help me talk some sense into a fellow Anandtecher

[mchammer187]

link to his thread

Trying to persuade him not to buy a dell :Q for 2400
quote from his post:
I am heading off to college this fall and am about to buy my new computer. Originally I was going to build an amd system from mwave, but I decided to go with a dell (because I want the warranty) as such here are my specks

P4 1.7
128 rambus standard + 512 ($269 extra (Kingston)
60 gig 7200 rpm harddrive
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card
ACS 340 (I will also probably get a good pair of headphones)
Geforce 2 mx (will add a gainward geforce 3 from newegg 350, as it would cost the same as upgrading to the Elsa geforce 3 from dell)
16x dvd
16 by 10 by 40 cdrw drive
Firewire card
Hauppauge win TV pvr (from buy.com 225)
3 year parts and labor next day onsight waranty
Total cost around $2400 (still not sure on the final discount I will get from Brandeis)
I will use my sgi 1600sw as the monitor, any comments or suggestions on my system would be appreciated, I will probably order the system and memory from dell on Monday, and the tuner and graphics card within the week. Thanks!

 

[eLiu]

If he dont wanna built it himself...buying Dell is a good thing

We own several Dell systems...they hardly ever give us problems, and Dell has great tech support...and their website is very handy for whatever it is you want to do to your system (unless it would void the warranty )

-eric

 

[RaoulDuke]

what's wrong with dell. that's fine, they offer a good warranty, GREAT support, and GREAT return on parts that go bad.

 

[apoppin]

<< help me talk some sense into a fellow Anandtecher >>


Why bother?

It isn't your money and Dell makes a fine machine for prebuilt.

 

[mchammer187]

sry but i cannot justify spendin 1000 more dollars than he needs to and also trying to convice him to not
get 200 dollar TV TUNER
Firewire Card for Video Conferencing

and can you honestly say you would recommend this setup for someone to buy if they are going to college?

 

[perry]

The bad part if the P4. Tell him to go for a Gateway system w/ AMD processor. Gateway's support has always been top notch when I've dealt with them (admittedly on corporate purchases, but friends with Gateways have had good luck with them).

 

[MrCodeDude]

Dell is a good bang for a lot of bucks, but it's the best brand out there.. And building your own system does take some work, especially if you don't know how to install half the stuff.
-- mrcodedude

 

[Freejack2]

I tell people to buy a Dell. I don't want to have to support a computer getting calls about all kinds of things day in and day out and not getting anything more than a measly $100 for the system. Last time I built a system for anyone was a friend of my father. Charged him $100 to do it. For all the tech support I did for it I ended up making less than minimum wage per hour on it. With Dell they have the facilities to handle all the problems people have. Yeah you'll pay more, but if your not a techie Dell is a great way to go.
And yes my notebook is a Dell. And yes my desktops are homebrews.

 

[mchammer187]

i can see buying a notebook
but do you see my point in trying to not not pay for the GF2 MX and then purchase an additional GF3

a firewire card
video conferencing hardware and software
200 dollar TV tuner

does anyone agree that that is excessive?

 

[apoppin]

<< sry but i cannot justify spendin 1000 more dollars than he needs to and also trying to convice him to not >>



You don't have to justify ANYTHING.

I repeat, it's NOT your money. Unless you have something to gain (by building one for him).
It's up to him to do the research. I'd say butt out.

P4 may not be a good idea right now since it is not upgradeable (unless you change the MB when the .13 micron processor comes out). There are also many cost reasons to chose Athlon over P4.

But it is up to him. And think, you can say &quot;I told you so, later.&quot;

 

[mchammer187]

ok i'll leave him alone; but first of all ok he asked for our advice and i dont think anyone in the GH forum agreed with his setup and he still refuses to listen i mean he shouldnt have asked cuz i spent all that time thinking i would really help someone out but guess not

 

[Soybomb]

if he doesn't agree with what everone in GH says how could we help?

I think a P4 based system is a mistake, especially as long as they are rambus based. On the otherhand it should do everything he wants a computer to do for a long time, with good support from dell. Its not an &quot;enthusiast&quot; system, but if he's happy with it, let him get it.

 

[apoppin]

<< first of all ok he asked for our advice and i dont think anyone in the GH forum agreed with his setup and he still refuses to listen >>



Then he doesn't really require ANY advice. You know the old one about casting your pearls of wisdom before [those not deserving].

Let him spend his money the way he wants to. (If he is really going to buy a system - many people post here just to stir things up.) Also be aware most of the knowledgable people here are very biased in favor of AMD over Intel.

EDIT: mchammer187 - you gave some very good advice and helpful info (better than many other replies) - I'd just say he is not deserving and/or wants to brag about a system he is probably not really getting anyway.

 

[ElFenix]

soybomb - why isn't it an enthusiast system. looks like top of the line stuff.

 

[TuffGuy]

it's HIS money. let him buy what he wants and let him be happy.

stay away from gateway. their components are not the greatest to say the least. you might want to recommend MICRON to him. they have kick-ass customer service and they have AMD systems as well.

 

[mchammer187]

i think you get my point appopin

now off to bed 3:16AM and wake up is in 4-5 hrs

 

[TuffGuy]

<< soybomb - why isn't it an enthusiast system. looks like top of the line stuff. >>


that's why. an enthusiast system is basically a beginner system to get him acquainted. what he's assembled is kinda overkill.

 

[Soybomb]

I guess I should have been more specific. By enthusiast I mean hardware enthusiast not just &quot;I like computers&quot; enthusiasm. I don't know many hardware enthusiasts who have rimms (yay dying technology!)in their system or dont know in advance what make and model motherboard their new system will come with. To me thats not top of the line, a top of the line hardware enthusiast system would be SMP, have a sweet burner say 20x or higher burner, raid array or something nifty. Its a fine system that has plenty of fast components in it but it doesn't have any of the &quot;high-zoot&quot; items that you expect hardware enthusiasts to have. If he's not a hardware enthusiast it will be fine.

 

[lamplighter]

Sorry but Dell is a smart choice. If you actually buy software, Dell is cheaper. I always recommend Dell when people want to know what to get.

 

[PliotronX]

If I didn't build my own, I would buy Dell systems.

 

[FlippyBoy]

I also build my own, but unless i am ready to invest many hours (like freejack said) in helping someone with a new setup, then i also reccomend dell. they have excellent service that is helpful for anyone with any level of knowledge. I agree that a p4 is probably a mistake, but its a mistake that apparently has to be made for the lesson to be learned.

 

[Muadib]

Nothing wrong with getting Dell. Not everyone wants to build their own.

 

[FlippyBoy]

prices did go down, this is rambus memory. and Muadib is absolutely right. to some, their time (and it does take a considerable amount of time to build your own system, no matter what anyone says) is better spent elsewhere (although as a fequenter of these forums, i know that most here would value time spent tinkering with computers higher than with just about anything else, including me ).