Which computer is better?

[noodlesalad]

Hi Guys, I'm looking for home computer for basic use - internet, school work, watching tv/movies, downloading songs and music. Which computer of the 2 would you recommend? Or perhaps another.

Dell Inspiron 518 - $749 + tax

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q8200 (4MB, 2.33GHz, 1333FSB)
MEMORY: 3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz (4 DIMM)
HARD DRIVE: 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ edit
GRAPHICS CARD: Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 edit
OPTICAL DRIVE: 16X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
SOUND CARD: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
FLOPPY DRIVE & MEDIA READER: No Floppy Drive or Media Card Reader
MONITOR: Dell S2009W 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor

OR

HP Pavilion featuring AMD Phenom X3 8550 Triple-Core Processor (A6702F) $769.99 + tax

Processor Type - AMD Phenom X3 8550 Triple-Core
Processor Speed - 2.20GHz
RAM - 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM (Exp. To 4GB)
Hard Drive Speed/Capacity - 500GB 7200RPM SATA
Optical Drives - SuperMulti DVD Burner With LightScribe
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9100
Dedicated Video Memory - Yes
Shared Video Memory - 1407MB
TV Tuner - No
Video Memory - 256MB
Monitor: HP 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor (2009M)

My price range is $800 - $900 tax in ... thanks for your input.

[flyz]

Between them, the Dell.

[noodlesalad]

thanks flyz .. any input on why the dell is better?

[Amourek]

Quad core versus Tri core. Plus the original Phenoms do not perform well. The only ones worth using are Phenom II's.

[Bzji]

I am leaning towards the HP instead. Mainly because it doesn't have crap integrated graphics and it has higher RAM.
An extra core doesn't do much. The usage is never spread evenly, more like the 1st core takes 70% of the work, 2nd core takes another 15%, and rest are below 10% utilization.
With the Dell, any gaming at a decent quality is pretty much out of the question.
Another thing to consider is the warranty. It is a pretty significant investment after all.

[noodlesalad]

i see .. anybody have experience with dell's warranty? how long do repairs usually take?

[tomtomtom]

i see .. anybody have experience with dell's warranty? how long do repairs usually take?

Be prepared to speak with people who has an accent. However, desktop are less prone to problem than a laptop.

[noodlesalad]

i dont mind speaking to a csr with an accent but i just want to make sure my computer gets fixed without me having to wait for several weeks.

[mr_raider]

The 9100 integrated graphics is superior, but the Intel 3100 is OK for daily stuff and videos. It only becomes an issue when watching HD content.

[flyz]

The 9100 integrated graphics is superior, but the Intel 3100 is OK for daily stuff and videos. It only becomes an issue when watching HD content.

I'm sure the Q8200 can handle a little HD content.

[noodlesalad]

seems like the few posters are directing me to the dell .. keep the feedback coming thanks

[LeeBear]

thanks flyz .. any input on why the dell is better?

The Dell is by far better. The Q8200 CPU is just way better then the X3 Phenom. The only thing the HP has that's better is the better Integrated 9100 video card. Even then its not really useable for gaming on a 20" screen, so having an integrated video card that "sucks less" really adds no value over the Dell system. For watching videos it wouldn't matter what video card you use since the CPU's are plenty fast enough now to software decode 1080 content. And with the $30 price difference you can always add a cheap dedicated video card to the Dell system if you wanted to.

-LeeBear