Entered CNET Catalog: 06/17/2004
SKU: D84L1
Manufacturer: Dell, Inc.
Manufacturer description
The Dimension 8400 delivers all the benefits of the Dimension 8300 but now with the latest technologies including PCI Express graphics, Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM and the Intel Pentium 4 Processors with Hyper-Threading Technology up to 560 (3.6GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB). These enhancements provide high end users the ability to run advanced productivity, intense graphics and enhanced multimedia applications.Product summary
The good: Intel's top-of-the-line Pentium 4 and the new high-performance 925X Express chipset; PCI Express graphics card; strong performer with an eye toward the future; crisp monitor; strong support options.
The bad: Full benefits of the pricey new hardware won't be seen until more-demanding software apps are released; clunky case-opening mechanism; no media-card reader.
The bottom line: The Dell Dimension 8400 offers exciting new hardware, but unless you're a staunch early adopter, you won't see a compelling reason to make an immediate upgrade.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/19/2004
The case might look familiar from the outside, but the new $3,099 Dell Dimension 8400 represents the opening shot in Intel's wholesale overhaul of the desktop PC's core technology. Featuring Intel's new 925X Express (a.k.a Alderwood chipset), a 3.6EGHz Intel Pentium 4 560 processor, and the first PCI Express graphics card we've seen--the 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT--the Dimension 8400 is essentially a showcase for the future of the PC. Early adopter gamers and multimedia enthusiasts will be especially thrilled by the new hardware and the fast performance. As for the rest of us, we'll be better off waiting for software that takes full advantage of the new technology. Despite the new technologies inside it, very little about the Dell Dimension 8400's case has changed in the three years since it was introduced as the Dimension 8100. The same, rather dull, gray-and-black-plastic exterior opens up like an Oxford English Dictionary, the motherboard and the power supply are attached to one side, the drives on the other. The latching mechanism still irritates us; it requires you to press buttons on both the top and the underside of the case. When you finally pry it open, the case takes up more desk space compared to a standard tower case with a removable side panel.
It's not until you open the Dimension 8400 that you'll be able to see the new features of Intel's 925X Express chipset. Once your eye leaves the processor's huge heat sink, you'll discover one of the prime benefits of the chipset: improved bus architecture. Replacing the decade-old AGP interface for graphics cards, PCI Express (PCIe) features faster data throughput than either standard PCI or AGP slots. The Dimension 8400 comes with one full-length 16X PCIe slot for the graphics card and one smaller 1X PCIe slot for upgrades such as Gigabit Ethernet cards and others, though cards for the 1x port have not yet been released. Eventually PCIe will replace both AGP and PCI altogether, but until more PCIe cards become available, you'll be glad the Dimension 8400 has three old-fashioned PCI slots, one of which was vacant on our review unit. A pair of 512MB DDR2 SDRAM sticks occupies two of the four system-memory slots, which you can upgrade to 4GB of memory, if for some reason you should find this necessary.
Despite the extreme cooling tactics, the interior of the Dimension 8400 is much neater than the Dimension 8300 cases we've seen. The 925X chipset minimizes cable clutter by moving to the smaller Serial ATA cables for connecting hard drives, leaving only one IDE channel and its cumbersome ribbon cable for your optical drives. The Dimension 8400 includes two Serial ATA drives but has ports and 3.5-inch drive bays for up to four SATA drives--and a maximum of 1.6 terabytes (TB) of storage space. That's right, we said terabyte. You'll find no floppy drive installed in the Dimension 8400, but sadly, Dell also offers no media-card reader to aid interfacing with digital cameras and other devices.
