by congo » Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:54 pm
Try the Dell site out for support.
See if you can find details on the hardware, particularly the mainboard and upgrade options, bios support etc.
A problem with pre made packages in the past has been that they are made with discontinued or "special" runs of hardware (it's cheaper), so a little research may help you to avoid regrets later.
A recent example is where the Compaq 6000 series of computers uses outdated mainboards that only support 4x AGP graphics standard.
Another consideration is the Operating System. Many (all?) Pre made PC's come with a system restore disk which restores the PC to the Propriety (Dell, Compaq) standard if the system has to be reinstalled.
While this is fine for those with little knowledge or care about how their system is put together, it is also very limiting for those who want to build a custom operating system.
The problem is that the hardware is sometimes specific to the propriety PC and the drivers are difficult to obtain as standalone items. (they are imbedded in the system restore disk)
Typically, A propriety branded PC is a little over priced for what it is. A first glance the specs look impressive, but when you start researching the hardware, you start seeing cost cutting measures and discontinued or budget hardware.
I'm not saying this is the case with your intended purchase, but please look under the hood before you buy. My nephew just based his buying decision on the great looking case...... open in up and find a mini ATX mainboard, a celeron and a stick of 256 el cheapo brand ram, it also came with a very old and heavy redundant monitor.
Buyer beware.
Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24&
