Dell customer support

But comparison shopping with Dell is very difficult. You have to be patient
and check repeatedly over a period of weeks. My 4550 was purchased at the
bottom of the cycle, as was HH's. Both under $600 for amazing machines. My
machine was $300 more the next week!

Tom
"Steve" wrote in message
news
"Tom Scales" wrote:
Yeah, you're right, the Dell has both a faster processor and faster FSB.
And it's cheaper.

Yes, well, remind me not to have you shop for me.

"Tom Scales" wrote:
But comparison shopping with Dell is very difficult. You have to be patient
and check repeatedly over a period of weeks. My 4550 was purchased at the
bottom of the cycle, as was HH's. Both under $600 for amazing machines. My
machine was $300 more the next week!

True, it's well worth checking back several times with Dell, and this
comparison works only for today. Also, it can sometimes be cheaper to
buy a small-business system from Dell instead of a Home system.

Looks like I have the same specs, and it says $1,917. Oh well, not
gonna worry about it...


"Patrick L. Parks" wrote:
You must have left a few extras on the system in the subsequent
customization pages. I configured the Dell with a DVD burner and DVD rom as
well in my $1554 price that I quoted. They also have free shipping right
now as well. Here are the exact Dell specs of what I configured


Dell Dimension 4600 Series: Pentium® 4 Processor at
2.40GHz with 533MHz front side bus GP245H [221-2537]
Memory: 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333MHz (2x256M)
512M3 [311-3018]
Keyboard: Dell® Quietkey® Keyboard QK [310-1582]
Monitor: 17 in 1703FP UltrasharpT Digital Flat Panel
Display 1703FP [320-0659]
Video Card: 64MB DDR NVIDIA* GeForce4 MXT Graphics Card
with TV-Out 64NV420 [320-0656]
Hard Drive: 120GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
120G [340-8150]
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices: 3.5 in
Floppy Drive FD [340-8860]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹²
WHXP [420-1921] [412-0384] [313-7222]
Mouse: Dell® 2-button scroll mouse SM [310-1871]
Network Card: Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet IN
[430-0412]
Modem: 56K PCI Data Fax Modem DFAX [313-1313]
CD or DVD Drive: 16X DVD ROM Drive 16DVD [430-0462]
[313-0917]
Sound: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card with
Dolby Digital 5.1 capability SB1024T [313-1932] [462-2470] [313-6010]
Speakers: Altec Lansing® ADA215 Speakers ADA215
[313-1874]
Bundled Softwa Microsoft® Works Suite 2003 with Money
2003 DWORKS [412-0337]
Security Softwa Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day
introductory offer MCAFE90 [412-0326]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH
MMBASE [412-0298]
Digital Photography: Dell Picture Studio, Image Expert
Standard DPS [412-0271] [412-0273]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 1 Year
Limited Warranty plus 1 Year At-Home Service SQ111OS [950-3337]
[950-9797] [950-4430] [412-0359]
Internet Access Services: 6 Months of America Online
Membership Included AOLDHS [420-3224] [420-3224] [412-0371] [412-0366]
Multi-Media Players: RealOneT Player, with 14 day
SuperPass trial REALBAS [412-0380]
CD or DVD Burner for 2nd bay: SAVE $79! (savings
included in price) 4x DVD+RW/+R Drive w/CD-RW 4DVR2P [462-2153]
[462-1664] [430-0428]
Special Offer: $50 Special Offer OFF50 [460-8164]



Dell Dimension 4600 Series
Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.40GHz with 533MHz front side bus

Qty: 1
SALE PRICE
Price: $1,554.00
[save $50.00]





"Steve" wrote in message
.. .
Interesting, I checked out the 4600 and came up with $1,917 for
equivalent system (pretty much per your specs below). Could be partly
because the Medion has DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drives.


"Patrick L. Parks" wrote:
Ok, I checked out a similar Dell and the Medion system from Costco. I
will
admit that the Medion system from Costco is cheaper.

Here is what I did on a Dell and what I came up with
Dimension 4600 with 2.4Ghz with 533 FSB
512MB DDR PC2700 (single stick)
17 in UltraSharp Digital Flat Panel (Dell was not offering an 18)
64MB DDR Nvidia GeForce4MX with TV Out
120GB Ultra ATA/100 HD 7200RPM
3.5 floppy
XP Home Edition
10/100NIC
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
16X DVD ROM Drive
4x DVD+RW/+R drive with CDRW
MS Works Suite with Money 2003
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 Digital Card with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability
Altec Lansing ADA215 speakers

Dell grand total equipped as above $1554. Approx $250 more than
Medion
system.


Here are the noticeable differences between the systems
The Medion is P4 @ 2.2Ghz with 400FSB. Dell is P4 @ 2.4Ghz with
533FSB.
(Dell better)
Both have 512MB PC2700 RAM, however Dell has Dual Channel DDR.
Medion
has no free mem slots, Dell has 2 free (Dell better)
Medion is DVD-R and Dell is DVD+RW (you decide which you like)
Medion is 18LCD and Dell is 17LCD. (Medion is bigger, but Dell specs
on
monitor likely better. The 17Dell is a Samsung and is very highly rated.
Specs not provided by Medion ( I think Dell is better)
Medion has onboard AC97 Sound card). Dell has Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Digital (Dell better)
Medion has 5 USB2.0 ports. Dell has 8 USB2.0 ports (Dell Better)
Medion has 0 serial ATA controllers. Dell has 2. (Dell better)
Medion has 3 firewire port. Dell has 0. (Medion better)
Medion has MediaCard readers. Dell has none. (Medion better)
Dell chassis nearly silent, not sure on Medion (not able to
determine
who is better)
Medion has speakers built into monitor. Dell has external harmon
kardon
speakrs (Dell better)
Medion--Haven't heard of them, but they are german equivalent of
e-machines. Dell--Been around a long time, strong business base,
tech-support likely around awhile (Dell Better).


