Dell computer owners...

[Paulo]

Hello forum,
Any Dell desktop users here? I am looking go buy a new desktop and will be choosing one from Dell. Mainly because it's what I use at work and my company get's an employee discount.
I will mainly use it to download & do post-prod on my photographs at home. Maybe an average of 500 or less, hi-res images at a time. As well as burning those images to a disc. Without going top-of-the line, most expensive, does anyone have a model suggestion that falls in the less than $1000 range?

Thanks!

[gregt1310]

Paulo,

Does your $1000 budget include a monitor also or just the PC?

[ndsimm]

before you go with the employee discount, check out the Dell outlet. My company gets the Dell discount as well, but I seem to get better deals at the outlet. I'm getting ready to upgrade my system in the next month, but I currently just a P4 3Ghz with 2GB RAM and 2-250GB hard drives. The 2GB or Ram realy helps when working with PSCS2 and video editing

here is the outlet:
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=22&l=en&s=dfh

this one is less than $900:
XPS 400
(System Identifier: FX9L1Z9V)


XPS 400 Mini-Tower: Pentium D Processor 940 with Dual Core Technology (3.20GHz, 800FSB)
Genuine Windows XP Media Center 2005

System Price : $879.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating System
Genuine Windows XP Media Center 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz Dual Ranked (4 DIMMs)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hard Disk Drive
320 GB EIDE SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certified Refurbished
Certified Refurbished
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base
XPS 400 Mini-Tower: Pentium D Processor 940 with Dual Core Technology (3.20GHz, 800FSB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Bay
16X DVD ROM Drive
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Paulo]

Thanks for the response. They have desktop, 15-17" monitor and keyboard packages for $1000 & less.

Thanks for the outlet suggestion. I will look at that as well.

[gardener]

Just a note to agree with ndsimm on the company discount thing... We also have it here at work and I was actually able to talk to a REAL person and order the unit cheaper at the mall Dell kiosk than I was going to get using the discount. May not always be so but at least in my case, I saved about $150...
As to directly ordering off the Dell site and phoning it in, I gave up after trying to ask questions of the Central American Dell rep (and yes, I asked where she was) who was intent on selling me the computer package she wanted to sell rather than the one I wanted... I've also ordered from the Dell Outlet too (flat panel monitor) and had good luck but that's pretty much a choose and click operation with no humans in the way...

[Cope]

Originally Posted by gardener

Just a note to agree with ndsimm on the company discount thing... We also have it here at work and I was actually able to talk to a REAL person and order the unit cheaper at the mall Dell kiosk than I was going to get using the discount. May not always be so but at least in my case, I saved about $150...
As to directly ordering off the Dell site and phoning it in, I gave up after trying to ask questions of the Central American Dell rep (and yes, I asked where she was) who was intent on selling me the computer package she wanted to sell rather than the one I wanted... I've also ordered from the Dell Outlet too (flat panel monitor) and had good luck but that's pretty much a choose and click operation with no humans in the way...

I just left a friend's house, and he said the same thing. He just retired from Alief ISD, and was in the IT end, and he can get a better deal direct than through the district. YMMV

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Nice link... but when I put in the requirement of 4GB and do a search, nothing comes up.

- Wil

[Paulo]

Thanks everyone. Great link. They list a number of XPS 400 for well under $600.

I just don't have the background regarding this but can one realistically load and work images on a system that has:
160 or 250 GB HD Size
512 or 1000 ? RAM
128 or 256 MB Video Card

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Paulo,

The MOST important choice is RAM. You MUST get at least 2GB of RAM. Everything else is secondary to this choice... at least for photographers doing post-processing.

I did not see any XPS-400 systems that had a configuration with more than 1GB of RAM... there were some XPS-600 systems with 2GB but they were all well over $1,000. That's why I was confused by Nathan's post. Maybe he can clarify.

- Wil

[ndsimm]

sorry for the confusion...the "down side" to the outlet is that the systems are on a first come first serve basis and usually, the better deals don't last too long, which is probably why that 4GB unit is no longer there

But to echo, PLEASE get at least 1GB of RAM and if nothing else, go to Fry's and upgrade

Originally Posted by ParkImaging

Paulo,

The MOST important choice is RAM. You MUST get at least 2GB of RAM. Everything else is secondary to this choice... at least for photographers doing post-processing.

I did not see any XPS-400 systems that had a configuration with more than 1GB of RAM... there were some XPS-600 systems with 2GB but they were all well over $1,000. That's why I was confused by Nathan's post. Maybe he can clarify.

- Wil

[amadjuster]

I ended up getting my laptop from Dell online. I was in the business part of it but had no problems. They sent it when they said they would and it has worked great since I turned it on. The desktops are a lot less $$. but I did get an Inspiron 6400 duo Core Intel with 1 gig of memory, the fast DVD burner, and the best screen for under $1,250.00. It is fast and works well with CS2. The Dell monitors are really a good buy and always rate high. I would not hesitate to order a Dell desktop with the right bells and whistles. Remember, though, Dell is totally propriatary and you won't be able to add much, if any, internal hardware, so get what you want up front.

[Paulo]

Great information. Thank you all for your help.

[bbailey]

I would definitly check out the systems with the Core 2 Duo processors. Those chips are faaast!

[amadjuster]

I just did a "build" on the Dell page and I came up with $993.00 for a Diminsion E521 with what you would want, including the 19" digital screen. Here is what is in it.
Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+
Operating System
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Operating System Backup & Recovery
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional backup CD
Memory
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
Hard Drive
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
CD ROM/DVD ROM
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW
Monitor
19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
Video Card
256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Sound Cards
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Optional Ports
IEEE 1394 Adapter


I believe you could have fun with this.

[Paulo]

Thank you, David! That's great.