The Cheap New Desktops

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I would appreciate it if someone could somehow give me an idea of how good
or poor these new cheap Dells are. Looking at the Dell site, I see a
Dimension 2400 Celeron® Processor at 2.4GHzfor $398, and a Dimension 4600
Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8GHz for $692.

I'm wondering about their being a replacement for such older Dell machines
as an L500C (Celeron 500mhz), or Dimension 4100 Pentium III 800EB?

--
Tom McCune
My PGP Page & FAQ: http://www.McCune.cc/PGP.htm
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Tom McCune <news@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote:

>I would appreciate it if someone could somehow give me an idea of how good
>or poor these new cheap Dells are. Looking at the Dell site, I see a
>Dimension 2400 Celeron® Processor at 2.4GHzfor $398, and a Dimension 4600
>Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8GHz for $692.
>
>I'm wondering about their being a replacement for such older Dell machines
>as an L500C (Celeron 500mhz), or Dimension 4100 Pentium III 800EB?

"good" or "poor" depends on what you intend to do with your
computer. And why your "older" Dell machine no longer satisfies
you, [e.g., because you've started playing games that run
klunkily on your old PIII].

The 2400 is a basic starter machine, no AGP slot, on-board
graphics, but suitable for general office-type word-processing,
spreadsheets, web/usenet surfing, etc.

The 4600 is a more expandable machine, that you can tailor,
either at time of order or by after-purchase add-ons, for more
demanding applications, the latest and greatest games, playing a
lot with your 1000s of digital photos and photoshop, doing the
odd fast fourier transform, etc.

IOW, you are the only one who can say whether a given computer
will do the things *you* want it to do. And the only way you can
do that is by doing your homework on what tools are needed to do
those things, and whether those tools are available or can be
added to the 2400, 4600, or whatever, computer you are looking
at.

For me, I do simple stuff, and went with the D4400 for AGP and
expandability, since my L733 [which now would have been the
D2400] wasn't up to one work-related graphics application. No
games, no digital camera, just plain vanilla, non-demanding
computing other than those @#+*$+#($I NAVSEA system functional
diagrams.
--
OJ III
[Email sent to Yahoo address is burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Thanks OJIII,

I was thinking of just general performance. The PIII 800EB is used
primarily by a teacher who mostly uses Word, with a good amount of scanning
graphics that are inserted into the documents that can become fairly large;
and with some web research, etc. The Celeron 500 is used by a recently
become college Senior for papers, web surfing, IM'ing, etc. These both are
okay for them, but I'm thinking of maybe passing their machines down to
those that have no machines and can't afford their own - that's why I'm
thinking of how frugal I can reasonably be in this. There is also someone
with an AMD 266mhz that has no great need, but that is pretty low end!

--
Tom McCune
My PGP Page & FAQ: http://www.McCune.cc/PGP.htm
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Tom McCune <news@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote:

>Thanks OJIII,
>
>I was thinking of just general performance. The PIII 800EB is used
>primarily by a teacher who mostly uses Word, with a good amount of scanning
>graphics that are inserted into the documents that can become fairly large;
>and with some web research, etc. The Celeron 500 is used by a recently
>become college Senior for papers, web surfing, IM'ing, etc. These both are
>okay for them, but I'm thinking of maybe passing their machines down to
>those that have no machines and can't afford their own - that's why I'm
>thinking of how frugal I can reasonably be in this. There is also someone
>with an AMD 266mhz that has no great need, but that is pretty low end!

From that, either the 2400 or the 4600 at the best price you can
find at Dell would be suitable. Don't add memory, although XP
Home/Pro really needs at least 256MB, and is noticeably more
comfortable with 512MB, you can buy the extra memory cheaper at
someplace like crucial.com, etc. than it costs to up it at Dell.
Personally, I'd go the 4600 for expendability, but that's just
me. I hate to be locked in when I find I need a 2nd HD or better
graphics.

Oh, if either of the users still needs a 3-1/2 floppy drive, add
it to your chosen Dell when you order. They're no longer
standard, and it is a major PITA to add one after-market, because
Dell doesn't include the mounting stuff in the floppyless
machines which you'll need if you decide to add one later. So
you'd have to go back to Dell for that.
--
OJ III
[Email sent to Yahoo address is burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Tom McCune" <news@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote in message
news:42Iuc.111593$hY.26593@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> Thanks OJIII,
>
> I was thinking of just general performance. The PIII 800EB is used
> primarily by a teacher who mostly uses Word, with a good amount of
scanning
> graphics that are inserted into the documents that can become fairly
large;
> and with some web research, etc. The Celeron 500 is used by a recently
> become college Senior for papers, web surfing, IM'ing, etc. These both
are
> okay for them, but I'm thinking of maybe passing their machines down to
> those that have no machines and can't afford their own - that's why I'm
> thinking of how frugal I can reasonably be in this. There is also someone
> with an AMD 266mhz that has no great need, but that is pretty low end!
>

I've just bought an 8300 from the UK Small Business site for £597.

I got 512mb memory, 120gb hdd, 128mb graphics card, 3.0Ghz HT-P4, 19"
screen, 48x CDRW, onboard sound and onboard NIC.

