i would say the 8400 is better than a 8300, but i don't think it is 75%
better ($200 * 1.75 = $350).
the problem with low cost comptuers is the dollar difference is not great
but the percentage difference is huge.
and you really should look at new machines. things are really cheap now and
a new computer comes with a minimum one year warranty and a place to call
and ask for help which you don't get with used.
for $399 you can get a vostros 200 with e2120 processor, 1gb ram, 160gb hard
disk, dvd recorder, 19" wide lcd, windows xp home, and a one year warranty.
kind of puts the pricing of the used computers into perspective huh? http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd
and in my opinion, the largest cost to getting a new computer is your time
in transfering all your stuff to the new machine. this time can be amrtized
over a longer period if you get a machine that is going to last you a longer
amount of time.
so i think the above deal is the way to go, but if money is really tight and
you basically find that your 4550 is ok then the 8300 is probably all you
need and it is going to be a noticable improvement.
that's my 2¢ anyway.
dimension 8300 specs http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/sm/specs.htm
dimension 8400 specs http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1052308
"WaIIy" <WaIIy@(nft).invalid> wrote in message
news:2datn3tnv5dgk6ul81afk1f1mf12999ga5@4ax.com...
>
> Another question -
>
> I can get an 8300 for about $200.00 and an 8400 for about $350.00.
>
> All things being equal, is the 8400 that much better?
> Thanks
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 17:11:14 -0500, "Christopher Muto"
<muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>i would say the 8400 is better than a 8300, but i don't think it is 75%
>better ($200 * 1.75 = $350).
>the problem with low cost comptuers is the dollar difference is not great
>but the percentage difference is huge.
>and you really should look at new machines. things are really cheap now and
>a new computer comes with a minimum one year warranty and a place to call
>and ask for help which you don't get with used.
>for $399 you can get a vostros 200 with e2120 processor, 1gb ram, 160gb hard
>disk, dvd recorder, 19" wide lcd, windows xp home, and a one year warranty.
>kind of puts the pricing of the used computers into perspective huh?
>http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd
>and in my opinion, the largest cost to getting a new computer is your time
>in transfering all your stuff to the new machine. this time can be amrtized
>over a longer period if you get a machine that is going to last you a longer
>amount of time.
>so i think the above deal is the way to go, but if money is really tight and
>you basically find that your 4550 is ok then the 8300 is probably all you
>need and it is going to be a noticable improvement.
>that's my 2¢ anyway.
>dimension 8300 specs
>http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/sm/specs.htm
>dimension 8400 specs
>http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1052308
>
>
>"WaIIy" <WaIIy@(nft).invalid> wrote in message
>news:2datn3tnv5dgk6ul81afk1f1mf12999ga5@4ax.com.. .
>>
>> Another question -
>>
>> I can get an 8300 for about $200.00 and an 8400 for about $350.00.
>>
>> All things being equal, is the 8400 that much better?
>> Thanks
>
Thanks a lot for the info and suggestions.
Hmmm, I'm going to have to think this one over.
"WaIIy" <WaIIy@(nft).invalid> wrote in message
news:1edtn39bl4hdksmof84a2k7io8oesti63p@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 17:11:14 -0500, "Christopher Muto"
> <muto@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>>i would say the 8400 is better than a 8300, but i don't think it is 75%
>>better ($200 * 1.75 = $350).
>>the problem with low cost comptuers is the dollar difference is not great
>>but the percentage difference is huge.
>>and you really should look at new machines. things are really cheap now
>>and
>>a new computer comes with a minimum one year warranty and a place to call
>>and ask for help which you don't get with used.
>>for $399 you can get a vostros 200 with e2120 processor, 1gb ram, 160gb
>>hard
>>disk, dvd recorder, 19" wide lcd, windows xp home, and a one year
>>warranty.
>>kind of puts the pricing of the used computers into perspective huh?
>>http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd
>>and in my opinion, the largest cost to getting a new computer is your time
>>in transfering all your stuff to the new machine. this time can be
>>amrtized
>>over a longer period if you get a machine that is going to last you a
>>longer
>>amount of time.
>>so i think the above deal is the way to go, but if money is really tight
>>and
>>you basically find that your 4550 is ok then the 8300 is probably all you
>>need and it is going to be a noticable improvement.
