Hardware Joy 2004-10-27 - By Dave Angelini
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All,
Many of you may know that I have been looking for a new high-end PCI-Express
based machine since early July. Many deals have come and I passed on most
of them. I was never happy with the configurations and the price. I was
very specific on what I wanted and set a price which if not met, I would not
buy. I kept telling myself "The joy is in the waiting" as the deals came
and went at Dell, MPC, Alienware, Cyberpower, and Monarch PC over the
months. Some were pretty painful to pass by.
Well, maybe it was all part of Red Sox fever, but between innings I decided
to check the Dell site. What a surprise I had!!! Dell is offering 30%
their Dimension XPS. Better yet, if you are a member of corporate partner,
you can get an additional 12% off of that price.
So if Curt Shilling can pitch with a sutchered ankle, then I can uncork my
checkbook (both are just as painful ;-). I just purchased a new machine
tonight between innings of the Red Sox game (okay...so I am feeling good).
Here is the kit:
3.6 Ghz processor with 1mb Cache (800 FSB)
2Gb DDR2 SDRAM at 533Mhz (slightly unmatched to the bus speed, but so be
it).
Windows XP Pro - SP2
MS-Basic
Dual 160Gb SATA Drives (RAID 1)
256Mb ATI Radeon X800 XT PCI-E Graphics card
16X DVD Drive and a 16X DVD+RW drive
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card with IEEE 1394.
17" LCD Monitor
4 year warranty.
Free shipping.
...and a bunch of other stuff. The final price was less than $2400! The
sales person said that this was the first XPS she has sold where they are
actually losing money on it. I am sure that it was the corporate discount
that put them over the edge, but it is still a 30% discount for everyone
else!!
So if you are looking, then please do yourself a favor and check out Dell.
These deals are just too good.
The joy really IS in the waiting.
Thanks,
Dave Angelini
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