[REQ] Dell machine. 1K to spend

mathie

Hi
I've 1K to spend on a very decent machine.
Main uses watching movies, playing music, playing games.
I'd like something I can upgrade with RAM at a later stage or put an internal hard disk into.
Cheers!
M

undo

RAM and hard drive can be upgraded in each and every machine on the market. Even Dell, who use lots of custom parts, use absolutely standard RAM and drives.

walshki

They're outlet store on ebay can give good value if you don't mind a miniscule scratch and don't need a monitor.
Link
They've a couple of Dimension 9200 about to close which could be good value if they don't go up much more than they are as I post this.

E.g. The below was bidding at €530 with about 15 mins to go.

Dell recommends Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Base: Dimension 9200 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.40Ghz,

Hard Disk Drive: 250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive

Hard Disk Drive: Additional 250GB (7200rpm) SATAII HD

MISC: Dimension Resource DVD for Vista Drivers

MISC: Floppy Disk Drive not included

MISC: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI - 60 day trial

MISC: DVD RW Read/Write 16x

MISC: Mouse Dell Wheel USB 2 Button Scroll Black

MISC: Dell Quietkey Black Keyboard

Memory: 2048MB DDR2 667 2 1024

Software: English - Microsoft Works 8

Video: 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900GS graphics card

Operating System: English Windows Vista Ultimate

Linoge

walshki wrote:

E.g. The below was bidding at €530 with about 15 mins to go.

Unfortunately that means absolutely nothing when you are buying off eBay:D That system could have gone up to 1,000 in the space of 30 seconds....

rgfuller

It sold for 555 i believe.

Tar.Aldarion

Get a refurbished unit off dell in America if you know somebody in america who can bring it here.
Somebody asked me to get a dell laptop for them last week, I picked a dell inspiron 9400

Manufacturer: Dell
Model: Dell Inspiron 9400 Notebook for Business (Core Duo T2250 1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
HDD: 120GB
RAM: 2 GB
Graphics Card: 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
Screen Size: 17 inches
Weight: 7 lbs
Processor Options:Core Duo, Core 2 Duo


It was $999, not in the outlet.


For a desktop, you'll get better of course. Look around, the outlet is great.

masseyno9

www.dell.ie/outlet is the place to go imo.
Keep checking it daily (hourly?) as its frequently updated.
It sells fully warrantied and guaranteed sysytems that are either cancelled orders/refurbs/returns etc. My laptop, family PC, and my dad's laptop all came from there and not a single problem.

Less stressful than ebay too.

TerrorFirmer

For about 800 you can get an E521 with 2Gb Ram, X2 5600+, 20" Monitor. Only problem being that it comes with a medicore graphics card which you'd have to change yourself, and the case or psu wouldn't take anything that big, certainly nothing past a 7900gs.

Alternatively you can get a 9200 with the works for about 1,200 - E6600, 20" Monitor, 2Gb Ram, 8600GTS...you pay a few hundred more but you get alot more future upgradability and better hardware.

Dell really aren't so bad these days - when you consider those prices include a 20" monitor, it's quite excellent.