Dude, We’re Getting A Dell
This phrase once meant you had parents who didn’t understand technology and refused to listen to you when buying a new PC and you’d be stuck with an underpowered, overpriced computer that couldn’t be upgraded and came bloated with pre-loaded software no one ever used. But times are changing.
I knew I said I’d never do it but once PC World rated Dell as having the fastest sub-$1,000 PC I knew it was time to re-evaluate my stance. So I have placed an order for a new PC, I would have waited longer but the deadline for getting an XP system was looming. So here’s a breakdown of my upcoming upgrades…
Old Processor: AMD Sempron 3100+ 1.8 GHz
New Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.2 GHz
Old RAM: 1.5 GB DDR1 at 200 MHz
New RAM: 2 GB DDR2 at 667 MHz
Old Video Card: 256MB AGP Radeon All-In-Wonder 9600
New Video Card: 256MB PCI-e Radeon HD 2600 XT
Old HDD: 200 GB ATA
New HDD: 250 GB SATA
To translate, the 4 core components are all upgrading to superior technology. My old processor was single-core, my new one will be dual-core. My old RAM was DDR1, the new will be DDR2. My old video card was AGP; the new one will be PCI-e. And my old hard drive was ATA; my new one will be SATA. Why is this noteworthy? Well I’ve been through many computers over the years but I’ve never had so many fundamental upgrades at once. ATA for example has been the standard since 1986. So this won’t just represent a huge improvement in performance but it will make future upgrades possible as I had run into a bit of a brick wall with the limits of the aging technologies of yore.
May 25th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Well, I never thought you’d go with DELL, but I’m curious, does the PC you ordered come with a 3-in-1 printer/scanner/copies/fax? That would be a very sweet deal, or is it just the hard-drive/tower?
May 25th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Just the tower, we don’t really need a printer.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Just the tower, we don’t really need a printer.