HOT! Dell E521 $279!

amdskip

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
22,530
13
81
Whats wrong with AMD? This would be a great system for general computer tasks.
 

Lanyap

Elite Member
Dec 23, 2000
8,261
2,359
136
Dimension E521
AMD Sempron? 3400+
Windows® XP Home Edition
No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected
512MB Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 1DIMM
80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?
16X DVD ROM Drive
No Monitor
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
No Floppy Drive Included
No Modem Option
No speakers
Dell USB Keyboard
Dell® 2-button USB mouse
No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
McAfee Security Center w/VirusScan, Firewall and Privacy, 90-day trial
1 Year On-site Economy Plan
6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Purchase is not intended for resale.
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Music Jukebox by Yahoo! Music - Basic music software
Corel Snapfire Basic - Organize and Edit your photos
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

Small Business
FREE 3-5 Day Shipping & Handling!

 

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
0
71
Please note that none of these new Dells have any IDE connectors on the motherboard, so non-SATA optical drives won't work.

:(
 

Odeen

Diamond Member
Aug 4, 2000
4,892
0
76
Originally posted by: mshan
Please note that none of these new Dells have any IDE connectors on the motherboard, so non-SATA optical drives won't work.

:(

Are you saying that the optical drive already installed in it is SATA? If anything, that makes the machine a better value, since SATA optical drives are pretty scarce. And if the optical drive in the machine is PATA, then you can install a second drive as a slave. Not the greatest configuration, but serviceable under most circumstances.
 

VooDooAddict

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2004
1,057
0
0
For a basic computer that can hook into an average broadband connection this isn't bad at all. Bumping it to a Athlon64 3200+, a 17" CRT, and 1 gig of ram (debatable) came out to $400. With a CRT and the 6150 running things at 800x600 people could even do some gaming on that thing (nothing to brag about on the forums, but I know many people happily gaming on less).
 

mshan

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2004
7,868
0
71
Yes, if you go to Dell's website and look up the documentation for their new computers (i.e. Dell's Core2 Duo desktops), you will see they all have SATA connectors only (hard drives and optical):
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s.../dimE521/en/SM_EN/techov.htm#wp1053345

Was a problem for me because I've got a couple IDE drives I wanted to install.

So if you get one of these new Dells, I would just make sure you order a dvd burner as part of your order.


EDIT: for anyone needing IDE connections, there is a very much YMMV eMachines closeout machine at some Best Buys:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1950453&enterthread=y
(it's got a very nice MSI mATX Nvidia 6100/410 mobo in it, with a PCI Express slot to boot). Main issue is a 2 MB hard drive (I think Seagate 7200.9).
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
the whole point of getting an amd processor was mainly for overclocking.

you can't overclock on dells since all the settings are locked.

 

NoStateofMind

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2005
9,711
6
76
Originally posted by: isekii
the whole point of getting an amd processor was mainly for overclocking.

you can't overclock on dells since all the settings are locked.


Um...no. Too broad a brush you are trying to paint over everyone with that.

EDIT: you are right about the settings being locked though.
 

TekDemon

Platinum Member
Mar 12, 2001
2,296
1
81
Originally posted by: VooDooAddict
For a basic computer that can hook into an average broadband connection this isn't bad at all. Bumping it to a Athlon64 3200+, a 17" CRT, and 1 gig of ram (debatable) came out to $400. With a CRT and the 6150 running things at 800x600 people could even do some gaming on that thing (nothing to brag about on the forums, but I know many people happily gaming on less).

Ugh...that description makes me want to puke, and I run a 2.4Ghz Northwood as my primary machine! CRT?!!?
eewwww
 

hkklife

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2003
5,889
0
76
Does anyone other than Plextor make SATA DVD burners these days? I know Newegg has a a Lite-On SATA CD/DVD ROM combo drive but no DVD writers.

I am thinking about getting this machine for my parpents to use but I'd hate to pay Dell $60 for a DVD burner if there's something available for $30ish elsewhere.

 

John

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
33,944
4
81

Staples

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 2001
4,953
119
106
Not bad for a cheap computer but I wish it had an upgrade to home premium.
 

Mavtech

Platinum Member
Jun 11, 2003
2,197
0
71
Originally posted by: hkklife
Does anyone other than Plextor make SATA DVD burners these days? I know Newegg has a a Lite-On SATA CD/DVD ROM combo drive but no DVD writers.

I am thinking about getting this machine for my parpents to use but I'd hate to pay Dell $60 for a DVD burner if there's something available for $30ish elsewhere.

I have a Toshiba SATA DVD Burner in my computer. It originally came in my XPS 700 that I sold.
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
0
0
re: various comments

AMD only for overclocking? Who says? Nonsense.

Only SATA connectors? Aren't there SATA/IDE adapters?

Sheesh...some silly stuff.