# $3200 at Dell.com! What the Hell was I thinking. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 27, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415 "2006-09-27T21:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/81 "2014-10-01T22:19:35Z")
My first computer was a DX4/100, 4 Mb RAM with a massive 540 MB HDD, and a 14" NEC colour monitor. $2400 in 1994-95. While the prices have stayed relatively stable, inflation means you’re really getting a lot more computer for less money. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/82 "2014-10-01T23:20:53Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I had to look this thread up because I finally replaced this laptop. It had a good run. I upgraded the memory to 4GB, got a 250GB 7300ROM HDD, and replaced the backlight once. Battery stopped working sometime around 2008 and I never bothered to buy a new one. Other than that, this machine served me well for 8 years. Not bad. > > Here is what I just replaced it with. Let me know how I did. > > Alienware 17" > Windows 7 Ultimate > 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4710MQ processor (Quad Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost > NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 880M graphics with 8GB total GDDR5 > 16GB DDR3L at 1600MHz (2 x 8GB) > 1TB 5400RPM SATA 6Gb/s + 80GB mSATA SSD Caching > > It came with a free 16GB Dell 7 Venue tablet (Student Coupon), and 10% off the entire order (Military Coupon). Total cost with shipping was $2463. I will add the latest Microsoft Office for $5 under the MS Home Use Program. > > Should this computer last just as long as the last one? Has advancements in computer technology been slowing down or speeding up? Should I have gotten Windows 8? One of the reasons I started looking at Alienware was that I could still order them with Windows 7. My wife’s computer has Windows 8 and I hate it. I don’t mean this in a snarky way at ALL- but may I ask why you did not consider going to a Macintosh? I do believe they offer Military discounts as well as some student discounting ( I do not have the hard numbers in front of me ). I just read that Windows 10 is coming out. With some of the incompatibility issues of the last few releases of Windows, had you considered going to a Macintosh and then - when you needed to- running a Windows Emulator on it? That asked, what you got is one smoking machine. The NVIDIA card and the 80GB caching especially caught my eye. You’ve eliminated the choke points, it seems. Enjoy it !! 🙂 ETA: Nice revival- my last post was almost 8 years old ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/83 "2014-10-02T01:31:24Z")
I got halfway through the thread before I realized it was a zombie (I didn’t read the specs). I thought someone was being sarcastic when they mentioned Myspace. Then I saw the picture and thought, “what the hell?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/84 "2014-10-02T01:42:22Z")
I was wondering why somebody bought a $3200 computer, then stuck a 10yo OS on it with a mere 80gb HD. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/85 "2014-10-02T03:58:04Z")
> [@Slowki](#): > > Windows 8 is terrible(It gave me the final push to Linux), and Windows 9 is coming out soon, so don’t bother and stick with 7. Microsoft gets 1 in 2 releases right, so 9 should be good and worth the upgrade. There will be no Windows 9. The next MS O/S is Windows 10. However, if that’s binary, it will be Windows 2 (decimal). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/86 "2014-10-02T17:01:38Z")
> [@Slowki](#): > > In order: Yes, Neither, No. > > That should be pretty future proof, an 880M is quite nice and any i7 will last for a couple of years, and 16GB(GiB if you’re an IEC idiot, JEDEC FOREVER!) of memory is more than enough for now. > > Computer technology isn’t really advancing faster or slower, by Moore’s law CPUs double in speed roughly ever 18 months, but there is a hard limit on transistor size, so at some point Moore’s law will stop working. Although I’ve heard they’ve made some progress with other CPU designs which could extend the law. > > Windows 8 is terrible(It gave me the final push to Linux), and Windows 9 is coming out soon, so don’t bother and stick with 7. Microsoft gets 1 in 2 releases right, so 9 should be good and worth the upgrade. I personally don’t mind Windows 8.1. Windows 10 isn’t coming out for another year or so. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415/87 "2014-10-02T17:47:20Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Stupid impulse buy? > > Home security system. My recent one was easily avoided if I had listened to a friend’s advice. He told us under no circumstances should we go the the local glass blowing place, otherwise we’d end up walking out with an absurdly expensive lamp. He was wrong. We walked out with three :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3200-at-dell-com-what-the-hell-was-i-thinking/374415.md?page=4)