Fellow StusserBeast owners: are you using the built in bluetooth at all? If I leave a bluetooth headset connected to the PC for more than a couple of hours, I invariably get this message: ‘Bluetooth Stack COM Server has stopped working’, and the Bluetooth, well, stops working.
This thing has bluetooth? I had no idea. :)
I chose not to get the bluetooth. No help here, sorry.
Is there any actual function whatsoever to our little Mini View Screen? I mean, I can see how it would be handy if you didn’t have a monitor hooked up, but for a regular use pc, it’s kind of pointless.
Anyone reinstall Vista? It seems as if some of the little sideshow widgets (running on the tiny tower display) were OEM applets by Dell and aren’t available for re-download.
It’s a Vista Sideshow screen, AFAIK.
How often do these Dell deals come along?
Every month or so.
I see that the XPS 420 now allows you to pick the E8400 and E8500 CPUs.
Looks like Dell castrated the 420. To get an 8800GT in it now, you have to buy the $2,000 model. This is all just a scam to get people to buy the much less cool-looking new XPS 630. Seems like Dell forcibly making the 420 a media-centric machine, while foisting the 630 on people. It’ll still be cost-effective with the usual coupons, though.
Aw phooey! I reinstalled Vista, and was hoping to get around to reinstalling those little doohickeys, too. :( I liked the temperature monitor and the cpu usage gauges and all that other spaceage stuff! Just playing Solitaire isn’t very sexy!
Hey, anybody else installed the little Dell monitor program they recently released on their site? It basically monitors your hardware and software and notifies you when new updates are released.
I’m REALLY not interested in them keeping tabs on everything installed on my machine (which it lists in a tab), so I’ll be removing it shortly. Just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with it.
For those who missed the last great deal on the Dell XPS 420, it looks like another might be imminent. Dell is doing a “ten days of one-day deals” thing, and the 420 is listed as a deal of the day for 4/22. They don’t tell you what the deal is yet, but the desktop deals they’ve done already have all been along the lines of 25-50% off.
Are they all this good? I’ll probably be in the market to get a new desktop in about two months or so.
No, they’re not all this good. The best deals tend to come out only once per quarter.
Update: according to this entry on fatwallet, tomorrow’s XPS 420 deal is going to be a $419 discount. Not too shabby.
Additionally, I found a coupon for 20% off any XPS 630 system costing $1700 or more, on GotApex. That works out to be $340 off, assuming that you use it on a system that costs exactly $1700, and it seems to stack with other deals on that system. So for instance, if you get the XPS 630 that comes with the free memory upgrade (4 GB of 800MHz Corsair memory), you get a ~$2100 system, brought down to ~$1700 by the memory deal, then brought down to ~$1360 by the coupon, for a total of $740 off.
That’s dead now right?
Yes, but they have a very similar deal ($400 off) up here. No idea how long it will last. Note that this particular configuration comes with a monitor, so it may or may not be a good deal for you, depending on whether or not you want one. I didn’t, so I ended up ordering an XPS 630 instead. Using the 20% off coupon that you can find on the deal sites, I ended up getting about $400 off that system, too.
What do people think about this Dell deal?
Basically, I’m thinking that if I replace the 300w PSU and add a 8800GT I would be good to go for awhile and with the arrival of my tax stimulus money next week, it’s tempting. Total of about $800 for a solid looking system, all said and done.
Or is there a better deal right now?
I ordered the same computer last week. I forget who posted it, but the Q6600s apparently come with a pretty decent 350w PSU. On Stusser’s advice, I’m keeping the stock PSU and installing a 9600GT. At $529 after adding a wireless board but before taxes and shipping, it was irresistible.