DUDE...

[stkr00]

Ordered a new computer the other day. When it arrives, I probably won't be around for a few days while I get everything set up. I'll also be giving this PC to my daughter so she can have one faster than what she has now, but I'll have to format the hard drives, and start from scratch so she has a fresh system.

We finally broke down and just ordered a Dell, because I didn't feel like fighting with building a new one again. I haven't had a new PC in about 4 years, so it is definitely time.

Here's some of the new PC's details:
Dimension 8300 Series,Intel Pentium 4 Processor at 2.8GHz with HT Technology and 800MHz front side buss.
512MB DDR at 400MHZ
Dell Enhanced Multimedia PS/2 Keyboard
17 in (17.0 in viewable) 1703FPt Digital Flat Panel Display
128MB DDR NVidia GeForce FX 5200 graphics card
80GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive
3.5in Floppy Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition,Service Pack 1,English
Dell Application Back-up CD, Factory Install
10/100/1000 Networking Card
56K PCI Data Fax Modem for Windows
48X Max CD-RW Drive
Integrated Audio (may upgrade this later)
No Speaker Requested (already have a good set)

 

[Let 'er eat!]

Dude, I just got one for xmas you'll love it - I did upgrade mine to 1 gig ddr.

 

[CorrodedAlien]

Good on ya!

 

[justintime2]

 

[tbonebusa]

We shall expect suitably swoopy graphics/avatars/and other high tech wizardry to go with the new power, stkr!!
Congrats....new toys rock!

 

[fstbusa]

would got a gig of ram and atleast a 200gb SATA drive.

I'm awaiting all the shiznit to come out before building my next one.

SATA2
pci-x

hl2
doomIII

 

[GeebMan]

I deal with all Dells at work and they are great systems. That's a sweet setup you ordered.

 

[Kazzin]

cool, im a mac guy tho, but my dad uses dells for all his architect and stuctural enginering fun and he likes em. but um macs are where its at. i HATE windows lol

peace

 

[Revlis]

Congrats on the new power!! Dell still makes good stuff.

I have purchased several Dells over the years, for both work and Home, ranging from $1500-$11000.  I am sorry to report however that while their computers seem to still be pretty solid, their customer service has gone straight to hell...  I think this Laptop and the workstation in my office will probably be the last Dells I buy.

Don't forget to check out Dell's refurbs.  They usually have a good number a kick ass deals there.  Good stuff for casual use.



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[stkr00]

Holy crap...I didn't expect this much of a response.

Thanks for the input/comments. I'll try to answer a few in this reply.

I would like to have more RAM, but the money is little tight right now, and I can always upgrade later.

The 80 GB hard drive should be plenty for me. I do some gaming, but not a lot, so I don't have a lot of large programs. I've currently got 30 GB between two drives (20/10), and I've still got about 12 GB left. The wife got an IPOD for Christmas, so music files may start taking up a lot of space.

Glad to hear the Dells are good systems. I sometimes wonder about the big name brands. A well built custom system can be faster and more reliable than a corporate one of the same specs. That's what has kept my current one running so well with only an 800 MHz AMD Athalon on an Asus motherboard. Running a little overclocked, but it's stable and stays cool.

It's always nice to have a new PC, but it's a pain to get everything re-loaded. I always forget something when trying to back up documents, bookmarks, address books, resumes, etc...

Thanks again for the comments.

 

[†WÃ￾§†ëD]

would got a gig of ram and atleast a 200gb SATA drive.

I'm awaiting all the shiznit to come out before building my next one.

SATA2
pci-x

hl2
doomIII

yup do doubt on the superATA hard drive, 10,000 rpm 8 meg cahce, 7 sec seek time yup, are you thinking about building a 64 bit system when its all there? or what? details...

 

[fstbusa]

I don't know I built a pIII 800 about 3 yrs ago and then a amd t-bird 1.3 @ 1.5 and thats what I currently have. I have currently only have 140gb over 3 drives. Geforce3, sb live, 384mb pc2100.

I really like the amd64 chips but I am slowly leaning toward a p4 2.8 or higher. I don't want the bleeding edge stuff cuz it costs to much but I definitely will have a new hard drive.

my coworker over christmas built an amd64 system

amd64 3000
1gb ddr400
gf4 ti 4600
2 hitatchi 160gb 10k rpm 8 mb cache SATA drives striped in RAID 0

I about dropped a load. Thats freakin sweeeeeet ass system. I woulda got a higher end video card but I like playing games.

I played the doomIII alpha about a year ago when it was leaked and I couldn't believe how sweet it looked

my gf3 could only pull about 7 fps and that was on the low settings.

I know when I build a system its gonna be bad ass. I just gotta decide what I want and what case I want it in. (I like modding cases)

 

[Revlis]

Yeah fstbusa, I am with you on here... Leading edge good, Bleeding edge bad... I tend to wait and snap up technology that is just one cycle old. Saves a crap load of money and you get a system that screams, with a lot of the bugs and bumps patched up...

