A refurbished computer, just what we needed.
Written: Aug 01 '02 (Updated Aug 01 '02)
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Pros: Flawless setup and very fast.
Cons: Expensive to upgrade the RAM.
The Bottom Line: It is simply carefree, quiet, and fast. This is the way all computers should work.
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| garibaldi's Full Review: Dell Dimension 8200 Series |
Our old desktop system had gotten to the point that it was no longer worth dragging it to the repair shop another time. Don't get me wrong, it had been a good machine, starting with a Gateway system 5 years ago and then was upgraded/improved several times until all that was left of the original system was the monitor, speakers and sound card.
So, we decided to follow the lead and advice of all the reliability tests I had read about Dell computers and buy one of their systems. We chose not to buy a complete system, but only the tower. We kept the Gateway monitor, and the Altec Lansing speakers. I started to look over the Dell website and found that it was not going to be possible to just buy a tower. They package all their systems with all the goodies, i.e. monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc. The problem was, I couldn't get all those things along with the size of hard drive, speed of processor, and other accessories I wanted and still stay within our budget. What were we to do?
The answer came on the Dell refurbished web page. Here they list, at various times, dozens of units that have a wide variety of components. Looking over these, I found a couple that looked very interesting. I decided to think about it and come back a little later. What I didn't realize was that this is a very popular way to buy a Dell computer. What happens is that the units offered are snatched up literally within seconds of being posted on the site. In order to get a machine you want, you have to be constantly refreshing your web browser and then quickly grabbing any unit that even seems to come close to what you want. Once you do that, you can look more closely at its specs and then put it back if you decide it is not exactly right. This whole process took me about 2 hours before I found the right unit and made the purchase.
Well, I finally found pretty much the exact unit I was looking for. It had a fast processor (1.8 Ghz P4), a decent size hard drive (60 G), both CDRW and DVD drives, an upgraded sound card (NVidia G Force), 256 Megs of RDRAM, 4 USB ports, NIC card, 56K Modem, mouse, and keyboard, and it was loaded with a bunch of minor software along with Windows ME and the Microsoft Works Suite. This last bit was the only concession I had to accept. I really wanted to have the full Windows and Office XP, but that would have thrown the cost up by another $400. So I settled. Besides, I already owned a copy of Office 97 and had previously bought (but never installed) the Windows XP upgrade.
The Dell folks are the only ones that I am aware of that offer the same warranty on refurbished units that they do on new ones. I chose to upgrade the standard one year warranty to a three year with liftime free phone support. This added $129 to the cost, but I wanted that lifeline.
The unit arrived about a week later and was packaged exactly like a brand new unit. New box, new packing material, all the software in factory sealed envelopes. You would never know this was a refurbished unit. The setup was a snap. Dell color codes all the jacks and plugs so you never have to try to squint to determine which is the speaker jack and which is the mic. The machine started up perfectly the first time. The only odd thing was how quiet it was. I honestly thought that the fan wasn't running. It turns out that they just have really quiet cooling fans. This was a real pleasant surprise.
We have had this machine for 4 months now, and I haven't had a single thing go wrong. It is running almost constantly and has never crashed. I installed the Windows XP upgrade and that went in without a hitch. I wish I had bought this machine sooner.
Interesting things I have learned since owning this computer:
1.Even the 256 megs of ram are not enough if you're going to be working with photos. Ugrading the RDRAM will be a lot more expensive than the more typical versions. You have to buy the modules in pairs and they can cost more than double what usual variety costs.
2. Dell even makes it easy to modify your system. They even go so far as to include specific instructions in the small printed manual for adding an additional hard drive.
Overall, I have only one question to ask - - Why can't all computers work this well? I hope that I can continue to ask that question over the 2-3 years it takes to make this one obsolete.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 999
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
garibaldi
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Location: Toledo, OH
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 2 members
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