I have recently purchased a Dell Dimension 8100 with 1.4Ghz processor and 256MB RDRAM (128 MB of which came on a free upgrade deal on at the time.

I am happy as larry!! I purchased it to replace a Gateway Solo Laptop which was running Windoze NT (crash-proof I hear you say). I dont think so!!

I ordered on-line through Dell's website and was very pleased with the treatment from Customer Services. The on-line tracking process was quite exciting too, tracking the PC through all stages until it got to my door(3 days ahead of schedule)-impressive.

I purchased a Dell because their warranty was the best around and the spec was the best for the price. The RDRAM option is extremely costly to begin with (it runs about 5/6 times faster than standard SDRAM and will be expensive for the forseeable future due to high manufacturing costs.)

The sound card is phenomenable and puts many £1000 plus systems from university colleagues to shame. With 2 outputs and one digital output, I have it hooked up to hifi and the optional Harmon Kardon speakers (also recommended). The sound quality is superb, and there are alsorts of features to play with (like reverb and echo to name but a few.)

The DVD Drive has been overused and provides stutter-free playback on all DVD's I have tried so far (about 35).

Gets bonus marks for being innovative too, and coming in a funky black and silver case-cooool! This thing goes like brown smely stuff off a digging implement, it is quick! Noticeable advantages over fellow students sytems is visible when playing LAN games:loading Tiberian Sun takes about 1/2 to 1/3 the time it take colleagues' sytems to load.

Still no major problems to date. The virus free upgrade cover has run out, however it is fairly easy to sign up for continuing this I hear. I am not overly pleased with the P4 processor, it has power alright, but due to current software design, it is in the wrong areas. The processor
is exceptional at multi-tasking and multimedia/gaming, (one of Windows' downfalls). Although I knew about the P$ being 'slower' than equivalent Athlon's I still felt that technology and software would follow suit, and that the RDRAM memory has more advantages than disadvantages. Performance over high production prices.

In turn, I would appreciate it if you would provide some positive/constructive feedback. Anything which you think should be added, or you need to know. Many thanks-(and buy this PC!)