You are thinking of the Vostro. I have an Optiplex. And had a Vostro. Vostro is crap. Optiplex is much better. The offer the ATI Radeon 6670 HD with the Optiplex.
Trader Computer Setup
- Thread starter anjtrader
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You are thinking of the Vostro. I have an Optiplex. And had a Vostro. Vostro is crap. Optiplex is much better. The offer the ATI Radeon 6670 HD with the Optiplex.
Yes, Vostro is "budget/cheap", but I'm not thinking of Vostro.. I've had them also. My view of Optiplex remains until shown otherwise.
Anyone who is concerned about the quality of their computer components should see a red flag if there is onboard video graphics... only one reason to have that.. to meet a price point... IOW... el-cheapo.
I have the Optiplex 990. It's nice. The Vostro 460 I had before was similarly spec'ed cost the same and sucked.
Anyway, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Those are mine.
And our needs are clearly different. I needed 1 PC for my office and 1 PC for my home and they don't even need to talk to eachother (DropBox is a godsend).
Sounds like you wouldn't make a good scientist.
Got nothing to do with "our needs being different"... overpriced for cheap components is the issue
Bristle if you must, defending your decision/purchase. Trying to give insight to others who might read this.
Maybe I wouldn't be a good scientist. Maybe I'm better at seeing the forest. I've seen far too many tech guys spend way too much time optimizing their computers, monitors, trying to save a few hundred dollars here or there while ignoring the $10,000 question.
Okay, you think that the Dell's Precisions are a better value. I am saying that the Optiplex's aren't as bad you are saying. You are saying that you saw an old Optiplex. I'm sitting with a new one at my feet and it works fine.
And needs matter. I don't need to swap out hard drives or overclock my CPU. Other's do and will have to spend considerably more because of it. If you are a stat arb guy like Winston or presumably you then you will need a complex set up with redundancy, etc. If you are a day trader, vol trader (myself), or some other flavor then you are wasting time with anything other then a reasonable performance machine.
You don't need an 18 wheeler when a pickup truck will do. And if you need an 18 wheeler then a pick up truck won't do.
1. I haven't seen only "AN" old Optiplex... rather, many.
2. Didn't say they "don't work fine" (especially if running only 1 or 2 monitors).. just overpriced, over-marketed, over-hyped for what they are.
IMV.. an Optiplex is little more than an "overpriced, gilded Vostro with better tech support"... like I said... "probably wouldn't buy one".. unless it was super cheap and I had a limited, dedicated use for it... but I could be wrong.
(Did you ever try to run 6-8 monitors on an Optiplex? I'm done on this topic today. If you want to argue further, it's with yourself... no more response from me. I've said all I know.)
I've used pretty much all of the models in the Precision and Optiplex lines from Dell.
You'll probably get more value from a T3500 but the small form factor Optiplex can save you some valuable space and can be the right tool if you don't need to do much under the hood (little expansion).
If you buy a T3500 and install a bunch of components from other vendors, Dell won't give you support. So, if you buy high-end components from Dell so that you are supported, they will gouge you on prices and it becomes not much of a deal.
You'll probably get more value from a T3500 but the small form factor Optiplex can save you some valuable space and can be the right tool if you don't need to do much under the hood (little expansion).
If you buy a T3500 and install a bunch of components from other vendors, Dell won't give you support. So, if you buy high-end components from Dell so that you are supported, they will gouge you on prices and it becomes not much of a deal.
I appreciate the kind words - and also if someone is going to call me out you are a decent guy to do so
I was having a conversation yesterday with a guy who told me I was crazy for pushing the Precision line so much. He was semi-right. I think sometimes I lose track of the bigger picture. There is a big difference between a Dell Vostro and an Optiplex. The Optiplex isn't all that terrible as a low-end business machine or high-end home machine. Reality is that most people won't notice the difference between a Vostro and a Precision so the Optiplex is probably fine.
The OP said:
"I'm looking for a moderately priced 4 monitor setup." and compared to a Falcon I'd rather see him get an Optiplex from Dell with a warranty than the same thing from Falcon for twice the price.
I agree that the Optiplex isn't the best machine... However the onboard graphics with some of the new CPUs coming out (with built in KVM/IPKVM) does make things interesting because I can run a standalone i3 NAS or Firewall with built in KVM into the CPU and run it as an ultra-low power solution... but that's another discussion.
I feel like sometimes I lose track - I've sold, built & installed a bunch of Optiplex PCs in pretty big ($200M-$1B) hedge funds for both traders & PMs as well as office & admin staff - it more comes down to the right tool for the job and quite often the Precision line can be overkill.... I also agree that the Optiplex is a budget box that's a bit over priced when new but if you call the outlet they usually can hook you up with a pretty decent deal over the phone.
Personally I'd rather buy a Precision 490 on eBay for $200 and upgrade that vs. buy an Optiplex... but... the Optiplex from Dell Factory Outlet comes with a warranty and buying & upgrading a Precision is almost identical to building your own. and you get no warranty.
The difference is going to be longevity. I've only seen one motherboard failure on a Precision whereas around 2-3 years you'll start to lose all the Vostros and 3-5 years you'll start to lose all the Optiplex mobos (caps bust open from heat). That's the biggest difference in my opinion. If you want a really robust machine that's going to be server/enterprise grade then get a Precision. If you want something decent that'll last you 2-3 years but it was cheap enough that you can keep upgrading - look at an Optiplex. Buy your kid going off to college a Vostro because they will spill beer on it and ruin it in 2 weeks regardless.
EDIT:
Perfect case-in-point of what I was trying to describe:
Just like how you think Optiplex is great compared to Vostro - Precision is that much better than Optiplex. But... each come at slightly different price points.
Also: for the record, I haven't seen or touched any Optiplex past the 755 series with a quad-core CPU and DDR2 so honestly I have no idea how they perform. From an enterprise (mass deployment) point of view they are great but I'm starting to see less and less of them running in high-end small-shop environments. I think Scataphagos is correct in saying that onboard video generally reflects cheaper hardware and engineering compromises.
HOWEVER I also think that the OP needs to state his budget because there is a huge difference between a $400 Optiplex with a $200 add-in video card and a comparable $2,200 Falcon system. My Atom N270 netbook can push something to 4-monitors and to be honest doesn't do a bad job at streaming netflix to our TV.
All the heat problems I've ever seen on those machines have been in the mini-towers where they run 4+ monitors and they break. I used to stack 6-8 small-form-factor machines side by side and run them "headless" (just remote desktop) and they ran fine for years - but plug two video cards into a full sized Optiplex and the motherboards started to go in 2 years. There is no way an optiplex should ever be running more than 4 monitors IMO.
Fair points.
FWIW: I initially bought a top of the line Vostro. It didn't support more than 2 monitors. I returned and bought a top of the line Optiplex. Same specs except the Optiplex came with dual Radeon 6670 HD cards. (whereas the Vostro came with one). The Optiplex cost $100 more.