She's A Powerful One!....For Now At Least
Written: Jun 29 '00
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Pros: Price, Quality, Selection, Excellent Tech Support
Cons: Shipping & Handling
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| chrisg_5's Full Review: Dell Dimension XPS T700r |
I had a Packard Bell P162 until March 2000. In today's world it is piece of @#$%. Its main features included a processor speed of 166Mhz, 32 RAM, and a tiny 1.9 GB hard drive. So with all kinds of new software coming out and the internet continuously speeding up, I knew I had to get a better system. I heard, from word of mouth, that Dell was to computers like Honda is to cars. Not the most expensive, yet very high quality.
I'm not sure if the same goes for the US, but in Canada you can't buy Dell computers at any store...so off to Dell.com it was! The site was pretty much user-friendly. After a few minutes of browsing I found the processor speed I was looking for. The price for the system they built was $2099 Cdn (about $1419 US). This system had the following:
-Intel Pentium III Processor at 700Mhz
-128MB SDRAM
-30GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 7200RPM
-Dell 17" Monitor (.26 dpi)
-16MB ATI Rage Graphics Card
-48x MAX CD-ROM
-SoundBlaster 64V Sound Card
-56K modem
-harman/kardon speakers
-and the standard stuff (software, floppy drive, keyboard, etc.)
Many of these specifications were not suitable for me, and when I tried to customize it on the website I noticed that they did not have exactly what I wanted. So I called their toll free number and spoke to one of the salesmen. He was very friendly, no complaints here. He told me that I could just make a list of the exact things I wanted, then just tell him over the phone and he would build the computer. That sounded great. After he typed everything in, he gave me a price of $2932 Cdn (about $1982 US) and within a few minutes also faxed me the Quote. My new system included the following:
-Intel Pentium III Processor at 700Mhz
-128MB SDRAM
-10GB ATA Hard Drive 7200RPM
-Dell 17" Monitor (.24 dpi)
-32MB NVidia Geforce Graphics Card
-12x DVD-ROM/48x CD-ROM
-8x/4x/32x CD-RW
-SoundBlaster Live! Value 512V Sound Card
-3COM Network Card
-and the standard stuff (software, floppy drive, keyboard, etc.)
I found that with a CD copier I wouldn't need 30GB's, who needs that much anyway? The original sound card and graphics card were not to my satisfaction. I didn't need a modem since I use a cable modem, so I opted for a network card instead. And I just love having a monitor where you can't see all the black lines, so I chose the Dell P780 17" monitor. It actually has a Sony Trinitron tube in it, the picture is absolutely spectacular.
The only con that I encountered was the shipping & handling. To send it to where I live the S&H was $160 Cdn (about $108 US). But this is a small price to pay to have a product of such high quality.
My experience with Dell was a positive one, and I will definately purchase a Dell as my next computer in a few years when this one becomes obsolete.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1980
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12
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Epinions.com ID:
chrisg_5
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Member: Chris G
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
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