Category Archives: dell

Computers, dell

Its been awhile…

Leave a comment

I know its been awhile, but I had quite a few family issues to work on. However that should be straightened out, and now I can blog a bit more 🙂

Anyway, ever since I sold pretty much everything I had to make some money, I was left in a void of nothing.

I sold the Alienware for a custom AMD system and OC’d it to 3.6 GHz. The camera was never really replaced, as well as the camcorder, but I can make due for now. So the only left was the laptop. I sold a Dell e6400 for a nice price on ebay, but I was wondering what to get next. After looking around around for some time I found the vostro series.

The vostro series, to me anyway, was something in between a inspiron and a latitude. So therefore I never really looked into it, and just never crossed my mind…until recently. When I saw the new 3000 series, I was impressed with the looks, and the colors of the system. So I decided to try it out and I placed my order with my account rep. A few days later, I thought I made a mistake, and cancelled it cause on outlet, they had a nice studio xps 16 for almost the same price. However I was too late and the I wanted was gone. So I replaced the order again. The problem now was the color choice. Red, being the color I wanted, was on backorder for at least 10 days at the time (now 8). So now I had a wait.

The wait wasn’t that bad, but I really hate waiting…

Order Date: 3/25/2010

3/25: Pre-production
3/26: Pre-production
3/27: Pre-production
3/28: Pre-production
3/29: Pre-production
3/30: In Production – build stage
3/31: In Production – build stage
4/1: In Production – build stage
4/2: In Production – build stage
4/3: In Production – boxing stage
4/4: In Production – boxing stage
4/5: In Production – boxing stage
4/6: Shipped!!!

These are my specs:

224-8458 Vostro 3400 Laptop
317-3846 New 2010 Intel Core i5-520M (2.40GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz, Dual Core/4T, 3MB/L3) Vostro
317-3852 4GB,DDR3,1066MHZ, 2 DIMM Vostro
330-8216 Dell Keyboard 86 Backlit English Vostro
330-8088 Vostro Documentation and Documentation Tech Sheet Setup English
313-9450 Nvidia Geforce 310M, 512MB Graphics Vostro
342-9965 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Vostro
421-2281 Dell,Software,Digital Persona Inc,Fingerprint Reader,4.0,Factory Install, Vostro
330-8224 Palmrest with Fingerprint reader Winery 14 Vostro
320-8919 14.0 inch High Definition LED Display (1366 x 768) with anti-glare Vostro
421-1553 Windows 7 Home Premium, Media, 32-bit, Notebook, Vostro, English
330-6322 Genuine Windows 7 Label, Latitude, Vostro and Mobile Precision Notebooks
421-0320 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface,SMB
421-2231 Dell Data Back-up and Recovery Manager for WinXP,Vostro
330-8236 Dell Resource DVD, Vostro 3400
330-8223 90W AC Adapter for Vostro
430-3747 Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth 2.1 Module Vostro
313-9428 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability, Vostro
421-2223 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Vostro
421-1188 Roxio Creator Dell Edition 10.3 Media Vostro
421-1006 Dell Webcam Software 1.4 Application Kit Vostro
313-9468 Bezel, LCD, with Camera Winery 14
313-9457 Lucerne Red Vostro
313-9463 Lucerne RED with DVD+/-RW Vostro
410-1736 Trend Micro 16.6 PC-cillin Internet Security, English 30-day, Subscription, for DellVostro DT and NB
312-0995 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery for Vostro
421-9888 No Productivity Software Vostro
925-3810 Basic Support: Next Business Day Parts and Labor Onsite Response Initial Year
908-8047 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus Onsite Service Initial Year
988-7347 No Warranty beyond 1 year
983-3920 Warranty Support,Initial Year
900-9987 Standard On-Site Installation Declined
986-5010 CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection, 1 Year
988-7689 Info, Complete Care
468-4927 Lucerne RED Vostro

dell

DFS – Dell Financial Services

Leave a comment

Well, I have had my DFS account for only a month and its already bothering me. I owe only $35 on the account, and would like to pay it off. I have tried at least 12 days in a row, but always the same error:

“Our website is currently experiencing technical difficulties. This account cannot be accessed momentarily. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

I have tried different browsers and computer, but still the same error.

I call to access my account and tried to pay, and the system can’t find my account. Now when it does I need to pay extra since you pay a fee for paying over the phone. Plus to make matters worse I am late, and its almost time for the next statement. So therefore it might even get reported to my CRA. I gave a nice survey for that site, and I hope they fix it soon, or else that account will be closed.

dell

The Alienware is finally here!!

7 Comments

Well, after waiting, and waiting – its here!

So far, so good. Since then I upgraded swapped the video card out to the GTX 280 from the GTX 260, and I had no choice, but to upgrade the sound card as well. The sound card that was included was really bad. After looking at all the reviews, it turns out the the card that was included was a rebranded Audigy 2 card. You can read some of the reviews: http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-Xtreme-Audio-PCI/M/B000W7PNZI.htm

As others have stated, it does awhile to boot, but I don’t mind that. On HL2 based games (source), I usually get around 250 FPS on 1680×1050 22in screen with AA on 4x. However that can vary based on what I am looking at.

Also, the system itself responds very well to the prime95 stress test. The cpu never gets above 72C, and it remains “cool” at idle at around 45C or so. Keep in mind that these numbers can vary. Right now, its close to 65F in the room where the system is at.

Vantage:
Graphics Score 10825
CPU Score 48305
3DMark Score P13431 3DMarks

Quick Specs:
Alienware Aurora Desktop
Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis, 875W PSU
Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (BD-ROM; DVD/CD Burner) and DVD-ROM
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (Updated)
Overclocked Intel Core i7 975 Extreme (3.6GHz, 8MB Cache)
6GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Single 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 (Updated)
2x 300GB – SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 10k RPM, 16MB Cache HDD (Updated)
Western Digital Black 1TB HD , 7200 RPM (Added)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English (Now Ultimate)

I took some pictures. Hope you all enjoy! Any questions, just ask! (Click on a picture once to get it by itself, then once again to get it bigger.)

dell

Dell Exchange *Update 1*

Leave a comment

Well, it hasn’t been that long since my last post, however apparently the delay is not my imagination.

There have been posts of the AW delays on Dell’s AW forum. However some have reported to receive theres. Which lets one to believe there is a shortage of parts. However no one knows which parts are having supply issues… You call support and they say “we have no shortage of parts”, but if that is the case – why are people waiting months for their AW?

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/3746.aspx

On another note, I spoke to Dell corp and I have someone assigned to my case now. The agent will work with me closely till this issue is resolved. I just hope it gets resolved before Christmas.