The usual list of legacy ports, plus Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, and six USB 2.0 ports reside on the back panel. A flip-up panel on the front of the system hides an additional pair of USB 2.0 ports and a headphone jack, but they slant downward, making access more difficult than need be if you have the system sitting on the floor. You'll also find a pair of additional USB 2.0 ports on the side of the bundled LCD monitor. An early adopter's delight, the Dell Dimension 8400 offers the same high-end flexibility as the Dimension 8300 but with a bevy of new components. Thanks to Intel's new 925X Express chipset, Dell is able to incorporate a 3.6GHz Intel Pentium 4 560 processor, a 256MB ATI Radeon X800XT graphics card with the PCI Express interface, and 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM, none of which we've ever seen before. As is often the case with new PC technology, the hardware is significantly ahead of the software, so while these new parts have the potential to boost performance, and indeed the Dimension 8400's benchmark scores place it among the fastest PCs we've ever seen, you can expect even to reap greater benefits from the system as more-demanding software apps hit the market.
In the meantime, there's very little that the Dimension 8400 can't handle already. It's a fully featured multimedia PC; the crystal-clear, 17-inch Dell UltraSharp 1703FP LCD monitor and the 5.1 Dell 5650 speakers work especially well together--the volume bar and the center speaker attach conveniently to the bottom edge of the display. Connected to the system's Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card, the speakers produced crisp, nuanced audio on our tests. That Dell included a discrete sound card instead of relying on the 925X's new embedded 7.1-channel Azalea sound chip doesn't exactly speak well of the new audio technology. Keep an eye out for our upcoming analysis of the Azalea sound chip compared to other audio solutions in the coming months.
Our Dimension 8400 featured a 12X Hitachi/LG DVD+RW drive. This drive burns DVD+R discs at a rapid rate, but we should note that it's less versatile than the multiformat drives commonly found on other system that burn to both +R and -R media. (Dell is firmly rooted in the DVD+R camp and sells only +R drives on its systems.) The second optical drive, the 48X Hitachi/LG CD-RW drive, is fast and flexible for both burning and playing CDs.
Two 160GB, 7,200rpm hard drives in a Serial ATA RAID 0 array provide roughly 300GB of storage after formatting. This amount might seem like more storage than you'd ever need, but each of the motherboard's four Serial ATA channels can support up to a 400GB hard drive, which means that 300GB represents less than 20 percent of the Dimension 8400's storage potential. You can upgrade to two 400GB drives at the time of purchase, but Dell's online configurator does not allow you to upgrade to three or four hard drives, so any more storage will have to be an aftermarket upgrade. Other configuration options include an ATI TV tuner and the usual array of printers, larger monitors, and other products from Dell's catalog.
The unremarkable optical mouse and keyboard get the job done, although they don't look especially stylish doing it. At least the keyboard's multimedia buttons streamline the Dimension 8400's entertainment functions. Dell's Media Experience suite gives you apps for working with your digital media, such as music and photos. You'll also find Dell's Picture Studio 2.0, which features Paint Shop Pro Album 4.0 and Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8.0, along with Sonic MyDVD for recording to DVD+RW discs. Corel's WordPerfect Office 12.0 productivity suite rounds out the software, all of which work within the framework of the Windows XP Home Edition. Application performance
The Dell Dimension 8400 is the first PC we've tested with Intel's new 925X Express chipset. Despite support for faster processors and memory, this next-generation technology does not demonstrate any performance advantage over older hardware with today's applications. As we can see from the charts, until we see more-robust applications especially designed for Intel's newer CPU architecture, performance won't be that much different from the technology that is already on the market.
The Dimension 8400's benchmark scores placed it among our highest-performing PCs. Bested only by the blazing Alienware Area-51 Extreme and its 3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor, and the nonstandard, FAT-32-formatted hard drives of the AMD Athlon 64 FX-53-powered Polywell Poly 939VF-FX53, the Dimension 8400 achieved a SysMark 2004 score of 214, about 13 percent faster than the last Dimension 8300 we reviewed. We can see that neither the DDR2 memory nor the faster 3.6GHz Pentium 4 560 processor give the Dimension 8400 a major performance boost. While the Dimension 8400 is a powerful system, it will need supporting software before the hardware reaches its full potential.
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BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
To measure application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark 2004, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).
