The Power, The Performance, The Price
Written: Mar 02 '03 (Updated Mar 12 '03)
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Pros: Fast, attractive styling. Easy to personalize.
Cons: Limited upgradability. Case design.
The Bottom Line: It is powerful and easy to use. I would recommend it to everyone.
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| ozarkfarm's Full Review: Dell Dimension 8200 Series |
Now.....
Until recently, 8200 was the top-of-the-line Dell series. Now it has been replaced with the 8250 series for marketing purposes. Although you probably won't be able to buy a new 8200, you may be able to find an excellent used or refurbished one. The 8200 is definitely not obsolete......yet.
Then.....
Before buying a Dell 8200 I had been using a PC that a guy put together for me. Having had it for almost four years, it was completely obsolete in the computer world and I was ready for something more powerful (especially since JKII was about to be released and I couldn't play it without a faster PC). I had experienced all the compatibility problems that come with putting a computer together yourself and was ready for a computer that was powerful and reliable. After reading a few articles in consumer report and asking around, I decided that going with a Dell was my safest bet. Dells had the best repair history to go along with the best customer service rating. So, despite the negative impact the "your getting a Dell dude" guy had on me(how could that guy NOT annoy you? He was such a pushover.) I made up my mind that a Dell was the computer for me. My next choice was which model to select. I had originally been thinking about going with the 4400 series and modifying it on Dell.com to meet my gaming needs. A little research showed me that it would be cheaper to go with an 8200, especially with the $200 rebate offered with the purchase of an 8200.
My PC
My 8200 will probably be different than yours. The default setup just didn't quite meet my personal needs. Fortunately, building a computer to meet your personal needs is quite simple on the Dell website. Because of this, few 8200s are identical. Here is the way my computer looked when I was done with it. Remember that this is only one of innumerable configurations available for the 8200.
Hardware
Dimension 8200 series P4 processor at 1.8Ghz
256MB PC800 RDRAM
Dell Enhanced Quiet Keyboard
17 inch Monitor
64MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX Graphics Card with TV-Out
80GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
3.5 in. Floppy
Microsoft Mouse
10/100 Fast Ethernet NIC
56k PCI Modem
24x/10x/40x CD-RW
Two USB ports in the front and two in the back.
SB Live! 1024 Digital Sound Card
Harmon Kardon HK-395 Speakers
Software
Windows XP
Norton Antivirus
Music Match 6.0 (a demo version I found out)
Dell Picture Studio
MS Worksuite 2002 (Microsoft Word and all that other jazz included)
Quicken Tax Suite 2002
Breakdown
Ok, so most of that stuff is pretty self-explanatory, but let me break some of it down anyway.
P4 1.8 Ghz
It's fast and definitely not obsolete. It has a 400 mghz system bus(512mghz isthe going thing right now, but 400 is not to shabby). It's a nice fast motherboard, no complaints there.
256Mb RDRAM
Ram is easy to upgrade, so at the time of my purchase, I figured I would get more later. To my horror, I found that Windows XP and all the other programs that run all the time are using all but 80Mbs of my Ram. That doesn't leave a lot for gaming. I would recommend getting more than 256mb.
64mb NVIDIA with TV-out
It doesn't have any trouble with even the newest high graphics games. The TV-out option will not work unless you have a digital TV. If you have one, than you can use it like a monitor. The card uses an S-video cable to hook up to the TV. It's a cool bonus feature, but useless to me.
80GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA hard drive
More space than I'll ever use. 7200 RPM's means that you will be able to access information very quickly. No complaints with this piece of work.
USB
The ports in the front are located under a little door-like thing that swings upward. Plug something in and then close the door-thingy. Very fly. I love this feature. There's also a headphone jack under the door-thingy.
SB Live! 1024 Digital Sound Card
This puppy supports 5.1 surround sound. It has plugs for rear channels, front channels, and a sub-woofer and center channel. Of course it also has a gameport, a Line-in, and a mic plug. I haven't used the surround sound feature, but I have been pleased with the soundcard.
