Build or buy...

voodoo

Hi all,

Am thinking of a total revamp of my kit and am considering either buying or building. I dont have alot of experience building, so am at the moment, leaning towards buying this kit. However, I know that Komplett offer the A05 DVD-R for about €350 so that's something to have an initial thought on! Anyway, here is the spec I got from the Dell website -

Standard Features: Intel 850E chipset with support for Intel Pentium 4 processors with 533MHz system bus
Dual Channel PC1066 RDRAM
Midnight grey mini-tower with 8 USB 2.0 ports, 4 PCI slots and AGP 4x slot
3.5 inch 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Integrated Intel 10/100 Pro Ethernet
Norton AntiVirus 2002 (with 90 days free virus updates)

Online Offer: Eur 60 (Inc VAT) Discount when you order online (-EUR - EUR 50.00)

Enhanced Support Packs: 3 Year On-Site Next Business Day Service Support

Processor Upgrade: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.66GHz

Memory: 512MB Rambus RDRAM (+ EUR EUR 189.00)

Hard Drive: 120GB Turbo Hard Drive (7200 rpm) (+ EUR EUR 150.00)

Monitor: Dell 19" Value (18.0" VIS) Monitor

2nd Monitor: Not Included

Video Card: 64MB nVidia GeForce4 MX420 Graphics Card (TV OUT)

Optical Drives: 16x DVD & 4x DVD+R\+RW (+ EUR EUR 107.00)

ZIP Drives: Not Included

Installation: Not Included

Printers: Lexmark Z55se Printer - USB Printer Cable Included (+ EUR EUR 99.00)

Sound Card: Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Sound Card (+ EUR EUR 52.00)

Speakers: Harman Kardon 695 Speakers

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition (Why not upgrade to Windows® XP Professional?)

Modem: Dell 56k Data/Fax/Voice Modem

Video Editing: Not Included

Digital Photography: Dell Picture Studio Image Expert Standard Edition

Software: Microsoft Works 7.0

Keyboard: Dell USB Internet keyboard with 7 programmable hotkeys (+ EUR EUR 11.00)

Mouse: Logitech Optical 2 Btn Scroll USB Mouse Whl (+ EUR EUR 9.00)

Power Protection: APC Surge Arrest (Desktop only) - Four Socket Plug with Power Protection! (+ EUR EUR 25.00)

voodoo

Sorry, the price including VAT and Delivery is EUR 2,636.59

maxheadroom

Doesn't really seem to stack up well agains the ALDI system...


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71042

http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk/IE/specials_01_11/pc.html

From http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk
This time it's a 2.66Ghz Titanium MD 8000XL PC from Medion. Specs are Intel Pentium 4 (2.66Ghz) Processor, nVidia GF4 Ti4200 (8x and 128MB DDR) Graphics card, 256MB DDR (333Mhz) Memory, Sony CD-RW (40x12x48) with Nero OEM, 16x DVD Drive, 120GB Seagate (7200rpm) HDD, 6 Channel Audio (5.1), 10/100 Network Card, 56k V.90 Modem, M$ IntelliMouse, Stereo TV and FM Tunercard, 3x FireWire and 5x USB2 (3 front and 2 rear) ports.

As well as this it has a funky Connect XL panel at the front that houses most of the ports. These include... 3x USB2, 1x Firewire, 1x Headphones, 1x S-Video In, 1x Comp Video In, 1x Gameport, 1x Microphone, 1x Audio In, Integrated Flash Card Reader (reads and writes all standard flash cards (Memory Stick, IBM Micro Drive, Multimedia Card, Compact Flash, Smart Media, and SD Card). Plus loads of software

Aldi System costs €1299.99

The only differences I can see are:
Warranty
Gigabit NIC (DELL)vs 10/100 NIC (ALDI)
Onboard 5.1 vs SB Live 5.1 (no real difference I would imagine)
Speakers with aldi are 49.99 for a set of 5.1 surround speakers
256 MB DDR (ALDI) ram vs 512 RDRAM (DELL)
DVDRW (DELL) vs CDRW (ALDI)

So you have to decide if the warranty, a DVDRW and and extra 256MB is worth €1286.61... I would imagine not. Unless you actually need a gigabit NIC (10/100/1000). Or you want to get RDRAM.

Dell fleece people on upgrades. Be warned

voodoo

Thanks for the comments Max, but the Aldo system doesn't come with a Monitor either, so you have to add another €250, which now brings you upto €1550. Bearing in mind that there is a DVD+R, extra RAM, better NIC and extended warrenty, I still think that it's a tough one to call.

My only fault with the Dell is that it's offering a DVD+R, rather than the now more popular and stable DVD-R. The latter being able to provide much more interoperability benefits.

Anyway, thanks for the input.

Typedef

build.

next.

koneko

Build. Get quality parts.

Buy an Aldi PC, it might be cheap, but who wants onboard graphics and sound, hmmm?

Doodee

yea, but the big difference between the ALdi and Dell one is that the Aldi machine is fully upgradable, no new for a special PSU which Dell are known to use,
there is also a warrenty with teh Aldi machine, and to be honest, having bought systems of both Dell and Medion (Aldi) the Medion Customer service was far better, 1 email and I had the new parts arrive, Dell take ****ing ages unless your a business.
Also, the aldi system is AGP 8X
has a GF4 Ti4200
and also it has the panel at the front for the Firewire,Usb and a smart card reader and compact flash,
I think for the price, the Aldi system is far better...
also the harddrive that is in the Aldi system is a Seagate, not the regualr, but a much nicer one, I've had no problems with it and thats having put it through every thing I could.

also, if u sold the 40X burner in the aldi machine and bought a Pioneer A03 drive yo'd be sorted.
but then again, its your money.

o yea, Titanium case aswell on the Aldi system.

voodoo

Doodee,

Im beginning to be sold on the Medion idea



I mean, you are totally correct in terms of the hdd, and the PSU upgrade! I would also want a kick-ass graphics card in there, so I may just be turning in terms of preferences. I have seen posts before on these here pages with regards to Aldi. How often do they tend to offer these PC's? I presume this latest offer went out this week and they would almost certainly be snapped up by now?

Anyway, thanks for the posts. Am even more confused now

Stephen

Aldi in Carlow still have some of them left. Also, what the fup do you want a gigabit network card for? - its going to be quite pointless if you're connecting it to a 100mbit hub/switch.

One note about aldi, which i found hard to believe - They don't accept credit cards, just laser cards.

elexes

ye aldi .
id go for that one any day . u know how to reinstall a os and install hardware then you should go for the aldi stuff if you want hassel from day 1 go for the dell one