Putting together family Dell desktop Advice appreciated

Hi.
My Dell Dim 8400 soldiers on into its fourth year but the rest of the family
have rebelled at the performance of the old 8200 which can chug through
Starcraft and Internet surfing but stutters on anything more ambitious, be
it games or 3D graphics.
Looking at a new Dell XPS 420 and wondering whether the 24 inch E248WFP
would be Ok with the Geforce 8800 GT video card - does a bigger monitor need
more graphic card power.? Although the 22 inch E228WFP is only listed as an
option for the Inspiron 530, can one request the smaller option ? We've
never used a "widescreen " monitor before and have been very happy with
ordinary 19 inch models - does the "widescreen" preface mean that the
dispaly is just bigger from left to right but not from top to bottom ?
There is little difference in price - NZ $50 - between 4 GB DDR SDRAM at 667
vs 800 Mhz. Is it therefore sensible to go with the faster option ?
I got burned in the past when getting RAMBUS which the was difficult to
upgrade !!
I looked at the Inspiron 530 range but they are only listed with Geforce
8600 GT video cards which seem a little on the soft side from my brief
readings of reviews - is this a fair surmise ? Is the XPS Intel Quad
processor versus the Inspiron Intel Core 2 Duo a big deal, performance wise
?
I have an old cabled network in the house which includes my Win XP Dimension
8400 linking in through a router to my ISP - should I expect to be able to
hook a new Vista XPS 420 to the old line currently occupied by the
about-to-be-retired Win XP 8200, or is it woth dalying with the concept of
an internal wireless card/router combo into which I could plug my 8400 and
access the net that way ?
Is now as good a time as any to purchase ?
Grateful for any advice
Thanks
Bob

A larger monitor does NOT require more video card power. Unless you're
playing high end games, I'd go with an 8600 or even 8400. The 8800 is
very pricey. I haven't seen the E2484WFP, but suspect it is good. It
would be the 'entry level' 24" (the E models are the lower end), but I
had an E193FP and loved it. I have two 24" Dells (2405 and 2407) and
wouldn't give them up.

As for the RAM, I'd spend the $50, but I wouldn't bother with 4GB.
Neither XP nor Vista will really take advantage of it. 2GB is the sweet
spot.

Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Eason [mailto:bobeason1@ihug.co.nz]
> Posted At: Monday, January 07, 2008 3:27 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: Putting together family Dell desktop Advice appreciated
> Subject: Putting together family Dell desktop Advice appreciated
>
> Hi.
> My Dell Dim 8400 soldiers on into its fourth year but the rest of the
> family
> have rebelled at the performance of the old 8200 which can chug
through
> Starcraft and Internet surfing but stutters on anything more
ambitious,
> be
> it games or 3D graphics.
> Looking at a new Dell XPS 420 and wondering whether the 24 inch
> E248WFP
> would be Ok with the Geforce 8800 GT video card - does a bigger
monitor
> need
> more graphic card power.? Although the 22 inch E228WFP is only listed
> as an
> option for the Inspiron 530, can one request the smaller option ?
We've
> never used a "widescreen " monitor before and have been very happy
with
> ordinary 19 inch models - does the "widescreen" preface mean that the
> dispaly is just bigger from left to right but not from top to bottom ?
> There is little difference in price - NZ $50 - between 4 GB DDR SDRAM
> at 667
> vs 800 Mhz. Is it therefore sensible to go with the faster option ?
> I got burned in the past when getting RAMBUS which the was difficult
to
> upgrade !!
> I looked at the Inspiron 530 range but they are only listed with
> Geforce
> 8600 GT video cards which seem a little on the soft side from my brief
> readings of reviews - is this a fair surmise ? Is the XPS Intel Quad
> processor versus the Inspiron Intel Core 2 Duo a big deal, performance
> wise
> ?
> I have an old cabled network in the house which includes my Win XP
> Dimension
> 8400 linking in through a router to my ISP - should I expect to be
able
> to
> hook a new Vista XPS 420 to the old line currently occupied by the
> about-to-be-retired Win XP 8200, or is it woth dalying with the
concept
> of
> an internal wireless card/router combo into which I could plug my 8400
> and
> access the net that way ?
> Is now as good a time as any to purchase ?
> Grateful for any advice
> Thanks
> Bob
>

Virtually all new computers (even eMachines!) will plug in and work immediately
when attached to a rouiter with an Ethernet cable. Ethernet is built into
nearly all motherboards, and has been ever since the Dimension 8200 (IIRC the
8200 needed an Ethernet card?).

Don't know about Windows Vista and how it would react. I don't mess much with
Vista myself, but it, too, should be just fine working thru a router... Ben
Myers

On Mon, 7 Jan 2008 22:27:09 +1300, "Bob Eason" <bobeason1@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

>Hi.
>My Dell Dim 8400 soldiers on into its fourth year but the rest of the family
>have rebelled at the performance of the old 8200 which can chug through
>Starcraft and Internet surfing but stutters on anything more ambitious, be
>it games or 3D graphics.
>Looking at a new Dell XPS 420 and wondering whether the 24 inch E248WFP
>would be Ok with the Geforce 8800 GT video card - does a bigger monitor need
>more graphic card power.? Although the 22 inch E228WFP is only listed as an
>option for the Inspiron 530, can one request the smaller option ? We've
>never used a "widescreen " monitor before and have been very happy with
>ordinary 19 inch models - does the "widescreen" preface mean that the
>dispaly is just bigger from left to right but not from top to bottom ?
>There is little difference in price - NZ $50 - between 4 GB DDR SDRAM at 667
>vs 800 Mhz. Is it therefore sensible to go with the faster option ?
>I got burned in the past when getting RAMBUS which the was difficult to
>upgrade !!
>I looked at the Inspiron 530 range but they are only listed with Geforce
>8600 GT video cards which seem a little on the soft side from my brief
>readings of reviews - is this a fair surmise ? Is the XPS Intel Quad
>processor versus the Inspiron Intel Core 2 Duo a big deal, performance wise
>?
>I have an old cabled network in the house which includes my Win XP Dimension
>8400 linking in through a router to my ISP - should I expect to be able to
>hook a new Vista XPS 420 to the old line currently occupied by the
>about-to-be-retired Win XP 8200, or is it woth dalying with the concept of
>an internal wireless card/router combo into which I could plug my 8400 and
>access the net that way ?
>Is now as good a time as any to purchase ?
>Grateful for any advice
>Thanks
>Bob
>
>