What do you think of this Dell Dimension 4100 P3/1GHz system?

[BlkDiaJohn]

make sure you get at least a 2 year warranty, I downgraded to the 90 day and proceeded to fry my motherboard at about day 100

 

[NuclearNed]

Dell is the way to go. I've had mine for about a year and had nothing but sheer happiness come from it. Even when the mouse quit working, their customer service staff was very helpful and I got a mouse sent to me overnight. As a former I.S. hardware manager, I'll give you my opinion of the Gateways that we used: They'll bang your bones, all right. And they keep banging and banging...

 

[RossMAN]

vi_edit - What are your personal experiences and what have you heard about Dell refurbs?
Since he's probably going to buy a Samsung 753DF or 755DF monitor, that means he only has to get the PC, speakers, keyboard and mouse from the Dell Refurb Outlet.

How is the condition of the refurbs?
Are they usually clean?
How often do they break?

 

[mackstann]

get the samsung 755df, and i prefer dell over gateway, except that they only use intel chips. but i guess thats the price you pay for stability, and most people wont notice the difference between a 1Ghz P3 or Tbird.

 

[Amused]

<< AmusedOne - Thanks for your input. Dell is offering a free Epson Stylus 580 printer today along with the $100 rebate. Granted the free printer is only worth $50, I wonder if we should hold out for a free 8/4/32 CD-RW? How often does Dell offer their really good specials? >>



Hey Ross,

I've seen plenty of free CD-RW upgrades. They're running one right now for the 8100. When my Mom bought hers, she got a free CD-RW upgrade.

So I'd say they do it fairly often.

 

[vi edit]

Ross, I've purchased and/or referred close to $25,000 in Refurb sales from Dell in the last year. I mainly buy the Optiplex line, but have purchased some Inspiron laptops, as well as Dimension desktops.

The ONLY machines that I have had problems with were the laptops, but the problems were promptly resolved.

As for condition, I would call it &quot;like new&quot;. The machines may have a very small amount of dirt on one edge, but I think that's more from shipping and handling than anything.

With the exception of two laptops, my refurb experiences from Dell have been very pleasant. I usually call up my rep in the morning, have an order confirmation by mid afternoon, a shipment confirmation by the time I get home, and more times than not, have the pc's sitting in front of my desk within two days.

Very quick, very painless, and at a nice price. What more could I ask for?

 

[Amused]

<< vi_edit - What are your personal experiences and what have you heard about Dell refurbs?
Since he's probably going to buy a Samsung 753DF or 755DF monitor, that means he only has to get the PC, speakers, keyboard and mouse from the Dell Refurb Outlet.

How is the condition of the refurbs?
Are they usually clean?
How often do they break? >>



If you go to the user forums at Dell's website (Delltalk) you'll be able to get better answers about Dell's refurbs. I go there a bit, and I've never seen anything to suggest their refurbs are any more troublesome than their new units.

 

[RossMAN]

I'm thinking of maybe suggesting he buy now, get a refurb Dell Dimension 4100 for $1000 or less and a new Samsung 955DF for $250 from Buy.com

Crap there's only 3 refurb 4100's available right now, there was like 3 pages last night!

 

[Amused]

<< I'm thinking of maybe suggesting he buy now, get a refurb Dell Dimension 4100 for $1000 or less and a new Samsung 955DF for $250 from Buy.com

Crap there's only 3 refurb 4100's available right now, there was like 3 pages last night! >>



There's two pages now.

This one is your best bet:
#76RKD01

$1,014.00
Memory: 256MB 133MHz SDRAM (1 DIMM)
Floppy Drive: 1.44 MB Diskette Drive
ard Disk Drive: 60 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Video: 32MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS 4X AGP Graphics Card
Modem: Conexant V.90/56K DataFax Modem for Windows
Sound Card: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card
Network Interface Card: 3Com® 3C905TX Ethernet Controller
DVD Drive: 12X DVD-ROM
Zip Drive: 100MB Zip Drive
Microsoft® Works Suite 2001
Microsoft® Windows® Millennium
3-Pak of Iomega 100MB Zip Disks
Microsoft IntelliMouse
QuietKey® Keyboard

You can add the CD-RW yourself, or ask Dell to throw one in, and warranty it.

 

[RossMAN]

UPDATE: Dell's two newest promotions include a free Epson printer and $50 off plus a $100 rebate.

LOL I just priced a Dell Dimension 4100 for a friend. The total came out to $1,397 just $2 shy of the $1,399 minimum for the $50 discount!

Dimension® 4100 Series
Pentium® lll Processor, 1 GHz
Memory: 128MB 133MHz SDRAM
Keyboard: QuietKey® Keyboard
Monitor: Video Ready w/o Monitor
Video Card: 32MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 4X AGP Graphics Card with TV-Out
Hard Drive: 40GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® Millennium (Windows Me)
Mouse: MS IntelliMouse®
Network Card: No Network card
Modem: US Robotics 56K PCI Telephony Modem-Sound Option
DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Drive: 48X Max Variable CD-ROM Drive
Sound Card: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card
Speakers: Altec Lansing ACS-340 Speakers with Subwoofer
Bundled Software: New Microsoft TM Works Suite 2001 with Money 2001
Norton Antivirus® at no additional charge: Norton Antivirus® 2001
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch 6.0
Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert® 2000, Dell Edition ($0)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 3 Year Ltd. Warranty, 3 Year At Home Service, Lifetime 24x7 Phone Support
Internet Access Service at no additional charge: 6 Month DellNet by MSN® Internet Access
CD-RW DRIVE FOR 2nd Bay: 8X/4X/32X CD-RW, 2nd Bay
Special Offer: Free! Epson Stylus 580 Printer after $50 mail-in rebate

Any ideas on how to get this configuration as close to $2 as possible? I'm thinking a slightly better keyboard or mouse?

Keyboard Learn More
QuietKey® Keyboard
Microsoft® Internet Keyboard, Dell Edition For Windows ME [add $20]
Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Desktop Solution [add $65]

Mouse Learn More
MS IntelliMouse®
Logitech MouseMan® Wheel (PS/2v) [add $10]
Dell® Button Mouse [subtract $10]
Mouse already included in Logitech Wireless Package [subtract $10]

 

[RossMAN]

Oh and I convinced him to jump on the Samsung 955DF for $250 shipped Hot Deal!

 

[PCResources]

<< Dell is the way to go, IMO. I don't trust any other company for pre-built boxes. >>



If i HAD to pick a pre-built box, it definently would NOT be a Dell, it would be a HP, but then i again, i don't have to and even if i had to, i wouldn't...

Patrick

 

[RossMAN]

HP? I'll have what he's smoking/snorting/injecting ... HP, LMAO.

 

[PCResources]

<< HP? I'll have what he's smoking/snorting/injecting ... HP, LMAO. >>



Dell, well, actually, i think that that is the worst of them all, and i do believe that HP is a lot better, but maybe you can prove me wrong, if so, please do... I would even pick a Compaq over a Dell... and i really, really wouldn't want to have a Compaq...

Patrick