Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am updating my 6 year old dell with 512MB RAM. Everything worked fine, but was getting slow and I just felt like it was time. This new DELL with Quad Core is quieter than my old single core computer. It is pretty quick although I havent really tested it out yet. The reason I went with the XPS was because it had a larger power supply, better components, and DDR3 memory which should get me through the next 6 years. I also set up my home netwok via Windows Media Center fairly easy, which comes on the machine.

I'll try to mention things that others haven't in prior reviews. System startup takes a little less than 2 minutes after the initial setup, which to me seems just a touch sluggish considering the decent specs. I'd recommend updating the BIOS among everything else from Dell's support page as soon as you can. The display: the Radeon 3650 has an HDMI connection not mentioned on this site. The drivers should be updated from ATI's support page but download the driver and the Catalyst Control Center (CCC) software separately. You'll get an error upon installation. I had success with it after uninstalling the CCC using Windows Add/Remove Programs, then reinstalling. The software also defaults to downscaling the display 15% (this effectively shrinks the display, not using the full screen). This can be fixed in the advanced menu of CCC. The system does come with an IR remote for use with Media Center. The TV tuner is Hauppage's WinTV-HVR-1250. You'll want to update the drivers from their site. This tuner will allow you to view/record HD video, but *NOTE*, like all Hauppage's tuners concerning HD video, it will only decode over-the-air ATSC HD broadcasts, not cable or satellite broadcasts. It'll see ClearQAM (unencrypted) digital channels if your cable company provides them. See their support page FAQ for more detailed info. Windows was free of all the junk extras which was a pleasant surprise. The free Trend Micro subscription is nice, too. Decent system that should last.

I was in the market to get a new PC for my online schooling but also media use and my beloved video gaming! I was in between either getting this or the new Dell Studio XPS with the new Intel Core i7. While I reallly wanted that computer for it's new technology the case it is in is just absolutely horrible! Overheating has been a big problem from what I've heard and I could only imagine how bad it would get in there if I were to throw the ATI Radeon HD4870x2 in there! Ok after buying this computer I saw that it had an ATI Radeon HD3650, that just won't cut it for modern gaming. ATI Radeon HD3650 is a 256MB DDR3, whereas an ATI Radeon 4870x2 has 2 1GB cards that are internally crossfired with DDR5 memory! Do your research or even use one and you'll see that it blows every other card out of the water except for the the NVidia GTX295. I purchased an ATI Radeon HD4870x2, now that's some power! I ended up having to replace the power supply too. I put in a OCZ GameXstream 700W PSU to power the beast. I wasn't too big of a fan when it came to the onboard sound so I decided to buy the Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro sound card and wow what a difference it makes in my games, music and movies! I ended up taking out the DVD burner and put in a Blu Ray play, much better now! I took out the modem and TV tuner since I don't have any use for them and I put in a fat video card cooler to hep take all the heat away from that silicone bonfire! I installed everything myself and saved well over 150 bucks installations alone! I had no problems except that I'm going to have to get an exchange on my video card since it has a memory leakage. The video card that I put does get very hot if you don't use the fan in the Catalyst properly. Otherwise overall good buy and after talking with the guys from Dell, their tech support doesn't know anything about what their computers are capable of handling! Come on Dell hire some people that actually know their stuff! Bottom line is if you're looking to get a great mulit media pc and possibly upgrade down the road then this is for you!

I recently was looking into building my own computer and after pricing all the parts to build a computer and mulling over the time it would take to receive everything/set up. I decided to just go purchase a computer. I walked into best buy and after reviewing one of the gateway computers and this Dell I decided that I would go with old trusty dell and give this one a try. Took it home and it’s a BEAST...I haven’t played many pc games since Half-Life 2, but I am a multi-tasking master...This pc does the trick, I have little to no slowdown and it looks beautiful...Now for the hardware Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 GHz...No real comment needed Ram: 6 Gigs of DDR3...KILLER but, would be nice if Dell didn’t split it up as two 2 gig sticks and two 1 gig sticks(I want to upgrade to 8 gigs but now I have to buy two 2 gig sticks) GPU: Decent...upgradable if a great game crosses my path that’s not on 360 PSU: Perfect for what is in it but it you upgrade the ram GPU and get a sound card you will NEED to upgrade this. OS: Vista...fun...sarcasm... Overall it’s a great computer, I give it a perfect score for the perfect price to performance ratio...you get exactly what you pay for...