>>that's my 2¢ anyway.
>>dimension 8300 specs
>>http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/sm/specs.htm
>>dimension 8400 specs
>>http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1052308
>>
>>
>>"WaIIy" <WaIIy@(nft).invalid> wrote in message
>>news:2datn3tnv5dgk6ul81afk1f1mf12999ga5@4ax.com. ..
>>>
>>> Another question -
>>>
>>> I can get an 8300 for about $200.00 and an 8400 for about $350.00.
>>>
>>> All things being equal, is the 8400 that much better?
>>> Thanks
>>
>
> Thanks a lot for the info and suggestions.
> Hmmm, I'm going to have to think this one over.
1) Depending on the HW configuration and condition, that's a decent to good
price for an 8300
2) I wouldn't touch an 8400 with a 10-foot pole.
3) I personally wouldn't buy nor recommend a new Vostro or Inspiron desktop
as they are the equivalent of a similarly configured EMachines system
component quality-wise.
On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 22:41:52 -0600, "S.Lewis" <NVRambo@techie.com> wrote:
>1) Depending on the HW configuration and condition, that's a decent to good
>price for an 8300
>
>2) I wouldn't touch an 8400 with a 10-foot pole.
Why?
>3) I personally wouldn't buy nor recommend a new Vostro or Inspiron desktop
>as they are the equivalent of a similarly configured EMachines system
>component quality-wise.
>
>No flame to anyone, jmo.
I find this thread interesting to me, as I usually have a pretty good
idea on the subject.
I can see I'm stuck in 2004 as far as Dell is concerned.
"WaIIy" <WaIIy@(nft).invalid> wrote in message
news:sb4un39jmeanm1hbdn7reakdsgg7ov3pto@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 22:41:52 -0600, "S.Lewis" <NVRambo@techie.com> wrote:
>
>>1) Depending on the HW configuration and condition, that's a decent to
>>good
>>price for an 8300
>>
>>2) I wouldn't touch an 8400 with a 10-foot pole.
>
> Why?
>
>>3) I personally wouldn't buy nor recommend a new Vostro or Inspiron
>>desktop
>>as they are the equivalent of a similarly configured EMachines system
>>component quality-wise.
>>
>>No flame to anyone, jmo.
>
>
> I find this thread interesting to me, as I usually have a pretty good
> idea on the subject.
> I can see I'm stuck in 2004 as far as Dell is concerned.
The short story on the Dim8400 is that it had a lot of new technology
incorporated into it at once (on the system board). I've seen too many of
them act very badly and in an unstable manner. Some here who have them will
disagree with that -and that's fine.
Regarding performance between the two models, I'd like to see benchmarks
between similarly configured 8300 and 8400's. I've been told casually that
there is/was no remarkable increase(s) in performance.
If it's unstable, which to me it is, then I'm not going to touch it as a
personal system.
BTW, your Dim4550 is a rock-solid machine. I've owned at least (3) of them
and worked with countless others. Since you don't game, you might want to
consider riding with that machine a while longer if it does what you need.
Upgrade RAM if necessary, but that's about it.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: S.Lewis [mailto:NVRambo@techie.com]
> 1) Depending on the HW configuration and condition, that's a decent to
> good
> price for an 8300
>
> 2) I wouldn't touch an 8400 with a 10-foot pole.
>
> 3) I personally wouldn't buy nor recommend a new Vostro or Inspiron
> desktop
> as they are the equivalent of a similarly configured EMachines system
> component quality-wise.
>
> No flame to anyone, jmo.
I agree the 8400 is overpriced, but is there another reason you don't
like the 8400? Ours was my wife's machine and since then has been a
very reliable family server.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: S.Lewis [mailto:NVRambo@techie.com]
>
> Regarding performance between the two models, I'd like to see
> benchmarks
> between similarly configured 8300 and 8400's. I've been told casually
> that
> there is/was no remarkable increase(s) in performance.
>
> If it's unstable, which to me it is, then I'm not going to touch it as
> a
> personal system.
>
> BTW, your Dim4550 is a rock-solid machine. I've owned at least (3) of
> them
> and worked with countless others. Since you don't game, you might want
> to
> consider riding with that machine a while longer if it does what you
> need.
