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Dell fights Alien Invasion
Asakawa writes "With manufacturers like Alienware and Voodoo sucking up the low-volume/high-margin high-end gaming market, it looks like Dell wants a piece of the action. The machine that these guys have reviewed looks pretty awesome, but they reckon it's overpriced. It will be interesting to see if Dell can shake off its grey box image and entice the more fussy gamers and enthusias."
If the max resolution is 1280x1024.
go to the apple store, go to store UK (since the article is in £ instead of $) pick the dual 1.8, add 512MB ram to get to 1GB, upgrde video card to 9800XT the upgrade to 250GB harddisk, add a 20inch flatscreen and hit 'update total'. Voila 3288£ compared to £3176 for the dell (with a 17inch monitor only, but 40GB. Okay, the dell has a 800X video card, but that's a mere 100£ difference)
and now you have a decent OS.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
What everyone has failed to mention is that the Dimension XPS is old. Been out for awhile. The only thing new about this is the review. But I guess since everyone has a hate for Dell, you just didn't notice and this is "news" to you.
The problem with Inspiron XPS is this: Before rebates, and with XP Pro, DVD burner drive, wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth), an 80 GB hard drive, and a gig of RAM it's $3413. A 15" PowerBook with similar stats comes out at $2999, a significant difference. I won't even go into how it compares to Dell's own desktops. The PowerBook doesn't have as much oomph, but it actually will function well for purposes other than LAN parties -- few of us can afford a $3000 laptop at any rate, and I imagine that those who do want one that can at least be carried into a clasroom without breaking desks at 9+ lbs.
Seriously - what the hell is up with Computer equipment prices in England? Is their economy so strong that $5519.37 is a reasonable price for a 3.6 ghz P4 with a Radeon X800?
The problem in the UK is two things. First of all, we have to pay import duty on anything manufactured abroad (+0% to +85%). Then, we also have to pay VAT (+17.5%). Then there's the middle man tax for the company that's doing the importing, and warehouse storage. Not forgetting the high price of petrol which means that transporting anything becomes increasingly more expensive the further away you are from London. Deliveries in the Greater London area are usually offered "same day", while it can take three days to get to the North of England.
Details can be found at Rip-Off UK.
The combination of the high rates of taxation, and the rapid change of hardware has forced people to become cost-conscious about buying computers. Web based suppliers like Dabs.com are usually the first place people look when comparing prices. Nobody in their right mind is going to waste 400 pounds (600 dollars) on VAT, for a 1600 pound system, if they can help it.
The only people I know who are buying from Dell are the university departments when making a bulk order with educational discounts for a new computer lab.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
Heh, the problem isn't with the resolution perse, it's the fact that it is bundled with an LCD that is the problem. For gaming on an LCD(this is in addition to ghosting issues) is that in order for it not to look "blocky" you either have to run it at it's native resolution, or half it's native resolution(so that each pixel translates into a 4 pixel square). I don't know of too many games that support 640x512, though since 1280x1024 seems to be a very popular resolution for LCDs, maybe we will see it in the future(you can always just add a little 32 pixel black bar if need be)
That is why dell is so looked down upon. If you ever have to work with them you just know you are dealing wich a "company/piece of hardware" were everything was done by the lowest bidder. Such tricks as finding out a 128mb machine had all its memories slots full (wich as you say makes it harder and more expensive to upgrade). Finding out that for some unspeakable reason yes this PC comes with only 1 IDE slot. That the case size means no expansion card fits.
It is not that Dell actually makes bad stuff. Just that if you are used to make your own cages or worse IBM style hardware Dell feels cheap. The biggest problem is that they feel cheap but often really aren't. If you buy your dell as is and never ever touch its insides then it is a decent enough deal. Else just don't. Friends don't let friends dell.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
And if you're a student, Apple is even better! This 15" Powerbook was under $2000, and it's a damn nice computer. Of course eclipse is a bit snappier on my Linux box (Athlon 2500+), but oh well... I can't put my Linux box in my backpack...
My other car is first.
As I write this on a Dell Inspiron 7500 (redhat 9) let me tell you. First I really like this machine. But I really hate companies that phase out the people who recommend them, a lot more.
Like they phased out linux service. I bought this in the U.S. and came to Japan, they wouldn't fix it here. Can't easily get a Japanese windows unless you go through the Japan office. Fine. Wiped most of windows, linux on here. Had to figure out all the hardware crap myself. Haven't got enough memory on this and don't want to send it in for a month, find that too. Broken battery (probably due to lugging it through town on wheels), little help. Now if Dell can give me top products at a reasonable price (and this *was* pc of the year some years ago), I'll buy it. But when the only part of their online service I find interesting is the refurbished parts catalog. Oh yeah, if you want to look for parts on line forget it, you end up wading through refurbished instead. When I bought this I was told to wait for a big HD to come out, well I never got it for the second bay because it was never in stock, then got dumped apparently. Now I am looking at new computers. I need a desktop pc and I want a system with high performance opengl (I'm not a gamer, I want to make displays). I'm thinking seriously about getting a G5, though it may soon be supplemented with an Alienware laptop which I've been drooling over. Before I buy those two though I'll 90% likely be building a linux box for myself. For me Dell has to seriously shake off an old bad service image and a new bad quality image. It's not like they don't have competition.
Honestly I have to question the validity of what Dell is considering.
... +$331 for the purple case? +$29 for a network cable?
Every time I look at the Alienware systems and associated prices, I have got to wonder if maybe I'm missing something.
Take their Area-51 - a P4 2.8GHz with HT, 1G DDR pc3200, 80G SATA, sound and a GeForce 5750. $1814.
I just built a new box specifically to run Doom 3 on, got a Dell 400sc for $450 (P4 2.8GHz w HT), added a Gig of DDR pc3200 for $160, dropped in a GeForce FX5900se I got on sale for about $150. Top it off with a seat of XP Home to make things all the same and my box is less than HALF as expensive as the Area-51, has twice as much memory and a faster video card and probably runs all my apps / games just as good, maybe better.
I'm configuring an Alienware box for fun right now
What exactly am I missing here?
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
That's not true.
Because of cost issues, OEM manufacturers make desktop cases and power supplies small and non-standard.
Actually it's 100% true.
Do some research next time. Dell has used STANDARD ATX CONNECTORS WITH NON-STANDARD PINOUTS!
That doesn't save cost OR space.
Here's one link.
I'm sure google can find you many more.
Life is too short to proofread.