Just ordered this:

http://tinyurl.com/45zllb


Anybody have experience with this brand? After shopping around, I could not
pass up the price. The reviews on TD's site are okay. It comes with XP Pro
because I had one of the first versions of XP and from what I read, Vista is
just as new and just as buggy at the moment.

This is my first new desktop in about six years. All I do is Internet with
some large images, email, word processing, and listen to music. Maybe a
video or two, but no gaming and such. I wanted more power because the
rattrap I have now gets hung up running three applications. (Also, having
one hard drive for 6+ years is flirting with disaster, from what I
understand.)

My current system is an HP 1.3 ghz with 512 mb of sdram and a 60 gb hard
drive, runing XP Home.

Am I going to be amazed and delighted? Do I have any suprises coming, or is
that why they call them surprises?

Any input is welcomed.

The brand name has had several owners.
I cannot comment on support.
You will always find people who will tell you, perhaps not inaccurately,
that a machine with better specs could be had for the same but if this
machine works for you and the price seems right that is all that counts.
The processor and memory are fast enough.
The main limits of a machine like this are the graphics system and the power
supply. The Intel graphics chip is probably adequate for a monitor up to a
resolution of 1440x900. It is unsuitable for playing any games. If you use
Photoshop with large 16bit color images you will likely see slow screen
draws at higher resolutions.
Unfortunately the power supply of units like this may not be adequate if you
later want to add a better video card which, fortunately, the motherboard
supports. Modern videocards require their own power connector, in addition
to what they draw from the motherboard. However power requirements for the
video cards generally correlate to the amount of 3d processing they must do,
as in playing games. So if you are not playing games you may be ok but
probably not if you add, e.g. an Nvidia 8600 or faster video card.

cybercat wrote:
Tigerdirect. You can look them up in resellerratings.com for more comments.
You'll certainly find enough comments and postings about them in Google,
so they won't easily be forgotten. If all goes well, maybe you'll never have
to deal with them for after sales service.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Tiger_Direct

This is the motherboard in your computer. P5GC-MX. If you need to download a
manual for the motherboard, a PDF is available.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...&mo delmenu=1

(Motherboard manual - unzip to find a PDF)
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/...mx_content.zip

To see what other people think of P5GC-MX, try here.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx...Language=en-us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131176

If you want to upgrade the processor in the future, the possible upgrades are listed here.
Your machine has an E4600 at 2.4GHz, and according to this chart, you cannot
go too much faster, due to the limited FSB of the motherboard. (The E4700 is
the fastest viable option listed.)

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...&model=p5gc-mx

I think there is also a P5GC-MX/1333 motherboard, that has more options for
upgrading the processor. And it likely is not any more expensive for them
to use either.

I think in general, you'll be amazed and delighted. The machine ships with
WinXP on it, so no Vista to suck up the performance on you. The E4600, at
2.4GHz, is roughly equivalent to a P4 at 3.6GHz, so should offer a bit more
performance than your previous 1.3GHz machine. That is bound to be snappy.

Whether it continues to amaze, depends on the little things. For example,
I've noticed recently that my download rate is pretty pathetic and I'm
on ADSL. I'm averaging around 100KB/sec or so right now. I booted into Linux and
tested with the same servers on the Internet, and Linux reported 474KB/sec
transfer rate. It would seem my antivirus software is sucking the good
out of my current machine. I hope whatever you're using for antivirus
isn't that bad :-)

Paul

cybercat wrote:

That machine looks like and has exactly the same spec and price as the
Dell Insperon 530.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

On Wed, 7 May 2008 20:30:59 -0400, "cybercat" <cyberpurrs@yahoo.com>
wrote:

whatsoever. Cancel it.

"flaming-o" <fac_187@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:zGsUj.2008$ah4.1797@flpi148.ffdc.sbc.com...
be
just fine, if it comes with no defects. (I am using my old Compaq M740
monitor for now so that aspect should be okay too.) The big drawback
to me was that the memory is not expandable, but I think 2 gbs will seem
so fast after having 512 mbs for so long, I will not want to expand for a
while, if ever.

