New Computer!

[incka]

Dell. 1gb ram. 80gb hd. 2.8ghz. 128mb gfx. £950 inc vat. I can probably claim back the full cost against tax.

[michael_gersitz]

its about time. I remember that ole piece of crap that you were telling me about. ;)

[thebillionaire]

you got ripped man.

[incka]

You think that is a bad price, but I am buying QUALITY. I've had enough experience buying from small and even quite large computer manufactors, and only the largest ones (Packard Bell, Compaq, eMachines) have never brocken.

My current machine is only 128mb ram...


Comes with 17" monitor, XP Home, MS Office XP.

[thebillionaire]

Custom comps are they best, cheapest, plus they have the same quality every one uses the same type of chips, when making custom you choose the quality.

[Westech]

Nice, Incka! So now you can churn out websites twice as fast, right?

[thebillionaire]

lol, yea ////

[incka]

Infact maybe even 3 times... The slow computer annoys me so much sometimes I just give up trying to get things to work and just surf the web...

I got a custom computer once. Nice and cheap. Paid 3 times what I paid for it originally in repairs though, and ended up with no computer for months while I got people to repair it. That's not gonna happen this time. Got 3 years next day on site repairs.

[thebillionaire]

I can fix most problems with my computer on my own, I may need to go to the comp store to get it fixed maby once or twice a year.

[incka]

Yeah. With the emachines I've never had to go in 2 years. With the little brand one I had to go every 6 months and it took weeks to be repaired. Asking around people seem to have the least problems with dell computers, so I picked them.

[AndyH]

Seems like a good deal.

I buy all computer components individually and build them myself. Works out cheaper and you get exactly what you want.

[incka]

Yeah. I could do without the McAfee free trial. I hate McAfee & Norton. Why don't they come with Avast?

[Emancipator]

i hate programming my websites on a slow box. I bought a new compaq x1000 laptop for when im on the road, and dropped in a few extra sticks of ram. it is a gem. I can run photoshopcs, dreamweaver, and my other apps without any hiccups.

When im at home i have my trusty home built uber box, but for on the road ye laptop works well.

[Doug]

I buy all computer components individually and build them myself. Works out cheaper and you get exactly what you want.

Thats what I plan to do as soon as I get enough money for it. Right now I only have 128 mb of ram and I multitask my computer to death just about every night.

[r2d2]

Seems like a good deal.

I buy all computer components individually and build them myself. Works out cheaper and you get exactly what you want.

Thats what I do too. This is the only way to get a proper quality machine. All the premade ones cut costs somewhere. Plus Dell ones use their own PSU type so you cant just get a standard one if it breaks!

I need to get another 512Mb Ram though, mines quite often using the pagefile :rolleyes:

[Chris]

Yeah. I could do without the McAfee free trial. I hate McAfee & Norton. Why don't they come with Avast?
Oddly enough, Dell doesn't allow you to deselect installed programs on Dimensions, but on my XPS I got to tell them not to put any of that stuff on there to begin with.

[incka]

Perhaps those companies pay them to put the software on. If you don't buy it after 3 months it comes up with popups when you turn your computer on saying that unless you buy updates your computer isn't safe...

[Mike]

Good deal I'd say!

Mine cost a lot more from dell and wasn't that much better. £950 is a steal :)

[incka]

I've been waiting months for some good offers on dell, and I finally decided the free double ram and free delivery, plus office being only about £100 was worth it...

[Chris]

Perhaps those companies pay them to put the software on. If you don't buy it after 3 months it comes up with popups when you turn your computer on saying that unless you buy updates your computer isn't safe...
Exactly. Its advertising for those companies.

[moonshield]

i build them myself also. I am going to build one with and FX-55 when PCI Express comes out for AMD boards.

[Blue Cat Buxton]

When does it arrive?

[Mike]

Knowing Dell, it'll take months. Thats based on the experience I and a friend of mine has had with them anyway.

[moonshield]

does dell only have factories in the United States?

[incka]

If they don't get it to me in the time they said, 2 weeks, then I'll go to trading standards... I don't get pushed around by big businesses...

[Blue Cat Buxton]

Ive always found them spot on with UK delivery dates - They probably allow for delays in the estimate - except for one time when they just lost the order completely!

[thebillionaire]

The computer I want is an Alienware ALX - Custom built, came up to $24000 usd.

[incka]

I hate the look of alienware computers... And the name...

[Xander]

The computer I want is an Alienware ALX - Custom built, came up to $24000 usd.

What spec was that, pure gold cpus? :eek: :D

[Mike]

$24k?! :o How?

[moonshield]

um, alienware... why would anyone go that? I could build a same-spec (or better) computer with a cooler case for many thousand less. Just go to Newegg.com and buy all your components and then just put it together!

