help me with buying a new computer please! dell

[Fillerup]

Hello all
I am purchasing a new computer for college next year, and need to know if this following purchase is a good deal, or should I wait?
(also, does dell.com put out cheaper, or more expensive computers in the summer/fall for upcoming students?)

$750 (after rebates) for the following:
Dell dimension 4700
Intel pentium 4 processor 530 w/HT technology (3 GHz, 800FSB), microsoft home edition, 512 MB dual channel memory, free 720 color inkjet printer, dell multimedia USB keyboard, dell 2-button scroll mouse, no productivity suite (i can purhcase this cheaper through my college), mcafee securitycenter with virusScan and firewall and spyware removal (BTW, i need firewall, is this a good firewall, or should i get nortons?), 80GB harddrive, 48X CD-ROM drive (i have a seperate DVD drive for myself already purchased), and a free 19 inch Analog flat panel (is analog significantly worse than digital?) and speakers with subwoofer.

please help me, and tell me if thats a good deal, with the analog flat screen monitor, or should i wait about a month, or what? thank you so much!!!!!

 

[aaron12345]

Do you have a linky for this config or can you post full specs. Also is the 19 inch Analog flat panel a Flat CRT of LCD? What type of video card. I might be a bit biased because I build computers, but I think I could beat that price for the same configuration, however I would highly recommend upgrading the integrated video (I'm guessing integrated video since you didn't mention a card), and since ram is so cheap now throwing in a gig. Same with the 80gb hard drive, I would recommend at least 120 gigs.

 

[Fillerup]

this link might or might not work

javascript:OpenPostedDetailsPop('print_summary_details_popup.aspx?~lt=print&c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=2d47w8&s=bsd&leadtime=7/12/2005&showleadtime=True','650','420')

i don't mind really about any special video cards or anything, or says "integrated intel graphics media accelerator 900, no video editing, integreated 5.1 channel audio sound card, its NOT CRT, and i don't need 120 GB memory.

how does this sound now?

 

[rdcmmnst]

analog will be fine if you're not planning no any gaming. That computer will be fine for word processing. And spreadsheets internet and the like but no gaming. At all. But that would be a great deal for what you're getting. You could upgrade later if you wanted too...But others should give you insight about the rest.

 

[Fillerup]

why would it be bad for gaming?
is it slow, or couldn't handle all of that stuff?
or is it because lack of video card?

 

[aaron12345]

The linky didn't work. Right now you may not feel that you need a seperate video card, but check and make sure it atleast has an expansion 16x slot if you want to upgrade. Especially for the future, I would highly recommend you reconsider getting integrated video, and atleast get a low end video card. That will work MUCH better then any integrated video, especially Intel integrated video which is even worse than ATI's integrated package, and generations behind stand alone cards performance wise. Also, no cd-burner? There inexpensive and I don't know how people live without them. It's not a bad deal for word processing and surfing currently, but don't try to play games or do multimedia on this system. I wouldn't count on these specs from driving you insane in a year or two when you try to do a simple multimedia application, just to find it won't even run on your computer at a normal speed. Even some current games will probably not run at a playable frame rate on integrated video.

 

[Fillerup]

I already have a CD bruner...one more question, why is this computer bad for gamging? And are you saying that 2 years down the road this computer will suck?

 

[aaron12345]

You can't game on integrated video. It simply will not work. Video cards were basically invented for gaming. Even current games will lag with integrated video, 2 years down the road new games may not even run.

 

[rdcmmnst]

you need a video card everthying else will be good for a while yet especially if you tinker with it for a while.

 

[aaron12345]

I could offer you a config, while not a hardcore gaming machine will be able to play games fast and won't go out of date in a year. That is just one option though, if you don't buy from me I highly recommend you look at some small PC companies websites as they tend to have better support and less expensive products than dell. What ever you do, if you expect to do ANY gaming stay away from integrated video, and good luck! A configuration I could offer you and the price is below:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor
512MB 184-Pin DDR 400 Dual Channel Memory
80GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
ATI Radeon X600 Pro 128MB DDR PCI-Express x16 Video Card
52x32x52x CD-RW (same price as CD-ROM Drive)
Foxconn NF4UK8AA-8EKRS Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Motherboard featuring
Onboard 8 Channel Audio
Onboard Gigabit Ethernet
Onboard IEEE 1394 Firewire
Onboard USB 2.0 Ports
Onboard SATA II RAID Controller
1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
350watt Power Supply
Sleek Black Case w/ Room for Expansion
Dual Fans
Windows XP Home Edition ($50 to upgrade to Pro, PM for price with no OS)
Free AntiVirus Software, Firewall, and Spyware Detection Software Included
CD-Burning Software Included
5 Years of English Speaking Tech Support from a Mircrosoft Certified Professional
Warranty: 1 Year Labor all Parts carry the original Manufactures Warranty (1-3 Years depending on part - all warranties must be handled through us)
17 Analog LCD Monitor (If you already have a monitor, or don't want to get it through me subtact $185)

Total Price (excluding reasonable exact shipping):

$935