Hey..a little help here

[fetus]

I'm going away to college this fall and my dad is gonna buy me a computer, only...he's being stubborn about it. He wants me to get some Dell Optiplex crap cause that's what my older brother got when he went away. The specs and what not are ok..like 3.2GHz(800FSB), a gig of ram(533MHz..maybe?), crap generic video card, and some other basic stuff. The computer I'm interested in is the Dell XPS..here it is after customization...

DIMENSION XPS GEN 5 Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitor SAVE $150! 17 inch Ultrasharp 1704FPT Digital Flat Panel
Video Cards 256MB PCI Expressâ„¢ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ Native Command Queuing
Floppy Drive and Media Reader 9 in 1 Media Card Reader and 3.5 in Floppy Drive
Mouse Dell Optical USB Mouse
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 48x CD-RW Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ double layer write capable
Sound Cards Sound Blaster Audigyâ„¢ 2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, IEEE 1394 capability
Speakers Dell 5650 5.1 100 Watt Surround Sound Speaker System with Subwoofer
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) WordPerfect®, Powerful Word Processing
Security Software No Security Subscription
Digitial Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Digital Photography Photo Albumâ„¢ SE Basic
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options SAVE $20 instantly with the Plus Service Package plus Nights and Weekend
XPS Specialized Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
Internet Access Service 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Financial Software (Preinstalled) No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial

Basically I want a fast, reliable, powerful computer that can play games and is easily upgradeable.

*What's the difference between one of these Optiplex computers with the same specs and this XPS?

 

[DarkBlade1]

OMG.. please do NOT use Dell.. please! They of such low quality and so OVERPRICED... oh, and you cannot really upgrade Dells, they use propriatary connectors that NO ONE ELSE USES!! Do not go with Dell for the love of mercy and god.. please.. please.. believe me when I say, the XPS stands for Xtremely Pricey

If you want a kick ass PC with an AWESOME WARRANTY then configure this BAD ASS:

http://secure.hypersonic-pc.com/scripts/custom_sys.asp?sysid=Cyclone_mp

That is the BEST non propriatary PC builder out there, at least until I launch DarkBlade Computers in early September...

 

[fetus]

Uhh

Thanks for the advice but that thing's a bit more expensive then what I had in mind. I'm talking about $2000 max, not some hardcore $4000 thing that gives you the option of adding like 4 hard drives.

 

[DarkBlade1]

Ah, I c then. Well, then give this a try!

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=136

Also a well known excellent company, and I have bought from them before and had NO problems (this was 4 years ago) They are high quality, and upgradeable anytime in the future as they use standard open market parts in their systems. Just do not go Alienware or Dell, especially Dell! You cannot even OC a Dell!!!

 

[setishock]

Look guy...

If dad's shelling out for the thing then take what you can get for free and save up for what you want. If you push dear old dad too hard he may just tell you to buy your own computer. Sometimes it's not wise to look that gift horse in the mouth...

 

[DarkBlade1]

Seti... I agree... but still... if his dad wants him to get a Dell, he needs to stand up to his dad and say DELL IS CRAP, I want something I can upgrade later on and that will actually perform for the money. LMAO. Dell's = yesterdays garbage.

 

[TRDCorolla1]

Dell PCs are too proprietary which is what I don't like.

 

[fetus]

lol ok ok will do

 

[DarkBlade1]

lol ok ok will do

good, glad to see you decided to hate Dell with us.. they use Intel chips BTW, and for a gaming PC and basically at this point, ANY PC, AMD processors are far better! Dell is just stubborn and afraid of Intel.

 

[Avery4jc]

I'd agree that if dear old dad is paying for it be thankful for what he's willing to do....talk to him about getting an allowance towards the computer that YOU want. If he's willing to shell out a grand or something like that then you take care of the other half, that would be pretty cool. Just explain WHY you want the other computer, and not just because you can play games on it, try to throw in school related things that your dream computer can do that his can't, after all it's for college.