I got this computer to update a computer that I have had for over 8 years old, a 256 MB RAM computer. This computer is great and can handle anything that you throw at it with software. The fast ethernet card is a plus with the high speed internet connection and it is pretty quiet to start up. I am impressed with Vista so far that is on it and the option with running Internet explorer in 64 bit or the regular 32 bit. The only thing that was stated missing from this computer is the Roxio Creater 10, I cannot find it on this computer. Otherwise, great and excellent buy for a Dell computer. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a computer.

I've had this computer for about a week. Out of the box I updated it with the drivers from dell's website. There were a few critical updates and more recommended updates. I suggest anyone who gets this system to make driver updates a top priority to help ensure stability. Like other posts have stated, the TV tuner drivers have to be updated otherwise playback is choppy beyond the point of even being watchable. I use it for multimedia, software development and to play a few old school games here and there like quake 3. Not a big gamer so I can't really comment on the graphics card though from what I've read, the ATI graphics that come with the machine are not the greatest. I bought the computer because it's a work horse and in those regards I'm pleased with my purchase. I noticed a firmware update on dell's site for the hard drive. These computers (at least mine) come with seagate hard drives and seagate had an issue with data corruption due to a flaw in the firmware some months back. I assume this update from dell is directly related. Just something worth knowing about before you buy the system. The update may not be related but firmware updates on hard drives are not something you do unless you need to so I think the possibility is high.

I love this PC. I was very pleased at first with everything but the Live TV. It was choppy on the video and audio side. I went to the Haupage site and updated the driver and now it works great! Very pleased with the expandability (I like my PCs to last 6-7 years). I will likely upgrade to more DDR3 Ram when it becomes available and a new video card in about a year. Coming out of sleep mode is the only draw back I've found that I couldn't resolve. I don't leave my PCs running all the time so this is not a big issue for me.

First problem was media center = after connecting cable to computer the tv kept flickering and could'nt understand anything that was said. Called Dell Support had to download new drivers for the media card; problem fixed!!! Next, tried updating drivers for ATI graphics====failed====Called Dell Support come to find out that when you update this dell you have to download the driver and the ati control center seperately. You have the choice of downloading all of it at the same time - driver, control center, ETC but it will fail. When you go to ATI download center be sure to download them seperately!!!!! Dell Support has been awsome and I highly recommend this PC just on that account alone. After I got all the bugs fixed this pc has really impressed me with its speed alone.

