I am technologically impaired. I honestly don’t have the first clue about computers, so if you are looking for a review on the Dell Dimension 4300 that is full of technical mumbo-jumbo, then you are reading the wrong review. I am the everyday Joe (ok, Jane), that just uses computers, I don’t dissect them. I will admit that before I even started looking for a new computer, the terms Pentium, GHz, and GB meant nothing to me. They still don’t mean much, but I now have a basic understanding of what they mean, in terms of what is good, what is ok, and what you shouldn’t even bother with.

I decided to buy a new computer when I became completely frustrated with the one I was using. It was a few years old, and I don’t know the specifics (it was my Dad’s computer). All I know is that it had been upgraded at least once, and that when we got it, it only had 2GB! (my new Dell came with 3GB of programs already loaded on it). Our old computer got a new hard drive a year or two ago, which added an extra 10GB. It was usable, but barely. It was taking about 3 or 4 minutes just to load one page here on Epinions. I had been saving my money since May, and in early December I decided I was going to spend some of that hard-earned cash on something I really wanted; a computer of my own, one that actually worked.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I am a Canadian; all prices listed within this review are in Canadian dollars, and when I refer to the Dell web site, I am referring to www.Dell.ca and not www.Dell.com - not sure what the differences are, if any, but I thought I should warn you

I was going to settle for a cheaper computer. I only wanted to spend around $1200 - $1300 on a computer. I found one that I could live with and almost bought it. But then something happened – my parents started asking what I wanted for Christmas, and all I could come up with is “Pillows – I want new pillows to replace my old lumpy ones”. That’s all I really wanted, other than a new computer. It was then agreed; the bulk of the funds allotted for my Christmas gifts would go towards a new computer. I went to the Dell web site and picked out a better computer, the one I am typing on at this very moment, and I got my parents to pay the difference between this one and the one I almost got.

Dell was first recommended by a friend of my boyfriends’, a computer whiz, or geek, or whatever you want to call him. He knows the inside-outs and upside-downs of computers. Exactly what I needed. I told him (via ICQ) what I wanted my computer for, (internet, mostly) and he suggested what I would need. He actually suggested much less than the one I eventually got, but he got me to Dell!


The Dell web site

The Dell site is really easy to navigate. You choose if you want a desktop or a laptop, then you choose what series you want, then you are taken to a screen where you can change the features on the computer and get an update of what the new price is. I played around with these features for a bit, and I soon realized that Dell puts on a lot of great deals, if you can find them. Even if you’re not interested in a certain aspect of the computer, check the drop down menu and see if there is a free upgrade. That’s how I got my CD burner – it was a free upgrade, otherwise I wouldn’t have been interested in one.

I had heard something about Windows XP not running very well with only 128MB SDRAM, so I upgraded to 256MB for $100. I also upgraded from a 20GB hard drive to 40GB, for only $70.

So I finally chose what computer I wanted, and went to the checkout screen, where I had to pick what province I lived in so they could calculate shipping and taxes. Once this was done, I was shown a grand total, much higher than the original total because of over $200 in taxes and the $140 in shipping. Oh well, no problem, I wasn’t over my limit, now that I was getting part of it paid for!

I checked out, stating that I wanted to pay them with a wire transfer (my credit card had a limit of only $500 since it is a student card from my university days). I was promptly sent an email detailing what I ordered, and what it was going to cost, along with an approximate date of arrival; December 27. “Awww, but I wanted it to be here for Christmas!” Turns out, it takes a few days to process the wire transfer (and the process was a bit tedious as well, and it involved a fax machine). So my parents agreed that they would put it on their credit card and I would pay them my share. I called the 1-800 number that was listed in the email, and waited on hold for about 15 minutes (not bad considering this was not too long before Christmas), at which point I was told that I had chosen the wrong selection when I was going through the process of letting them know where I wanted the call to go (“press 4 to go to…”). The person on the line told me I had reached the number for problems with the computer, and gave me a direct number to the person I would need to talk to. I dialed the number and this time I didn’t have to wait at all. I explained my situation, gave them the credit card number, and that was it, the computer was paid for and I received another email telling me my new statistics. My new computer would arrive between December 13th and December 17th.


The shipping process

What is really neat is that you can actually follow the order process through all of its stages with a tracking number you are given. You can tell if your ordered has been process, if your computer has been built, and if it’s been shipped out. The information about shipping came up a little late in the game, but I forgave them when to my surprise my computer actually arrived a day early, on the 12th (but I missed out, and was left with only a post-it stating that the courier had been there, 10 minutes before I got home!). So I finally got my computer on the 13th of December, an early Christmas gift!


