I've ordered a new Dell Inspiron 660 to replace a workhorse seven year old Dell Dimension 3100. I'm going to use the new box for internet surfing, listening to music and watching DVD's/Blu-ray's occasionally. As it comes from Dell it satisfies 95% of what I need it to do and to get the last 5% I'll be installing a Blu-ray drive.
The new box is is a really good deal for what I will be using it for and is equipped as follows:
It's back! $449.99 after $200 instant discount buys this Dell Inspiron 660 desktop including a 3rd gen 3.0Ghz Intel Core i5-3330 processor (with Turbo Boost 2.0 to 3.2Ghz), 8GB DDR3 SDRAM, bigger 2TB 7200RPM hard drive, 16x DVD+/-RW DL, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT620 graphics card (new addition!), 802.11b/g/n wireless, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 5.1 audio, 8-in-1 media card reader, Windows 8, 15-month McAfee Security Center, and a 1 year warranty. Expires 12/26/12. DELL INSPIRON 660 DESKTOP DEAL
I was going to build a new box but by the time I was done I was at over $800 since I was starting from a clean slate.
As a long-time XP user I'm not too hot on Win/8 but I'll give it a try. If I decide I don't like it I'd like to go with either Win/7 or all the way back to XP. To accomodate an O/S downgrade I'll purchase a new copy of Win/7 or use an existing copy of XP when I ditch my old box and I will also remove the 2TB drive on the new box with Win/8 and put it on a shelf.
I'll replace the 2TB drive with a 120 or 180 SSD for the O/S and applications and either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive for data since I have both laying around. I may even splurge on a 240GB SSD for on the box storage instead of the old style spinning drives. My need for on the box data storage is not great so I can get away with a smaller data storage drive.
My reasoning is that by going to a new SSD with a new copy of Win/7 or XP I can preserve the factory setup on the 2TB drive that comes with the box and then setup the downgraded O/S from scratch on a separate drive.
I'd appreciate any thoughts on my O/S downgrade plan should I decide to take that path. Is it a reasonable approach? Is it even possible to downgrade as far as XP on a late model machine?
Bob
The new box is is a really good deal for what I will be using it for and is equipped as follows:
It's back! $449.99 after $200 instant discount buys this Dell Inspiron 660 desktop including a 3rd gen 3.0Ghz Intel Core i5-3330 processor (with Turbo Boost 2.0 to 3.2Ghz), 8GB DDR3 SDRAM, bigger 2TB 7200RPM hard drive, 16x DVD+/-RW DL, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT620 graphics card (new addition!), 802.11b/g/n wireless, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 5.1 audio, 8-in-1 media card reader, Windows 8, 15-month McAfee Security Center, and a 1 year warranty. Expires 12/26/12. DELL INSPIRON 660 DESKTOP DEAL
I was going to build a new box but by the time I was done I was at over $800 since I was starting from a clean slate.
As a long-time XP user I'm not too hot on Win/8 but I'll give it a try. If I decide I don't like it I'd like to go with either Win/7 or all the way back to XP. To accomodate an O/S downgrade I'll purchase a new copy of Win/7 or use an existing copy of XP when I ditch my old box and I will also remove the 2TB drive on the new box with Win/8 and put it on a shelf.
I'll replace the 2TB drive with a 120 or 180 SSD for the O/S and applications and either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive for data since I have both laying around. I may even splurge on a 240GB SSD for on the box storage instead of the old style spinning drives. My need for on the box data storage is not great so I can get away with a smaller data storage drive.
My reasoning is that by going to a new SSD with a new copy of Win/7 or XP I can preserve the factory setup on the 2TB drive that comes with the box and then setup the downgraded O/S from scratch on a separate drive.
I'd appreciate any thoughts on my O/S downgrade plan should I decide to take that path. Is it a reasonable approach? Is it even possible to downgrade as far as XP on a late model machine?
Bob
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