[help] Buildin' a Dell for my 'rents

[el Gato]

Yeah I know Dell sux0rs. But my parents old (Win 98 lol) rig finally bit the dust. All they use their computer for is email and internet browsing.

So I built them this.

Pentium Dual-Core E2160, Vista Home Premium, Dell 20 inch Widescreen E207 (smallest available w/ bundle), 2x1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz, Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100, 250GB HD, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive, 7.1 integrated sound.

Question: Is the processor adequate enough to run Vista Home Premium?

TIA, elG

[ZenPirate]

Should be perfect (read - super powerful)for anything other than gaming.

*edit* Make damn sure you request a Vista disc when ordering the machine.

[el Gato]

Should be perfect (read - super powerful)for anything other than gaming.

*edit* Make damn sure you request a Vista disc when ordering the machine.

Thanks. That processor was the slowest I could get. And I could reduce the memory to 1GB, but thought Vista may chug a bit with only 1Gb as that is what Microsoft recommends.

And yes, my 'rents do no gaming. :lol:

[SleepyHe4d]

'rents... never heard that one.

So why do people think dells suck anyways? Imo they have good prices.

[Sine Deviance]

So why do people think dells suck anyways? Imo they have good prices.

Because the hardware they use is the cheapest available at the time. Why do you think the prices are so low? Very low quality stuff, unreliable and slow. When I worked at the computer shop we always had lots of Dells in, lots more than any other OEM.

When it comes to Dell, if you're a business customer then you're good because the service and support for business customers is second to none. But home customers totally get the shaft in those departments. It's like pulling teeth to get Dell to fix anything for an agreeable price if you're one day out of warranty (which is usually the day stuff starts breaking on Dell systems.)

The worst thing about Dell by far is the OEM lock in the BIOS. It basically tells the mainboard to not POST if you're not using Dell hardware. Essentially this means that if you choose to upgrade a Dell system you have to buy the parts from Dell (Dell branded with Dell firmware) or they will not work most of the time. You can get rid of the lock by flashing the mainboard with a non-Dell BIOS but that requires knowing exactly which mainboard you're using and when it's all branded Dell it's kinda difficult to figure that out sometimes.

So in closing, Dells are alot like modern American cars: How quick can we build em' and how many corners can we cut to save money?

[SleepyHe4d]

What about the laptops? Was planning on getting a dell laptop but do you have any better ideas? ;p

[Wulff]

For laptops, get a Toshiba. For pc custom build it, always cheap if you know where to shop, and easy to make.

[ZenPirate]

Thanks. That processor was the slowest I could get. And I could reduce the memory to 1GB, but thought Vista may chug a bit with only 1Gb as that is what Microsoft recommends.

And yes, my 'rents do no gaming. :lol:

I would certainly go with 2gb ram. Memory handling in Vista is much different from XP, and much improved. 2gigs is the minimum sweet spot to load the apps nice and fast. Get them in the habit of going into low power mode instead of a complete shutdown. Nothing like a 5 second (maximum) boot.

[DELL-John_B]

The worst thing about Dell by far is the OEM lock in the BIOS. It basically tells the mainboard to not POST if you're not using Dell hardware. Essentially this means that if you choose to upgrade a Dell system you have to buy the parts from Dell (Dell branded with Dell firmware) or they will not work most of the time. You can get rid of the lock by flashing the mainboard with a non-Dell BIOS but that requires knowing exactly which mainboard you're using and when it's all branded Dell it's kinda difficult to figure that out sometimes.

So in closing, Dells are alot like modern American cars: How quick can we build em' and how many corners can we cut to save money?

As a representative at Dell headquarters, and as the Dell Consumer Liaison, I felt I had to comment on this.

There is no such "OEM lock" in any Dell BIOS, and we've been selling third party hardware components in our systems for years. A Dell system will POST no matter what vendor your hardware add-ons came from, as long as those components are compatible with a PC. We do recommend you buy the parts from Dell, however, simply because Dell parts are covered under the system's warranty, nothing else.

I would NEVER recommend flashing a Dell motherboard with a third party BIOS. While it may or may not work, depending upon the chipset, doing so is risky, and may yield you a very expensive "brick" with a Dell logo on it.

[ShakeZula]

hey man do u have a spare screen for a latitude d505?

[Daedalus]

I've had a Dell Vostro for about 6 months now and it's fantastic. Still one of the fastest laptops out there. All for $900 shipped.

It's HEAVY but it's awesome.

Also the Pentium Dual-cores are essentially neutered Core2's. They're a bit underclocked and have half the cache. They're decent processors.