 

[WWJD]

Isn't Doom3 coming out when Duke Nukem 24 does??
MAME, baby... MAME All the way!

 

[stkr00]

I got my new system hooked up and running. Pretty sweet, but I'm not used to Windows XP. It's a little different the the classic Windows style.

The only thing that's bugging me is the new Flat Panel LCD screen. It seems to have a whitish/grey look to it. I've been adjusting the brightness and contrast, but just can't seem to get it right. When I first started the system up, I thought I was going to need a welder's helmet just to view the white pages.

Any ideas on settings would be appreciated.

 

[thrasherfox]

Hey stkr00 - I personally don't use XP - I am still happy with Win2k (for my own selfish reasons) however there are some areas you can go into and change it to the classic look..

Such as in the control panel, I think when you go into the control panel, either on the left side, or at the top under tools (somewhere, I don’t have an XP box in front of me at the moment) there is an option to switch to classic view.

I was working on a fricken XP Pro system this weekend at a clients. I replaced a Windows 98 system they had running as a server/client (anyone out there know what I am talking about please don’t ask, just feel my pain) and they had me replace it with an XP Pro system and set IT up as a server/client.

I had to setup file sharing so 3 other Windows 98 systems could access its files (yes yes, I gave the typical speech of they should get a server, upgrade the work stations to a minimum of NT.40, and probably Win2k or XP)

Anyway… stkr00 - not sure if you are aware or not, but XP is pretty stable, but make sure one of the first things you do is do the Windows update.

You ill probably find about 11 critical updates, and maybe around 24 - 40 XP system updates and probably 1 driver update, which is usually the video driver, or I guess you could have up to three, video, sound, network.. but usually just the video.

And that should make it pretty stable..

If doing the upgrade does provide a video driver update, that might help with your video problem. However the first things I would check is to make sure the connections were tight and secured properly on both monitor and computer end.

Do you have the video card that has two video out's? if so when you go into display properties it will show two monitors and you can click on each one to change the settings for the differant monitors connected to the video out connectors. make sure your settings are correct and for the correct connector. Check your resolution and screen colors, start off with 800x600 16 bit color and see what that looks like. if it looks good then slowly increase it by uping the color to 32 bit or higher, and if you max out the color and it still looks good then start increasing the res.

I a client with a Dell who has a problem that seems to be a bad video card, it would work under low res settings (800x600 16bit) but when we increased it to a higher setting the card failed. We are waiting on a new card which is on back order and has been for 3 weeks. Dell has said no ETA as to when they will get one. So I have been able to limp my client along on the lower res, I told my client worse case scenario, if the card totally fails I will go to Staples and get a temp video card for about $45.00 until her replacement comes from Dell.


I work with Dell's and the systems themselves are pretty good, however if you ever need tech support give yourself time for the call, last I knew they were still working around the 1 hour mark for tech calls. (combination of hold time, often having to work through a first level tech then being transferred to a second level tech etc)

About the only problems I have with the Dell's really cannot be attributed to Dell, they are attributed to the company that maintains them for our company.

Good luck Dude!!! Uhh with your Dell

Over all I think you will be very happy



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[stkr00]

WOW...now that's a response.

All of my connections are/were tight, and hooked up correctly. The only "problem" I'm having is with the brightness/contrast adjustment. It's probably just operator error. Overall, I'm very happy with the new PC. It was just somewhat bright as hell when you open a folder or web page with a white background. The main area I saw the difference was when running the game, MotoGP2. The colors were there, but the whole picture has a whiteish tint to it. It may just be the game, and I didn't realize it on my old monitor (KDS VS-17...not an LCD). I've got it pretty well adjusted, but it's still there.

Example: The menu borders show as vivid black, but in the game, the tires, and other black objects look charcoal grey.

The video card is a 128MB DDR NVida GeForce FX 5200. Both Windows-XP, and MotoGP2 are set up for 1024x768 at 32bit. I tried the game at 800x600, and there was no change.

I'm not overly concerned about all of this. I was just curious if anyone else had experienced this when switching from an RGB monitor to an LCD flat panel display. I'll just keep adjusting it until I find the right combination.

Thanks for your help Thrasherfox.

 

[fstbusa]

lcd's in general have a massively bright backlight and are/will appear brighter than a normal crt.

 

[WWJD]

stkr00 - Start/settings/control panel/system/advanced "Performance" set to "Adjust for best performance" will dumb down your XP desktop to act more 2000-like. Also settings/taskbar and start menu you can make it look the old way to. I use XP but don't care for the Fisher-Price graphics

 

[fstbusa]

you could also hack the theme.dll and change to 3rd party themes.