The Beast

As I have been mulling over the idea of setting up in business for quite some time now, I was on the look out for a new workstation class computer capable of running MCAD and DCC applications. These are generally specialist machines with the prices tending to err on the side of obscene. I had concluded that I would have to satisfy myself with building a reasonable machine at a more manageable price tag. That was until I acted upon a tip off from a friend about Dell's Outlet Store.

Dell are not usually a company that I would think of as offering value for money. Their adverts all very smart and glossy with good prices etc but when you dig down the true cost of the computer with VAT, delivery and essential upgrades added is usually pretty expensive. As for their Workstations they are vastly overpriced. But, as Dell's big selling point is that they "build to order", the problem they have is when a deal falls through and the computer is returned they're stuck? They can't sell it on as a new machine so what do they do? They sell it off at a discount on their Dell Outlet Page as a refurbished machine even though it comes packaged and guaranteed as new.

One lazy Friday afternoon, after a returning from a Pizza Hut buffet lunch (this was a few weeks ago before my healthy eating plan kicked in), I logged on to see what deals they had on Workstations. Lo and behold up popped a beast of a machine at a fantastic 1300UKP less than it would cost as new. I suspect I had lucked out and found an error in their pricing. The machine was 552UKP (ex. VAT) and I'm pretty sure it should have been 1552UKP (ex. VAT) as a similar spec of computer was a 1000 quid more on the same page. Out came the credit card and a couple of minutes later the order was placed.

A stressful few days later, in which the order was processed and confirmed (would they realise their mistake and cancel my order?) and the notice of shipping was confirmed. Exactly one week after placing the order it was delivered (for free) to my door. Oh the unmitigated joy!

So, here it sits. A Dell Precision 360 Workstation P4 3.06Ghz with HT on a 800Mhz FSB, 2Gb DDR 400Mhz RAM, 120Gb SATA HD, DVD Drive, Keyboard, Mouse and the piece de resistance... a NVIDIA 128Mb Quadro4 Dual DVI FX1000 Workstation class OpenGL compliant video card (worth 400+ quid on its own) and a full copy, including CD, of WinXP Professional, and 3 year guarantee... all for the princely sum of 662 quid, Oh yes! Read it an weep.

Category:

• Dell
• Computer
• Workstation
• Quadro