desktop advice

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

My current system is in its final days: 300MHz, no DVD drive, no USB
ports, a semi-malfunctioning sound card, a damaged floppy drive,
frequent blue-screen freezes, several minutes to boot. It's too slow
to run Windows XP or Microsoft.NET well.

Any tips on Dell desktops?

Do the computers have ethernet cards built-in? USB ports?
Do the DVD drives record to all formats: dvd ram, dvd-rw, dvd+rw,
CD-R, CD-RW?

-
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8adrh/news.html (profile) --Tim923 My email is valid.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Everything now has built-in Ethernet and multiple USB ports.

Dell has, until recently, shipped only DVD+R/W drives - that is changing
beginning with the notebooks, which are now beginning to ship with universal
drives. The desktops will likely follow, but check the spacs carefully -
for that matter, check the prices; sometimes Dell charges more for an
upgrade to a DVD writer than you can buy a new one for (currently about
$70-75 for a good universal drive.



"Tim923" <juggler923@verizon.net> wrote in message
newske0o0560j1bvcraonlqega9t9vo0blh0l@4ax.com...
> My current system is in its final days: 300MHz, no DVD drive, no USB
> ports, a semi-malfunctioning sound card, a damaged floppy drive,
> frequent blue-screen freezes, several minutes to boot. It's too slow
> to run Windows XP or Microsoft.NET well.
>
> Any tips on Dell desktops?
>
> Do the computers have ethernet cards built-in? USB ports?
> Do the DVD drives record to all formats: dvd ram, dvd-rw, dvd+rw,
> CD-R, CD-RW?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

A Dell system can be bought with or without a monitor... Ben Myers

On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 03:49:36 GMT, Tim923 <juggler923@verizon.net> wrote:

>Are the monitors included? If so, can they not be purchased if one
>already has one?
>
>-
>http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8adrh/news.html (profile) --Tim923 My email is valid.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Gary A:
>Tim, a good value is the Dimension 2400 which includes the monitor.
>Usually less than $500
>Next up the Dimension 4600 which also includes the monitor. $700-800
>depending on options.

I found:
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/to [...] l=en&s=dhs

I'll have to think about what I want. I'm not a big gamer or
videographer. Mostly programming and Internet.

-
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8adrh/news.html (profile) --Tim923 My email is valid.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Tim923 <juggler923@verizon.net> wrote:
>What would a 2nd DVD/CD RW drive be useful for?

Three things off the top of my head:

1) Making copies without an intermediate step and an extra gigabyte or
so of hard drive space and twice as much time.

2) Optimizing for CD on one and DVD on the other, either for
functionality or performance.

3) Saving money. It's frequently cheaper to have two separate drives
(one CD, one DVD) than one integrated does-everything drive.

My desktop has a Plextor CD/DVD reader that's very fast and works very
well for ripping audio CDs that I've bought, plus a 48X Teac CD-RW
drive for burning. This also allows me to swap the Teac drive out for
a DVD-burner if I ever decide I want one without losing the
performance of the Plextor reader. [Maybe that's a fourth thing.]