Dell Dimension 9150 Desktop

Great Desktop for a Reasonable Price.

Posted Apr 29, 2006 - This desktop actually goes by two names--Dimension 9150 (offered through Dell Small Business) and XPS 400 (offered through Dell Home). This in itself should tell you what a high-performance machine it is. The XPS 400 is marketed as one of Dell highest-end desktops (surpassed by only the XPS 600). The only real difference between the Dimension 9150 and the XPS 400 is an interchangeable piece of plastic with the system name on it. Frankly, this desktop lives up to the billing. It features an Intel Dual Core Processor, which may just seem like more marketing rhetoric. When you use the desktop, however, it makes all the difference in the world. Have you ever been in the middle of an important task when suddenly your virus scanner decides it's time for a complete system scan? If you have, you know that the scan brings your system performance to a crawl. With a Dual Core Processor (which means the processor actually has two processing cores), there is virtually no performance loss--you still have complete access to one processing "core"--while the other core is being used by the virus scanner. This desktop is built for high performance. It has an optional 13-in-1 Media Card Reader that fits in one of the 3.5" bays. It also features a PCI Express slot that allows for high-performance graphics as well as Serial ATA hard drives. It uses PC4200 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, again lending itself to high performance. It has two front USB ports conveniently located. The only complaints I have are small. First, while the case opens quite easily, you have to be careful when opening and closing it. The interlocking teeth that "click" the side of the case into place have a tendency to scratch the rest of the case. The shiny black front-facing portions of the plastic case also have a tendency to scratch. Overall, you have to like this desktop. It combines a reasonable price point + performance + reliability. Hard to go wrong there.

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Top-notch performance, esthetically pleasing, reasonable cost

Posted Feb 5, 2006 - I have had the Dimension 9100 for about a week now. It replaces an 8200. I still have an XPS B800 (8100) at home. Over the years I have bought about 25 Dells for our office. A combination of Dimensions, Optiplex’, and Inspirons. Since 1997, when I bought the first Dell, I have had one hard-disc fail and one 1394 card shut down the system. That’s it. Both were replaced within 2 days. So, naturally, I went for the 9100. I am not disappointed. It is truly a step up from previous dimensions, although I have not used any of the new Gen XPSs.

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Dell D 9100 Product Quality and Tech Quality

Posted Feb 6, 2006 - 1st problem was Fan did not spin on power supply. 2nd P D keep system very hot. Not enough intake fans, only 1. This burned up the Memory. Onboard sound Sigmatel does not support 5.1 speaker. All items were replaced but when the system would continue to lose memory and programs they did an exchange for the second time. This time I now have a XPS4009/9150 Refurbish system. They downgraded me to a P 4 540 3.2. and Rank 1 memory instead of Rank 2 memory. So buyer beware.

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Dell Dimension 9150

Posted May 30, 2006 - The Dimension 9150 I received was equipped with a media card reader, a CD/RW combo and a DVD writer. All these stations were built in too loose because of use of wrong screws, this is creating noise and stations you can move around (not very healthy for the stations themselves). Dell send me a 2nd machine which had exactly the same problem, this has led me to believe that the machines assembled/delivered in Holland have, despite of a good performance, a major 'bug'. I even got advice from technical helpdesk to 'use some cardboard if I find the noise disturbing' Communication is cut off ever since. I have lost trust in this company which I regret

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