - UK
Standard Warranty Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Money Off Savings Save £50 inc VAT
Dell Internet Order Dell Internet Order.
Promotions Hidden Option Class Memory - Upgrade to 2048MB
SYSTEM MEDIA Dimension Resource DVD for Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers)

£969.86 Includes VAT & Shipping

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I've had my Dell for 2 years and it still runs the latest games, given I've thrown in a 9750gt but other than that... and I paid £900 for it !

Some people think the components are a bit cheap with Dell, I'm not sure, I like them and plan on my next PC being a Dell

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Nice spec but not cheap...
I'll have a dig around to see if I can find you an e-value code for the 9200 which comes in at a lower price

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

In my own experience, the PCs themselves are very good, but the after-sales service is script-reading Indian call centre - which for a complex product is absolutely inexcusable IMHO. I've had service ranging from very good to fails-to-meet-legal-requirements poor.

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Ok,not a 9200 but a pretty good spec E520 (Next model down from a 9200)

£588 delivered

Dimension E520 (D02E03) Qty 1
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB), English Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic Unit Price Incl. VAT £527.58
Catalog Number: 202 D02E03
Module Description Show Details
Base Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
Microsoft Operating System English Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic
Memory 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz [2x1024] Memory
Keyboard Dell™ Black Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Monitor Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E197FP) - UK/Irish
Video Card 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7300 Turbocache graphics card
Hard Drive 320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache
Floppy Drives Internal 13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Mouse Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Modem No Modem
CD/DVD Drives 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Speakers No Speakers
Shipping Documents E520 Documentation with UK Power Cord
Gedis Bundle Reference List D02E03 Dimension E520
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 8 - English
Standard Warranty Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Hardware Support Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
AntiVirus & Security Software No Security/Anti-Virus Protection
Digital Photography No digital photo sharing or editing software selected.
Order Information Dimension Order - UK
Money Off Savings save £30ex VAT
Dell System Media Kit Dimension Resource DVD for Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers)
Adobe Reader Adobe Reader 7.0.8 - English
Promotions Hidden Option Class Memory - Upgrade to 2048MB

No speakers and not a brilliant graphics card but the E520's have a PCI-X slot so you can upgrade it yourself....

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

9200 with a similar spec to the one you posted (Minus the speakers I think.Oh and Ultrasharp monitor)

Dimension 9200 (D02925A) Qty 1
Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB), Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Unit Price Incl. VAT £669.00
Catalog Number: 202 D02925A
Module Description Show Details
Base Intel® Viiv™ Core™ 2 Duo E6300 Processor (1.86GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Memory 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 667MHz [4x512] Memory
Keyboard Dell™ Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Ire (QWERTY)
Monitor Dell™ 19" Value Flat Panel (E197FP) - UK/Irish
Video Card 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 7900GS graphics card
Hard Drive 320GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x160GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]
Floppy Drives No Floppy Drive
Mouse Dell 2 Button USB Scroll Optical Mouse - Black
Modem No Modem
CD/DVD Drives 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Speakers No Speakers
Shipping Documents 9200 Documentation with UK Power Cord
Gedis Bundle Reference List D02925a Dimension 9200
Microsoft Application Software Microsoft® Works 8 - English
Standard Warranty Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
Hardware Support Collect & Return, 1 Year Service only
AntiVirus & Security Software No Security/Anti-Virus Protection
Digital Photography No digital photo sharing or editing software selected.
Order Information Dimension Order - UK
Money Off Savings Save £50 inc VAT
Dell System Media Kit Dimension Resource DVD for Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers)
Adobe Reader Adobe Reader 7.0.8 - English
Promotions Hidden Option Class Memory - Upgrade to 2048MB

£729 delivered (This was £699 last week from memory)

richie001

iTrader: (3)

got a e520 and got no complains but the indian call centre was nightmare over a printer problem

l3wyy

They have a market share of 58% to the home market - must say something. Their aftersales if PDG as well.

I for one (in the last 4 years) have only ever bough dell - simple, cheap and really good for most.

I use to build my own - but all you have to do is have a simple component failure and the price of replacing a bit equals the cost of buying a Dell.