This computer is impressive and I like it very much. If you are fimiluar with Windows Computer rating service 1.0 - 5.9 it comes out of the box with 5.2. When it came home I had problems and hope you dont. It comes with a Radeon HD 3650 graphics card pre-installed with a non working driver from the factory Wide-screen monitors. I called Geek Squad 1-800 and talked to him for 1:45:00 min and he couldn't figure it out and the best option he had was to pay $30 for some one to remote access a NEW Computer so they could fix it. I couldn't see that I would have returned it before paying that dumb fee. So I called Dell AND PAY ATTN: Dell will NOT talk to you if you don't buy the product directly, they just gave the the geek squad's # and told me to discuss further with them. Long shot they still couldn't help, called ATI they couldn't help. Took it back to the store to return/exchange 2 days later and a lot of fighting that I didnt do anything to cause the problem, PC came home working. Now the computer really only has 2 flaws in my eyes: 1. If you use the HDMI cable to hook up your PC only on board monitor speakers will work. I had some so not to annoying and Vista has made a patch for it BUT their patch is IDT audio and once downloaded you can only have one or the other (all your perifreal speakers or monitor speakers for sound) this mattered to me because as part of my surround the monitor speakers were my center speakers. ( It does have VGA port and if that is used there is no problem, Except it's not HD). 2. I kind of expected a little more from the processor than I'm getting, (I thought quad core 8300 with 6GB ram should take some intensive programs to slow this down, I will say ( as the bench mark is: Crysis plays with only very minor hiccups) but.. if your not the gamer witch I'm not to much here some online basic combo's and watch it's done for me i.e on hulu.com playing one 480p(highest hulu goes) full screen is perfect everytime. play the same movie and a full tilt poker game.... some buffer time gaps in movie. play same movie, still have poker open and downloading music... minorly reduced download speed and more buffer time on vid. using photo shop and watch hi-def movie, minor to medium freeze frame that does eventually does recover. But i feel probably shouldn't happen. One last side not I'll make that was upsetting when I noticed it was, Inside it has 2-2Gb and 2-1Gb memory chips witch is fine but there made by different company's!(shame on dell or maybe best buy not sure) different brands DOES affect performance and they know it. It's upgradeable(at home) to 8Gb ram and I'm going to up grade to fix this issue and help with performance . Overall: Great PC,Geared toward future with 64 BIT Vista and DDR3 cheaper than you can get from Dell with same options, BUT BUYER Beware Best Buy Service after sale not reliable. I caught it fast enough but they have a 14 day return policy (return/exchange free) 15th day to 30th day you can still return but they WILL charge a 15% RESTOCKING FREE 2 last notes: IT IS A VERY QUITE SYSTEM doesn't make a sound unless under serious load ( good feature) The case is awesome Quick handle release and side falls off (no screws) and upgrade friendly inside with plastic brackets (no screws for swapping Hard drive, optical drive and more

I bought this computer on January 19th of this year expecting exceptional performance at the recommendation of the Best Buy salesman. It performed extremely well until May 15th, when the hard drive crashed. I called tech support at Dell, who led me through several attempts to resolve the issue, but was ultimately told the hard drive was bad and asked if there was anything important on it. (????!!!!) I was told a Dell tech would have to come out to replace the hard drive and that I could take the old hard drive "somewhere" to try to recover the data. Hopefully, my backup drive actually backed up the data, but won't know for sure until the hard drive is replaced. In any event, 3 days later and still no Dell tech...just a couple of computerized messages indicating that someone will call, but there's a "delay" in getting the necessary part. The computer, when it was working, was great. My advice if you get one.....1) make sure you have a working back up drive; and 2) get the Best Buy protection so if the hard drive crashes in 99 days, you can just exchange it for a new one at the store and don't have to wait for Dell to get around to making the part and getting a tech out to you to fix it. I'm going to call Best Buy today to see if they'll swap out the computer, but.........??

My Dell laptop just pooped out on me last week and I was fretting about what kind of machine I'd get to replace it. I had planned on another laptop but this XPS blew them all out of the water for the price. Heck even with my corporate discount through my employer I couldn't get a Dell with as many goodies for this kind of price. It's fast, quiet, and better than I expected. The only thing missing was a wireless network card in the deal.

Grest unit right out of the box. Just what I would expect from Dell. This thing screams compaired to my old Dell. his replaced an 8 year old unit. Added the Dell 24" monitor. Have not really found anything bad about the computer. The only down side was very minimal documentation. The user manual was very thin. I went to Dells web site to get the info I wanted.

