For most of the past 20 years I've been building my own from parts.
But, like you, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the parts biz
lately. So this year I decided to go with a refurbished Dell business
class machine and bought an XPS 410 with Intel Core 2 duo 6700 (dual,
2.66 GHz processors), 2GB RAM and 160 GB drive. I chose a rerub'd
machine both to save money and to be able to easily get an XP machine vs
Vista. I then added a 500GB SATA built-in drive dedicated to images
plus external SATA drives for images and backup. I don't have a second
monitor yet but the video card supports dual, digital or analog
monitors. It also has a DVD, 3-1/2" floppy and built-in flash card
reader. But be cautious there. I also bought a Dell laptop advertised
as having a built-in flash reader. Only after I got it did I realize
that it didn't handle CF cards... probably because of the size of the
slot required. I had to buy a separate CF adapter for the PCMCIA slot
(which is not called PCMCIA any more. Express 32?)
Anyhow, I have been exceptionally happy with this machine. Despite the
horsepower (it has truly massive heat sinks on the CPU and video
processors) it is blessedly quiet once the OS is up and running and
temperature and fan speeds are being controlled. It is also
exceptionally easy to work on. I don't believe that any tools are
required anywhere. If they are I haven't found it yet. Most things
seem to be held in place and released via some form of spring loaded,
sliding latches.
All of Dell is divided into 2 parts... business and home consumer. The
machines that are sold on each side of the business are different and
the people that you deal with are different. I first located the
machine I wanted on line (the refurb'd equipment changes constantly)
<http://www.dell.com/content/segmenter.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dfo>
I had heard that it was best to stick to the business side and had done
so on line. But when I called to actually place an order I accidentally
got the home/home office side. The sales person (and they are SALES
folks) told me what I wanted wasn't available and offered an
alternative. Well, the reason it wasn't available was that I was
talking to the wrong side of the house... and he knew it but wouldn't
volunteer that info. Just keep in mind that these are commission based
sales folks and they are not your friends. Determine what you want on
line and stick to it. If you don't find what you want it may be there
tomorrow or the day after. As I said, the inventory turns over quickly.
Chuck Norcutt
Johann Thorsson wrote:
> One of our computers died this week when we had a power outage. It had been
> running for 10 years, and I was hoping for 10 more, but Tucson Electric put
> an end to that dream.
>
> That means I will probably upgrade my work computer and migrate what that
> box contains into the other box, which serves as our file server. The
> problem is that I have no clue what I should be looking for when buying new
> motherboards, CPUs, memory and video cards. Is any listmember who has
> recently upgraded or purchased a new desktop system willing to share his
> knowledge?
>
> I would like a reasonably fast machine, but it does not have to be the
> latest or gratest, I guess I am looking for the best bang for the buck, it
> would be used for usual word processing stuff, spreadsheets, statistical
> analyses, databases etc, plus image processing and occasional 3D design
> (CAD).
>
>
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