Just ordered for $1159.00

did I get a deal?

Dell Dimension 4600 Series:   Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.66GHz with 533MHz front side bus   GP265H   [221-2535]  

Memory: 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 333MHz   512M3P   [462-1656]  

Keyboard:   Dell® Quietkey® Keyboard   QK   [310-1582]  

Monitor:   17 in (16.0 in viewable,.27dp) E772 Monitor   E772   [320-0449]  

Video Card:   64MB DDR NVIDIA­ GeForce4 MX™ Graphics Card with TV-Out   64NV420   [320-0656]  

Hard Drive:   120GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM)   120G   [340-8150]  
 
Operating System:   Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹²   WHXP   [412-0384] [420-1921] [313-7222]  

Mouse:   Dell® 2-button scroll mouse   SM   [310-1871]  

Network Card:   New Dell Gigabit Ethernet   GBN   [430-0472]  

Modem:   56K PCI Data Fax Modem   DFAX   [313-1313]  

CD or DVD Drive:   16X DVD ROM Drive   16DVD   [430-0462] [313-0917]  

Sound:   SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 Digital Sound Card with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability   SB1024   [313-6010] [313-1932]  

Speakers:   Altec Lansing® ADA215 Speakers   ADA215   [313-1874]  

Bundled Software:   WordPerfect® Productivity Pack with Quicken New User Edition   COREL   [412-0395] [412-0397] [412-0396]  

Security Software:   Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day introductory offer   MCAFE90   [412-0326]  

Digital Music:   Dell Jukebox powered by MUSICMATCH   MMBASE   [412-0298]  

Digital Photography:   Dell Picture Studio, Image Expert Standard   DPS   [412-0271] [412-0273]  

Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options:   1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year

At-Home Service   SQ111OS   [950-3337] [950-4430] [950-9797] [412-0359]  
 
Multi-Media Players:   RealOne™ Player, with 14 day SuperPass trial   REALBAS   [412-0380]  

Mail-In Rebate Offer:   Save $100 with mail-in rebate. Price shown before rebate.   100Q2   [462-1216]  

CD or DVD Burner for 2nd bay:   FREE UPGRADE! 48x CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator®   48CDR2P   [462-1662

edit to add that this is an upgrade from a 4 year old Gateway P3 500 mhz, 196K ram, 13 gig HD.
I feel the need for speed [;)]




echo6

Dude..

You done good!

I got a similar Dell myself.  I didn't get a new monitor with it because this 17" Sony is like new, though.

You'll be impressed with how fast it loads up and how reliable it is.  XP almost doesn't crash at all and it's pretty quick.

The only thing I'd consider a MUST DO is to immediately download and install Netscape 7, simply because I hate IE (Internet Exploder, Internet Destroyer,  Idiot Exploring) with an absolute passion.   But that's for you to decide.


These Dells are a good enough deal that they're kicking the asses of those small local companies that build cut-rate custom PC's.

The only oversights I made with this Dell:   If I'd remembered to do so, I would have had a sound card with a game port on it installed so I could continue to use my game port joystick.    I ended up buying a 300 dollar throttle and joystick setup instead...but I'd have done that anyway as I'm a hardcore flight simmer.  However, I couldn't fly at all from the time I got the Dell to the time I got the sticks.  Frustrating.

As I'm a hardcore gamer, I really should have gone for the most rip-roaring video card they offered,  and I may yet do that still.   3 monitors at once with a Matrox Parhelia, anyone?

120 GB hard drive...jeez.   I remember when a 120 MB hard drive was a big one!

Heck,  the first hard drive in any PC that my family ever had was a whoppping 10 MB, and we were stylin' with almost unlimited storage capacity!    And it could actually display four different brilliant colors on the screen at once, too!

Best games of the era:  Leisure Suit Larry !

Actually, I go even farther back.  Started with a Radio Shack TRS-80, model 1.  (The original!)

Wow. 4 freaking K of memory, upgradable to 16K internally, or 48K with the optional Expansion Interface.   Storage on CASSETTES, and 128x48 black and white graphics.   The hot toy to add on was the Electric Crayon device, which allowed the computer to display colors.   For major storage applications, you could add on up to four 5.25 inch floppy drives.   I don't think a hard drive (back then we called them Winchester disks) was ever available for the Model 1, period.

The hardcore users and businesses used the Model II, which used the huge 8 inch floppy discs, and a 10 MB Winchester drive (8 inch platters, no less!) was available for it if you were very well heeled.


800 bucks bought that Model 1.  
And 800 bucks bought this Dell, too. But I got 150 bucks of rebates on the Dell!


If you weren't in on the first generation of home computers, it's really hard to grasp just how far they've come in a relatively short time.   I've got more computing power at my fingertips than Captain Kirk ever did.   Wild.   And his communicator can't hold a candle to any modern cellular phone.


CJ

CJ, You aren't kidding about the way the tech has advanced.

I remember buying my first hard drive and thinking WOW 40MB? I'll [b]NEVER[/b] fill all that space!!My first PC was a Timex/Sinclair 2000 and with the "Expanded Memory Module" you had a whole 2K [:D]


Larry was pretty cool, but my favorite games from back in the day, were "wasteland" where you and your merry band ran around the desert outside of a post-apoliptic Las Vegas, raising hell & killing mutants and "chuck yeagers flight simulator" on the smokin fast Commodore 64C [:)]


What flight sims do you play? I haven't had one hook me in awhile, and have been looking for a new one.

echo6

Yeah, you'll be happy. Dell makes an awesome computer these days.  We use 'em at work and I can't remember the last time we had a problem with them (aside from user error).

I'm a hardcore Falcon 4.0 pilot,  running the latest upgrades and flying well with the aid of the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS throttle and stick setup.

I don't really bother with any other sims, but they're all getting really good these days.  It's just that I prefer to fly an F-16 before anything else.  so Falcon 4.0 is all I'm flying at this time.    I tried Jane's F/A-18 and frankly didn't care for it.   I have MS FS2000 (not anything newer) and it has never run with a fast enough response time to be fun to play.

Flight Unlimited, from a few years back, was great.  It was SO responsive and the frame rates were incredible.

CJ