ZT Systems?

[BoomerD]

My neighbor needs to replace his 10+ year old PC. He's looking at one of the ZT Systems rigs sold at Costco.

NO! I am NOT going to build one for him...I don't want to be his tech support for the rest of his/my life!

The ones he's looking at are fairly decent,

1 is an 17-2600 with 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB HDD and onboard graphics

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...uctsInCategory

2 is an i5-2320 with 12 GB RAM, a 2 TB HDD and onboard graphics.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...uctsInCategory

Coming from Costco, they come with Costco's "Concierge Service" and a 2 year warranty...not a bad thing for him.

He's in his 60's, doesn't game...the computer will be used for web surfing and "looking at pictures." (not pron)

Of course, since he used computers at work for many years, (retired California EDD employee) he THINKS he knows about computers...but admits that the technology and language is out of his realm.

Anyone have any knowledge about ZT Systems? Would he just be better off buying a Dell or HP?

 

[mfenn]

The memory choices are a little weird, but other than that I would say that the $600 system is the better deal. You can usually get an XPS 8300 for about $450 from the Dell outlet though.

 

[BoomerD]

The memory choices are a little weird, but other than that I would say that the $600 system is the better deal. You can usually get an XPS 8300 for about $450 from the Dell outlet though.

The Dell Outlet is barren. That was the first place I checked.

Just went through there again...there are a few Inspiron 620's available, but none that are comparable to the ZT's he's looking for nor at a much better price.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, the Outlet is highly fluid at this time of year If you see something you like, you have to grab it immediately. The ZT Systems don't seem like bad machines for the price. Who knows that the build quality or support is like though.

 

[BoomerD]

Yup...it happens from time to time...just before school starts, around Christmas, etc.

My neighbor is convinced that Dell is holding the outlet systems back so they can sell more new systems at a higher profit...

I tried to convince him that they WANT to sell the outlet computers...that they're costing Dell to have sitting around...but he's old...even older than me, and very set in his ways.

 

[mfenn]

Dell does some very strange things, but they still have their roots as a JIT manufacturing house. They hate keeping items stocked. Oh well, sometimes the old dog just don't feel like learning any new tricks.

 

[BoomerD]

Dell does some very strange things, but they still have their roots as a JIT manufacturing house. They hate keeping items stocked. Oh well, sometimes the old dog just don't feel like learning any new tricks.

They've been pretty tight on the JIT inventory over the years. Today, my neighbor was here doing some research with me. Apparently he's found out that ZT has a pretty bad reputation for reliability...something I told him when he first mentioned it...but sometimes, you have to find out for yourself...

I had one XPS 8300 system pulled up to look at it...when he sat down, I popped up the "details screen," and it was gone...in less than 5 minutes.

Unless something changes drastically in the next couple of days, he's going to buy this one from Costco:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...S&Sp=C&topnav=

He has it in his head that he wants the i7, even though he really doesn't know what that means...and he "knows" he wants "at least 8 on the RAM," "Oh, by the way, what IS RAM, anyway?" :biggrin:

That system is massive overkill for what he uses his computer for, but he THINKS he wants to check out computer gaming...he asked if I could show him what a computer game looks like. He's never even seen one before, but he's heard it's fun...

So, I fired up Battlefield2 and COD2 for a few minutes to show him. Sadly, pitifully, those two are my NEWEST games...

"WOW! Those are GREAT! Can you copy the disks for those?"

(Never too old to be a pirate, I guess...)

 

[mnewsham]

They've been pretty tight on the JIT inventory over the years. Today, my neighbor was here doing some research with me. Apparently he's found out that ZT has a pretty bad reputation for reliability...something I told him when he first mentioned it...but sometimes, you have to find out for yourself...

I had one XPS 8300 system pulled up to look at it...when he sat down, I popped up the "details screen," and it was gone...in less than 5 minutes.

Unless something changes drastically in the next couple of days, he's going to buy this one from Costco:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...S&Sp=C&topnav=

He has it in his head that he wants the i7, even though he really doesn't know what that means...and he "knows" he wants "at least 8 on the RAM," "Oh, by the way, what IS RAM, anyway?" :biggrin:

That system is massive overkill for what he uses his computer for, but he THINKS he wants to check out computer gaming...he asked if I could show him what a computer game looks like. He's never even seen one before, but he's heard it's fun...

So, I fired up Battlefield2 and COD2 for a few minutes to show him. Sadly, pitifully, those two are my NEWEST games...

"WOW! Those are GREAT! Can you copy the disks for those?"

(Never too old to be a pirate, I guess...)

And here i was thinking you were old, this guy seems at least 10 years older then you! I didn't even think humans could live that long!!!

Anyway, if he has his mind made up there isn't really much you can do, I mean just look at yourself, once you've made up your mind no one here is going to change it. (wont stop us from trying)
Just make sure you play nice with him and try to keep him from going totally overboard even more then he is now.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6450 Graphics

He's not going to be doing much gaming with that. He'll need to spend another $130 AR for a Radeon 6850.

If he balks at that, point out that the i5 processors and 8 GB are fine for games like that, and buying the cheaper Dell would let him add the graphics card.

 

[BoomerD]

And here i was thinking you were old, this guy seems at least 10 years older then you! I didn't even think humans could live that long!!!

He's not quite 10 years older than me...but maybe 5-6...and that's O-L-D!!

Anyway, if he has his mind made up there isn't really much you can do, I mean just look at yourself, once you've made up your mind no one here is going to change it. (wont stop us from trying)
Just make sure you play nice with him and try to keep him from going totally overboard even more then he is now.

I've tried and tried to convince him that for what he uses a computer for, an i3 rig with 4 to 8 Gb of RAM would be more than adequate...but he saw a commercial on television about the i7, and "That's what I want...even if I don't need it." <shrug>

Besides...once I've made up MY mind...I'm right...and you can't convince me otherwise...because I'm RIGHT!!

> 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6450 Graphics

He's not going to be doing much gaming with that. He'll need to spend another $130 AR for a Radeon 6850.

If he balks at that, point out that the i5 processors and 8 GB are fine for games like that, and buying the cheaper Dell would let him add the graphics card.

Well, in honesty, that low-grade video card is still as good as the cards from a few years ago. NO, it won't let him play Battlefield 3 at max settings...but it should let him play Solitaire...He and I have already discussed the quality of the graphics card. I told him that if he decides he really wants to get into gaming, the computer has a 460 watt PSU, that should give us room for a better (but not top of the class) graphics upgrade. OR, we can replace the power supply for another $75 or so and he can have about any video card he wants.

I already know that once he gets the new computer, I'll be going over and setting it up, transferring files from his 10+ year old HP, hooking up his printers, etc.
It comes with being a good neighbor. We work back and forth helping each other.
Us old bastards have to stick together if we want to get stuff done!

 

[mfenn]

I already know that once he gets the new computer, I'll be going over and setting it up, transferring files from his 10+ year old HP, hooking up his printers, etc.

And then he will never think about playing a 3D game again... :awe: So yeah, I agree that a 6450 would probably be fine.