Okay, now I haven't looked too heavily into this, but I searched the PR forums and ther was nothing I could find on this particular topic and the "Anything Goes" area seemed like the only place to put it. If this is already mentioned on the site elsewhere, I apologize for the information rerun!

So here I was, wandering around the Dell site to see if the Ultrasharp 2001FP dropped in price at all (It happens sometimes!) and saw that a third revision to the XPS line has just recently come out. They're calling it the XPS Gen 3 or something of that ilk.

Now I thought this was just a news bulletin about something to come, but then I saw I can config a system! It runs on either the new P4 560 (3.6Ghz) or the bank-sodomizing P4 3.4 EE processors. For graphics, it is running an ATI Radeon X800 XT on a PCIe x16 slot on a motherboard with several more (I forget how many) normal PCI slots and one PCIe x1 slot. Everything else about the rig is pretty standard (see: generic) fare short of some lame-ass lighted logo on the chassis.

Now I haven't seen any PCIe stuff on any other build-your-own sites yet. I know Alienware is pushing it pretty hard and Voodoo PC alludes to it from time to time, but is Dell the first with a P4 560 / PCIe GPU-based system for sale? I mean this thing could be theoretically shipped by July 16th according to the site's configurator. I guess I'm just a little blown away by the fact that they have this stuff (seemingly) earlier than anyone else.

Now I hate Dell with a fiery passion. My friend's 2nd Gen XPS sounds like a jumbo jet half the time, still overheats like it's going out of style and... and those cases are just... blegh. Plus, Intel only? C'mon, Dell. At least offer setups both sides of the fence. Aaaanyway. What are you pimps' opinions on this silliness? Has any other place got this hardware out yet? It's like the 'Twilight Zone'! Arrgh!

Btw, I'd put the link down, but I think ya'all are grown up enough to find your own way there or would consider going to the Dell page some form of pimp blasphemy, so I'll leave you all to your own devices on that one.

Dell is known as a "Prefered Supplier" and it's no surprise they get stocked up first.

I don't hate Dell, they provide a decent product at a reasonable price for an office, or someone who doesn't know/want to build there own machine, I have a Dell at work, it has no fans, is small and runs at 1.8GHZ. Perfect for surfing the net, and I can't play games at work, so anything more is a waste.

Don't get me wrong, I would never buy one for myself, but I have sent some people there, gotta match the person to the rig!

Note to self, don't post when in a bad mood. Oops.

Yeh, I guess I was just very taken aback by Dell having the tech available to sell now before anyone else (at least, that I know of). I really went far too off the handle on Dell which I honestly shouldn't have. I don't mind Dell's notebooks. I've had a little experience with those and honestly, they are pretty bitchin' for gaming. Plus they look pretty swank as far as notebooks go. They're no VoodooPC Envy, but they're also not starting for 3 large. The Dell LCD monitors aren't half bad either. Hence me being there to look at their 20 inch'er.

And you're right. To each their own. I meant to specifically talk about their XPS line and not their other desktops, but rage took over. The local university and my old HS both have Dell products and those definitely do the job they are intended for. But I've played on several different XPS systems of varying peformance levels and revisions and they all are simply not worth the cash dropped, I think. But that's just me. My friend adores his to no end, and if the person who buys it loves it, then I guess that's all that matters, right?

Besides, if I bash people who like what they have, then I'm just being like those snotty folks at record stores who scoff at you buying CD's that are over a month old because they are no longer 'underground'. Elitist = uncool.

Now then, how about getting these products out into the mass market, and out to reviewers already eh?

Don't diss the Dell. I have an Optiplex GX200 and even on Windows ME it's rock solid. Not one BSOD. Hasn't slowed down since I got it about 4 months ago. No hardware compatibility problems. Don't believe me?

This machine survived a 4-foot drop. Dead serious. Took it to a LAN party and it was packed up in the back trunk, well after 60 miles of driving it came loose and when we went to open the liftgate it fell out onto the concrete. Fired it up, expecting dead HDD's and loose parts. Nothing. Rock solid. Minor case damage, pfft only had like 6 of the cases, just put another one on.

I'd like to see a piece of sh!t HP or Comcrap survive a 4-foot drop.

Quote: Originally Posted by Infantwarmachine Besides, if I bash people who like what they have, then I'm just being like those snotty folks at record stores who scoff at you buying CD's that are over a month old because they are no longer 'underground'. Elitist = uncool

Hey shut up. You probably still like Modest Mouse

Well, on the subject of Dell computer stuff. I'm with Necro in the fact that Dell's are just right for some people. I'll also agree that they make one helluva LCD. I've seen the XPS notebooks though and I just have to say whats the point? the thing is frickin huge! Sorry but no thanks.

Hey IWM Have you paid yet? If you have you want seat 60 and 61 if your bro is comin.

Quote: Originally Posted by _Sexy_Pants_ Hey shut up. You probably still like Modest Mouse

Hey, I resent that...! "...And we'll all float on alright..."

Hoooo, j-dogg I un-dissed Dell thoroughly so simmah! If I hated Dell period, I wouldn't have been on their site checking the price of their high-end LCD monitors, I assure you.

Sexy pants! Aghh! You've somehow tracked me down from your record store base and found me! I promise to burn those Yellowcard discs sir! *falls to knees* I'll do anything to avoid any more abuse! Have mercy! /

Hey Lokie. I'm going to try and get in tomorrow sometime to pay for my brother and I along with a friend of mine from UWEC who is down in Madison right now and wanted me to snag a spot for him as well. I don't even know if I'll have my new rig ready by the 7th, but better safe than sorry! I'll try to get seats by you if I can otherwise I'll try for somethin' within earshot so you can keep we n00bs in line.

