Dude, I\'m gettin\' a Dell

The last 4 or 5 PCs I\'ve purchased have been built by me, but I decided that I probably couldn\'t beat this deal I saw posted on http://www.slickdeals.net  I\'ve been getting sick of my P3 500 box, and all the nonstandard "features" of the Abit motherboard, so I went ahead and ordered this Dell:

P4 2.53 Ghz / 533mhz bus
128 megs DDR SDRAM 333mhz
60 gig ATA100 7200rpm HD
32 meg ATI Rage Ultra
48/24/48 CD-RW drive
Floppy drive
Cheapo mouse, keyboard
Integrated audio, integrated NIC
Windows XP Professional
no monitor, no speakers

Total price will be $526.30 after tax and mail-in rebate.  (Slightly higher that slickdeal\'s estimate, because I upgraded to WinXP pro instead of the home edition.)

I know there\'s not much RAM installed, but the prices for adding RAM from Dell were not to my liking.  I will buy another DIMM from Crucial at a later date.  Also, I know the vid card is probably crap, but I\'m trying to keep this affordable for now.  I can cannibalize all the stuff that\'s missing from my other PCs.

Just thought I\'d let you all know.   Sweeeetttt!  

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

It\'ll do the job for application work.

Check out this Dell deal from http://www.gotapex.com last weekend:

2.53Ghz Pentium 4 Processor (533mhz system bus)
128MB 333Mhz DDR SDRAM
Intel 845PE chipset motherboard w/ 1 AGP & 4 PCI slots
6 USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 back)
48x24x48 CD-RW drive with buffer underrun protection
32MB ATI Rage Ultra AGP video
10/100 NIC
Windows XP Home
1 Year Parts & Labor warranty & tech support
Integrated Audio
6 months of internet access
Quietcase tool-less clamshell design chassis (no screws)

For $421.55 after rebate (most states need to pay tax)

For $19 more, you can upgrade to a 2.66Mhz P4 processor. $19 will also buy you an upgrade to a 64mb nVidia GF4MX AGP card with TV output.
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To tell you the truth I wouldn\'t pick this up or any Dell for that matter because they claim they have "Award Winning Tech Support" but when me and my Uncle called 3x for a minor laptop problem there were so many f*cking transfers, put on holds, immigrants that couldn\'t understand what we were saying...  it was sickening.

Oh and Cored it\'s so cheap because:

1) They make more than their fair share investing the money while you wait for your MIR\'s

2) Companies pay Dell to include their software which is pretty much advertising & clutter on your HD.

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Just out of curiosity & comparison purposes here\'s a Newegg rundown:

P4 2.53 - $190 (retail box)
ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard Intel 845PE Chipset Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System - $113
CRUCIAL MICRON 512MB 64x64 PC 2700 DDR - $75
WD HARD DRIVE 40GB 7200RPM - $68
GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 4, 8X AGP. Ti 4200, 3.5ns, 64MB DDR - $119
Lite On 48x24x48 - $45

Total = $610.  Keep in mind I used premium parts and upped the ram and the vid card.  I left the OS out because you can get that several ways at many different prices (can get it almost free if you\'re company uses it).

$526 is alot for what yer getting

Originally posted by THX
Check out this Dell deal from http://www.gotapex.com last weekend:

2.53Ghz Pentium 4 Processor (533mhz system bus)
128MB 333Mhz DDR SDRAM
Intel 845PE chipset motherboard w/ 1 AGP & 4 PCI slots
6 USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 back)
48x24x48 CD-RW drive with buffer underrun protection
32MB ATI Rage Ultra AGP video
10/100 NIC
Windows XP Home
1 Year Parts & Labor warranty & tech support
Integrated Audio
6 months of internet access
Quietcase tool-less clamshell design chassis (no screws)

For $421.55 after rebate (most states need to pay tax)

For $19 more, you can upgrade to a 2.66Mhz P4 processor. $19 will also buy you an upgrade to a 64mb nVidia GF4MX AGP card with TV output.

That is EXACTLY the same machine I ordered.  All specs are the same.  Same price after all rebates, coupons, etc.  The difference is my price includes tax, and I upgraded to WinXP pro.

Just out of curiosity & comparison purposes here\'s a Newegg rundown:

P4 2.53 - $190 (retail box)
ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard Intel 845PE Chipset Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System - $113
CRUCIAL MICRON 512MB 64x64 PC 2700 DDR - $75
WD HARD DRIVE 40GB 7200RPM - $68
GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 4, 8X AGP. Ti 4200, 3.5ns, 64MB DDR - $119
Lite On 48x24x48 - $45

Total = $610.  Keep in mind I used premium parts and upped the ram and the vid card.  I left the OS out because you can get that several ways at many different prices (can get it almost free if you\'re company uses it).

There are some things NOT included in this newegg system (such as OS, NIC, keyboard, mouse, & the Hard Drive is 20 gigs smaller), so the price would proably be a little higher if you replicated the Dell box.  HOWEVER, maybe it would be worth it.... I do prefer using better known brands, and I especially like Asus motherboards... but I would never buy another Western Digital hard drive.  

BTW Thanks for the vote of confidence mm.    That is the OUT THE DOOR price, remember.  Free shipping too.    

As with the Dell the motherboard has an integrated NIC, no PCI card required.  The same keyboard mouse Dell will give you can be bought for $15-$20.  And you can upgrade to a 60GB IBM 180GXP for only $5 more.  If you\'re gonna buy the OS seperately in a retail store (*gag*) I can see getting the Dell.  Actually I still can\'t; that ram count and vid card really turn me off.

But it is your money, hope you enjoy your new puter.