Had this unit brought to us to upgrade the graphics card & power supply. The cable management in this impressive. However since we replaced the power supply to upgrade the graphics card, the cable management was a pain. The whole heatsink for the CPU has to come off. It's not easy to put it back on as the screws don't line up quite perfectly. Some of the cables also have a clip-on device to hold them out of the way to the Dell-standard power supply which is useless when swapping it out. These awkward decisions on Dell's behalf make me come to question the long-term reliability of this machine (though we've never had any returned to date & I can't definitively say it's unreliable). The RAM is 6GB & it's DDR3 so that's a great thing to have for gaming! Of course the 750GB hard drive doesn't hurt either. We swapped out the Radeon HD3650 in this for the XFX Radeon HD4850 [http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9254521&st=xfx+radeon+4850&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218069452028]. Which is a good choice as this unit only has one PCI-Express x16 slot so no CrossFire or SLI support here. Also this is, ultimately, a "budget" gaming PC as it's less than $1000 and only has one PCI-E slot. None the less it will give you *great* performance on modern games (if it is upgraded as here, that is).

I got this in January for my daughter. Was running great till the hard drive crashed. Dell sent a tech to my house for free and replaced the hard drive. No problems since. The specs listed say it does not have IEEE 1394 port but it does and works great with my cannon DV camcorder. So far all her games work well.

I purchased this PC to replace my old Dell XPS 400 that has served me well for many years. This machine did not disappoint once it was setup, plugged in and turned on. Right out of the box it was screamin' fast and super quiet. It took only a matter of minutes to configure it on my home network for accessing the internet and my older XPS. I highly recommend this PC if you're in the market for a new 64-bit PC. You can't get this machine on Dell.com for the price Best Buy is offering. This is a great deal!!! One minor gripe...I haven't been able to find any documenation on the TV Tuner Card that is installed. Initial test with it produced grainy, very poor picture quality. I suspect it's some setting or something that I need to set to improve the picture quality. Problem is, there's no doc anywhere to help. I guess trial & error will be the only way to resolve this minor complaint.

The only thing i am not satisfied with is that you can only run Raid 0, 1, or Raid10??? (which requires 4 or more drives) . . . no Raid5. This computer is virtually fully loaded. If you want a computer that will last, this is a good choice. If you are a serious gamer, you probably want to pay the additional $100 for the more advanced video card. However, this graphics card will meet any needs I have for a long time, and I imagine it will meet most users needs (great for running dual displays). I am a little concerned about the fan on the video card, but i don't know that they make them fanless anymore (i have had one go out, so i remain weary). GREAT BUY!!!

I purchased this PC to be able to edit HD AVCHD video from my camcorder. It gets the job done, but the screen can go into Auto Save mode and I have to reboot. Geek Squad looked at it and it now does this less frequently but still happens on occasion. Also in Premiere Elements (video editing software) the computer will freeze from time to time when saving a large file. With this high-end of a PC this should not happen. Beyond this, I really like it. Quite, fast in all other programs (besides Elements). I looked at exchanging it for an HP but have come to the conclusion that I'd probably face the same problems.

I am very happy with this product. Setup was a breeze, and it is super-fast. Good size hard drive, and lots of momory with room to expand. I added the Dell 24" flat-screen HD monitor, which makes a very sweet combination!

I use my computer for multimedia tasks and video editing all at the same time. My old P4, while good, would bog down badly when I was performing more than one multimedia task, or running one multimedia task and compiling a video in the background. No more. I can do everything I need to do and this machine doesn't even break a sweat. Processes that used to 4+ hours when they were the only thing running now take 30 minutes while I'm working on other resource hungry apps at the same time. I have found a couple of devices that that didn't get upgraded to 64 bit drivers, so I have to keep my old P4 around for those or buy new devices, For now I'll keep the old one around. Fortunately they are not major components in my activities. But it's worth checking on before you make the jump to 64-bit.

My old Dell (6 years old) was starting to have issues. So, I searched around for something to last another six years, or so. This XPS is awsome! The vista system is not that hard to adjust to from running XP. But, adobe doesn't have anything for the 64 bit vista for browsing yet. So, I can't view some sites. In the program files there is a 32 bit browser to allow viewing those sites though. The TV tuner is a great feature, but like one review said,"download the driver from hauppauge site". It's great watching cable on the PC. LOVE THIS XPS!!