Very cheap but it's very noticeably quicker than my 2.6P4 it's replacing.
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"The Social Outcast" <postmaster@127.0.0.1> wrote in news:xPJuc.421
$ck7.3899486@news-text.cableinet.net:

> I've just bought an 8300 from the UK Small Business site for œ597.
>
> I got 512mb memory, 120gb hdd, 128mb graphics card, 3.0Ghz HT-P4, 19"
> screen, 48x CDRW, onboard sound and onboard NIC.
>
> Very cheap but it's very noticeably quicker than my 2.6P4 it's replacing.


Thanks for the information.

--
Tom McCune
My PGP Page & FAQ: http://www.McCune.cc/PGP.htm
 
J

JJ

Distinguished
Apr 5, 2004
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18,780
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Funny you should ask...ahem. I just went through this little dilemma and
learned the hard and costly way (well not too costly). The Celeron based
2400 system is a great little box if you are using it for the Net, kid's
schoolwork, games that do not require powerful graphic cards, business
applications, etc. Tom uses his as a server and it runs nicely from what I
have been reading. But if you are going to need the speed and graphic
capabilities of a higher end system and want a system that is highly
upgradeable, then choose the 4600. Some of the newer games coming out late
this year need every bit of power. I like the little 2400 and gave it to my
wife. We are networking the 2400 with the 4600 when it arrives and she could
not be happier.

Just for the record I went with the 4600 with a P4 2.8 HT 800 FSB, 512 MB
RAM (more to come later), 9800 Pro video, 80 GB HD (more to come later), and
a free 8x DVD burner among other extras. Not the most powerful but a nice
step up. And when the upgrade bug hits me, preferably with cash in my
pocket, this system can be nicely configured with newer hardware. What can I
say but I just need the power to smoke some of those kids in the multiplayer
worlds. It's a matter of pride for us "mature" players.

Regards,
John O.


"Tom McCune" <news@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote in message
news:6bHuc.275409$M3.25353@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> I would appreciate it if someone could somehow give me an idea of how good
> or poor these new cheap Dells are. Looking at the Dell site, I see a
> Dimension 2400 Celeron® Processor at 2.4GHzfor $398, and a Dimension 4600
> Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8GHz for $692.
>
> I'm wondering about their being a replacement for such older Dell machines
> as an L500C (Celeron 500mhz), or Dimension 4100 Pentium III 800EB?
>
> --
> Tom McCune
> My PGP Page & FAQ: http://www.McCune.cc/PGP.htm
 
G

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I've found the 2400s to be fine for what they are. Good workmanship and good
quality parts. No AGP slot, but this is unimportant unless one is into gaming
or some sort of super heavy duty graphics. I've resold a number of them
obtained thru surplus channels, and I have had zero complaints about them.

.... Ben Myers

On Mon, 31 May 2004 14:20:50 GMT, Tom McCune <news@DELETE_THISmccune.cc> wrote:

>I would appreciate it if someone could somehow give me an idea of how good
>or poor these new cheap Dells are. Looking at the Dell site, I see a
>Dimension 2400 Celeron® Processor at 2.4GHzfor $398, and a Dimension 4600
>Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8GHz for $692.
>
>I'm wondering about their being a replacement for such older Dell machines
>as an L500C (Celeron 500mhz), or Dimension 4100 Pentium III 800EB?
>
>--
>Tom McCune
>My PGP Page & FAQ: http://www.McCune.cc/PGP.htm
 
G

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Ogden Johnson III" <oj3usmc@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:hi0nb09v1niom8uptcp7frc4l58vqnl5tf@4ax.com...

> Oh, if either of the users still needs a 3-1/2 floppy drive, add
> it to your chosen Dell when you order. They're no longer
> standard, and it is a major PITA to add one after-market, because
> Dell doesn't include the mounting stuff in the floppyless
> machines which you'll need if you decide to add one later. So
> you'd have to go back to Dell for that.
> --

Yep, had to cannibalise my 8200 for my floppy and then spend ages in the
8200 tweaking the BIOS so that it stopped looking for a floppy and reporting
"floppy drive seek error".
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> I've found the 2400s to be fine for what they are. Good workmanship and good
> quality parts. No AGP slot, but this is unimportant unless one is into gaming
> or some sort of super heavy duty graphics.

Can anyone give me an idea just how they perform with, say, Half-Life ?

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Colin Wilson" <void@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b26db08e350793598a4e2@news.individual.net...
> > I've found the 2400s to be fine for what they are. Good workmanship and
good
> > quality parts. No AGP slot, but this is unimportant unless one is into
gaming
> > or some sort of super heavy duty graphics.
>
> Can anyone give me an idea just how they perform with, say, Half-Life ?
>

I think the phrase "No AGP slot" might be a pointer?
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> > Can anyone give me an idea just how they perform with, say, Half-Life ?
> I think the phrase "No AGP slot" might be a pointer?

Not necessarily - the game is several years old, and runs at a just about
bearable pace on a 300Mhz celeron using the intel 810 chipset.

I don`t know what the newer integrated gfx capabilities of any intel
chipsets are comparatively, hence the question.

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---
 
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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You must also remember the "cheap" machines are before you start adding
whatever bell or whistle that you want. As an examples, you want a floppy drive
add $20.If you want Word, that's not in the standard software package,
Wordperfect is.
"Anything that doesn't kill you,,,,,,,just hurts a hell of a lot" JLP20
 
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