I tried to be totally fair with my pics on who is better in each above
category. I am sure some may disagree, but all-in-all I think I was fair
and reasonable. The Medion does offer firewire and the media card reader
feature, but these can each be purchased for about $30 for the Dell. On
the
other hand, the onboard sound, the lack of memory slots, the slower
processor and front side bus and the slower RAM might be a little more
difficult to deal with down the road (and certainly more expensive to
change
out to meet the Dell specs).

Therefore, if it were money coming out of my pocket, I would pay the
extra
$250 and get the Dell
--faster processor
--faster front-side-bus
--faster memory that can be expanded
--better spearkers
--very likely a far superior monitor.
--a potential for tech support a year down the road (even if it is
bad)
--a guaranteed quiet case.

Just my $5.00 addition. Take it for whatever it is worth








"Steve" wrote in message
.. .
Marcio Watanabe wrote:
Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.



http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...subid=3782 &h
i
erid=3783&prdid=10031979&log=

Admittedly not a very big sample size, but my business partner's
Gateway, purchased the same time as my Dell Inspiron, is trashed,
while my Dell still looks nearly new. While some of it is a matter of
how they're routinely handled, it really didn't hold up well for a
portable.

EdH wrote:

"HH" wrote in message
.. .
I couldn't find a cheaper price than what I got on my 4550 about 4 months
ago on the small biz side:

Easy to beat Dell on notebooks though. My latest was a
Gateway and the price/specs blow Dell out of the waer.

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 00:20:37 GMT, Steve wrote:

Marcio Watanabe wrote:
Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.

http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?trg=product%2Easp&catid=84&subid=3782 &hierid=3783&prdid=10031979&log=

Anybody know who actually makes the Medion?

--

Amateur

On Wed, 2 Jul 2003 23:46:49 -0400, "Patrick L. Parks"
wrote:

[...]

Security Softwa Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day
introductory offer MCAFE90 [412-0326]

[...]

That's what I don't understand. Why is Dell still bundling a loser
like McAfee, when people have to go to the trouble of removing it from
the system and purchasing & installing Norton?

--

Amateur

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 06:56:28 GMT, wrote:

1) the software is trial software and is basically free

Thanks, but no thanks; I don't want to risk my data files for
anybody's Beta, esp. a company that holds themselves out
to be so great!

If you are talking about the AVG software, it's not beta - it is a
free trial to encourage you to purchase the complete package.

According to Marcio Watanabe :
Steve wrote:


Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.


I can attest that the list prices for Dell's hi end machines are
not competitive at all. If you're a good institutional customer,
they'll quote you a third off, making the price more reasonable.
Of course, they don't even list the really hi end PCs (dual Xeons,
12GB memory, ...).

Like many vendors, they establish a reputation in one area, and
then hope that customers extrapolate unduly.

You don't have to purchase McAfee software with a computer. The computer
will sell you Norton Ant-Virus.
wrote in message
...
On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:03:26 -0700, Tom Almy
wrote:

wrote:

That's what I don't understand. Why is Dell still bundling a loser
like McAfee, when people have to go to the trouble of removing it from
the system and purchasing & installing Norton?

The switch to McAfee from Norton was made within the past year,

McAfee was on my Dell when I bought it over 4 years ago.
It ****ed up my data files so badly that I had to reconstruct almost
from scratch. Went out and bought Norton; very happy with it.

however
1) the software is trial software and is basically free

Thanks, but no thanks; I don't want to risk my data files for
anybody's Beta, esp. a company that holds themselves out
to be so great!

2) Dell goes
with the best deal they can make 3) The business lines (i.e. anything
other than Dimension or Inspiron) don't come with any non-optional
antivirus software.

I notice people talking about "business lines", and will definitely
look into it when/if I upgrade, and not just because of AV.

--

Amateur

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 06:48:18 -0400, "Carolyn Taliaferro"
wrote:

You don't have to purchase McAfee software with a computer. The computer
will sell you Norton Ant-Virus.

They keep sending me their magazine, with all the "great deals" and
the specs uniformly include McAfee. How is one supposed to know that
there is a choice?

--

Amateur




wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 17:03:26 -0700, Tom Almy
wrote:

wrote:

That's what I don't understand. Why is Dell still bundling a loser
like McAfee, when people have to go to the trouble of removing it from
the system and purchasing & installing Norton?

The switch to McAfee from Norton was made within the past year,

McAfee was on my Dell when I bought it over 4 years ago.
It ****ed up my data files so badly that I had to reconstruct almost
from scratch. Went out and bought Norton; very happy with it.

however
1) the software is trial software and is basically free

Thanks, but no thanks; I don't want to risk my data files for
anybody's Beta, esp. a company that holds themselves out
to be so great!

2) Dell goes
with the best deal they can make 3) The business lines (i.e. anything
other than Dimension or Inspiron) don't come with any non-optional
antivirus software.

I notice people talking about "business lines", and will definitely
look into it when/if I upgrade, and not just because of AV.

--

Amateur