> Upgrade RAM if necessary, but that's about it.
>
> Again, YMMV........
>
>
> Stew
>
I do agree the difference between a similarly configured 8300 and 8400
would be minor. I'm just surprised by your opinion of the 8400. I
don't recall any threads about unreliability here during the time it was
the 'top of the line'.
The 4550 may have been the best machine Dell's ever built. The 9200/410
is great but has some subtle flaws in hard drive performance when paired
with the nVidia 7300LE. Wouldn't be a big deal if such a huge
percentage of them didn't ship with that video card.
"Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:5992B1B0E18B457792B9379D30A902D1@M2010...
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: S.Lewis [mailto:NVRambo@techie.com]
>>
>> Regarding performance between the two models, I'd like to see
>> benchmarks
>> between similarly configured 8300 and 8400's. I've been told casually
>> that
>> there is/was no remarkable increase(s) in performance.
>>
>> If it's unstable, which to me it is, then I'm not going to touch it as
>> a
>> personal system.
>>
>> BTW, your Dim4550 is a rock-solid machine. I've owned at least (3) of
>> them
>> and worked with countless others. Since you don't game, you might want
>> to
>> consider riding with that machine a while longer if it does what you
>> need.
>> Upgrade RAM if necessary, but that's about it.
>>
>> Again, YMMV........
>>
>>
>> Stew
>>
>
> I do agree the difference between a similarly configured 8300 and 8400
> would be minor. I'm just surprised by your opinion of the 8400. I
> don't recall any threads about unreliability here during the time it was
> the 'top of the line'.
>
> The 4550 may have been the best machine Dell's ever built. The 9200/410
> is great but has some subtle flaws in hard drive performance when paired
> with the nVidia 7300LE. Wouldn't be a big deal if such a huge
> percentage of them didn't ship with that video card.
>
>
Tom -
I certainly respect your opinion, and my comments on the 8400 are in no way
aimed at you or anyone else in the group. You're absolutely correct that
there have been minimal threads here about any problems with that model.
And your experiences with that model in "real world" usage are meaningful to
me.
I'm biased against the machine in that I was exposed to several of them in a
(not real-world) lab environment over a fairly long period of time -
primarily on a base hardware level and with diags. I don't recall such an
unpredictable HW configuration since the Dimension 8100 systems (another
desktop which I know you owned and had good service from). Although the
8400's I saw had several unpredictable failures, one that stands out in my
memory was the "runaway fan" syndrome. I literally saw one of these blow an
empty styrofoam cup off of a workbench in that state. The noise was ......
impressive.
So, again, my limited perspective is completely blinded and biased only by
what I've experienced from those first-hand opportunities. It's only a
comparative opinion to, say, the Dimension 4400/45XX machines which were
outstanding as you've pointed out - or the 8200 or 8300 and plenty of other
newer models.
I had forgotten about the 91XX/92XX/XPS4XX video card - hard disk
performance issue you'd posted about. That was informative and fun in its
quirkiness.
You swapped the video card to cure that right? Did Dell ever post a BIOS
fix for that? If they did not, I suspect it's because you're one of the few
who actually identified the issue. :-)
"Tom Scales" <tjscales@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:CC301EB803EA40CB937C9678D18D7DE5@M2010...
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: S.Lewis [mailto:NVRambo@techie.com]
>> 1) Depending on the HW configuration and condition, that's a decent to
>> good
>> price for an 8300
>>
>> 2) I wouldn't touch an 8400 with a 10-foot pole.
>>
>> 3) I personally wouldn't buy nor recommend a new Vostro or Inspiron
>> desktop
>> as they are the equivalent of a similarly configured EMachines system
>> component quality-wise.
>>
>> No flame to anyone, jmo.
>
> I agree the 8400 is overpriced, but is there another reason you don't
> like the 8400? Ours was my wife's machine and since then has been a
> very reliable family server.
>
>
>
You've got my e-mail. If you want my various (though fading) recollections
of some of the issues I experienced, I'd be glad to pass them along to you.
But the truth is, as you've pointed out, there have been very few posts in
this group about problems with it.
I don't want to appear to be a contrarion who is just stirring up crap. ;-)
8300 - 8400 
Linear Mode
