Dell Dimension 4400 Series -My Daughters Hard Earned Money Spent Wisely-
Written: Apr 09 '02
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Pros: very easy to upgrade, nice looking, free DVD-Rom or CD Burner
Cons: Standard monitor is too small (15") and not much free software offered. Few USB ports.
The Bottom Line: If you are looking for a great buy for your home with ample storage and speed, this computer will fit the bill.
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| bluehawq's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4400 (A-D0314) PC Desktop |
Dell Dimension Series 4400
My daughter turned sixteen this past October and started working within two weeks after her birthday. Now, to hear her tell it, she has a mean old mama. Jenniffer can’t get on Moms computer without permission and without supervision. Mom is very touchy about her computer. Granted Mom could use a new one and will get one in a couple of months, but until then, she still prohibits the game downloading and online game playing. Mom insists that she check her e-mail at school so that we are not infected with a virus and well, Mom is just hard to get along with when it comes to her computer.
Jenniffer saves for her own computer and as this past Friday, she has one. I did not know which to review first, the Dell4me site or the Dell Dimension 4400 that Mom has already been playing on for a couple of days now. Good thing Jenniffer has a new boyfriend and a steady job or Mom would not be able to experiment with Jenniffers new computer. Okay, so I decided to review the computer first.
First thing that happens is Jenniffer finds what she wants by visiting Dell4me.com. She finds that the Dell Dimension 4400 series is within her budget and since they are offering free ground shipping, she will not have to worry about any shipping charges. This Dell starts out with the base price being $779.00. Jenniffer has saved $1,000.00 to put toward her computer, so she adds a couple of options.
Instead of the standard 128MB DDR SDRAM she upgrades to a 256MB DDR SDRAM for $70.00 more. The Dell Dimension Series 4400 comes with a standard 20GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive, but instead she opts out for a 40GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive for a mere $20.00 more. She stays with the offered MS IntelliMouse since this is the one that I have and she is used to using it already. This computer is sold with a 1Yr Ltd. Warranty- 1Yr At-Home Service + 1Yr Phone Support but she upgrades to a 2Yr Ltd. Warranty- 2Yrs At-Home Service + 2Yrs Phone Support at the extra cost of $89.00. She stays with the Dimension 4400 Series,Pentium 4 Processor at 1.6 Ghz that is included with the package. This brings her total to $967.00. She manages spending just about spend her entire bank roll. But she insists that is what it was for so it doesn’t bother her.
Jenniffer’s hair is blonde and even though she has a 3.8 grade point average, she is still lacking in the technical and mechanical fields of expertise. So Mom takes it upon herself to set it up for her. The great thing about it was that fact that she had to be at work in a couple of hours after the UPS guy brings it and therefore Mom gets to try it out. Just to make sure it is working properly, you understand.
Taking it out of the boxes:
I removed the monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, tower, software, instructions, and all the do-dads to hook it up with. The first out of two gripes that I have is the monitor. Now that has to go. I’m currently using a 19" and this one had a 15" (13.8 in viewable) E551 Monitor. That is seriously depressing after looking into a 19" for over a year now but luckily, I’m not the one that will be using it all the time. The other thing that aggravated me was what little software they included. The system came with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and I have found that I really like it too. Much better than the Windows 98 Second Edition that I currently have. Dell also included Microsoft Works Suite 2002 with Money 2002 Standard. I don’t see her really having much of a need for that for some time to come. I feel they could have been a bit more flexible with the choices on software. There was a Norton Anti Virus 90 day free trial with it as well but you would think they could have at least included it as bonus software. They offered upgrades but only to something like Microsoft Office Small Business w/ Money 2002 and EducateU or the pro version. Nothing that my daughter would really use at this stage in her life. I did find out that you can easily upgrade from Windows 98, 95, or ME with the Windows XP Home Edition because of the great stability of the software. I believe I will wait until June when I buy my new one and go with that version or the XP Professional version. I may even buy a Dell. Included as well is Dell Picture Studio Image Expert 2000 and Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch, which is stuff we are still playing around with or haven’t used.
Setting it up was fairly simple. Having set mine up and taken it down numerous times has sort of made it easier for me. Of course the color coding helps tremendously too. Everything was pretty much self explanatory and required little instruction manual use on my part. I set it up on my old computer desk that we saved for her and plugged everything into the tower and the surge strip that I had laid back for it. We did not use the network card (it was missing), so we had to use the phone line and order internet access through our local ISP. Later I will probably hook her up to my DSL but not until I feel she can keep us with her part faithfully. I feel that allowing a teen to pay for certain things instills a sense of responsibility early in life.
