Korean Job Discussion Forums

[quadra87]

Ok,
I am looking at buying a new system in April. My price range is 1,000,000 ~1,500,000 including everything (computer, monitor, printer, etc.) It's been a long time since I have actually shopped for a new computer, so I decided to use Dell as my intial consideration. Using the korean homepage, I managed to make the following system that seems to have everything I want within my range. The price includes tax I believe. Anyways, like I said, I have a couple months to decide, and this is only the begining of my research.

Does this seem like a reasonable system for the price?
Will it last me for a while (I really only use my computer for word processing, surfing the internet, and some low-end gaming)?
Am I right to think it's better to stick with the Windows XP for a while?
Will it be a hassle to convince Dell Korea to install English OS?

Any advice would be great!

Dell Dimension(TM) E520 Desktop
PROCESSOR Intel� Core�2 Duo Processor E6300 (2.13GHz、2MB L2 캐시、1066MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows� XP Home Edition
MEMORY 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 160GB SATA 3.0GB/s NCQ
OPTICAL DRIVE 48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive
MONITOR 17 inch Ultrasharp� 1707FP Digital Flat Panel
VIDEO CARD 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
SOUND Sound Blaster Montogomery3

PRINTER DELL 926 PRINTER Dell Photo All-In-One Printer 926
SPEAKERS Dell A225 Speakers
KEYBOARD & MOUSE Dell USB Keyboard and Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER 3.5 in Floppy Drive
OPTIONAL PORTS IEEE Firewire 1394
WARRANTY 1Year Complete Coverage

Total Damage: 1,432,200 Won

Thanks in advance for any feedback

[thebum]

as long as you don't get into downloading movies/tv shows (my weakness) you will be fine. i always am burning dvds and i desperately need more hard drives (the 400 gig drive i bought a month ago is almost full)

[SuperHero]

Why such a small monitor?

If you have XP for your current computer just use that to install it on the new one. I'd recommend getting a DVD-RW combo unit rather than a CD-RW/DVD drive. Prices are cheap and you'll enjoy being able to burn DVDs as well.

A floppy drive is basically a waste of money and space, but it is your choice. As to the rest of the hardware I'll leave it up to cubanlord and demophobe to critique as they are the true hardware experts on this board.

[the_beaver]

[SuperHero]

[the_beaver]

[cubanlord]

that doesn't seem too bad for everything you are getting (well....maybe a few hundred dollars to expensive). However, considering you are getting the warranty, it isn't too bad. It looks like a system that will suit you just fine (for your needs that is).

edit: and yes, stick with XP. Do NOT go to Vista for another year or two.

[cubanlord]

woah. wait a minute. Change the 7300LE to the 7300GT. It shouldn't be that much more expensive and you won't regret doing so.

[quadra87]

Thanks for the feedback,
Ok, couple of other questions:

Does anyone know if Dell Korea will provide English Widows XP rather than a Korean version?

I was also wondering if it was worth it to get Windows XP Pro. The only reason is that my girlfriend and I both share the same computer. Using a Korean OS makes me crazy, while using an English OS makes her crazy. The multilingual support on XP Pro seems like a reasonable solution. If I understand it right, Multilingual User Interface Pack will let you switch between languages for menus and such.

[kprrok]

Yes, Dell Korea can give you English XP. But, you can't just switch the language for the menus and such between Korean and English. It doesn't work that way. I've got English XP and I've set the region to Korea, so some programs will run in Korean, but the OS and all the main stuff cannot be changed to Korean.

The best solution is to create a partition and have both OSs on your system. It will ask which to boot each time you turn on the computer. One for you, and one for your girlfriend.

KPRROK

[eamo]

[J.B. Clamence]

Why not get Vista instead of XP? I thought all the new computers were coming standard with Vista these days. I figure soon everything will be Vista so you might as well get it now.

Also, I think a lot of the newer better desktops have 2GB of RAM instead of your 1GB. It depends on what you plan on doing with it, but if you're looking for top of the line (as I assume you are since you're buying such an expensive desktop), or you're really into playing games, maybe get some more memory.

Also, I bought an external floppy drive when I bought my first laptop 4 years ago. I haven't used it in years since I started using USB flash memory drives. I agree with the other poster who said floppy disk drives are a waste of money. Everything is USB drives now.

[quadra87]

KPRROK,
Are you using XP Pro with the Multilingual User Interface Pack add on? As I said, I wasn't sure, but is seems to allow more than just the regional options of the home edition.

[SuperHero]

[quadra87]

That's what I thought. The multilingual pack is only available with XP Pro, right?