$2,000 Budget For Two New PCs

[Jalapeno]

Just started this job, and then Boss comes in and tells me this evening to purchase two more PCs for an off-site facility we have.

Work on them won't be very demanding, mostly office stuff (and the inevitable internet shit users usually do... ) but I want to last them for a while, maybe four to five years.

I have $2,000 to spend.

I am thinking:

Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, 21 inch screen - nothing fancy...

Already went to the DELL and HP sites. Not much at HP appealed to me, and what pissed me off about DELL is that they are charging to enable certain BIOS features! Both of them are quoting around $800 per system.

Is this the going rate for a basic office setup?

Has any of you guys experience in purchasing hardware for a company?

If so, give me some hints, please. ;-)

Thanks!

 

[escrow4]

Easy:

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/o...smo3020mtw7021&model_id=optiplex-3020-desktop

2 of those - mini-towers, come with a 4590 non K and 8GB of RAM with a 1TB of space for $629 apiece. Add a cheap Dell monitor too. No SSDs though and they might not have a 2.5" bracket although you could duct tape an SSD in.

EDIT: Add a 5yr business warranty with next business day service for $142.21 each limited time. Also a 20" monitor $120 or so each.

 

[VirtualLarry]

and what pissed me off about DELL is that they are charging to enable certain BIOS features!

Hmm? Tell us more...

 

[piasabird]

I looked at a couple of things. Sometimes Dell charges too much money for monitors. I noticed they sell some 23" monitors for $159. However, if you order one that size with a computer it sometimes sells for $199. Just order separately. Then comes the question of sound they like up charging like $39 for a sound bar. That is pretty ridiculous. Maybe if you talk to a sales person you can work something out. I would also look at prices on Amazon, etc. I dont know why you need a special bios option? If you look up the model number and go to the dell support page maybe you can just download a different BIOS.

 

[piasabird]

Normally with mass produced computers it is one size fits all. Dont expect much customization to be possible. Buy the options you need at time of sale. Most people want sound also.

 

[piasabird]

Next question is how to network the computers in the other office. My guess is through VPN or a portal or something like that.

 

[i7Baby]

How to add these 2 new PCs to the network?

Probably best to start a new thread.

 

[Jalapeno]

Easy:

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/o...smo3020mtw7021&model_id=optiplex-3020-desktop

2 of those - mini-towers, come with a 4590 non K and 8GB of RAM with a 1TB of space for $629 apiece. Add a cheap Dell monitor too. No SSDs though and they might not have a 2.5" bracket although you could duct tape an SSD in.

EDIT: Add a 5yr business warranty with next business day service for $142.21 each limited time. Also a 20" monitor $120 or so each.

Yes, these are the ones I was looking at yesterday. Don't need SSD though, just basic office work, Excel and Word mostly. I don't want to spoil them with 'fastness.'

I'll consider the warranty, I'll look into it.

Thanks.

 

[Jalapeno]

Hmm? Tell us more...

Larry,

when I was "shopping" for systems at DELL yesterday and had everything configured to my needs, at the checkout page they presented me BIOS options to activate for $7.- each. Quite important ones, too.

The BIOSs from DELL, HP and the likes suck anyway as we know, and now they are charging for basic features?

F... that.

 

[Jalapeno]

. I dont know why you need a special bios option? If you look up the model number and go to the dell support page maybe you can just download a different BIOS.

I don't need anything special, but it seems as if they are starting to charge for basic BIOS features that used to come with the board.

Not that their BIOSs are elaborate to begin with, but now it will be even more limited if one doesn't dish out $$s.

 

[Jalapeno]

Most people want sound also.

No!

No sound!

Sound is bad. From sound they progress to pictures, then to moving pictures - Netflix and Hulu comes to mind - productivity goes way down.

No sound, for the time being...

 

[Jalapeno]

I finally received two of those:

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/o...smo3020mtw7021&model_id=optiplex-3020-desktop

One laptop:

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/i...155w10b2358v&model_id=inspiron-15-5558-laptop

And four printers:

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=210-AEHL


All within the budget (we are tax exempt).

Laptop is for presentations, and the printers are for light office use, so no big deal.

I was disappointed though with the OptiPlexes. Although they sport nice i5-4590s and carry a 1TB HDD as well as 8 GB RAM, they feel flimsy right out of the box. Too much aluminum in the case. Crappy power supply (290 Watt), mainboard with very little expansion options. One could build a better PC off of NewEgg for less money, easy.

Next time I'm going for Workstations and ditch the Laptop and printers.

Live and learn...

 

[Cerb]

I was disappointed though with the OptiPlexes. Although they sport nice i5-4590s and carry a 1TB HDD as well as 8 GB RAM, they feel flimsy right out of the box. Too much aluminum in the case. Crappy power supply (290 Watt), mainboard with very little expansion options. One could build a better PC off of NewEgg for less money, easy.

The 3000 are the cheapies, and yes, they're kind of flimsy, if you take anything off. The PSUs are generally good, though (if you're going to pull much more than 200W DC, these are the wrong PCs). The 7000 start to be where they are built nicely, and have less tools required.

If you don't need Acrobat, the warranty is what they have going for them (if you need Acrobat, Dell PCs are where it's at). Diagnose whatever, call, and then either get a contracted tech, or the needed part, before lunch tomorrow.

You could build one superior in features and performance with ease, but you'd have to be careful about parts to build dozens that are are as easy to support. If you don't see a need for that, then by all means, build.

 

[nk215]

If you build work computers, you are asking for trouble (and you may not save much after factoring the OS license). Go with DELL/Lenovo. You can't go wrong with $1K/system for basic office work. The only upgrade for work office that you may do in the future is SSD upgrade.

I would recommend All-In-One type of computer. They look nice in office environment w/o the cables.

 

[Murloc]

One could build a better PC off of NewEgg for less money, easy.

yeah that's a given but prebuilt computer = less hardware trouble for you and warranty over the whole thing.

 

[squirrel dog]

you say you want them to last awhile 4~5 years . That's a long time tech wise . I have bought one prebuilt pc since 1984 . It was a Dell XPS 400 when ever it came out . When I opened the pc up I was really impressed how neat the internal wiring was . Over the years I added a better vid card and a ssd drive,but I could not upgrade(cheaply) the motherboard-cpu . If you go the pre built route I would get the best video/cpu/ssd options I could afford . Pre builts come filled with un needed software,as I'm sure you know . Free trails of all kinds of stuff that can slow down a pc quickly,that and a user running multiple antivirus or pc detective like prgs . My 2 cents .

 

[Cerb]

Larry,

when I was "shopping" for systems at DELL yesterday and had everything configured to my needs, at the checkout page they presented me BIOS options to activate for $7.- each. Quite important ones, too.

The BIOSs from DELL, HP and the likes suck anyway as we know, and now they are charging for basic features?

F... that.

Last I knew, they weren't charging for features, but just to remove the nee to spend 30 seconds in the BIOS to change them yourself.