Anybody know anything about the "Dell XPS 710"

[acrobat]

My friend needs a new PC, and he was thinking about buying the "Dell XPS 710".

I told him he was crazy, because Dell:

1) Have a terrible reputation
2) Use crappy components
3) Are expensive
4) Usually can't be upgraded
5) Break down
6) Smell

But I read his links anyway, and the PC he linked looks new and looks..... good

I priced up a similar PC at Scan, and the DELL was cheaper... The Dell has 2gig of ram (667), an 8800GTX, a decent hard disk, a 750W PSU, SoundBlaster X-Fi music edition, and the Intel C2D 2.4 or 2.6(ish).... and comes with XP Pro...

So its good gear, and it worked out cheaper than Scan . The only thing I wasn't sure about was whether the case sounded like a jumbo jet and the motherboard was crap. But my friend says that his current case sounds horribly loud anyway so it wouldn't matter to him. And the motherboard holds all the components he needs, and even has room for extra stuff.

So I priced up a PC at Scan for him anyway and hopefully he will get that. But if he decides to go with the Dell anyway, I just wanted to check here incase anyone knew anything about it? The PC I priced up for him, from Scan, worked out about £100 quid more (mainly due to the cost of XP Pro OEM Grrrrr...). And then he/we would have to build that. So I would do that reguardless.. but he might be tempted by the cheaper and yet pre-build Dell... So I'm hoping someone here may know whether its a good or bad decision.

I wondered if maybe Dell are making a new line of good PC's now, to fight back at their terrible reputation?

Thanks in advance.

[tigerboyce]

I think it would be a good descision, it just depends on how likely the buyer is to be upgrading the PC at all as building your own simplifies this alot.

The other thing to consider paying the extra for the XP OEM disk is usually worth it as you probibally wont be getting any xp disks with the dell or any recovery disks. this means youll probably be stuck when trying to reinstall xp far down the line if you need to.

The other thing with buying the dell you will probably get a great monitor with it. the dell PC's nearly all come with thier very nice 20" WS setups and id be suprised if you dont get a 22" with that. there really nice monitors that you would be paying a hefty price for on a self built.

although i dont see how the scan option doesnt work out cheaper.. remember that you dont need to make an exact comparison as you wont actually need the exacts components. for example wouls you really need an X-fi sound card??

[schmunk]

Dell PCs are usually:

• Very cheap
• Very quiet
• Difficult/impossible to overclock

However, for somebody who isn't comfortable in building a PC, or wants a guarantee on the system build as well as the components, Dells are definitely very good value.

[acrobat]

I think it would be a good descision, it just depends on how likely the buyer is to be upgrading the PC at all as building your own simplifies this alot.

The other thing to consider paying the extra for the XP OEM disk is usually worth it as you probibally wont be getting any xp disks with the dell or any recovery disks. this means youll probably be stuck when trying to reinstall xp far down the line if you need to.

The other thing with buying the dell you will probably get a great monitor with it. the dell PC's nearly all come with thier very nice 20" WS setups and id be suprised if you dont get a 22" with that. there really nice monitors that you would be paying a hefty price for on a self built.

although i dont see how the scan option doesnt work out cheaper.. remember that you dont need to make an exact comparison as you wont actually need the exacts components. for example wouls you really need an X-fi sound card??

Thank you for the reply

The XP disk would be worth having I suppose. At Scan, I priced up something similar to make it a fair comparison. So I chose the same CPU and Graphics card, and then I just chose good similar components. So instead of a 750W PSU like the Dell, I chose a 620W Corsair HX instead. Because I know they are great, and yet its still enough Wattage for my friend.

Overall the price was very close, but the Dell was a bit cheaper, and I suspect thats because its got a cheap case and the XP OEM is bundled in cheaply. I still think the one I priced up from Scan would be better because mine included an Antec Nine Hundred case and all the components where good reputable ones (Corsair RAM and Corsair HX PSU, and an Arctic Cooling 7 Pro for his CPU etc...).

But at the end of the day, my mate will decide whatever he thinks is best, and if he decides to get the Dell, I just wanted to check its not going to be rubbish. He is assuming he can overclock it and add in a couple of old IDE hard disks for example, and I'm not sure if that would be possible with a Dell.

Dell PCs are usually:

• Very cheap
• Very quiet
• Difficult/impossible to overclock

However, for somebody who isn't comfortable in building a PC, or wants a guarantee on the system build as well as the components, Dells are definitely very good value.

Is the overlocking hard because of the motherboard?

[tigerboyce]

yep, its because the mobos are basically forced to stay stock so its near impossible to raise it

[acrobat]

yep, its because the mobos are basically forced to stay stock so its near impossible to raise it

Ahh I see. Thank you

I just emailed that to him. He might not care, but he realises that the C2D E6600 isn't the fastest thing in the world, and will likely want to overclock it eventually (next year for example). So if that is impossible, then that could be an issue.

