Dell is king of performance, budget
Written: May 25 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
|
|
|
Pros: Solid performance, price
Cons: Could use more variety in software bundle
|
|
|
| mrleemrlee's Full Review: Dell Dimension XPS T600 |
Dell has taken powerful PCs and married them with a well-deserved reputation for customer service. My shopping and buying experience showed me something else, something exactly the opposite of what you normally hear about Dell: It also offers the cheapest PCs for the money that I could find.
Dell's online ordering is fairly straightforward and enjoyable to use. Though it's become old hat for most computer buyers, there is something irresistible to me about playing with different combinations of components to create the machine of your dreams.
I had pretty firm specifications: I wanted at least a Pentium III 600, 64MB of RAM, CD-RW/R as the only CD drive, 20GB hard drive, 32MB video card (preferably nVidia), 17" monitor. Dell rolled all that into a $1418 package (plus shipping). I checked every other major computer manufacturer and several of the smaller houses, and to get that price from any of them, I would have had to sacrifice something — smaller hard drive, less of a video card, cheaper components. I could not come up with an apples-to-apples comparison machine from any other manufacturer at that price.
Ordering was smooth, and I had the computer within a week. Setup is easy, with the nearly standard color-coded cables and box-top quickstart guide. I was extremely impressed with the depth of Dell's documentation, which shuns the usual "don't-open-the-case" attitude of most manufacturers. The system manual provides model-specific step-by-step instructions for how to upgrade components. It also has a detailed diagram of what piece is where inside the computer, which is invaluable for people like me, who know enough not to be afraid of opening the case but don't know enough to avoid getting ourselves in trouble.
So far I have no complaints about the operation of my system. It flies through everything I've thrown at it, from games to Web applications. That's to be expected. The components feel solid, the display is crisp, the keyboard (a Microsoft Internet keyboard) has a nice feel. The CD-RW even functions fairly well as an all-purpose CD-ROM. I plan to upgrade with an additional DVD drive soon. I've never used a better computer, and that includes the graphics workstation I use in my job as a newspaper page designer.
But the factor that kept leading me back to this system until I bought it was the price (which, of course, is now much lower, a month and a half later). I had seen many message-board postings decrying how expensive Dells are. I finally figured out why it is: Whenever Dells are featured in a magazine comparison with other computers, they are invariably one of the most expensive in the lot. But if you read the comparisons closely, there's a reason why: For whatever reason, Dell includes every possible bell and whistle on these review models, which drives up the price. Dells in review roundups are invariably far better equipped than the competition, which makes them look more expensive. However, when you customize a mid-price system as I did, Dell comes out looking more economical than anyone else.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1418
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 501-600
RAM: 64
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mrleemrlee
|
|
Member: Mr. Lee Mr. Lee
Location: Astoria, NY
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 25 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.