Dell offered two free upgrades with the system and those were a free 16x Max Variable DVD-Rom Drive or 24x/10x/40x CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator (burner). I wanted her to get the burner but she opted out for the DVD-rom Drive instead. I tried to tell her that she could make her own CDs but she wouldn’t listen. This system came with a 16MB ATI Rage Ultra 4X AGP Graphics Card and Harman Kardon HK-395 Speakers with Subwoofer. The graphics card is ok but not as good as the one that I have in my old system. The speakers are pretty nice though with a clear, crisp sound with nice bass tones. These speakers are better than the ones that I have but I never turn mine on anyway. She has already managed to bug me by having them turned up too loud. I have found the sound appears to have no distortion even at a higher volume. They are suitable.
As I mentioned, we did not buy a network card so she is using the 56K PCI Data Fax Modem that came packaged with it. It is doing ok. Being used to broadband is hard for me to use it but she likes it ok and doesn’t complain that her pages load a might slower than mine do. The system was suppose to include a (10/100 PCI Fast Ethernet NIC) network card but it wasn't in the package. We called customer service and they were very nice and should have it out sometime next week. I doubt that we will be using it any time in the near future though.
The Dell Enhanced Quiet Key Keyboard came with the unit and it seems to be doing just fine. It is a little less the keyboard than what I would like but Jenniffer is satisfied and that is what matters. The keys are quiet and smooth to the touch and even though there are really no extras or anything that makes this keyboard stand out, it really is a nice addition to the system.
Dell will offer you a choice of 6 months free internet access either through Dellnet or AOL. We chose neither. Our ISP is far more superior to these two. In my honest opinion. And cheaper too, if I may include that.
All the software that we chose to load into the system was smooth and event free. The system was preloaded with the Windows XP. I love the quick load of the DVD-Rom Drive and the modem makes hardly any sound at all. My sister-in-law, before she sold it, had a computer that made a terrible sound when it was on. I don’t know, it sounded sort of like an old worn out coffee maker trying to pull the water up through its water line. You know how that sounds. The darn thing was sick sounding. Not so with this one. It is very quiet. You are hardly aware that it is even running other than when it is dialing the ISP in order to get online. The system booted quickly and loading pages was a bit different than that of my system. I really like the smoothness and the clarity of the graphics this one has. Things definitely look different on this one. The colors are vivid and crisp.
She doesn't have a printer or scanner yet but she could have added the Lexmark X83 All in one Printer, Scanner, and Copier for $200 more, but I wouldn’t foot the bill. I know, I’m a bad mama. No, just a frugal one. I have pretty much listed all the options within the review. I probably should have categorized them but would rather write it as I’m thinking it. I will list her full specs or the basic ones at the end as she ordered it.
There are two USB ports located in the front and an audio jack plugin. There are two USB ports in the back and one serial port and one parallel port. I really hate this. She would almost have to get a scanner/fax/printer combo in order to have enough ports to hook everything up, not to mention to soon to be ordered digital camera. She doesn't have an MP3 player but has mentioned it. As you can see, this unit is really in desperate need of additional ports. I know that for my hardware, this would not do at all.
Dell offers a large variety of options that you can either pay for them to upgrade to or that may or may not be available as an optional upgrade. I think that she chose her options wisely with the exception of not putting the extra bucks in for a larger monitor and choosing the DVD-Rom instead of the CD burner. But that was her choice. I look forward to building my own in a couple of months and reviewing it. I’m sort of extreme and will probably have a whopper put together. I can hardly wait!
All in all, she and I both are very impressed and extremely satisfied with her purchase. Since she bought the extended warranty (2 year) we look forward to that much quality use at the very least. This computer is very well built and is advanced enough that it will allow for many upgrades if needed or wanted. I see this lasting her long after she graduates and moves out. If she ever does. Just kidding! I am convinced that the Dell Dimension Series 4400 is a sound choice for your computer needs. I highly recommend it and so does Jenniffer.
Here is how the specs ended up after it was all said and done and the upgrades were added:
Pentium 4 Processor at 1.6 GHz
256MB DDR SDRAM 256M
Dell Enhanced Quiet Key Keyboard
15 in (13.8 in viewable) E551 Monitor
16MB ATI Rage Ultra 4X AGP Graphics Card
40GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
3.5 in Floppy Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
MS IntelliMouse
10/100 PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
56K PCI Data Fax Modem for Windows
16x Max Variable DVD-Rom Drive
integrated Audio IS
New Harman Kardon HK-206 Speakers
Microsoft Works Suite 2002 with Money 2002 Standard WORKS
Norton Antivirus 2002, 90-day introductory offer
Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch
Dell Picture Studio Image Expert 2000
Limited Warranty, Services and Support: 2Yr Ltd. Warranty-2Yrs At-Home Service + 2Yrs Phone Support
Power Protection: elkin Surgemaster Gold Power
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 967.00 total
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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bluehawq
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Jitterz on WoW Anub'arak server. For the Alliance
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