Looking to buy an Inspiron 531 from Dell UK. Does anyone know in what
form Vista is delivered? Obviously preinstalled, but what about an
install disk? Is one provided? And is it a full Vista install CD, or
just a recovery CD?
No idea, as I've been waiting over six weeks for mine... Reconsider.
<ogilviea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186948373.658056.325880@k79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Looking to buy an Inspiron 531 from Dell UK. Does anyone know in what
> form Vista is delivered? Obviously preinstalled, but what about an
> install disk? Is one provided? And is it a full Vista install CD, or
> just a recovery CD?
>
> Thanks for any advice...
>
> Alan.
>
<ogilviea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186948373.658056.325880@k79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Looking to buy an Inspiron 531 from Dell UK. Does anyone know in what
> form Vista is delivered? Obviously preinstalled, but what about an
> install disk? Is one provided? And is it a full Vista install CD, or
> just a recovery CD?
>
> Thanks for any advice...
>
> Alan.
>
Full install DVD here in the U.S.. Suspect the UK would be the same.
AMD Athlon X2 5600+ CPU is in short supply according to DELL UK
<ogilviea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186957724.552787.54110@q75g2000hsh.googlegro ups.com...
> On Aug 12, 11:20 pm, "Jonathan Eales" <Jon.Ea...@Virgin.net> wrote:
>> No idea, as I've been waiting over six weeks for mine... Reconsider.
>
> 6 weeks? Wow! What's the delay?
>
On Aug 13, 3:56 am, "Jonathan Eales" <Jon.Ea...@Virgin.net> wrote:
> AMD Athlon X2 5600+ CPU is in short supply according to DELL UK
Ah, I see - thanks. I guess (if I was being impatient) I might
compromise and settle for the X2 5000+ instead - assuming that's not
also in short supply, of course! Saves me £23.50 too :-)
Back to my original question, I spoke to Dell pre-sales today, and was
told that a recovery DVD is all that is provided, not a Vista install
disk - cr*p...
They also swore blind that there were *no* Athlon X2 5600+ supply
problems, and that *none* of their customers were waiting for desktops
containing these processors. Hmmmmm... do I really want to buy from
this company..? Novatech - though more expensive - are local and a
very friendly bunch with an excellent reputation.
The DELL CD is a copy of Widows Vista that Is BIOS locked so that it will
only install on DELL computers. The install procedure is exactly the same.
My DELL Inspiron 531 was ordered on 2nd July and is due to be delivered on
17th August. I've had four late shipment advisory emails. I've no
confidence in this latest date. The order payment was taken from my credit
card on 9th July.
I've just ordered exactly the same configuration with an Intel E6550 CPU for
a little more money. Guess what, the estimated delivery date is 17th
August!
<ogilviea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187026742.406876.212210@b79g2000hse.googlegr oups.com...
> Back to my original question, I spoke to Dell pre-sales today, and was
> told that a recovery DVD is all that is provided, not a Vista install
> disk - cr*p...
>
> They also swore blind that there were *no* Athlon X2 5600+ supply
> problems, and that *none* of their customers were waiting for desktops
> containing these processors. Hmmmmm... do I really want to buy from
> this company..? Novatech - though more expensive - are local and a
> very friendly bunch with an excellent reputation.
>
On Aug 13, 8:44 pm, "Jonathan Eales" <Jon.Ea...@Virgin.net> wrote:
> The DELL CD is a copy of Widows Vista that Is BIOS locked so that it will
> only install on DELL computers. The install procedure is exactly the same.
Thanks - that's a little better, and certainly a *much* better
explanation of the situation than I received from pre-sales (what a
surprise).
> My DELL Inspiron 531 was ordered on 2nd July and is due to be delivered on
> 17th August. I've had four late shipment advisory emails. I've no
> confidence in this latest date. The order payment was taken from my credit
> card on 9th July.
Ouch! Is this standard Dell policy?
> I've just ordered exactly the same configuration with an Intel E6550 CPU for
> a little more money. Guess what, the estimated delivery date is 17th
> August!
Hmmmm... maybe they all come back from holiday that day? Nah, can't
be, it's a Friday :-)
I've just configured the following Inspiron 531 desktop:
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium - English
2048 (2 x 1024) MB RAM
Dell Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 19" Silver Wide Flat Panel (SE198WFP) - UK/Irish
256 MB ATI Radeon X1300 PCI Express graphics card
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst cache
13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy ADVANCED HD software
No Speakers(*)
TOTAL Incl. VAT:£525.99
(*) I left out the speakers, since I figure I can get a set of decent
5.1 speakers for £30 or so (Dell offer 7.1 speakers for £70 or so).
The graphics card is pretty ordinary, but I'm no gamer so I can afford
to save a few quid there.
This seems a pretty amazing deal - a good £100 less than I get get
elsewhere. Any reason I shouldn't go for this - other than Dell's
lack of delivery, questionable policy regarding credit card payments,
annoying pre-sales patter, etc., etc. ? ;-)
Your configuration sounds about right. With 2Gb of memory Vista starts to
fly. The monitor and graphics card are DVI which gives a slightly better
picture.
The DELL Inspiron 530 (D08507) with Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 for £549 gives a
considerably faster system though with almost exactly the same configuration
(250Gb hard disk, but upgrade to 320gb for extra £17) for very little extra
money.
Or the similar DELL Vostro 200 (D08V03) with the E6550 but with Vista Home
Basic (call for upgrade to Premium) for just £417 with one years warranty
for an even better bargain.
Jonathan
<ogilviea@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1187037484.396736.52690@q75g2000hsh.googlegro ups.com...
On Aug 13, 8:44 pm, "Jonathan Eales" <Jon.Ea...@Virgin.net> wrote:
> The DELL CD is a copy of Widows Vista that Is BIOS locked so that it will
> only install on DELL computers. The install procedure is exactly the
> same.
Thanks - that's a little better, and certainly a *much* better
explanation of the situation than I received from pre-sales (what a
surprise).
> My DELL Inspiron 531 was ordered on 2nd July and is due to be delivered on
> 17th August. I've had four late shipment advisory emails. I've no
> confidence in this latest date. The order payment was taken from my
> credit
> card on 9th July.
Ouch! Is this standard Dell policy?
> I've just ordered exactly the same configuration with an Intel E6550 CPU
> for
> a little more money. Guess what, the estimated delivery date is 17th
> August!
Hmmmm... maybe they all come back from holiday that day? Nah, can't
be, it's a Friday :-)
I've just configured the following Inspiron 531 desktop:
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium - English
2048 (2 x 1024) MB RAM
Dell Entry Quietkey USB Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Dell 19" Silver Wide Flat Panel (SE198WFP) - UK/Irish
256 MB ATI Radeon X1300 PCI Express graphics card
320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst cache
13-in-1 Media Card Reader
Dell Optical Scroll Premium Mouse
16x DVD +/- RW Drive
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy ADVANCED HD software
No Speakers(*)
TOTAL Incl. VAT:£525.99
(*) I left out the speakers, since I figure I can get a set of decent
5.1 speakers for £30 or so (Dell offer 7.1 speakers for £70 or so).
The graphics card is pretty ordinary, but I'm no gamer so I can afford
to save a few quid there.
This seems a pretty amazing deal - a good £100 less than I get get
elsewhere. Any reason I shouldn't go for this - other than Dell's
lack of delivery, questionable policy regarding credit card payments,
annoying pre-sales patter, etc., etc. ? ;-)
Vista CD with Inspiron 531? 
Linear Mode
