Dealing with Dell

I pulled the trigger this afternoon and bought a Dell Studio XPS 8000. As is always the case, it's more than I wanted to spend, but it has the power to do the stuff I need a computer for, especially when it comes to editing photos.

Here are the stats:

• Studio XPS 8000, Intel® Core™ i5-750 processor(8MB Cache, 2.66GHz)
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
• No Monitor
• 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write capable + 16x DVD-ROM Drive
• 6GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM¹ at 1066MHz - 4 DIMMs
• 750GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
• 1024MB nVidia GeForce GT220
• Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
• 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty,² InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis³
• Free Shipping

Starting Price: $1,178

Total Savings: $279

Final Price: $899

They offered me 12 months at 0% interest and I went for it. Now the waiting begins. The projected build date is Nov. 17 so I may see it sometime around Thanksgiving.

I was chagrined to learn that the mere act of opening the case voids the warranty, so I'll have to make do with various external hard drives for the first two years. And, unlike my old XPS 700 that had bays for four hard drives, the 8000 only has room for two. Whatever. I needed a desktop computer and this is good enough.

My Dell 24" flatscreen monitor still works fine, so no need to spend money on another monitor.

I also ordered a 32GB solid state drive for my Mini 9, since the factory installed 7GB drive is approaching its full capacity and I can't delete any more stuff without compromising the system.