I am considering buying one of these mini desktops, essentially a portable desktop: Dell OptiPlex 790 4GB RAM 128GB HDD, Ultra small form factor http://dellrefurbished.com/product/...dell-optiplex-790-4gb-ram-128gb-hdd/si6787849 I would want to upgrade the Ram to 8 or 16 GB. Also I would want to upgrade the hdd to ssd. Finally, I would want to upgrade windows 7 from 32 to 64 bit. The chip is decent (i7-2600S) ... gets 7049 cpu score http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600S+@+2.80GHz Here's the spec sheet: http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/.../Documents/optiplex-790-customer-brochure.pdf I have not done this before. I am wondering if this looks reasonable or not worth the potential problems. Dell just had a sale on these where I could get this unit for $263 with $150 off any optiplex over $300. Many thanks for any feedback.
Here are Crucial's options for Ram and SSD: http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/optiplex-790-ultra-small-form-factor Cost of 8gb Ram about $50. 250 Gb SSD about $100 I am unclear how many Ram slots the usff has. The other models have 4 for up to 16Gb Ram. I have to get clarity on this. Will the usff make this a much more difficult job? Here's the owner's manual for 790 usff: http://content.etilize.com/User-Manual/1021100458.pdf
I'm not a fan of Optiplex, and even less of a fan of SFF. From the mobos I've seen, Optiplex strikes me as "budget with a better warranty". Small Form Factor is a problem if you ever have to replace the PSU... and may be problematical for RAM and/or video cards. (I once had a SFF where the PSU blew up.... by "blew up", I mean "sparks, fire, and smoke"... No replacement anywhere except to return to the factory for expensive replacement... the RAM, CPU and HDD survived, but the mobo also had to be replaced.) The best "line" of Dell computers is "Precision".
Here are the Precision laptops: http://dellrefurbished.com/browse/?...57+4294960238&sortby=P_discountPrice&hits=100 What would you recommend? I would have the same upgrades as above with these laptops.
I actually have one of the Precision M4600s. Never had any problem with it and presume it to be as much "quality" as available for the money. Only question is price. I bought mine from Arrow on eBay.... even had 18 months of original Dell warranty remaining. Suggest you check there and other places. I paid $475 for mine with hi-res display (1920x1080) and 256GB SSD (estimated MSRP of ~$3,500 new, retail). You might use that as a reference for a "good value" price.
Looks like I can upgrade with Crucial Ram and SSD for similar prices as above: http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/precision-m4600-(dual-core) Dell memory upgrades: http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN104599/EN Video for SSD upgrade: At the very end of the video where he verifies the upgrade, primary hard drive says 128gb HDD. Why is that? Any DIY upgrades to RAM or HDD voids the warranty. Is this correct?
Dell memory upgrades are always "well overpriced". Go with Crucial/other if you can. If you want to upgrade storage, go with 250GB or greater SSD. (Most modern SSDs show best performance at 250GB and greater drives due to maximum "parallelism"... which is due to the size/number of storage chips.) No "routine part" upgrades will void warranty. However... if you want to claim warranty service, you may have to restore the computer to original condition. (Dell Support isn't going to warranty non-Dell upgrades... nor should they.) Better than "upgrading components", suggest buying used with the specs you require.
Exactly. It's dumb to buy a weak machine then immediately upgrade. For that matter, computers are so cheap now, it's usually better to replace older machines rather than upgrade.