| 0 |
Subject: Please Rate My New System
Posted by: Cosmo's Cod Piece
- [144192417] Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 20:42
Went to Best Buy to purchase a new computer to upgrade my old one. I'd like to know if you guys/gals think I got a deal, a power system, or if I was screwed. I did some research on new PCs so hopefully I didn't do too bad.
Sony Vaio
3.2GHz Pentium 4
1 GB DDR SDRAM (2 GB max)
200 GB SATA Hard Drive
DVD+R Double Layer / DVD+-RW Drive
DVD-ROM Drive
ATI Radeon X300 (128MB) PCI Express Video Card
7 USB 2.0 ports (4 Rear, 3 Front)
2 Firewire ports (1 Rear, 1 Front)
Gigabit Ethernet
Audio, Video inputs and outputs galore.
Windows Media Center 2005 Operating System
I also purchased the three year in home warranty for $300 and another 1 GB of RAM for $300.
There was also a $100 rebate.
Total cost after tax, title, doc, transfer of plate, warranty, etc. and rebate is $2200.
I will also be getting $75 in Best Buy gift certificates because I use the Reward Zone program. Once I pay off the computer in three months I will receive an additional $75 in Best Buy certs.
I am not sure about the preinstalled software. I also did not purchase a monitor. I have a dual monitor setup that this PC will support so I didn't feel the need to buy another monitor. I will buy an el cheapo monitor to use on my older PC that is also in my home office. |
| 1 | biliruben
ID: 3110231016
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 21:21
|
Looks a bit pricey to me.
A tallied a similar system on line, with 17 inch flat screen, and it was under $2000 (barely).
Look at MadDog's deal a couple threads down. He bought a similar high-end machine from Dell, with moniter, cheaper.
|
| 2 | MadDOG
ID: 207246
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 21:36
|
Yea, you got screwed man. I got a $350 LCD Monitor and a nice printer and a much better video card and a larger hard drive from Dell for a little over $1800 including tax. You do have 2 GB of RAM if I'm reading that correctly. So that's a plus.
|
| 3 | MadDOG
ID: 207246
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 21:43
|
I also got almost the best sound system you can get on a computer. Audigy 2 from SoundBlaster with 5 speakers. Also got a wireless keyboard and optical mouse.
And I bet your RAM is only 400 mhz too. My system had 1 GB of 555 mhz ram.
You guys starting to see how good that system was that I got from Dell?
|
| 4 | MadDOG
ID: 207246
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 21:46
|
Forgot to mention the free shipping too. Which saved me another $100 bucks. My mother had the computer in her house 4 days after I orderd it.
DELL IS GREAT. I really feel good about that system I bought.
|
| 5 | beastiemiked
ID: 262411016
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 21:53
|
You guys starting to see how good that system was that I got from Dell?
We never said it wasn't good. We just thought you were trying to dig a hole with a hand grenade.
CCP, you probably could've done a little better for your money. Actually, take off the extra gig of ram and the home warranty and it's a much better deal. I worked at Circuit City for awhile back in college and those home warranty things are a rip. I could sell a crappy emachine computer with a service agreement and I'd make more from the commission on the warranty than selling our most expensive computer without a service agreement. IIRC, most computers come with parts and labor for 1 year so the $300 is only for year 2 and 3.
|
| 6 | Cosmo's Cod Piece
ID: 144192417
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 22:00
|
Thanks for the input guys. I have a couple questions.
The computer is actually costing me just a tad over $2000 after the Best Buy reward zone cards that I'll be getting back.
bili:"A tallied a similar system on line, with 17 inch flat screen, and it was under $2000 (barely)."
With 2 GB of RAM?
MadDog: "And I bet your RAM is only 400 mhz too."
Yes, but there's 2 gigs of it.
I did open up the computer to install the RAM and there's some more things to it.
I'm not trying to sway your opinions at all, I appreciate your honesty. I just thought I'd include it for future reviews....
There are two available IDE-type cable slots open and two more SATA available in addition to two more open PCI slots.
The computer also has a TV Tuner card with TiVo-like capability according to the OS and an 8 in 1 memory card reader.
Another question, does anyone know a lot about configuring hard drives in RAID? I spoke with one of the Geeks and he told me (the department manager did as well) that the motherboard is equipped to support a RAID config and that all I'd need is to purchase a second hard drive.
What I want to do is buy another 200 GB SATA (An IDE/SATA Raid config is not possible because of transfer speed variances apparently.) and setup a mirroring RAID.
What effect will that have on my game playing ability and overall multitasking system performance? My typical multitasking session includes a web page or two, Office 2003 Pro, and a DVD on the second monitor. How often do they mirror each other? Is it constant or set at a specific point?
One last question, what is the fastest way to migrate the data from my old PC to the new one? I already have a CAT5E cable home network installed. My primary concerns are my Outlook inbox, sent items, contacts, Internet Favorites, ITunes files, and various MS Office docs like spreadsheets, Power Point presentations, and Word docs.
|
| 7 | MadDOG
ID: 41143108
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 22:08
|
The thing that is going to affect your game playing ability is that video card you got. It's not a low end card but it isn't a great one.
I think the processor affects multitasking more than the hard drive does. Does your chip have hyperthreading?
The TV tuner is good. That's probably why you have the Media Center edition of Windows XP.
|
| 8 | Farn
Sustainer
ID: 451044109
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 22:30
|
CCP, I"m not too intune with harddrives but I got this in my inbox today. Might it work for what you are looking for? Its huge and very cheap right now.
