Seems to me we’re long overdue to have a semi-official thread for these…
Today’s deal: XPS M1330 laptop for $799 - T6400 C2D CPU, 3GB RAM, Vista-64 Home Premium, 320GB 5400rpm OR 250GB 7200rpm HDD, Intel X3100 integrated graphics (nVidia 8400M GS for $100 extra). XPS deals are a bit rare, so it seemed to be worth pointing out.
You can get a 1525 with a bigger screen and a 160GB HDD for $550. All other specs are identical, though it’s Vista basic.
The 1525 sticks you with the Intel integrated graphics, no option to upgrade.
(The real cost to upgrade the M1330 is actually like $130, though, not $100, because it forces a battery upgrade on you too).
So far the deals in this thread are disappointing!
Core i7 with 6GB, .5TB, Radeon 3450, dual DVD drives, Vista 64, and 20" monitor for $949.
The only upgrade that makes sense on it is the monitor. Going from that worthless throwaway monitor to the 2408WFP (24" SPVA) is $420, which is about $150 less than the monitor goes for itself when it’s on sale.
Tempting…
Server on the cheap
Dell SB has Dell Poweredge 840 Quad Core Server for $450. Shipping is $30.
* Select "Discounted Upgrade Quad Core Xeon X3220, 2x4M Cache, 2.40GHz [add $1]"
* Add to cart
* Total should be $450
Specs:
* Quad Core Xeon X3220, 2x4M Cache, 2.40GHz
* 1GB, 1x1GB, 800Mhz, Single Rank, DDR2
* Primary HDD: 80GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive
* 2nd HDD 80GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive
* 48X CD-ROM, 680MB, Internal
* No Operating System
* Network Adapter Onboard Single Gigabit Network Adapter, No TOE
* Electronic Documentation and OpenManage DVD Kit
* 3Yr BASIC SUPPORT: 5x10 HW-Only, 5x10 NBD OnsiteNot a Dell Deal, but on http://www.woot.com/ there’s this:
eMachines 2GHz Widescreen Notebook with Linux
$299.99
1 eMachines LXN070C008 Widescreen Notebook Celeron 2GHz, 1GB, 120GB, 15.4", Webcam, DVD-RW, Linux OS
Its not a bad little laptop for a kid or something.
Well, the vid card needs upgrading too, though I would go to newegg or something for that.
If you want to play games on it, right. But I meant worth upgrading at Dell’s prices, and since they’re charging $200 to go up to a 4850, yeah, no.
Crap video card, so allocate another $150-200 for something decent.
I think I’m going to hold on purchasing a new computer until the benchmarks come out on Core i5 and Phenom II for AM3, and prices on Blu-Ray burner drives come down. Oh, and Windows 7 should be out at the end of this year too.
I may wait until W7 to upgrade my Dell. I’ve seen them issue an OS upgrade voucher earlier than the OS is released to induce early purchasers too.
Yeah, but upgrading your OS rarely goes very smoothly, in my XP.
I’m thinking of getting this system and adding the Sapphire 4850 that’s on sale right now. But the system has a 360W power supply, while the card needs 450W. What’s weird is that you can upgrade the system with a 4850 on the Dell website, but as people have mentioned it’s kind of a ripoff at $200. Any thoughts?
Maybe they upgrade the power supply too, and that’s why it’s so pricey. I’m not saying they typically do this, but it would explain some of the pricey card upgrades, which I never go for.
I’d be surprised if they actually upgrade the power supply – my guess is that a 3850 works fine with the ‘360’ which is probably rated for higher than that.
According to someone on a forum who talked to a Dell sales rep on the phone, they don’t upgrade the power supply, and the 4850 works just fine with that.
By my count, there are at least three chains of unreliability in that statement (four if you don’t trust my recounting of something I read somewhere I don’t remember), so take it for what it’s worth.
I just got one of the i7 systems in. The power supply is indeed puny. Further, it has all of one SATA power adapter and 1 6-pin PCI-E adapter available. It has zero (zero!) molex connections on it. So there go my thoughts of throwin in my 4870.
On the other hand, it seems reasonably easy to replace the PS. People online were claiming it’s proprietary, but I think it’s simply an EPS 12V instead of a standard ATX 12V (basically it has an 8 pin CPU plug in addition to the 24 bit MB plug, instead of the 4 pin that my other PS’s have).
The real issue though is clearance at the bottom of the case (where the PCI-Ex16 slot is located) and the fan height of the bigger video cards. I think my 4870 will physically fit, and apparently since it’s a diamond (and therefore exhausts out the rear of the second card slot) it will probably be okay. Any card needing tons of headroom for air flow wouldn’t though. The case is tiny (although the layout oddly works for the length of a super-card, because the HD is cross-mounted on a single bracket midway up the mini tower, so there’s no HD cage at the bottom of the case to interfere.
Also there are zero PCI slots in this machine. There’s one PCI-E x16 and 4 PCI-E x1 slots.
That’s not surprising. I think they must have to, though, for pricier options.
Wow, that’s pretty unusual. I haven’t seen any mainboards being sold that offer that kind of “legacy free” expansion card setup.
Leave it to Dell to cast of legacy expansion. Good for them. Maybe Creative will finally start making PCI-Express sound cards.