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Upgrade? Downgrade?

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It's time to retire my old 450 MHz pIII. On it, I have built countless civilizations; I have conquered and lost the world time and again; I have fought my way through the Black Mesa complex and the Kingdom of Ehb. Still, I need to trade up. End of an era? What do I care? It's just a computer.

Up until now I have always built my own machines. It's fun and I've saved a few bob. These days though, it seems like it's not worth it anymore. Dell will happily sell you a decent machine for less than $400, and nowadays OEM machines are fairly upgradeable.

I go to the Dell Small Business site. The Dimension 3000 looks like a good candidate - decent spec for decent price. Clicking around the site, I find four different ways to configure the machine - one through "Desktops", one through "Alternative OS" and two (with or without monitor) through "outrageous deals".

I click through all four and customize to the same spec - p4 2.8 GHz, 512 MB Ram, 80 GB harddrive and 17 inch screen.

I end up with four different prices -

  • $949, minus $200 mail in rebate = $749
  • $799, minus $150 mail in rebate = $649
  • $704, no mail in rebate
  • $949, no mail in rebate (this is the one with alternative OS)

Four different prices for the same machine, depending on which path I take to find it? That's not right.

Whatever. I'm not a fan of mail in rebates, but I decide to go for the $799-$150 option after all. Clicking through the check-out, it turns out that with sales tax ($76.67) and shipping ($79), the total price is $954.67.

So now the machine will cost me $800? And it'll take a couple of weeks before I get it, and then another 4-6 weeks probably before I get the mail in rebate? Ah, forget it. I'm going to Fry's.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    You could always build your own... or if you don't want to mess with it, find someone who would do it for you. Yeah, no tech support, but it'll be chaper, for sure, especially if you go with clearance parts...

    Just a thought.
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    Oh I have no problem building myself. Every machine I've ever owned has been a Frankenstein. It's just, I thought getting an OEM this time would be both cheaper and easier and just as upgradeable. Guess I was wrong...

    If I'm forking out over $800 for a decent OEM machine, I might as well build myself and have full control over what goes in there.
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    How about going to www.e4me.com?

    E-machines aren't that bad! :)
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    I checked them (and a few others) out before I went to the Dell site. One thing I really appreciate with Dell though is that you have a lot of opportunities for customizing the machine. Not as many as if you build it yourself of course, but far more than e-machines. Also, Gateways are really expensive and the HP site refuses to load.

    Nah, I'm best off building it myself.
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    Be a geek! Build it yourself! :) I just bought some parts for an HTPC from NewEgg and I was pleased with their site and the quick delivery. Not the lowest prices in town, but they have a great reputation.

    Check my blog regarding the over-clockability of the CPU I bought. Can't beat ~2,8 GHz P4 performance with a $77 chip...
    http://weblogs.asp.net/jeff/archive/2004/09/28/235408.aspx
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    Try just buying the parts from different vendors specials. Checkout http://www.pricewatch.com
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    Mobile Athlon, eh? Interesting... if I go that route, I might be able to upgrade for <$300. Not bad.
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    October 03, 2004
    Ragi, pricewatch looks interesting. Thanks for the tip!