[Mike]

thepoorman, is it a LOT cheaper to build your own then? I'm thinking of getting another computer for gaming, as recently I have just hurled a load of big games on this one, and they're not performing really as I'd like.

[r2d2]

Its not a lot cheaper, but you get exactly what you want. Unless you already know how to build a computer, or want to learn, I would say you would be best to buy a premade. Make sure you get one made for gaming though, i.e. make sure it has a decent graphics card.

[moonshield]

let me clairfy.... Alienware are a waste of money, one can get a good cheap Dell for way cheaper then I could build one but Alienware, especially 24k, are overpriced.

[incka]

It arrived at 16:46 today, I've just got it fully set up (meaning google toolbar, avast & ad-aware installed, and all the crap such as mcafee and aol uninstalled).

[Emancipator]

Alienware boxes are EXTREMELY pricey but also worth it if you are doing hardcore graphic design or are a hardcore gamer that needs every feature.

like their new nvidia card setup with 2 cards doing half screen scanning. Alienware is uber, but not for 99% of users who dont need these things.

[moonshield]

yes. down with mcaffe, be gone AOL

[Chris]

Alienware is pretty much a Dell XPS with some small customizations.

I saw a benchmark of an Alienware, Dell XPS, and Falcon Northwest systems. They all used the exact same processor, the exact same graphics card, etc , etc. The Alienware and Falcon systems simply had a few additional tweaks. In the end it gave them less than a 1% boost over the Dell. The price difference for that 1% boost? $3k.

[incka]

Anyone here used Desktop X or similar program? The ToDo thing is very useful, and it's interesting to see Longhorn.

[r2d2]

No, but gonna give it a try now. Whats the main things you use it for?

[incka]

ToDo list, Currency converter, Fish (that swim round your desktop), Google search. Problem with ToDo list is you can't do it as a calander that changes the prioity of tasks depending on dates... If anyone here is a C++ or VB programmer who can make a ToDo list that loads up automatically, blends into the desktop, and is just a system tray icon, I'll pay you to make it for me.

[Blue Cat Buxton]

ToDo list, Currency converter, Fish (that swim round your desktop), Google search. Problem with ToDo list is you can't do it as a calander that changes the prioity of tasks depending on dates... If anyone here is a C++ or VB programmer who can make a ToDo list that loads up automatically, blends into the desktop, and is just a system tray icon, I'll pay you to make it for me.

I had somethin like this installed a while ago and just got really anoyed with it and took it off - it was more a toolbar/sidebar thing though.

I use Outlook for todo which does have date prioritisation and reminders etc - the toolbar thing I had would include a summary from outlook, but only like the first 5 items - which wasnt much good for me.

I just have outlook minimised all the time, but then I use it as a diary (and email)

[Jaffro]

Topic of alienware, please dont! Thats enough said about them.

Custom build vs brand, well custom build can be a LOT cheaper, if you know what your doing you can overclock and unlock a few pathways, SAFELY, that can save you 100's of pounds.

However if your simply just building the parts and you need a complete new system (inc monitor keyboard, peripherals basically) then brand is better value for money. However there is a lot of dependence on what you can re-use, and if u want to re-use, existing components - like a hard drive for example. Some of the things that dont get so old so quickly, HDD, sound card, network card (although most mobo's come with networkin on them now), PCI stuff really.

Anyway... Good to hear you got ya new comp Sean, you really needed it! Hopefully you can work as fast as you think now ;)

[MarkB]

I'll be building my own system in the next month or so - all I need is the guts, considering I already have the monitor, HDs and DVD/CD-R drives. Should be nice and cheap, and a lot better than my current tired P3!

[r2d2]

... if you know what your doing you can overclock and unlock a few pathways...

When I got my P4 1.8, I overclocked it to 2.4 and Im not sure 2.4s were even available at that time! when they did come out they were about $900 or something. My 1.8 was about $250.

[incka]

I'll use outlook then, it came with the computer Ijust got so I can use it :D

I might uninstall that desktop x thing then, the to do list really is thebest thing I use it for.

[MarkB]

Just priced all the bits for my new machine, should come in around £300-ish. A be a bit of a beasty (at least in my mind;))

[r2d2]

What are you getting Mark?

[MarkB]

An AMD Sempron 3000 with some fancyish graphics card, motherboard w/firewire and usb2, 1GB DDR ram and a case ;)

Nothing high-end, and I know nothing much about the bits (my boss suggested them all - and he knows his shtuff). My budget isn't huge, but this should be big bang for my buck :)

[moonshield]

Sempron looks like a good deal, make sure you get the AMD 64 based one though. Its way better then the XP+ based ones.