Dell Dimension 8300...Good deal?

[peanutty1]

I was looking at Dell 4600's last week, and was disappointed when I learned that free shipping and 10% off are no longer valid today. But I think that the free upgrades (along with a coupon) make this week's 8300 a way better deal! Tell me what you think:

-Pentium® 4 Processor with HT Technology 3GHz w/800MHz FSB/ 1MB cache
-Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
-1GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz (2x512M)
-Dell ® Quietkey ® Keyboard
-FREE UPGRADE! New 17 in E172FPb Flat Panel Display
-New 128MB DDR ATI RADEON? 9800 Pro Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI
-160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
-3.5 in Floppy Drive
-Dell® 2-button scroll mouse
-Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + FREE UPGRADE! 8x DVD+RW Drive
-Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
-No Speaker Option

Sub Total: $1469.00

Now here's the even better deal I was able to get by calling in:
$100 off (coupon code from another post) PLUS $50 off (which Dell states is only good for online orders, but the CSR should hook you up). IN ADDITION, I was also able to get a $50 mail-in rebate (for using a Dell Preferred Account). So final calculation:

$ 1469.00
+ 99.00 (shipping)
+ 114.00 (CA tax)
- 150.00 (instant)
- 50.00 (mail-in rebate)
--------------
Final total: $ 1482.00

Good or bad? Also, what do you think about the 17 in E172FPb Flat Panel Display? I originally wanted a 19in CRT, but Dell is out of stock. I'm interested in gaming with this system.

 

[EricR]

IIRC, if you have an account with UPS or FedEx you can give them the account number and then you'll pay the actual shipping cost vs. the $99.00 flat rate. Maybe only Dell Small Business (vs. Dell Home)?

EricR

 

[petesamprs]

For comparison, here's my recent purchase:

Only differences:
-Dell 4600 (worse)
-Microsoft® Windows® XP home (worse)
-128MB nVIDIA 5200 (worse)
-40GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) (worse)
-No Floppy (worse)
-DVD (no burner) (worse)
-Sound blaster (better)

Paid $950 after tax (0) and shipping (free) using the 10% off coupon.

was really intent on staying under 1k.

 

[Kelemvor]

I'd never spend that much on a PC. But if you need that processor and all that RAM and everything else, then it looks fine.

 

[ttown]

I also can't imagine spending that much for a pc.... but i guess the total $$ is less than the typical cost of the parts, so ya, it's a decent deal.

I'm more in the mind-set of waiting 6 months and buying it for half that

I do realize that at some point you gotta take the plunge... but i've been happy taking the plunge a year (or two or three) after everyone else -- and spending a fraction of the money.
That's why I spend my day lurking in the AT hot-deals forum!

 

[welst10]

Not a good deal. I have VERY similar 8300 system as yours (P4 3.0presoctt, 1GB, 160GB, dual DVD, 9800pro, 17" lcd, etc). I bought the basic system, did a couple of upgrades. Total cost: $1250. And my LCD is better than the dell you mentioned.

 

[Sendero]

I got in on an 8300 deal about 6 weeks ago. It was for a 3.0HT proc, 256 RAM, 40GB IDE drive, 128MB GeForce 5200, the same 17" LCD, 52X CD-ROM. My total was $814 delivered incl tax. I then sold the monitor for $350 and returned the Mem and drive for a total of $175 credit. Made my final price on just the box ~290. In any case, I think you're better off upgrading your memory & drive on your own after the purchase.

 

[peanutty1]

"I then sold the monitor for $350 and returned the Mem and drive for a total of $175 credit. Made my final price on just the box ~290."

Hmmm, not bad.

What did you think of the monitor? (I'm currently trying to decide if I should just go with the 17" flat or get a 19" CRT instead.)

 

[welst10]

Don't buy 19" CRT. I made that mistake. Sold it after 2 months at a loss. Once you see a beautiful LCD, you'll hate the big CRT.

 

[peanutty1]

"Don't buy 19" CRT. I made that mistake. Sold it after 2 months at a loss. Once you see a beautiful LCD, you'll hate the big CRT."

I've been reading some fairly negative comments about the Dell E172FPb Flat Panel 17". I'm primarily interested in gaming and graphics, so clarity and details are important to me. (Desktop space and the clunkiness of a CRT doesn't bother me so much.)

Anyone have any other thoughts/experiences with the E172FPb monitor?

I do appreciate all the feedback so far.

 

[pinoy]

I'm not a pro when it comes to monitor. But for me, dell F172 LCD is ok. I do some design and drafting every once in awhile and pictures look good. I guess it all depend on one's standard. BTW, I got my system just how sendero got his, but I kept the whole system and did the upgrade by myself.

Goodluck!

 

[gshock888]

the 2x SATA 160GB RAID0/RAID1 option looks hot for that price.

basically you can run 160GB raid'ed or 320GB raid0. each 160GB SATA drive gonna cost you about at least 120 bucks.

 

[neovan]

Originally posted by: petesamprs
For comparison, here's my recent purchase:

Only differences:
-Dell 4600 (worse)
-Microsoft® Windows® XP home (worse)
-128MB nVIDIA 5200 (worse)
-40GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) (worse)
-No Floppy (worse)
-DVD (no burner) (worse)
-Sound blaster (better)

Paid $950 after tax (0) and shipping (free) using the 10% off coupon.

was really intent on staying under 1k.

if you hang around here long enough, you could have probably had that system for under $500. good luck.

btw...that's too much to spend on a system.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: peanutty1
"Don't buy 19" CRT. I made that mistake. Sold it after 2 months at a loss. Once you see a beautiful LCD, you'll hate the big CRT."

I've been reading some fairly negative comments about the Dell E172FPb Flat Panel 17". I'm primarily interested in gaming and graphics, so clarity and details are important to me. (Desktop space and the clunkiness of a CRT doesn't bother me so much.)

Anyone have any other thoughts/experiences with the E172FPb monitor?

I do appreciate all the feedback so far.

Dell E172FPb is not a good LCD for gaming. You're basically out of luck with any LCD that has a 25ms response time. Find one with a 20ms Hydis panel (such as Acer AL1715) or an AUO 16ms panel (at least a dozen models out there from hitachi, nec, viewsonic, planar, sony, etc). For more info on LCD, tomshardware has several good reviews.

 

[Chunkee]

build one much better for less

JC

 

[colinh]

Also, not a good idea at all to order the 3.0ghz processor from Dell right now.

Apparently they have a huge backlog. To my knowledge it's limited to undersupply of the Intel 875P board... so it's affecting the 8300 and possibly the XPS series only. Also, it seems to be taking them even longer with boards with 875P and ICH5R southbridges (supports intel's software RAID).

Dell is being horribly vague with customers, and some orders are delayed 2-3 weeks.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: colinh
Also, not a good idea at all to order the 3.0ghz processor from Dell right now.

Apparently they have a huge backlog. To my knowledge it's limited to undersupply of the Intel 875P board... so it's affecting the 8300 and possibly the XPS series only. Also, it seems to be taking them even longer with boards with 875P and ICH5R southbridges (supports intel's software RAID).

Dell is being horribly vague with customers, and some orders are delayed 2-3 weeks.

I didn't expect so many people would buy the Prescott CPU, given the disappointing reviews on performance and heat issues.