You're Getting a Dell Dude! -- My Second Dell and I'm Happy!
Written: Jan 13 '02
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Pros: Lots of Bang for the Buck, Easy to Expand
Cons: Cooling Fan Noisy
The Bottom Line: Looking for quality and reasonable pricing? Check out the Dell 4300.
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| Bob61's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4300 Series |
Background:
I purchased my Dell back in November, almost 1 year after purchasing my previous Dell (L800). I was so happy with my L800 that I had no hesitations buying another Dell!
In the two months I've owned my new system, I've been very pleased with it and it's been trouble free. Installation was extremely easy as everything, including the operating system, was pre-installed.
I've been building PC's for years (almost 10 now) and priced out what it would cost me just to buy the parts, let alone the cost of labor/time to build my own. Quite frankly, given the special pricing at the time I couldn't build one for less (not even close).
Cost/Features:
Pricing of my system was $549 and included:
- 1.5ghz processor
- 128MB RAM (upgraded to 384MB later for only $20)
- 20GB hard drive
- WIN ME
Add in the case, motherboard, sound card, 48x CDROM, floppy drive, keyboard and mouse and the parts would cost me over $600. I also got a 1 year next business day warranty included with the system and a FREE upgrade to Windows XP (I have the CD's to upgrade -- just don't know if I want XP yet).
The unit comes with Microsoft Works (or at least that is how Dell was configuring them at the time I bought mine) and that includes Microsoft Word - that's $100 if you had to purchase it.
There was a promotional offer that included FREE SHIPPING (otherwise Dell would have charged $95 -- a rip off) and a Palm M100. I sold the M100 (didn't need it as I already have an IPAQ) and with EBATE rebate my net cost was $435 delivered for this bad boy! I couldn't say no to this deal -- and bought TWO (one for me and one for my son).
Comparison with other units, Gateway was $225 more. HP was about $150 more I don't think it is as well constructed given a quick look at the internals of the system.
Dislikes:
What don't I like about it? Compared to my Dell L800 this system is LOUD. The noise comes from the fan that blows air over the processor. It's MUCH larger than what was on my L800 system so that may be the reason. However, the L800 was extremely quiet, so the loudness is relative. This system is much quieter than the HP system that my son had (and replaced with his new 4300).
Likes:
What I do like -- the case is large enough to accommodate several upgrades. I didn't like my L800 as the case was too limiting, the 4300 is the exact opposite. There is room to add additional CDROM unit (I put my CD-RW drive in that bay) plus internal bay (I put in a 100GB drive there only $120). The case is easy to open, lay it flat and open it much like you would a suitcase.
Everything in the case is well laid out and easy to get to. If you are looking to add additional peripherals, you'll have no problem.
You can put up to 512MB of RAM on the motherboard. There are also a total of 4 USB ports - 2 in the back and 2 in the front. It's a nice touch that Dell included access to the USB in the front. I have items that I infrequently connect to my PC and not needing to climb behind the unit to plug in a USB is nice.
General Comments:
I've read some other reviews about Dell and their customer service. First, I've not had any problems so I can't say how good or bad their service is -- given this is my second Dell and that I've never had any need for their customer service seems to speak a lot for the quality of their systems. Second, I probably wouldn't use their customer service as I've had years of experience with building and servicing PC's. Unless a part went out and was under warranty I'd just hack through the problem myself ;)
I've also read other review comments about this being a system for "newbies". Well, I use my PC at least several hours a day and its performance has been more than ample for me. I don't know what the needs are for more performance than this bad boy has -- unless you may need some CAD system. My son uses his system to play a lot of video games (and I mean a lot). As you know, the video games today require a lot of horsepower for the high-end graphics that they need. Other than upgrading his video to a 64MB graphics card (got a great deal on that too -- only $50) the 4300 has performed excellent! I look at the PC performance like a car's. Some people will complain about the performance of a basic family car compared to a high-end sports car. Fact is 99% of us never need (or require) the additional horsepower that the sports car provides. Same with the PC -- why pay for more high-end performance that you'll never need?
Lastly, when shopping for a Dell unit, check their website from time to time. They have many special offers and have had free shipping offered 3 times since November. You will most typically find a better price by visiting their Small Business area when configuring your system as they offer specials more often - such as free PDA (Dell now offers the M105 instead of the M100). There's little difference between the home and small office system other than the preconfigured units they offer -- you can customize almost every aspect of your system.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 435
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
Bob61
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Member: Bob Neal
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 1 member
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