Used by all the family, in a normal home environment, for surfing the net, downloading, listen to music, playing some games etc. COST- £1000, with upgraded RAM, and screen.
System Information ================ What I can tell you is that currently it is running a Pentium 4 3.40GHz Hyper Threading processor, with 1 gig of RAM, 400 gigs of hard drive, 2 DVD drives, and a 14-in-1 card reader. Running on windows XP.
The computer runs fine in a normal, hectic lifestyle of a family, had no real problems with anything, and the processor seems to be keeping up well with today's needs of general computer stuff, even though it is 1 year old now, and only single core. The same goes for the 1 gig of RAM (Upgraded from when I ordered it).
The HUGE 400 gig hard drive came in handy as more than 60% is currently used to hold power point presentations, music files, photos and videos.
I do not know what sound or graphics cards it has, but games run at a high standard, and is not noticable unless you have a high priced gaming computer. The same would go for the sound quality.
Having 2 DVD drives is useful, the 1st being a DVD/CD drive, the 2nd is a superdrive. As you can play DVDs on the computer if you don't have a stand-alone DVD player, and the 2nd is great for burning videos and cds.
Outlets ======== On top of the usual... There are 7, yes 7, USB outlets altogether, 5 on the back, and 2 on the front, for all your USB needs, like internet, printer, cordless things. The 2 at the front are especially useful for those USB memory sticks, being that you don't need to clamber round the back.
2 fire wire outlets for ipod etc.
DVI outlet, that is used for multiple 30inch screens, (so I'm told)
14-in-1 card reader in the front optical drive (is otherwise covered up or is a floppy disk drive). It's great for all the digital camera, phone, and PSP memory cards.
Design, Options, and Opinions ========================= The design of the computer is up to date and modern looking, with an apple like white finish on the side panels. The panel is made of aluminum, and is finished in white, and feels better than tacky plastic covers. It looks great, and allows easy access to the components if you are upgrading, or cleaning dust away. Another thing I enjoy is the honey-comb like aluminum grill that covers the front air intake, which is appealing to the eye.
The programs that Dell includes are helpful with a full instruction manual included, and all drivers for hardware and keyboard+mouse are preinstalled, with CD backups provided in the box. I would highly recommend upgrading when ordering as it will help future proof your computer to a certain extent, and as I don't want to mess around with upgrading myself, it's a useful option to have. Its is possible to have up to 8 Gigs of RAM, although Dell does not upgrade to that extent when ordering.
Overall Dell computers are a good investment I think, as they do most of the work for you, in that it all arrives speedily, and nicely packaged so you just plug up the monitor, tower and keyboard. They are also helpful at explaining things on their website such as, what RAM is, and have a great building page, so you can build your computer online and actually see how much it costs. My computer wasn't what you'd call cheap; as it was the one of the best computers in their range at the time, and had been upgraded on ordering, but Dell themselves, have computers at hugely affordable prices. And I think they offer fantastic value for money, and would defiantly buy another of their computers in the future.
Any downsides if any, is that dust will build on the honey-comb aluminum grill, which is more of a nuisance that a problem because the grill is so eye appealing. The dust easily cleaned away every couple of months with a hoover. This happens with all computers, but is only noticeable as there is grill is so visible on the front.
More details
Reliability
Excellent
Memory / capacity
Excellent
Range of Extra Features
Excellent
Instruction manual
Very useful
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