Good compact media center computer for small spaces
I bought this computer from Dell 5 years ago using a fun menu of choices for memory, graphics, processor, and sound, and even color of the case. I wanted it to be orange to go with my household theme. I also wanted a small device that could sit in limited space in a small entertainment center and use my big screen TV as its monitor. I chose the most RAM and the middle best graphics. It would be used to play movies and manage my iTunes account. While it ended up being rather expensive, I think it has been worth it, because it still runs well today, and it has been serving my media and web surfing needs for 5 years. It has been stable and reliable, making the cost worth it. Ease of Use It ran very nicely right out of the box. It came with Windows 7, which was new to me back then, but intuitively easy. All the drivers were installed, and I was supplied with a disk of the backup operating system and also driver disks in case I had to reinstall them. Dell also has a very good support service, but I have not had to use it for this machine. Hardware Quality Nothing has worn out yet after 5 years of everyday use, including a period of 6 months of all day use from sunup until sundown as the main entertainment for my homebound husband. It also seems very solidly built. Support & Service Dell has a good system for buying items and for asking questions live via online chat, about products. They send out what they build very quickly. They have warranties and repair services, but I have no experience with that since I have not had to use those services. I would like to say that if I could change something, however, it would be not to require a service tag just to ask questions. The service tag is on each computer, but it takes time to find. Durability Everything has held up for 5 years so far. This is pretty good considering the heavy use it has had. Design Innovative and small. It fits in small spaces and is a very pretty orange color. However, if I wanted to do a hardware upgrade, I would have a challenge getting to the parts in question because everything is so tightly packed in the small case. I also notice that during heavy use, I need to run a fan beside it to help it stay cool during the hot summer. Performance It runs snappily so long as I run a faster browser than Internet Explorer, such as Chrome or Firefox. It particularly shines when I use it to manage my podcast and music collection, because the sound quality is quite good. Also, it plays video well in high definition without hesitation. I have also been pleased with the ample hard drive it came with. At 1 Tb, it has adequate room for my entire media library.
MoiraWhitlock
USA