400 gigs
|
| 9 | xpdurmind
Sustainer
ID: 319471922
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 23:12
|
CCP, you can back up your data on a cd and transfer it.
Just copy the contents of your favorites folder and your outlook data files and copy them to your new computer. Also make sure you export your contacts to a file( comma separated is fine) then import it on your new computer. check out the outlook help files. You will need to set up your incoming and outgoing servers manually.
If anyone else is buying a new computer, do yourself a favor and check out a Costco store. They are also online at Costco.com. They throw in the home repair warranty and right now they have dell systems at $300 off. The other thing is that they are the only store that you can return a computer to up to 6 mo later. I've done it.
They're also the only store I've found that returns opened software. I've done that. The only problem is that they don't have a big selection.
|
| 10 | Trip
Sustainer
ID: 13961611
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 23:23
|
The $300 warranty is what scares me. If I pay that much for a system, I expect the manufacturer to stand behind it.
I feel like I am a semi power user, and would be hesitant to pay that much for a computer knowing that there is always something better (and cheaper) just around the corner.
On a sports related item, nice to see the dolphins playing balls-out only to be hosed down by the referees.
|
| 11 | footwedge
ID: 71110207
Mon, Dec 20, 2004, 23:38
|
Congrats to all on the mega-monster systems.
What kind of power development do you guys do to use that much machine?
I build from scratch but I just put together an Athlon XP3200 with 1Gig 400mz ram 160GB HD not near as many bells and whistles as those but at $400 + $300 for a 19" flat panel I'll live with it.
|
| 12 | CCP
ID: 11014112
Tue, Dec 21, 2004, 08:29
|
MadDog: "Does your chip have hyperthreading?"
Yes.
Footwedge: "What kind of power development do you guys do to use that much machine?"
I'm an accountant so for business purposes it just needs Excel & Access on there and I'm fine when I take work home.
I bought the PC primarily for gaming and some entertainment like watching DVDs and maybe backing up video from a digital camcorder onto a recordable DVD.
|
| 13 | MadDOG
ID: 41143108
Tue, Dec 21, 2004, 09:04
|
Seriously, my advice to you is to take that thing back to the store, get your money back and start hanging around Dell's website and pricing computers and looking for deals.
Also watch your local newspaper. The Dell deal that I found was actually in the newspaper. The paper will give an E-value code that you type into Dell's website and the system comes up and you can customize it if you want.
You can get a better system for the money you are spending.
For $2200 you can get Dell's highest end computer, The XPS generation 4.
|
| 14 | Footwedge
Leader
ID: 29017810
Tue, Dec 21, 2004, 09:40
|
Sorry, didn't mean to come off poorly there.
Just that I'm hearing the comparisons of price deals for the latest and greatest technology and that makes no sense. If you need or want the latest and greatest that's fine, but bargain is never a word applicable to cutting edge technology. You pay big for the latest and greatest then a few months later it's half price.
Usually software technology lags behind hardware technology so very few applications will take advantage of the advanced features of the hardware for at least a year.
To make a short story long it's a fair price for that much computer but one small step down in computer size could save over $1000 and chances are you would never notice the difference.
|
| 15 | CCP
ID: 11014112
Tue, Dec 21, 2004, 11:52
|
MadDog: Your advice is well spoken and thoughtout. However, the issue of financing was what caused the decision between Dell and Best Buy. My "old" PC is a Dell so my first choice was to buy another because its been such a good experience.
I knew that I'd have the computer paid off in 90 days. Dell charges 20% interest. Best Buy was 0% for I think six months. I took that into account when I made the decision. The reason why I bought the Dell the first time is because I paid cash for it. I didn't want to get charged 20% and I didn't want to put it on one of my personal cards.
I did specifically call Dell and asked them if they had a 0% type promo. The lady I spoke with said that is only available for corporate accounts with credit limits exceeding $5000. I'm not a corporate account.
20% annual interest over a year period for a $2000 purchase comes out to about $100 interest expense for the 90 days that I'd be paying it off.
Adding that onto the $100 rebate and the potential $150 ($75 guarenteed) in Best Buy certs and I was sold.
|
| 16 | biliruben
ID: 3110231016
Tue, Dec 21, 2004, 14:32
|
Ah. That explains it.
Credit kills, man. ;)
Should have taken one of those ubiquitious "NO INTEREST UNTIL JUNE!" CC deals, and given yourself some flexibility.
|
| 17 | Cosmo's Cod Piece
ID: 5211142420
Fri, Dec 24, 2004, 21:24
|
This is the inaugural post from the new computer. Wouldn't you know it that the internet goes down literally while I'm hooking it up to the home network?
My net has been down for nearly four days now. I never realized how dependant I am on it for news, sports, etc. I gotta fix that.
Anyway...
This PC is a beast. I ram right thru Doom 3 performace-wise (at least IMO) like crap thru a goose. I can multitask my face off. I've watched LOTR: ROTK while working on a Sales/Inventory/Operations analysis for work. I couldn't be happier and so far its money well spent.
One caveat to all in Guruland. Open up your case and make sure all the plugs for the drives are plugged in. My first boot didn't recognize my dual layer DVD drive and my DVD-ROM. After a phone call to Sony Tech, I opened it up and sure enough it was never plugged in. I know it wasn't me that did it when I installed the extra gig of RAM because of the relative location to the drives.
|
|
|
|
Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)
|