[Plumb_Drumb]

As a representative at Dell headquarters, and as the Dell Consumer Liaison, I felt I had to comment on this.

There is no such "OEM lock" in any Dell BIOS, and we've been selling third party hardware components in our systems for years. A Dell system will POST no matter what vendor your hardware add-ons came from, as long as those components are compatible with a PC. We do recommend you buy the parts from Dell, however, simply because Dell parts are covered under the system's warranty, nothing else.

I would NEVER recommend flashing a Dell motherboard with a third party BIOS. While it may or may not work, depending upon the chipset, doing so is risky, and may yield you a very expensive "brick" with a Dell logo on it.

This guy speaketh the truth.
I bought a Dimension 8100 a few years ago (top of the line stuff at the time), and it didn't matter what kind of hardware you put inside it.

That thing is still running like a champ too.

[Big-Al]

As a representative at Dell headquarters, and as the Dell Consumer Liaison, I felt I had to comment on this.

There is no such "OEM lock" in any Dell BIOS, and we've been selling third party hardware components in our systems for years. A Dell system will POST no matter what vendor your hardware add-ons came from, as long as those components are compatible with a PC. We do recommend you buy the parts from Dell, however, simply because Dell parts are covered under the system's warranty, nothing else.

I would NEVER recommend flashing a Dell motherboard with a third party BIOS. While it may or may not work, depending upon the chipset, doing so is risky, and may yield you a very expensive "brick" with a Dell logo on it.
you signed up to these forums just for that? found us in google?

well welcome to the forums. i'd never buy a Dell, and will always dissuade people from buying them as long as far better stuff exists.

dell is cheap, and you sort of get what you paid for... most customers are left with bricks anyway after a few months. dell takes so long helping their poor gutted customers out the guarantee runs out.

how many technicians do we have on these forums who've been brought Dells machines to fix?

ok, not a very structured post, but the point is, Dell sucks and Dell knows it.

edit:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=339053 <- an example of Dell's only being able to use Dell parts.

[Plumb_Drumb]

well, things must have changed since that was written.

I took my 6 month old (now about 5 years old) D8100, decided it needed a major upgrade for UT2003.
So, I picked out a new video card from MSI.
Decided I should probably upgrade my power supply to boot, so I bought one.

Well, you can't have all these fancy graphics unless you have memory to hold it right? So I doubled that.

And along with the graphics card upgrade I got a discount on a gigantic (at the time) HDD, so I went ahead with that.

Finally everything arrived, piece by piece, and I installed it.

Boom ba da boom, I have an upgraded PC, and all that was leftover Dell was the MB, case, and optical drives.
So, unless they went back to some wierd stuff like your article talked about, Dells are fine.

*note* I haven't tried to fit a new motherboard in thier cases yet, so that may be another story.

[ambershee]

Dell laptops are often a bit too expensive for what they are. You can get good deals on desktops. I used a Dell machine as my current rigs' base unit. Pisses me off that you can only get XP with certain machines now though - and they charge you 50 quid more for an OS that costs less. Bastards.

The XPS 420 was very good value for money, the last time I checked.

Also the Pentium Dual-cores are essentially neutered Core2's. They're a bit underclocked and have half the cache. They're decent processors.

And Core Solos are just faulty Core Duos. You have been warned.

[Big-Al]

well, things must have changed since that was written.

I took my 6 month old (now about 5 years old) D8100, decided it needed a major upgrade for UT2003.
So, I picked out a new video card from MSI.
Decided I should probably upgrade my power supply to boot, so I bought one.

Well, you can't have all these fancy graphics unless you have memory to hold it right? So I doubled that.

And along with the graphics card upgrade I got a discount on a gigantic (at the time) HDD, so I went ahead with that.

Finally everything arrived, piece by piece, and I installed it.

Boom ba da boom, I have an upgraded PC, and all that was leftover Dell was the MB, case, and optical drives.
So, unless they went back to some wierd stuff like your article talked about, Dells are fine.

*note* I haven't tried to fit a new motherboard in thier cases yet, so that may be another story.
when you get around to changing the mobo you'll have to change the case for a standard ATX one.

[ZenPirate]

^ Kind of a shame BTX never took of in the "aftermarket" realm. It's a nice design.

[ambershee]

My last Dell mobo was WTX, I believe. It's a bit on the large side, for my liking. The case is also huge and hideous :lol:

[Plumb_Drumb]

when you get around to changing the mobo you'll have to change the case for a standard ATX one.

I've heard the cases really are non-standard, but like I said, I haven't checked into it, so I don't know.

Cases are a "dime a dozen" though, so I'm not really concered, and I'm not messing with my Dell until it truly dies anyway (and then it goes to the recycler).