I am with $SOLID$ on this one. I used to build systems for family and friends all the time and sometimes people ask to do one for their brother in law or whatever...I learnt the hard way in inevitably I'll get a call at 10pm.."Hey yeah this is Bill...Bob's brother in law and my computer crapped out on me. Can you help me?" Now if there was any way to physically reach thru a phone and take a person by the hand and point to the reset button and then reset it for them as I b!tch slap em up side the head I would...Now I say "You know what? Dell makes a good machine at a good price and I'll configure it for you if you get bob to answer a few questions for me" And like Julius Ceaser my hands are clean. I have tried to upgrade a number of HP/Compaq's/gateways/emachines in my time and now I just tell people "go buy a new one" At least with Dell the box is mostly open and you can put in extra cards, better optical disks, more storage. Having said that...I used to live 5 houses away from where Voodoo makes their machines. I went past it every day to work. Its a little house in a sh!tty part of town here in Calgary and one of these days regardless of who I have to sleep with I will get my hands on one of those....droooooooool

The one really nice thing I can say about the XPS line is that their specialized tech support for it is excellent. My friend has had in-depth help countless times from them at all hours on some quite difficult problems and they are always really nice and get the problem fixed.

If you wanna talk about upgrade-unfriendly boxes, any number of my mom's old HP's are just walls of cord on the inside. I don't know anything about the newer offerings though. But oy. Scary stuff. Compaq's big old white cases were nice and roomy, but I don't know about their current ones either. Just musing...

Chunky, you used to live by Voodoo? And it's based out of a little crummy house? Craziness.

Quote: Originally Posted by Infantwarmachine Chunky, you used to live by Voodoo? And it's based out of a little crummy house? Craziness.

yup they are based out of Calgary,Alberta Canada. Right behind this old run down hotel in probably an 1000 sq.ft bungalow. Actually another piece of history is I saw Nirvana in the bar at that run down hotel...anyways there is maybe 10 people working there. It has been my pipe dream to try emulate their little business model and try to compete but I am short on Time, Talent and Cash. They have been around here for probably close to 15-20 years now. But it has only been the last few where they have gotten exposure NA wide.

Yeah some of the big white compaqs and HP's are okay but two things I found. The cd-rom drives have that funny molded piece fastened right to the drive to stealth it and I don't get paid enough to try and retrofit that to a new drive. Sometimes you even have to take the faceplate off the new drive as it won't fit in the drive bay with their configuration. Secondly the motherboard has been pop-riveted to the case and that panel it is riveted to has no access holes in it to allow you to remove the drives unless you have special tools.

Some answers for you:

1. Dell is in bed with Intel. That's why they a) don't sell AMD stuff, and b) get the newest gear first.
2. Dell's motherboards are made by Intel, who (shockingly) have the first available PCIe boards for Intel out.
3. I use Intel motherboards at work exclusively, because they are BAR NONE the most stable motherboards I have EVER used. Sure, you can't overclock them, but with the 500+ Intel motherboards I've purchased over the last 3 years, I've only had to return 4. That's right, FOUR. (Compare that to the Abit I bought, which I had to return 4 times alone)

Any customer that I think would become a support nightmare geta AUTOMATICALLY redirected to Dell. Even my own sister-in-law. Sometimes a lost sale is better, if you know what I mean.

Quote: Originally Posted by pimp_joose Any customer that I think would become a support nightmare geta AUTOMATICALLY redirected to Dell. Even my own sister-in-law. Sometimes a lost sale is better, if you know what I mean.

Dang that is so true. I built a system for my neighbor and I have spent 15 hours fixing and repairing it (mostly software).

ME: you got the ads from Kazaa
them: ohhh I see, so what do I do?
ME: I'm removing Kazaa and don't download it again, Here use winmx and I'll install it for you.
Them: sounds good

1 week later
Them: the ads are back
Me: did you install Kazaa
Them: yes, but I only downloaded one song
Me: you still downloaded Kazaa though....


They have dowloaded kazaa 4 times and tell them not to, and now I told them I'm not fixing there pc any more. I wish I would have sent them to Dell. Also for some reason if they buy a dell they will just sit there and use the pc with the adware and not call dell for help but if I make them one they have no problem calling me for the stupidest things.

Quote: Originally Posted by SPECIALBLEND218 Dang that is so true. I built a system for my neighbor and I have spent 15 hours fixing and repairing it (mostly software). ME: you got the ads from Kazaa them: ohhh I see, so what do I do? ME: I'm removing Kazaa and don't download it again, Here use winmx and I'll install it for you. Them: sounds good 1 week later Them: the ads are back Me: did you install Kazaa Them: yes, but I only downloaded one song Me: you still downloaded Kazaa though.... They have dowloaded kazaa 4 times and tell them not to, and now I told them I'm not fixing there pc any more. I wish I would have sent them to Dell. Also for some reason if they buy a dell they will just sit there and use the pc with the adware and not call dell for help but if I make them one they have no problem calling me for the stupidest things.

I built two systems for these guys..small buisness just the two of them...40gb HDD and within one week I was back cuz the both downloaded Kazaa and were getting so many popups and sh!t they couldn't even work. I downloaded Adaware and ran it on each machine...457!! on one machine. I looked at the hard drive it had 2gb left. I checked the Kazaa shared folder...34gb of stuff (pron). Then I ran a virus scan and the thing was so infected cuz they shut off the virus scan cuz it kept popping up on them...no sh!t sherlock!...I downloaded kazaalite and told them they were on their own. One month later another call cuz the network went down. Again they shut off the virus scan. I told them it would cost them 300$ for me to fix it. That was the end of that