I can't believe previous reviewers discussed Dell and omitted Delltalk. What's Delltalk? It's the owners' forum where every bug in every Dell pc ever made has been discussed, and most cured BY OWNERS THEMSELVES. Try to wait until the end, but if you can't, copy and paste this url:

http://delltalk.us.dell.com/

I am happy with the machine...how can you not love a machine that costs the same as your last one of 2.5 yrs ago but runs 5X faster and has 5X the capacity!? How? Wait. Let me start with the positives...

To save $300-400, I went to Dell's outlet site and got a 'refurbished' 4100, an 'out-of-date' PIII-800 that Dell needed to unload before the holiday rush to the P4s. Good news here: sales staff made EVERY effort to get me what I wanted (and a $50 discount + free printer--think gift) They were very patient. But I could have made their life easier if I'd read this review first!

128mgs ram running at 133fsb ('FrontSideBus' is cpu operating speed) which is better than the 100 clock speed of many slower PIIIs). Using the professional testing procedures of pc magazines, I completed various memory dependent Adobe filter operations (on a 30 mg photo file) in UNDER THREE SECONDS, compared to a respectable 15 sec on my PIII-266\96mg ram.
Ok, the Dell's fast...what could be the problems? Wait a sec.

The machine also came with SoundBlaster Live! on which I'll be able to record and clean up my old 12" black lps and make CDs on my 8X CD-RW!

Ok, now the problems...

1. Dell supplies only Window drivers for the TNT2 graphic card, (32 mgs of vRam enough for all but hardcore gamers), OMITTING APPLICATIONS for color management. Downloading drivers from Nvidia, the chip maker, caused my 4100 to crash on shutdown, but drivers from a CARD manufacturer works fine...mostly. It is a cheap oversight by Dell. Given the MANY problems described on Delltalk it is amazing that Dell TECH couldn't tell me how to fix it...but this is typical of MOST tech services.

2. A Dell techie recommended the PCI modem rather than the standard winmodem (the former is supposed to be faster because it doesn't borrow memory from the operating system). Well I am writing this on the fastest connection I've ever been able to get: 45.3K, whereas my previous "$5-after-rebate" winmodem ran 45-49K regularly...other owners get less than 33k connections and Dell has no solutions for this either...Dell needs to address this issue.

So, I can't complain as much as others who slowpoke down the info highway, and I've reasonable solved the graphic card issue (the monitor won't shut down in power save mode, but that's a minor issue).

Other minor issues are a noisy hard drive (you know, the tap, tap drumming symbolized by the snaredrum win icon). I just bought a new 20 gig hard drive and it's DEAD SILENT...am disappointed in the comparison...and having to pay (FL) sales tax AND shipping...and shipping cost of a refurb is 2x that of a new Dell (95 vs. 50)!

So, now that you've patiently read this, run to DellTalk and really research and decide which machine to buy...I'd have bought a cheaper graphic card and the winmodem, spending the savings on upgrading myself, and saving time and hassles on my part, AND on the part of the sales and service staff. I know I will refer to DellTalk BEFORE calling DellTech, even though I bought the 3yr on-site service contract for $99 (good selling point 2.5 yrs from now when I move on to my next (Dell) pc).

Hope this helps anyone wanting a Dell. Even though it's a critical analysis, it's meant to be a positive review. As I said, read, read, buy!


12\7: Here's a wierd discovery...the cheaper L series, with integrated graphics by Intel HAS THE COLOR MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS that the more expensive 4100 doesn't...go figure...

also: a warning about DellTalk...

it's populated by everyone...
long time posters who treat newbies with sarcasm and putdowns...
newbies who will not accept ANY responsibility for learning for themselves...
DellTechies whose help is sometimes limited to "go here and see\read this"
Fed-up owners and Dell-to-the-death owners....
and...
there's no search option (used to be there but not for a month now), that makes your research more difficult but also very interesting...

DellTalk requires patience...good luck...Kit4100




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1175 (incl tx, shpg, 3yr service)
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 701-800
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30