Dell Dimension 8200

I am very happy overall with the Dell Dimension 8200 computer itself. Delivery was prompt. The internal layout is fine, with drives being held by easy-to-use clamps rather than screws. The bootup time gradually increased, with boots taking typically 3 - 5 minutes, but this is a WinXP issue. I found that the bootup time became much faster after I deleted ALL the files in the /WINDOWS/PREFETCH/ folder, then modified this registry setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl

Session ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParametersEnablePrefetcher

... set to 2 to prefetch boot files only. This speeded up the boot process, probably because WinXP didn't need to load or parse through the scads of files which existed in there prior to being deleted.

Dell sent part of the system via a commercial carrier (very good) and sent the rest via United States Post (very, very bad). I complained and complained and Dell didn't give the impression that they gave a rip.

Stay away from Dell, not reliable.

If you are in need of a small, quiet, fast, pre-made computer, look no further. This is a very nice machine. It uses only one case fan, which doubles as a cpu cooling fan. I have trouble telling if it's on!

I went with the faster RDRAM and upgraded the monitor to the P1130. Terrific in every way. Very satisfied.

Having built an AMD 1.2 ghz pc my wife and I both realized we would never be satified with the final results. The AMD processor runs hot. That means you must use "adequate" cooling. In other words lots of noisy fans. To make it worse, the VIA chipset is very unstable. One day she said "Oh F__k it, why don't you just buy a Dell". I happily agreed. Today I am a proud owner of the fastest and quietest PC I have ever owned or seen. I would order another one in a minute. Guess I'm a Dude now :-)