Hopping onto Dell.com and ordering a computer was a snap. All there was to do was to pick the type of computer i wanted: Cutting Edge, Advanced, or Affordable. From there, I could customize it as i pleased. I decided to go for the "cutting edge" model in hopes that I would not have to upgrade for a while. A week after ordering my computer, it arrived at my doorstep.

I chose to buy my computer from Dell because of their supposedly excellent reliabilty, service and customer support. I was extremely pleased with the ease I picked out and bought my computer, yet Dell's customer support left much to be desired.

The set up of the computer went quickly and easily. The instructions were very through. Once I got my computer started and began attaching my old peripherals, I noticed that my serial port gamepad did not work. After fiddling with it a bit and consulting a few of my more knowledgeable friends, I came to the conclusion that the serial port must be defective. I gave Dell an email and notified them of the problem. They responded back in a few days with instructions on how to rectify the problem, none of which was effective. I responded back stating so, and Dell fired back another set of instructions on how to fix the problem. After tinkering with my software settings some more, the problem still wasn't fixed. I decided to give them a call. After being put on hold for 20 minutes, I was bounced around from person to person, and each time I had to give them my information and state my problem. When I finally reached someone who could "help" me, I was told that the a compatibility problem between Windows 2000 and my gamepad, not a hardware problem. The technician recommended that I download some updates from Microsoft's site. Not to my surprise, the updates were useless. Fed up with Dell's customer support, I decided to just buy a USB gamepad.

Aside from this problem, my computer works fine. The Dell Dimension 8100 Series is a nice looking system. It works fast and smoothly, and its basic functions are easy to use. Boot time takes less than 1 minute. Everything on the computer feels well made and durable.

The standard 17" monitor that comes with the computer has crisp graphics and turns on relatively quickly.

The computer came loaded with a ton of software, all pre-installed. All the disks of the software were also included. No free printer or scanner came with the computer. I had hoped that at least a cheap printer would have been thrown in as a bonus for buying such a high end computer. No such luck.

The speakers that I got were AltecLansing ACS340 Speakers, with a sub-woofer. The work marvelously; the quality of sound is great!

I bypassed the 56k modem since I have cable modem. Thge Dell quiet keyboard that came with the computer works well, but isn't good for games. If you push more than 2 buttons at once, they will not be detected. I also got a DVD 12X Drive. Although fast, the DVD hangs at times, where it just sits there spinning and spinning. It's also very loud. The standard 3.5 in. floppy drive works well, nothing special about it. The standard included mouse was your normal 2 button white thing. It feels cheap, and it'll probably be due for replacement in a year.

The graphics card is graphics card 32MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 4X AGP. I think it's one of the most impressive aspects of this computer. I run a lot of EA sports games such as NBA Live 2001 and NHL 2001 with all the graphics options maxed out and at the highest possible resolution (i forget what it is). The graphics are simply amazing. The difference between running these games on this computer and my old one is a world of difference. For example, a NBA player in NBA Live on my old computer would look like a fuzzy teddy bear with a half-decently modeled face pasted on. On my new computer, these players morphed into practical photographs, with every line on the players' faces and every muscle on their arms and legs visible.

Included is a years worth of free internet service. I didn't bother with it, since I have cable modem.

The warranty on the computer is the usualy one year parts and labor and a three year parts delivery. Also included is lifetime tech support. I wouldn't bother, given my past experience.

All in all, this computer is fast and well made. I would recommend it to people who require a higher end computer. People who need a computer for just word processing and internet really don't need this. I would recommend however that you wait before getting a Pentium 4 chip, given its current price. Pentium 3's can be picked up cheap nowadays. Price aside, this is a fine machine to buy.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1700
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20