[Lucio]

I wouldn't recomend Dell if you plan on changing anything other than the software that comes on them. They can and will use non-standard parts for their systems. It doesn't make them bad machines, but I wouldn't want to try and upgrade one.

[silentvoice]

My friend needs a new PC, and he was thinking about buying the "Dell XPS 710".

I told him he was crazy, because Dell:

1) Have a terrible reputation

Well, in terms of their support they're not the best but they are one of the biggest PC retailers so they offer quite a range.

2) Use crappy components

You won't find EVGA graphics cards or plextor DVD writers in them but the components they use aren't 'crappy'. You might find slightly customised versions of some components though, i.e. motherboards stripped of certain features. Also, like schmunk says they're not for overclocking since this is largely disabled in the BIOS.

3) Are expensive

Yes and no. Towards the higher end market they don't often provide the best value for money (i.e. you can usually build a similar system yourself for quite a bit cheaper) but towards the lower end / mainstream markets they offer good to exceptional value for money.

4) Usually can't be upgraded

True and with the 710 series they use a BTX chassis / motherboard and so somes upgrades may be difficult. The Dimension series are usually even more difficult to upgrade (especially the PSU! - you usually need to modify the back of the case a bit).

5) Break down

I'm not sure about that one. Parts will fail but whether they do so more in Dell systems is debatable.

6) Smell

Have they started slapping air fresheners to the exhaust fan nowadays? lol


I'd be interested to know the e-value code of the 710 system you're looking at because I can only find one system with a 8800GTX card included (305-D06XP6) and that's £1699.

Also, again, unless the 710 has a promotion / sale, they very rarely come with a monitor as standard.

Apparantly this code ( L23XRVXCNDPWCW ) will get you 10% off the price of 710 if that's of any use.

[acrobat]

I wouldn't recomend Dell if you plan on changing anything other than the software that comes on them. They can and will use non-standard parts for their systems. It doesn't make them bad machines, but I wouldn't want to try and upgrade one.

Yeah, thats what worries me the most really If I was going to suggest one to my mates boss, Id say go with dell for the office. But for his home PC, I just don't like the none standard parts. It just usually seems to come back and bite people. Like when they want to ugrade it a bit, only to find that its only got 1 ram slot or something

I'd be interested to know the e-value code of the 710 system you're looking at because I can only find one system with a 8800GTX card included (305-D06XP6) and that's £1699.

Also, again, unless the 710 has a promotion / sale, they very rarely come with a monitor as standard.

Apparantly this code ( L23XRVXCNDPWCW ) will get you 10% off the price of 710 if that's of any use.

Thanks for the reply I don't think it comes with a monitor. I was going to ask him what he was going to do about a monitor but I didn't get around to it. He usually runs his PC through his huge 40" Sony Bravia HD TV, so I'm thinking he will probably do that with this new PC too. So he likely won't be getting it with a monitor.

As for the e-code, is that the system identifier? If so, I think its: F5CXWHG5

He found it by going to dell, then clicking on "Go Shopping", and then he sorted the lists by graphics card ram size, and selected the 768 video ram option. Then it narrowed it down to a list of about a dozen or so, and they all had the 8800GTX in. Prices looked really good. The other components looked surprisingly good too. I'm not sure what brand everything is... but it looked decent. 3 spare PCI slots etc.. for example.

The only thing that would scare me off is the likelyhood of it not being easily upgraded.

The link to the page with all the 8800 versions is here. Not sure if that will work, but it might.

Thanks again. Thanks for that promotional code by the way! I'll tell him incase he gets it.

[silentvoice]

As for the e-code, is that the system identifier? If so, I think its: F5CXWHG5

He found it by going to dell, then clicking on "Go Shopping", and then he sorted the lists by graphics card ram size, and...

Ah, this is from the Dell outlet. That's why there's no e-value code, just a reference number. I found the one you were referring to though. It's listed at £834.00 + VAT and delivery, which is £979.95 + the £40-£50 delivery charge. Out of interest, I priced up the components seperately and it came to around £1200 so if you got this system you would get about a £180 saving. However, bear in mind that since this is a cancelled or returned item (i.e. not technically brand new), you might only get a short warranty with it (unless you pay extra to extend it). That might be a drawback for you (or your friend). In contrast, as you probably know, buying the components seperately from a shop would give you individual warranties up to 5 years (or more). However, that would mean putting it together yourself which your friend may not want to do. In other words there are good and bad things whichever route you take. Just make sure you take some time to weigh them up and decide what's best for you - i.e. don't rush into anything.

Saying that since this system is available through the outlet they will only have one unit, i.e. once it's sold that's it. You'll have find something similar instead.

Also, just to clarify, the voucher code I gave you, is only for new 710 systems I believe - although you can try it anyway.