Regarding Dell XPS410 Review

[TantrumusMaximus]

Around beginning of summer there was that super Dell small business deal (The 20" 2007 LCD and 5150 Dimension for $599) that I'm sure a lot of folks that frequent this board remember.... well I bit and put a nice video card in that system and man was I and still am so happy I did it.

I bought a program Multiplicity and can run a couple characters playing WoW on two accounts at the same time (main reason I bought it LOL) and it was just a blast.

The purchase was so painless, the packages arrived quick, and the setup was a breeze (I had a bad 6800GT PCI-E that caused me a little pain that I already owned and planned to use but ended up getting a 7600GS.) the case and physical layout of the machine seemed very well laid out.

The whole time I was thinking why the hell couldn't my home-grown systems work this easily.... it's not like I didn't know what I was doing.... but no matter what... the parts I always chose that were supposed to be the smoking hot components.... once all together there were always issues.... random reboots, lockups etc etc.... I always wanted to yell at someone but only the dog was in the room. The system worked. It just wouldn't work when I "wanted" it to. LOL

Rinse and repeat that scenario over 12 years of homegrown overclocked systems crappy motherboards/good barts/bad parts/rma's etc and heartaches and I'm talking the days of the old PHAT Computer Shopper mags...you know the 400page clod hoppers....... I finally caved in and made that first OEM purchase above.

Hell... that case in my config & mobo/PS got demolished.... shotputted the whole damned thing out the garage door and pulverized it with a Ford Excursion Booooyah! Damn did that feel good....(for about 3 minutes...yes I crushed my CM Stacker) How many people here have thought about chucking that stubborn POS system out a window....anyone that hasn't is a liar. Well at least you know where my handle came from.

So later on I bought my wife based on that experience a Dell XPS 400 & 2407LCD, X1900XTX when there was another deal going on..... same experience... quick shipping... painless setup.... 2months not a single lockup or issue.... and we do a LOT of gaming.

I know maybe I'm lucky maybe it was just a coincidence that my 2 OEMs just happened to be stable and work as advertised....I still think that too much negative press gets generated from the modder community about old OEMs that don't really hold true anymore.... Dell may have sucked years ago.... but I think they have "finally" come around to building systems that enthusiasts want and at a price : Performance/features ratio that is hard to argue.

I looked hard at my "last" homegrown system last night.... a dying breed. I know I am very "uncool" in this crowd... but I just don't have it in me anymore to "deal" with the heartaches of the "first adopter" techno-fiend I once was.

"I JUST WANT TO GAME"... and do it without the damn headaches of the homegrown system. I read the Dell 410XPS article on the front page and thought I would share my own experience.
Before you choose to flame me or label me a fanboy, think about it... pretty soon companies like Dell will have every part you want in their configuration pages. Nope not a Dell fanboy, just happy with the 2 systems I bought and you can't argue how nice those LCD screens are.... still not as good as CRTs for shooters thought.... but very crisp, rich & vibrant.

"Dude! Your getting a Dell!" ... never thought that would be me.

 

[Hulk]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I had a similar one.

But honestly the huge overclocking potential Conroe has me thinking about building my own again. Last time I did that was the old 300A Celeron.

Prepare yourself for the coming onslaught of "you don't know how to build a PC that why you had problems" comments that are surely on the way...

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Yes, certainly. I was thinking about that as I was typing away LOL.

Yep the good old 300A and it ran stable as hell at 450Mhz....had mine up to 495 on air on a dual 300A (wasn't it a Abit BE6 if I remember right)... stole a real fast fan from work...boy was that thing loud.

I've probably got more patience than most with troubleshooting issues but the last system sent me over the edge...... it just cut into my freetime a little too much.


First to adopt technology is like "asking" for frustration.......has always been my achilles heel.

 

[KeithTalent]

Good post, thanks.

Though of course I hate you now:

My HOT wife LOVES 3D-Shooters! Woo Hoo!

Lucky bastard!

 

[Slowlearner]

I have been buying Dells (and some HPs) for work for the last five years - some 40-50 now, and had just two components fail. I also built a dozen but have had capacitors pop (epox/gigabyte/msi), ram fail (kingson value ram), hds (wd/seagate/maxtor), same experience with some that I bought from mom and pops.

The base Dells without a graphics card slot/slim case Dimensions/Optiplexes are dogs though and I have carefully avoided them.

 

[TantrumusMaximus]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Good post, thanks.

Though of course I hate you now:

My HOT wife LOVES 3D-Shooters! Woo Hoo!

Lucky bastard!

I should update that sig..... ever since WoW came along we rarely play shooters anymore hehe....Blizzard owns my soul. (But she's still hot I assure ya that!)

I have been buying Dells (and some HPs) for work for the last five years - some 40-50 now, and had just two components fail. I also built a dozen but have had capacitors pop (epox/gigabyte/msi), ram fail (kingson value ram), hds (wd/seagate/maxtor), same experience with some that I bought from mom and pops.

The base Dells without a graphics card slot/slim case Dimensions/Optiplexes are dogs though and I have carefully avoided them.

Same here at my company all the desktops & latptops are Dells (never been fond of these corporate optiplex models) but the new Dells like the 2 I bought are like a different breed compared to the cookie cutter Optiplex models.

Another thing I forgot to mention is how quiet these things are.

 

[MadAmos]

I am another satisfied Dell Customer My wife uses a top end E510 for her writing and publishing w/o a glitch and I have been very happy with my XPS 400. Right now it has been running 24/7 at 100% processer working on a large Folding project it has been cool and quite the whole time and I am now past 50% on my WU. Right now stable beats ultimate speed, but all that said I am planing a conre build but figure if I don't hurry prices and the mobo options will get a little better.