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Originally Posted by LixyChick
Dell Dimension E521...AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual-Core Processor 3800 plus a free upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium...1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 Memory...250GB Hard Drive...Plays and Creates CD's and DVD's...17" Flat Panel Monitor.
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For the simple work you're doing, that's plenty good enough. The only thing I'd change is the RAM... Vista is better with 2Gb.
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Module Component and Operating System - Dell Dimension E521...AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual-Core Upgraded to 5600...Free upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium w/1GB memory
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Doubt the upgrade was all that necessary. Unless you're doing lots of video editing or gaming, upgrading the processor is pretty pointless.
Memory - Upgraded from 1GB to
2GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM @ 667MHz-2DIMMS[/quote]
You've done good!
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Keyboard and Mouse Bundles - Took the included deal. Will shop on my own if necessary. Included = Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Monitor - Upgraded from 17" Flat Panel Display to 20" Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Display
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Good work. More screen space is always good.
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Video Card - Upgraded to NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU
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Eh? You upgraded? to integrated? What was it standard?
And in any case, that's fine.
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Hard Drive - Upgraded from 250GB to 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
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250Gb is plenty, unless you're downloading lots of movies, doing lots of video recording, or if Mr. Lixy is downloading a TON of porn!
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Floppy Drive and Media Reader - No Floppy Drive included. I didn't choose one cause I don't really know what I would need it for. Can you think of a reason why peeps like me and hubby would need this?
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Nope you don't need one. When it says "media reader' I think it might mean Compact Flash or Secure Digital cards, like you store photos on for a digital camera. Might be worth it for convenience sake, but most cameras should be able to plug directly into your computer.
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Network Interface - Integrated 10/100 Ethernet included. (whatever that means)
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Basically that's the thingi you plug your broadband modem into. No point upgrading or anything, the integrated one will do fine.
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Modem - 56K PCI Data Fax Modem included. {can't remember if I had a choice...and if it was important...lol!)
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If you've still got your dial-up modem from your old computer, (ie it's a separate box that plugs into your computer) then you might as well stick with that.
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CD ROM/DVD ROM - Upgraded from 16x DVD+/-RW to Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive +16x DVD+/-RW
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Ok, so where you originally had one drive you've now got two: a read-only and a burner. This is convenient, because you can copy an audio cd for example, and leave the original in the reader (probably the top one) while you burn it directly in the other drive. Convenient, but not strictly necessary if you don't mind swapping discs over in one drive.
Price of dvd burners these days, might as well go with two like you've selected.
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Speakers - No Speakers Included. I could have ran the spectrum here (basic to blow your ear drums out) but they seemed too pricey for our purposes...even the basic ones. I'll purchase them seperately.
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Probably best idea. I doubt you'll need anything special, some basic $10 ones should be fine.
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Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) - Upgraded from Basic Microsoft without Works (but will run some word processing functions) to Microsoft® Works Suite 2006...includes MS Word 2002, Encarta 2006 and much more!
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All good.
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Anti-Virus/Security Suite - McAfee Security Center w/anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall...36 months included. Didn't upgrade from here...though lots were offered. Figured I could do that on my own for less as well. Good Call?
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Yeah, good call. McAfee is one fo the best paid-for antivirus etc companies. When the 36 months expires, it might be worth uninstalling it and going with the pretty good free options around - Avast or AVG for the anti-cirus, Spybot and Adaware for malware, and Zonealarm for firewall.
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Warranty and Service - Included...1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service. Could have chosen up to 4Yr for a price. What are your thoughts on warranties? I haven't ever needed service on this old thing I'm on now. Shouldn't 1Yr be enough to know if you got a lemon? Tell me your thoughts on this one, please![quote]
Warranties are like insurance, you'll only ever need it when you haven't got it.
If you don't know a tech wiz nerd who'll come over and replace your fried power supply when it fizzles after 13 months, and if you can afford to up the warranty by another year or so, I'd recommend it.
After two years, if anything dies it'll be cheaper to replace it.
[quote]Internet Access Service - Choice between AOL or EarthLink (included). I won't use either but they make you choose one so I picked EarthLink cause I had AOL before and I hated it! I don't have to activate it...ever.
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Never heard of Earthlink, but yeah heard lots of awful things about AOL. Good work!
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Software - I want to purchase a way to move my files and pics to the new puter. I scrolled through the choices and found one for Windows ME to Vista. It's called LapLink PCmover. Says it'll move applications, data and settings to my new PC. Does anyone know if this is just for "from a laptop to a PC"? I NEED to do just what it says but I am NOT on a laptop. I have a desktop. HELP!!! It's $29 and I don't know if that's a good price or can I get one on my own and cheaper.
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Hmm....
Laplink will work fine desktop to desktop. Although I haven't used it in 10 years.
Normally I'd just suggest networking them and copying things over. And that might be something you can look into, easiest way would be when you get broadband to get a modem with a built in router, that way you can plug both computers into it and they should be able to see each other.
But yeah, Laplink's probably easiest.... deferring to other Pixies here!!!