3D graphics and gaming performance
The Dell also marks the first time we've seen a PCI Express version of the new 256MB ATI Radeon X800XT graphics card. This card marks a brand-new processor for ATI--and a huge performance boost. Looking at the charts, you can see the tremendous difference between the previous-generation cards from both Nvidia and ATI. The most significant result is the 1,600x1,200 Unreal Tournament 2003 test. With a score of 115.1fps, the Dell beats the next-best system, the Alienware Area-51 Extreme, by a staggering 82 percent.
This performance increase is likely due to the graphics chip technology more than the new PCIe interface. There are no games on the market yet that can truly take advantage of PCIe's increased bandwidth, so while the 82 percent increase over the Alienware system is impressive, we expect that performance gains will be even greater as we see more-demanding software.
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Unreal Tournament 2003 Flyby-Antalus 1,600x1,200 4xAA 8xAF | |
Unreal Tournament 2003 Flyby-Antalus 1,024x768 |
To measure 3D gaming performance, CNET Labs uses Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 2003, widely used as an industry-standard benchmark. We use Unreal to measure a desktop's performance with the DirectX 8.0 (DX8) interface at a 32-bit color depth and at a resolution of 1,024x768 and 1,600x1,200. Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are disabled during our 1,024x768 tests and are set to 4X and 8X, respectively, during our 1,600x1,200 tests. At this color depth and these resolution, Unreal becomes an excellent means of comparing the performance of low-end to high-end graphics subsystems. We report the results of Unreal's Flyby-Antalus test in frames per second (fps).
Performance analysis written by CNET Labs technician David Gussman.
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:
Alienware Area-51 Extreme
Windows XP Professional; 3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition; Intel 875P chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra; two WDC WD740GD-00FLX0 74GB 10,000rpm Serial ATA; integrated Intel 82801ER SATA RAID controller
Cyberpower Gamer Infinity 8000
Windows XP Home; 3.6EGHz Intel Pentium 4; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB Nvidia PCX GeForce 5750; WDC WD1600JB-00EVA0 160GB 7,200rpm
Dell Dimension 8300
Windows XP Home; 3.2EGHz Intel Pentium 4; Intel 875P chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro; Maxtor 6Y250M0 250GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Dell Dimension 8400
Windows XP Home; 3.6EGHz Intel Pentium 4 560; Intel 925X chipset; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT; two Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated Intel 82801FR SATA RAID controller
Polywell Poly 939VF-FX53
Windows XP Professional; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-53; Via K8T800 Pro chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce FX 5900XT; two WDC WD740GD-00FLX0 74GB 10,000rpm Serial ATA; integrated WinXP Promise FastTrak 579 controller Dell's huge setup guide makes assembling your Dimension 8400 even less strenuous than a walk in the park. The well-written, well-illustrated user guide is not specific to this system, but in addition to basic info for the chassis, Dell has filled the book with hints, tips, and troubleshooting points for attaching printers, scanners, and other peripherals. There's also the Dell Solution Center software that links you to online for additional support resources and 24/7, toll-free tech support by phone.
If you break something that technical support clears as a problem you can't solve, onsite service will handle it during the first year. You can add up to three additional years of onsite service for more money. And, for the "better safe than sorry" crowd, you can purchase coverage to protect your system against spills, drops, electrical surges, and natural incidents, such as lightning strikes.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 User Rating: 
9/10
Great computer for Intel pentium 4
Pros: I still use it today with Windows Vista! It is pretty fast. The new Intel Pentium 4 for this model was released in late 2005 and early 2006 and I was able to get it, and it was faster and better! Great dell online and phone coverage.
Cons: Had a few harddrive crashes.
Hyper-Threading is impressive if you enable it in BIOS
User Rating: 
8/10
Powerhouse PC Okay for 3 Years
Pros: The Dell Dimension 8400 is a fast, powerful PC (with the maximum RAM and large hard drive). It has worked very well for the 3 years. Plus Dell gave me the XP Pro OEM CD and not a restore (wipe out the hard drive) CD like I had on another brand of PC.
Cons: HORRIBLE OVERSEAS TECH SUPPORT. I ended up taking the PC (which was still under warranty) to my local PC Technician who found the CD drive had crashed (after only 2 years) and replaced it with a new one.
