Dell versus the smaller High End manufacturers. How did they do?
Written: Jul 27 '02
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Pros: Performs like Top Shelf High-End computers, but at a lower price.
Cons: Cheesy case, cheesy mouse (no pun intended). Otherwise, nothing.
The Bottom Line: The Dell 8200 performs on par with highend computers that cost $1000 dollars or more. What you lose in outward beauty you gain where it counts: inside.
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| dominum's Full Review: Dell Dimension 8200 Series |
{Sigh}
It seems just a year ago when the Pentium 4 chips hit the mainstream and my 1.7 gHz P-4 with a GeForce 3 card was the system to drool over.
{Furrow's eyebrow}
Geez, it was.
Enter Dell's latest addition into the market of high-end computers that are great for gaming, video and audio editing, and even for doing a little work!
This system shipped with a:
Pentium 4 2.53 GHz in a motherboard with 533MHz bus
120MB 7200RPM Hard drive
512K 800MHz RDRAM
GeForce 4 Ti-4600
19" Flat-screen CRT
USB Enhanced Keyboard
Logitech wheelmouse (junk, in my opinion)
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Soundcard
Altec Lansing 995 5.1 Surround Speakers with subwoofer
CD-RW/DVD combo drive
The important message to glean from this review is that I was prepared to order up a Top Shelf computer from one of the smaller specialty computer manufacturers such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Voodoo, or maybe ABS, IBUYPOWER, or EMachines. I had the cash and it was burning a hole in my pocket. I am an avid reader of PC Gamer and Maximum PC magazines (sister publications at that) and had gathered up the stack of recent reviews in the magazines and then went online and started building rigs on the manufacturers' websites. I configured my dream rigs in a similar fashion to the Dell specifications as above with the biggest, and for the most part, only significant difference being the type of RAM (SDRAM, RDRAM, DDR-SDRAM or RAMBUS RAM). For gearhead afficianados, the Falcon system maxed out at a P4 2.4GHz. Other differences were proprietary.
Sadly, the prices were steep. Alienware and Falcon Northwest were a steep $4000 or thereabouts and the Voodoo was up around $5000 by the time I was drooling on myself. I turned to lesser known manufacturers like ABS and IBUYPOWER but their prices were slightly lower than Dell ($200) and not enough to warrant a gamble.
I ordered this system on a Wednesday around 7PM and got the system on a Tuesday before noon. Not bad! I hope they burned it before they shipped it because the Dell website indicated that the computer shipped the day after I ordered it. Well the past must stay in the past because the system was flawless out of the box. The complete setup took maybe 30 minutes and Windows XP came thundering from the Altec Lansing speakers. I'm still trying to figure out if that;s good or bad...
Here's the killer: I am a big believer in benchmarking systems using different utilities or framerates from games as comparisons. For gaming, which is 90% of what I use my rig for, the 3 most common benchmarks are 3DMark2001, Quake III framerates, and MDKII. Those that read PC Gamer will be familiar with each. 3DMark2001 is a utility that can be downloaded for FREE from the site www.madonion.com, It was custom-designed to test the graphical prowess of a computer's processor and graphics card.
A graphically intense First Person Shooter such as Max Payne recommend a minimum score on 3DMark2001 of 2,200. My old p4 1.7GHz with a GeForce laid the smacketh downeth with a cool 5,600 a year ago and I felt good. As I read reviews on the latest P4 2.53GHz offerings from ABS, IBUYPOWER and others I saw scores coming in in the high 10,000s. My P4 1.7 suddenly felt, errr well old. My goal was to get a rig pulling 10,000 on 3DMark2001 with all the bells and whistles.
I was drawn to the Falcon Northwest 2.4MHz system, and it scored a 11,250 on 3DMark2001. As I stated, the system would have set me back about $4,000 dollars. Ditto with the Alienware, which I liked better because it bumped the P4 processor up to a 2.53GHz.
Then I had an epiphany. Why not order another Dell? I loved the first one and why not completely trick one out and get EVERYTHING on it and see how it comes in? Well I did. It cost about $2880 dollars and the first thing I did was play a game of Starcraft on it for sentimental reasons. Then I installed a copy of 3DMark2001 and benchmarked it and turned off as much as the garbage running on Windows XP as I could off the top of my head without crashing the Operating System. I scored 11,118. I laughed. I cried. I danced and Irish gig and danced with my dog. Life was good!
So, for those keeping score, a $4000 dollar Falcon Northwood system scores 11,250 and my generic, stamped-out-of-a-mold Dell pulls 11,118 for $1200 dollars less. I felt justified to dump the rest on a digital camera (see my profile for the review). Worth mentioning, the Alienware 2.53GHz system scored a 11,700 something on winmark's 3DMark2001. So my Dell isn't the fastest computer of the bunch but it is definitely in the hunt!!!
