Might be the Best Mid-Range Computer you can Buy that is Ready to Go!
Written: Oct 26 '01 (Updated Feb 25 '02)
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Pros: Good price, packaging, and software. Excellent Options.
Cons: Loaded with lots of stuff from Dell. 4300 not that much more expensive.
The Bottom Line: Dell machines are probably the best of the major manufacturers to buy a fully working system from.
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| grimjack2's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4100 Series |
Ordering a Dell 4100 series was my first time ordering a non-server business machine for an office environment. I was familiar with the Dell web page, but selecting this machine was confusing since there seems to be an overlap with the 4100 and the better machines, like the 4300 and even the 8100 series. It was also a little confusing since you first have to pick a category (like Desktop, small or medium business, or workstation, etc.), and in each category was a model that I was considering.
Ordering from Dell is usually easy, but for this machine, I ran into problems. My biggest initial complaint was that we wanted it the next day, so we paid $50 extra to do this. However, it took 7 days to arrive, even after a complaint email. It doesn't say anywhere when you order how many days it will take to receive it, just that we can pay for next day shipping.
When we got our email confirmation, we were advised that it could take 7-10 days for the machine to be built before it would be shipped to us. This was far more time than we were willing to wait. We chose Dell because we thought we could get it almost immediately. Our email gave us a new sales representative whom we could call for any questions or problems. I called, but her voice mail said she was gone for the entire day and left the main Dell 800 customer service number as an alternate number.
I called up customer service since it is supposed to be so great, but after 20 minutes of listening to bad music, and a constant reminder every thirty seconds that I was a valued customer, I got fed up and hung up. I sent an angry email to our new representative telling her of my problems. I got an email the following day saying that she was sorry but it does take time to build our systems, etc.. I understand this, but if you check off a box to receive something the next day, and all it is going to save us is one day (we are two, maybe three ground shipping days from Texas), then this isn’t worth it when put on top of a whole week.
Well, it arrived seven days later. The package came Fed-ex, and it was packaged very well. There is a large fold out poster showing where everything plugs into. Usually something like this is more useful in a home environment, but it is appreciated in the workplace just the same.
There was also a smaller 'Read me First' newsletter that said it was Volume 3, issue 2. It was full of little tips about how to fix common problems, and increase performance. This is actually a handy little thing for people who don't know how to set up their printer, or that you have to plug in the mouse before you turn on the computer and get the 'mouse not detected' error message type of things.
We also got a Dell Mouse pad which was nothing special, but nice. And there was a blank CDR media that was nice because it was an 80 minute, not 74 minute one. Upon reflection, I assume this is probably sent with all new machines that come with a CD burner.
The specifics for our machine is as follows:
- Dell Dimension 4100 series, P3 1.1GHz, 256MB 133MHz
No monitor
- 32MB DDR ATI Radeon 4x AGP card (we wanted a Dual Display Radeon, but that isn't a purchase option),
- 40GB 7200RPM drive
- V.905 56k PCI Fax modem
- MS Intellimouse, and Quiet Key keyboard - Mouse has wheel but it would've been nice to have the option for an optical version.
- We paid extra for the upgrade to 3Com PCI remote wakeup network card
- We paid extra for the SB Live! Digital Soundcard
- We paid extra for the 12x/8x/32x CDRW IDE Drive
- Norton Antivirus, Dell Application Backup CD
- Dell edition of Image Expert (free)
- Win2000 installed
- MS Office XP installed
- Dell application Backup CD
Turning on the machine, I was pleasantly surprised with most of the software. It didn’t have too much excessive fluff from Dell. Some manufacturers (Hewlett Packard) add so much fluff and advertisements for their own company that it usually makes using the machine frustrating for experienced computer users. The Dell Tour is fluff in a business office, and just okay for a home. It is pretty big, but who cares with 36 gigs free upon receipt.
Another free product was the Dell Picture Studio. I’m not sure if it is always free, or it was just a special going on when we ordered it. It lets you store and organize digital pictures on your computer. Not a bad piece of software, but I doubt this business will ever use it. There is also the Dell solution center. It has links to online customer support, and lists of available classes online. I haven’t tried any of these out yet, but I’m sure some home users would like them.
I was surprised that the Windows 2000 service pack 2 wasn't installed since it is several months old. Also, only media player 6.4 was installed instead of 7.1a which I think is also over six months old, and I thought was standard with Windows 2000. This wasn’t a problem to upgrade, but it made me look through most of the software to see what versions we got.
Generally speaking, most of the right software and their settings were installed with Windows 2000. I didn't have to add or remove too much at all. I can almost say the same with Office XP.
Norton Antivirus 2001 also came installed for free. This office uses McAffee, but it wasn't an option, so I’m sure they can live with this choice.
One piece of software I hadn’t seen before was the BVRP Fax software. It is not a bad little package for home use, and maybe even for small businesses as well. It reminded me of a more powerful version of the fax program that came built into Windows 95 that was dropped when Windows 98 came out, and was purposely left out of Windows ME.
Overall, we have been pretty happy with our new desktop machine. But I do have some complaints. I really wish we had had the option to have it partitioned before we received it since we are accustomed to backing up full partitions instead of individual files. If they had just left the C: drive four or eight megs I would have been happy. I just wasn’t willing to reformat the drive upon receiving it just to make it more standard to the other computers in the office. I knew it may be a huge pain getting everything back exactly the way it was with the Dell recover CD if it saw a hard drive partition that it wasn’t familiar with.
I also wasn’t very impressed with the Quietkey keyboard. I know it is the standard keyboard, but it isn't very quiet. And it feels too mushy. Next time I’ll pay for an upgrade.
I was also a little disappointed with the case. There are no USB plugs on the front, which is pretty standard on all the Compaq and HP systems that you see on the shelves at CompUSA and Office Depot types of stores. And the reset and on/off buttons are pretty similar looking. Not to mention that one is right over the other on the front of the case. It is very easy to confuse them when the machine is off, and the power button isn’t lit.
Overall, I recommend these machines as a very good baseline workstation. It isn’t that powerful without some of the major option upgrades, but it isn’t too expensive either. If it weren’t for also buying Office XP Advanced, this would only have been around $1200. Not bad at all considering it has a CD burner, and Windows 2000 installed on it.
It may not be too easy of a machine to tweak for game players, but since there is an option to buy an ATI Radeon, that may be good enough. Much nicer speakers are an option for the home users who intend to get this machine with a DVD player. And for those people who just want to use email and browse the web, the basic package isn’t that much more expensive than the next machine down.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
grimjack2
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Location: San Rafael, CA, Marin County
Reviews written: 181
Trusted by: 124 members
About Me:
Film is my favorite art form. I live a life of constant amelioration.
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