User Rating: 9/10
Very happy with this machine
Pros: Never any problems; fast; good value
Cons: clunky case opening mechanism, no internal speaker on mine
) User Rating: 
5/10
Worked Great till it died
Pros: speed, everything worked fine
Cons: died with a known problem on 8400
I've had great experiences with Dell in the past, and am quite dissapointed with this one.
User Rating: 
1/10
power failure
Pros: bells and whistles
Cons: randomly shuts down
User Rating: 8/10
Solid performer
Pros: Fast, reliable, well-rounded machine
Cons: Basic graphics, large footprint
User Rating: 
4/10
Good computer if you never need to reinstall Windows
Pros: Fast computer and as good as pretty much an other computer out there when it comes to system specs.
Cons: My computer came without a Windows Installation Disk or Drivers CD, causing me a ton of problems when I needed to install Window\s.
My computer came without a Windows XP install or Drivers CD. Instead, I recieved a piece of cardboard informing me about my options for reinstalling Windows. It claimed I had the ability to use a utility to create a System restore disk, however, when I tried to do this, I found that the utility wouldn't even run. I decided to reinstall with a different XP disc, so I went ahead and repartitioned the hard drive. Linux installed fine, but when I tried to install Windows, it failed to detect my hard drive due to the absence of third party drivers. My friends and I attached a floppy drive and inserted a floppy disc with information we downloaded that was supposed to get Windows to recognize the hard drive. It didn't work. We eventually found a BIOS tweak that caused Windows to recognize the drive and were able to install it. When we finally did get Windows installed, I had a lot of trouble tracking down and installing the audio, video, and network card drivers.
So before you make a purchase or decide to reinstall Windows, make sure you obtain a copy of the Drivers CD. It's a big pain if you don't have it.
User Rating: 
3/10
louder than a speeding locomotive
Pros: decent price
Cons: way too loud
I put in days and days of time into troubleshooting this with dell. I had both the fan and heatsink replaced with no improvement. After looking around on the net for a long long time, I've come to the conclusion that the problem must be the motherboard. I've read through many ideas and possible solutions to fix the problem by other customers. Few people have had any success. I no longer think it is worth bothering with. I am planning on taking this apart, salvaging what I can, and building a seperate system minus the motherboard, heatsink, and fan.
User Rating: 9/10
I've had this since Jan. '05
Pros: Best computer i've had
Cons: Cant think of any
Its really powerful and multi tasking is great on it...the only CON i can think of is the CHEAP ass mice that DELL gives u when u buy their computer....I had to get a non Dell stock mouse....but I use this PC for internet...pc gaming (its good for graphics right now)....and daily use...
I hate how dell always replaces their POWERFUL PCs real soon...and this PC will no doubtedly get REAL old in another year and a half...i mean its already 11 months old for me...if u want to maintain GAMING graphics ALL u need is a new video card in about a year or so...I have 80 GB hard drive and 1 GIG ram with this PC and I dont even use half of my hard drive!!
if ya have any comments or questions..
email me...broncoict@yahoo.com
but this COMP was 1000 bucks when we got it now its ALOT cheaper i bet...
User Rating: 8/10
Excellent PC for the Price
Pros: Room to Expand, Excellent on Games, Videos, Music
Cons: Positon of the Front USB Ports, No Memory Card Reader
User Rating: 9/10
14 Months and not a problem
Pros: Very stable, have not had any issues.
Cons: puts out a lot of heat, that could be a Pro in this weather.
I Purchased this system in September '04 for less than $1500, it still seems like a good deal. This machine gets ran hard every single day. I am an avid gamer who plays for hours every day and this machine has been completely stable. I am completely satisfied. I plan on installing a faster video card soon, so I can play at higher resolutions. The X300 is pretty week, but I knew that when I bought it. Once I put an AIW X800 in here I'll be all set.