They source most parts fromk China (hence why it is cheap) but China is now the prime in manufacturing computer parts. How may people here have a Chineese mouse?............most I'd guess.

l3wyy

Before anyone replies that they bought their mouse in a UK pet shop....hah hah

P1Fanatic

Thanks for all the replies guys. Cutting back on the warranty seems to save quite a bit. I can help her with most things its just if something does break then she has the warranty. Would prob recommend the 2yr onsite as if it hasnt broken in the first 2 years it should be ok (famous last words).

She needs speakers for MP3's. I will get her to buy a seperate Wireless card unless the offer something decent when we ring up. Seems strange that online they offer every possible option BUT a WiFi card, even a WiFi router lol.

For the extra £43 the monitor is prob worth it especially as she is doing graphic design.

Simon

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

I've recently got a 9200, different core duo processor though (sorry can't remember what ). Same graphics card, HD and ram though.
Got mine just before the free vista upgrade (whether thats a blessing or not ) so just running on XP Home.
It's my first non home built base unit for years. The biggest problem I have with pre-built systems is that they come preloaded with so much crap!

I'm also having trouble adding my own HD to the system. For some it won't recognise the 2nd HD, prolly something to do with being configured to RAID from the factory, but I've not had experience of it before. Setting RAID to off stops the PC from booting!?!

Anyway, I digress! In terms of build quality, it's a lot better than Dells' used to be and despite my tinkering it's very reliable!

P1Fanatic

Thanks for the Input Neanderthal. How many spare PCI slots did yours come with? When doing the build online it says 3. Just making sure as I need 2 for Wifi and TV cards.

Im not sure she needs raid performance tbh. Would be better getting just one big hard drive so may ask about changing that.

Simon

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

That's the thing. Mine only came with one hardrive!
I was trying to add a second. The supplied h/d is pluged into SATA0, the DVD burner is in SATA1. There are a further 4 SATA ports on the h/d.
It has 3x PCI slots (nowt plugged in them).
It also has 3x PCI express slots, a 1x speed, a 4x speed and the 16x speed slot that the 7900 is plugged into.

Anymore questions let me know

Matt

P1Fanatic

Lol Im confused. You said yours had the same HD which I assumed to mean this setup:

HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA RAID 0 Stripe [2x160GB 7200rpm drives with DataBurst™ cache]

Never setup RAID myself but I understood it that it was just two identical drives configured to run in parallel which provides faster performance as your loading data from both at the same time.

So how can you only have 1 HD or did you not order the RAID setup as per my spec?

Cheers,
Simon

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

LMAO I'm confused as well now. I've opened the case and the h/d is installed at the bottom of the case. It's capacity is 320Gb and in XP it's listed as C:\ and D:\ (D:\ being the 'backup') I assumed that the single h/d is partitioned into two drives?
Gah **** knows. It's easier when you build it yourself

P1Fanatic

Sounds strange as the spec specifically says 2x160gb drives. Im no RAID expert but logic tells me that you wouldnt run it over two partitions on the same physical drive as youd hit the same performance limitations of that single drive which is what RAID is trying to get around.

Cheers,
Simon

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

Yeah now that I've described it it does sound strange!
You've got me doubting myself now. Gonna have to open the case and have a look tonight!
We are talking about an Irish company though

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

My Dell desktop is nearly 7 years old now; been no trouble at all- stil does most of what I need it do do (though games and multimedia editing are a bit of a no-no, but what do you expect)

In terms of build quality and reliability, Dell are amoung the best, if not the best. They did have a period when their customer service was poor, but I never had any complaints as a home user. I think A one year warranty is sufficent for a Dell PC: if anything is broken chances are it's going to be broken from the outset. If its all ok, there is a very good chance it will remain so for years, beyond which, if anything major goes wrong it can often be uneconomical to fix anyway!

Their systems are good value for money too!

Ns04

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Dell are an american company (The systems are assembled in Dublin)

NickAdams

iTrader: (5)

Chances are you've got a single drive system.My 9150 (The 9200 is its successor) had a single 250gb hard drive when I bought it from Dell and I since added an extra drive but purchased the 90 degree angled sata cable from Ebay as Dell wanted to charge an extortionate amount for one!!!
Good old Dell.... (Mind you,my 9150 cost me £480 delivered with a 17in flat panel about 16 months or so ago)