No Muss, No Fuss.... at a price
Written: Mar 20 '02
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Pros: Relatively inexpensive, very good case design, DDR ram, simple setup
Cons: pricey options, only 2 dimm slots, flimsy front door and drive trim, black color
The Bottom Line: Recommended to anyone who wants a top performer, with good tech support, minimal setup at a very reasonable price.
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| mdbrown's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4400 (A-D0314) PC Desktop |
I'll start by letting you know this is my fourth Dell system so, in my opinion anyway, they are doing something right. Let's start with what we know Dell does well. Ordering is a snap and, unlike some bovine companies I know of, have never tried to oversell me. Secondly, there are enough options to satisfy most anyone, even on the mid-line 4400 series. Third, customer support still works well. Now, specific to this system...
I say relatively inexpensive as you will still pay more for a Dell than you will at the typical Main St. Computer store for a generic system built in the back room. OTOH, Dell remains less expensive than pretty much all the National, brand name systems. The case is a winner, drive rails make installing or removing drives a snap and includes additional rails to fill the system to capacity. The case opens by laying it on it's side, pressing a button at the top and bottom and opening it like a book. The ducted fan for the CPU large but goes about it's job quietly and efficiently. All cables are long enough and the case has cable restraints built in to keep the layout tidy. Expansion cards are no longer held in with screws, a plastic lever snaps across the top making expansion quick and easy. DDR ram is the biggest single upgrade here though. PC133 ram just isn't up to the job with the P-4 and rdram is still more expensive and likely on it's way out. DDR ram strikes the best balance between cost and performance. Setup, as always with Dell, is as simple as hooking up the color coded connectors, turning the machine on, entering a few specific questions and your done.
While I love the new case they missed the mark in a few areas. This system features 4 USB ports, two in the rear as in most systems and two in front. The front ports, along with a headphone connector, are covered by a smart looking flip up door. Thoughtfully, they designed the door to spring apart if stressed. Unfortunately, it's wobbly and gives the impression of cheapness. The trim around the DVD and CD-RW drives is the same way, loose fitting and cheap.
All this is secondary though to performance and this is where the Dell is as good as any. I opted for the nVidia GeForce3 Ti200 card and it delivers, what used to chug a little on my P3 1Ghz with GeForce2 MX400 now blazes along without even making the system work. Web pages snap open with virtually no delay. Make no mistakes... this system is fast. Even allowing for the power of the P4 2Ghz, this system is fast. While Dell may not be as cheap as your local generic store they use all top quality components and it shows with the performance of this system.
If there is one area where they tend to be a bit light is in the software bundle. The Microsoft Works Suite is ok but no included games or even game demos which this machine would really rock with. Finally, the included base speakers and built-in (ADI 1885) sound are actually quite good if you don't intend to use this as a stereo substitute. I expected tinny sound from both the speakers and the on board sound but both outperformed my expectations. The HK195 speakers are more than adequate for background sound with suprising bass for such small cabinets. OTOH, add a decent set of speakers (I use Altec Lansing AC-3340s) and you can really rock with this system without having to spend a fortune for a top line sound card.
I could've bought more for my money but not much more and the hassles wouldn't have been worth it. Dell still deserves it's top ranking.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1300
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:
mdbrown
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Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 2 members
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