My Computer

My computer arrived in three separate boxes. Thankfully my boyfriend was there at the time and he put it all together in minutes. As I watched him I realized all of the cords are color-coded, so I don’t think that even I would have had trouble with the set-up.

When I ordered my computer online, the parts were described as “Midnight Grey”. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this actually means black. This is so much nicer than the standard drab beige color that most computers seem to be. All of the components (monitor, tower, speakers) are black, with grey parts for contrast (e.g. the buttons on the monitor are grey).

So what did I get? For those of you who need numbers, here is a list (for those of you like me, all I can tell you is that it works and it is fast, and yes, you can open six browsers at the same time without freezing up!):

Dimension 4300s, Pentium 4 Processor at 1.4GHz
256MB SDRAM at 133MHz
40GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
Microsoft XP Home Edition
16x/10x/40x CD-RW Drive (or in English - a CD burner)

Certainly not the best that money can buy, but the best my money could buy!

I got a 17” monitor because I was tired of looking at a small screen. What I didn’t expect was how big it would be. The biggest of the three boxes contained the monitor. Not only does it have a big screen, but the back end of it seems to stretch into infinity… ok, it’s not that big, but it takes up the whole depth of my desk!

I love the keyboard. It is called a “Dell Enhanced Quiet Key Keyboard”, and it is quiet, at least compared to our old one, the sound of which can be compared to a sledgehammer hitting the side of a minivan.

I really like the tower – it is tiny compared to other computers! There is also the option of standing it up or laying it flat – either way works great. I did have it standing beside my computer desk for a while. It is so slim that in order for this to work, there is a stand that must be attached to the bottom to steady it (very easy to assemble, only requires putting in one screw). I didn’t really like it that way (my room is really crowded now and my dresser drawers were bumping into it), so I decided to make room for it on the desk. I also wanted to move it because it was awkward putting in cds on the vertical. I took off the stand and put it on my desk, and I like it much better that way. It’s really nice to have the option. And now when I see other computers, I can’t help but laugh at how big they seem.


Performance

I’ll admit, I don’t know much about computers or how they work, all I know is that they hate me. For a time I was beginning to think that I had some strange sort of radiation coming from my body that caused computers to freeze up. Every computer I touched ultimately ended in me pressing “Ctrl-Alt-Del”, or just angrily pressing the power button when it failed to respond to any of my commands. But it’s amazing… this one actually works, and I’m beginning to think that it likes me! Other than some problems when playing The Sims (which I hear is the fault of the game and not my computer), I have been problem free! I’ve got more memory than I will ever need (but then again, when we got our old computer, we thought 2GB was plenty!), ok then I’ve got enough to do me a few years at least. Through Windows XP, I have three user accounts; one for me, one for my boyfriend, and one for anybody else who wants to use it (no password). I have loaded on a lot of programs, saved a lot of pictures, my boyfriend has saved I don’t know how many music cds onto his account for future burning (onto a cd, via the cd burner of course!), and I still have only used up 4.58GB thus far. And remember, it came with 3GB already loaded on, which means I have only put on 1.58GB. All the rest of that space is going to waste! I’ll have to find some huge bulky program to load on so I don’t feel like I wasted my $70 by upgrading from 20GB to 40GB. Oh well, I am sure I will appreciate it a few years down the road.


Starting up this computer is a breeze. I timed it the other day – from the time I hit the power button until it is time for me to put into my password to access my account is between 20 and 30 seconds. I couldn’t believe it – our old computer took minutes, not seconds!

To compare, a download of a skin for ICQ that took about 30 minutes to download and install on the old computer took about two minutes on this one.


Windows XP

My computer came pre-loaded with Windows XP. I may get around to doing a separate review of that someday, but I doubt it. Since it is the norm for these computers to come complete with Windows XP, I thought I would say a bit about it.

It is slightly different than the Windows 98 I was used to on our old computer. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once the initial confusion is over, I seem to think that it is actually easier to use than the old Windows. It certainly looks a lot nicer, and I love the little pictures they give you to identify your account (dog, rubber ducky, etc). Navigation seems easier, and I seem to have an easier time finding things that I could never remember in Windows 98. It does have some annoying features that you have to figure out how to override though. One particularly annoying thing it did was group similar items on the taskbar (or whatever that thing at the bottom is that shows all the different programs you have running). So if I had four browser windows open, and a Word document running at the same time, there wouldn’t be five little buttons to hit, but two. One for Internet Explorer and one for Word. I would have to click on the button for Internet Explorer and then a menu would pop up and I would have to choose which browser window I wanted to access from there. Highly annoying, but shortly after I was starting to get used to it, I found out how to change it.

Ok, ok I am waaaay over my self-induced 1500 word limit!

Thanks for reading!





Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 900
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40