I generally do not use tech support, so that issue is not too important to
me.
(Again, it sure would be if I have trouble with the thing ...) I'll report
on
how it goes! Again, thanks for taking the time to type all that off. I saved
it for reference.

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message news:fvtn0i$hn9$1@aioe.org...
That is a great link! A LOT of information there.

[snips great infor on specs]
Thanks so much for your input!

years, but
it missed a Trojan that screwed me up. I have a cable connection. I can't
WAIT to see how fast things are with this new system!

"dogbreath" <mr.mxyzptlk@att.net> wrote in message
news:hjl624dlq0mofa3s71qohfq87dg9m3q3eo@4ax.com...
I have heard negative things about TD. The first thing that raised a red
flag was the instructions on their web site for buyers to examine the
item(s) WHILE THE DELIVERY MAN WAITS or they don't take responsibility, or
some such thing. Who is home when they deliver things? And I have read some
negative reviews about Systemax customer service. In many ways, you really
do get what you pay for, so it's a gamble.

But no, I won't cancel it. I like the looks of this system, and if it works
as it should, I will be happy. If not, I am sure I will be crying. In either
case, I will report back.

"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:fvvkub$a20$1@registered.motzarella.org...
range seemed to me (when I looked, anyway) to have less memory, not be Intel
Core 2 Duo, and/or have a smaller hard drive.

I wanted to buy more computer than I needed, because this is what I did last
time, and it did indeed do me well until the past year. It is nice not to
have to upgrade or buy a new system for 6-7 years.

On Thu, 8 May 2008 16:33:35 -0400, "cybercat" <cyberpurrs@yahoo.com>
wrote:

in your order. Then a bait-and-switch play.

cybercat wrote:

I don't know whether Dell have different web pages for US & Uk buyers
but 2400 Core 2, 500Gb hdd, 3Gb, ram 19" lcd screen, Vista @ $699
Doesn't look that different !

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:g02aso$pkl$1@registered.motzarella.org...
Everything about that looks better except Vista. It has a gb more of memory,
too. AND mine does not come with a monitor. Hmm.

I just went there and chose XP instead of Vista, removed the monitor, and
got a price of $509. The only difference I see at first glance is that this
one
comes with XP Home, whereas the Systemax comes with XP Professional.

http://tinyurl.com/62s7q3

Could be my aversion to buying a Dell cost me $150 bucks and really
good support.

(No idea why I have an aversion to a Dell. I bought my husband one
two years ago. )

Live and learn.

"dogbreath" <mr.mxyzptlk@att.net> wrote in message
news:gva924tmfbn3h795kgcug2f5rugktfvh4a@4ax.com...

cybercat wrote:

I'm convinced that Dell serve up different web pages for different
countries and user groups !
--
Best Regards:
Baron.

"dogbreath" <mr.mxyzptlk@att.net> wrote in message
news:gva924tmfbn3h795kgcug2f5rugktfvh4a@4ax.com...
It just arrived via UPS. Not bad, considering I ordered it on May 7. Now if
it just works ...

"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote
Well it's all set up, and I like it. no hassles with anything so far ... buy
it's been here
less than a day. It's a lot faster than my old system, as you expected!
Everything
seems very smooth. The PC is very lightweight, but I would think so given
that my
last new one was an HP Pavilion 520N. Certainly, the fact that this model
came
with XP and not Vista has eased the transition. It's a pretty unit, with
really good
ventilation and very quiet at that.

Anyone who is looking at one of these, be sure to check out Dell's
offerings, as
it really does seem I could have gotten the same thing for $150 less.

All in all, at least for day 1, I'm happy.

Tiger Direct needs to be held accountable for their stupid policy stating
that
buyers must open and inspect the merchandise WHILE THE DELIVERY MAN
WAITS or they forfeit liability. The UPS guy was driving off when I opened
the
door. Pretty sleazy tactics on the part of TG. From the wording it looks
like they
just want to shove every problem off on Systemax, including any damage while
in transit.

Thanks to all who offered information. I'll keep you posted as time wears
on.