Harmon Kardon HK-395 speakers
A good sized sub-woofer and two desktop speakers produce incredible sound quality with deep deep bass. I love this speaker set.
Windows XP
I could spend all day on this, but it's not a Windows XP review so I won't. The more I use XP the more I like it. You plug something in, XP recognizes it instantly and installs software for it automatically. XP is compatible with many older games which were designed for Windows 95 and 98. XP seems to have almost COMPLETELY swallowed dos. You won't know dos exists hardly. What else would we expect from Microsoft though anyway? For the most part, XP is great. A couple of things that bothered me were: XP uses a lot of hard drive space, XP uses an insane amount of your RAM.
The Case (and stuff)
The case this thing comes in is attractive, but not especially practical. You open it by pushing a button on the top and bottom and then hinging one side outward. The motherboard is attached to one side, while the drives are attached to the side that hinges out. You will love or hate the design. I like the fact that you don't need a screwdriver to open it, but I hate it otherwise. You can put a padlock on the case to prevent its being opened. A useless feature to me, but useful to some people I suppose. This thing is heavy; the XBOX of computers in every way(it's even black). Don't drop it on your toes.
But I want to upgrade it
Tough, get a life. Well, it's not quite that bad, but I've seen better. It has an AGP slot, four PCI slots, four slots for RAM, and enough frontal space for another cd-rom and a zip drive. Sounds good? Wait. The AGP slot has my video card in it. The PCI slots have a modem, a sound card, and an ethernet card. This leaves only one empty PCI slot. With four slots for RAM, the maximum capacity is around 2GBs. Sure that's a lot, but the computer comes with 128 mb sticks. If you opt for the 512 mb's of RAM you will have zero space left for a RAM upgrade. You would have to buy four 512 mb sticks and completely replace the RAM you have. This is both expensive and wasteful. I wish there were more RAM slots. All in all, it's not as upgradable as I would like, but I can live with it.
My Experience with the 8200
It comes with enough directions and setup pictures that a chimpanzee could set it up. It also comes with all the disks that go with all the software that is already installed. This means that you can share the programs with your friends....uh wait....I mean.....uh....this is a convenient thing in case you ever need to reinstall the programs.
The 8200 is a great series in my opinion. My computer hardly ever crashes(only once or twice so far, and I've had it a year). I am a gamer. Gaming is why I have a computer. I play games like Morrowind, Jedi Knight II, and Ghost Recon. All of them play perfectly smoothly at high graphics settings except for Morrowind, which wants more RAM(256mbs just isn't enough when you're running XP). If I upgrade my RAM, this computer will be good to go for the next couple of years anyway. Although gaming is what I usually do, the computer is great at other things to. It surfs the web like a champ, and I feel safe knowing that Norton Antivirus is on guard. The music quality on my computer is better than on my stereo. A program that came with XP enables me to modify music and sounds in almost any way imaginable. Dell picture studio is all right, but not great. If you want to work with pictures and videos you will probably have to buy PhotoShop.
Customer support is good and the technicians know their stuff. On the downside: The first and only time I called customer support I had to stay on hold for about thirty minutes before a technician could take my call. If the computer you get is new, or close to it, there will probably be an at-home service policy in effect. This would mean that if you have a problem, Dell will send a technician to your house to fix it....for free. I know a guy who had the technicians come install a new modem because his wasn't working. Although he lived three hours from the nearest tech center, two technicians were at his house to fix the problem the day after he called. You can't beat tech support like that.
Final Words
An 8200 series is the perfect blend of price and performance. Perfect for just about everyone in fact, although it may be more than some people really need. If you can find one, the price will probably be decent because of the "new" 8250 series, which, of course, is a marketing gimmick. The 8250 is just a newer 8200. So far, I am loving my "new" PC.
"You're getting a Dell dude"
*me collapses with disgust*
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1,299.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
ozarkfarm
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Location: Missouri
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Video game fanboy? Go to netjak.com. For the gamer by the gamer.
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