Dell Computers

[Xcited4Disney]

I'm looking to buy a new computer and have been checking out Dell's website. They have Inspirions and some new ones called XPS. Does anyone have any experience with these? Most have Windows XP media something or other. I thought there was only XP Home or XP Professional This is all pretty new to me. I have a Gateway computer from early 2000 that my mom bought so any advice would be great! I use the internet a lot and I love to upload my pics and stuff. What's a good amount of memory, hard drive, etc? Thanks.

 

[bicker]

Media Center Edition is a very interesting operating system, from Microsoft. I haven't used the most interesting aspects of it much, but it is sure nice to know it is there. Basically, I'm able to boot up using either of two buttons. One button boots up the normal full-MS Windows capability. Another button boots up only media center capabilities -- the ability to watch DVDs, view images on your hard drive, listen to music on your hard drive, etc. The latter approach boots up very quickly by comparison. I suspect it also is a power-saving mode (turning off wireless networking, and such).

 

[airhead]

I have never had any problems with either of them,both desktops

 

[cardaway]

I have a XPS desktop and a friend got an XPS laptop. Both of us are very happy with them. Both also got very good reviews from the so called experts.

The default specs on the basic model of the XPS line are more than enough memory and power. They were specifically designed to handle the needs of people using their computers for media and games. Everything up from that is designed for people who take it to the next level.

 

[Galahad]

We've been happy with our Dells. We have Lattitudes rather than Inspirons. They are the ones "made for business" and seem a bit more sturdy. With the current price of memory, and the fact the memory is the single easiest and cheapest way to improve the performance of a PC, I'd go with 1GB of memory. a 40GM harddrive should do unless you plan to do a lot of video, music, etc. Even hard drives aren't all that expensive to go up to a 60 or 80GB. We use XP Pro. Have never used the media version but it sounds interesting. Also, I highly recommend buying the on-site service plan. For 3 years you get 1) an on-shore call center, 2) free, at you home service whenever most anything goes wrong. It's well worth it.

 

[DVC-Don]

We have 3 Dells (2 desktops & 1 laptop) and were considering replacing one with a new one, but I've decided to wait about 10 months to do it. I want to wait till the new operating system is out and debugged first.

 

[RSoxFan]

My Inspiron came last week. So far, I absolutely love it. It's the most expensive one, with the 17" screen. The screen is much bigger than I thought it would be. I have no complaints about Dell.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I have the e1705 Inspiron with the 17 inch screen and media center. I looked at the XPS, but decided to instead upgrade the processor, video card, and memory of the Inspiron.


I like it better than I like my kids.

 

[LadyyRedd]

Go with the Media Center edition, if you have the choice. Home is kind of cruddy and the Media Center will do so much more that you'll want to do than the Professional.

Kimya

 

[ceiligh1]

I have the Dell demension 9100 with media center and xp. For the most part we are happy with it, we love the media center abilities. We are able to record tv shows and watch them through our house network at our computers or the tvs around our house. We can also look at all our photos and listen to all our music that we have stored on the computer. THat said we have had some issues with it and we (meaning my DH) are very computer savvy. we have had to replace the tuner card twice and the motherboard once (this computer is less than a year old). The problems have not been solved. It will still drop recordings and sometimes record in black and white even though the show is in color. We have to reboot nightly. Customer support was very difficult to deal with resulting in multiple calls and transfers with no fix at the end. When we pass the one year mark we are replacing the tuner card ourselves and hope that the issues are fixed.

We would buy xp again. We have xp professional on ours but not sure if that is standard or not as we bought through a company purchase program. We would also buy media center again as we actually watch less tv. It only records what we want to watch and we find we dont sit looking for something to watch as much. But even though in the past we have had several dells we are thinking of looking elsewhere when we buy my DH a new computer next year.
If you have specific questions about it PM me and I will see if my DH can answer them for you.

 

[Sir Real]

When you're ready to order, go to this website or this one for some good coupon codes.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I have a Dimension E510-that i have had about 3 months, and I love it. I have windows media edition. I love the computer. The only thing I didn't care for was the 90 days trial of McAfee. When that ran out I got Norton. I also have a lasar printer with it, also from Dell.

My son has a laptop from Dell, he loves his as well, we did have a problem with the power cord on his, they replaced it within 24 hours.

 

[Towncrier]

When you're ready to order, go to this website or this one for some good coupon codes.

Or try www.delloutlet.com for a good refurbished Dell computer. So far I have purchased three Dell computers from the outlet store and my only complaint is the amount of time that I have to spend deleting all of the "freebies" that come bundled with the computer.

At one time, Dell was shipping their own flavor of XP Media Edition. I deleted that as well. If and when I purchase a media ready system, I may consider that software. But for my use, XP Home is just fine.

 

[RSoxFan]

I take back my earlier statement that I have no issues with Dell. I have one pretty trivial issue. When I bought my Inspiron, they were running a special for a free "skin" to personalize your computer. I ordered one; I wasn't crazy about it, but figured "what the heck, it's free."

Well, it came today. I assumed it would be a cling-on type, or a snap on. It goes over the top of the laptop screen, so you can see it when it's closed. First of all, it came in an envelope and was all bent and wrinkled. And, it's a STICKER! Once you put it on the computer, it will never come off. I threw it right out. Like I'm going to take a brand new computer and cover it with bent and wrinkled sticker. Good thing it was free or I would complain. The skin is the reason I went with Dell instead of another Gateway though.

So that's my beef with Dell.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We have a Dell Dimension. DD has a Dell Inspiron. We both love them.

 

[Kimmielee]

I have the Dell XPS and it's about two weeks old. I got the 20 inch monitor and LOVE LOVE LOVE it... worked right out of the box... no problems so far and I couldn't be more pleased!

A hint that the Dell rep gave me was to start at the lowest price model and build up to what you want. I spent about $2000 but needed a powerful machine with lots of memory, etc... due to working from home and having to accomodate two work related servers.

Didn't know of any codes though... darn it all!

 

[Xcited4Disney]

Thanks everyone for your responses (and the coupon sites!). I'm leaning toward the XPS, but am still going to look through all of them again. At least now I feel a bit more confident when I'm browsing through the site.

 

[Mskanga]

I would also suggest to look in the Dell outlet. Some systems are just orders that people cancelled.
I have four dell computers and my laptop , couldn't be any happier.

 

[MoniqueU]

dell