New Computer!
Wow.
No, not WoW, although that’s been consuming about every waking hour that I’m not at work, but “wow” as in, “my new computer is freaking fast” wow.
I ordered a Dell refurb last Sunday and it showed up on Thursday. I left work early and got it setup and I’m very impressed. I got a Dell XPS 600 (P4 dual core, 2GB RAM, 500GB HD). It came with a Nvidia 6800 video (256MB) which seems to be working well. I still will probably upgrade to the 7900 to be current (and may splurge for the 512MB version).
I went the refurb route for a couple of reasons. My time is important to me. It may not seem like it since it’s now spent playing WoW, but I play it with my wife and friends, so it is a good social time. Researching which motherboard to get is tedious and not worth my time. There’s also the warranty. When you piece it together yourself and something goes wrong, you’re screwed. Now I just call Dell and they send somebody out. Again, time. I’m capable of doing things myself, I’ve done it before, but hardware problems are not things I like to screw around with.
One thing that suxors about buying from somebody like Dell is all the crap they put on there. A brand new machine should not take 5 minutes to log into. Even after you go through and get the stuff so it doesn’t ask you anymore, it is still slow as hell. This is a terrible user experience when getting a new computer. In some ways it’s worse then having an infected PC.
Thankfully my friend mentioned an app that will remove most of it automatically. If you are getting, or know somebody who’s getting, a Dell, run and get the Dell De-Crapifier. It kind of crapped out a couple of times, but I just re-ran it and it uninstalled everything. Awesome! Reboot a couple of times and things are flying without any of the junk on there.
Going into Second Life is a whole new experience. The graphics are so smooth now it’s not even funny. The particle effects are stunning. The avatars move smoothly (negating any network/server lag). Incredible. This is how it was made to be run.
World of Warcraft is much smoother too. I think that’s more due to the extra memory and CPU power than the video, but the video is sharper and faster. I am able to keep up running because the computer isn’t swapping all the time. Much better experience.
All in all I’m very, very happy. Things are so smooth and fast it’s unreal. I made an image of the disc after removing all the crap so I can quickly get back to a known state if need be and not have to spend hours doing the OS install (hopefully). Just need to install a few more things, copy my music over (and free up space on my laptop) and I’ll be good to go.
Oh, and this was paid for with poker winnings. Even though I suck, I was still able to pay for it all with poker winnings. So it’s like it was free. 
Woo hoo!!!
May 1st, 2006 at 8:36 am
I’d always had good luck with Dell computers until this past year. All I can say is just hope nothing ever goes wrong with it. I spent five weeks fighting with them to get a new computer when it should have been obvious that it was needed after five days. The new computer is in and it’s great too, but I remain nervous.
There. I’ve rained on your parade.
May 1st, 2006 at 9:05 am
I’ve had great luck with Dell service, at least with the high level service plans. The NBD plans have been great on the couple of times I’ve needed them. Hopefully I’ll never need it, but I’m confident I’ll be OK if something comes up
May 1st, 2006 at 9:34 am
You’ll definitely need the added speed for PvP, unless you want the 15 year old ADD addled 1337dOOds killing you in .2 seconds.
June 13th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
Hmmm - I just bought a new Dell recently myself. I was surprised by all of the applications already installed. Thanks for the info. I might have to do some de-crapifying myself
June 14th, 2006 at 10:14 am
that’s pretty sweet! my compuer is pretty fast, but the video card kinda sucks the big one. im not sure how, when or if im going to upgrade, because unlike you, i suck more at poker and my bankroll wont even talk to me. im stuck playing this, http://www.deadmanshandhbo.com , which is fun, but still you know what i mean. at least its Deadwood, so it constantly reminds me that the new season has started hahaha, but ya, my computer is even choppy on this little diddy.
have fun with WoW and the new comp.
dave
July 20th, 2006 at 10:14 am
Chris Dhal, where did u disappear to?