Also, worth mentioning is that Gateway, Compaq and HP are not the types of manufacturers who take the time to throw all these high-end components together and make it all work. They usually skimp out on one of the components, like the graphics card and put in an old GeForce2 card or the new mislabeled GeForce 4 MX card. (The Geforce 4 MX card is not a 4th generation card, it is a warmed-up reheated GeForce 2 card). So now that you know Dell is the only big manufacturer who takes building a top-shelf system seriously, let's breakdown the computer itself:
This thing is fast. It boots up Windows XP in about 40 seconds. My P4 1.7GHz takes 56 seconds.
The CD-RW drive is a one-drive-does-it-all kind of frankenstein monster. I turn and burn and do it all with it. One drive sounds like a pain when burning, but it is not that hard to swap discs between read/write.
The Logitech wheelmouse is a lump of poo. It has the look and feel of a lump of poo. Redundant yes. True yes. Sad yes. The Logitech is just plain vanilla and I am used to a contoured mouse that fits in your hand sort of like a handshake. So, I bought an aftermarket IBM contour wheelmouse that has this cool iridescent blue lighted wheel and tossed the logitech in a drawer. Price? $30 bucks.
The Altec Lansing 995 5.1 surrounds deserve their own review. They are THX certified and put a pair of Klipsch 4.1s I demoed to shame. The Klipsch 4.1s sound like they are made of cardboard compared to the Altac Lansings. I have never heard Klipsch 5.1s but they are rare these days. The Altec Lansing subwoofer is as large as a PC tower and comes with 5 satellite speakers as well: left, right, center channel, left rear surround, and right rear surround. They are for the girls and boys who like to go boom and they do indeed shake the room. Literally. 10 out of 10!!!
The USB keyboard hooks into a USB port as does the mouse. The keyboard is nice with speaker volume controls within easy reach. Very nice and acceptable in every way.
I also opted for optional dual monitor support that is supported by my GeForce 4 graphics card that enables a second monitor to be hooked up to the tower. This was a $20 card. Secondly, I opted for USB 2.0 and have 4 or 5 USB ports (they are hard to see because they are at the base) on the back of the tower. As it comes stock, there are no USB ports on the front of the tower. This upgrade, (another PCI slotted card) was $20. Thirdly, I am also firewire enabled with inputs on the back of the tower as well. This was another inexpensive upgrade. However, I don't have many PCI slots left. In fact, I have one.
Basically, this does everything you could want from gaming, to music, video and movie editing. Heck, I even had Office XP installed in case I need to do work!
DISLIKES
1) The case and computer are back in black and black is bad, but bad meaning good. However, the case for the tower screams "CHEAP" as it sports this huge 15-inch circular grey Dell logo on both sides. It makes me want to flay off my skin with a butter knife, but the rest of the package assuages my anguish. Worth mentioning, the case can be laid on its side and opened like a book with the side panel hinged to the rest of the case to allow easy access!
2) As mentioned above, the optional Logitech wheelmouse is plain vanilla. Get an aftermarket mouse or an optical Microsoft intellimouse (which has the feel of a pregnant whale in your palm) or SOMETHING.
3) OK I give up I can't make anything else up. I LOVE this computer. [grins].
TECH SUPPORT
This was my fourth oder with Dell, and I have NEVER had to use tech support in all my hours of using a Dell. They have been rock-solid in performance and reliability. I recheck the benchmark settings on both computers and they never stray up or down by more than a few points on 3DMark2001. Therefore, I cannot give Tech Support a thumbs up or down. However, whenever I have ordered anything from them it always comes on time or ahead of schedule and have had no breakages or returns to Dell of any kind. Sadly, when a company builds hundreds of thousands of computers, a percentage of them are going to breakdown. It is sad to see so many furious customers. I will say this, of all the articles I have read concerning Dell PCs, it seems that tech support and customer service have taken a downturn in comparison to what Dell once was. Perhaps they are too big for their britches? However, this is all speculation.
In summary, if you are looking for a top of the line computer and are mulling over which brand to buy, look no further. Save a bundle of money without buying from a bargain PC manufacturer and get a brand-name computer that is reliable and powerful.
I have to say it. Dude, you should be gettin a Dell.
[grimaces] then [grins].
Thanks for reading!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2880
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
dominum
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Location: Erie, PA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
I am male, 31 years old and currently practice community pharmacy in Northwestern Pennsylvania.
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