User Rating: 1/10
Sorry I bought it
Pros: Fast,, I GB of memory, Home Office Software is Great
Cons: Unrelilable, DELL Support is Incompetant
I paid for 3 years of In-home warrenty and Dell catastrophic protection. I had a total failure. I could not get the 8400 to turn on. I called Dell Support and talked to India for a day. I was told to diconnect evreything from my computer and open the main frame and "Open it like a suitcase."
I explained I had paid for 3 years of
In-home warrenty and Dell catastrophic failure protection."
"You have to troubleshoot your computer so the technician will know what part to bring." So I opened it, took the memory and circuit boards out, as directed. I was told my motherboard had failed. In 2 days I had a technician show up, ground both hands, and do what I had been told to do with ungrounded hands by Dell support. The mother board was rebuilt and did not work with my anti-virus package. I had to buy a new anti-virus CD and loose 6 months of
subscription. There are now start up problems with the rebuilt mother board.
This is my second and last DELL.
User Rating: 9/10
Great computer
Pros: everything
Cons: nothing....
User Rating: 1/10
WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!
Pros: There aren't any at this point!
Cons: Horrible product, nothing but problems and HOURS of time spent trying resolve them.
User Rating: 9/10
Great looking 'Beast'
Pros: Intel Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading. Awesome speed. Very clever design.
Cons: Awkward DVD drive Open/Close buttton. No Card Reader
It comes with a Seagate Barracuda hard drive which is very fast and really quiet in operation.
The DVD drive is the Spectacular NEC 3530A which i just can't fault.
The Intel Pentium 4 processor with Hyperthreading is simply amazing.
Just a couple of examples: With Hyperthreading, a full computer virus scan takes just 15 minutes and 18 minutes with Hyperthreading switched off.
I recently downloaded and installed 12 Windows security updates, and at the same time,6 Microsoft office updates in just 9 minutes.
Inside the front panel are 2 USB2 sockets and 1 headphone socket.
You can connect to all 3 sockets and still close the panel. Very clever!
For people who have difficulty accessing the 3 sockets, the front panel can be removed, and the computer still manages to look good.
I had a Floppy Disk drive fitted by Dell because so many applications still use it.
You also need a minimum of 1 GB RAM to use Hyperthreading, so it pays to wait for one of the many Dell 'Special Offers'
It also pays to order by phone and not online. Talking to a Dell representative can save you a fortune!
The only reason for not giving this PC a perfect 10 is the very awkward DVD drive Open/Close button, and also there is no card reader, even though there is plenty of room for Dell to install one.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Computer for a Great Price
Pros: Fast - cheap for what you get -
Cons: A bit difficult to upgrade parts - headphone jack is in a horrible spot and my Sennheiser HD595's cannot reach into them
I've had this computer for about 10 months now and I'm very pleased with it. I've used it for:
School: Writting papers, creating PowerPoints, Internet.
Gaming: Half Life 2, Diablo 2, Starcraft, UT, Civilization.
Video/Audio: Video editing(Ulead, Studio 9, Vegas 9.0, WMM) Winamp, iTunes, and many other programs.
Even with the low end ATI x300 Video card Half Life 2 looked pretty good and ran very well. Althought I had to play it with out the eye candy. There was no lag while I played and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm going to soon upgrade to a 6600GT or a 6800GT/Ultra.
Things I had to replace:
About 5-6 months after buying my Dell Dim 8400 I replaced the Power Supply because it was making some kind of noise. I'm sure this isn't harmful for the computer but it was very loud and annoying. I contacted dell with out any trouble and they sent someone to my house and they replaced it with a new one.
I also had to replace my HD because of some unknown problem. My computer crashed and it wasn't able to recognize my HD. Dell once again sent someone to my house with a replacement HD.
I've had other problems with this computer but mostly because of the things I did. Problems most people have with every computer. If you're looking for a good computer for gaming/watching DVDs/Listening to music/Internet/ANYTHING I would suggest getting this computer.. I know it's about 150-200$ cheaper and comes with more power than it did when I bought it. So you'll probably get more for your money now than I did 10 months ago.
A couple of things I didn't like are the headphone jack. I recently got a pair of Sennheiser HD-595's and when I plug it into the headphone jack it just pops out because of the position of the headphone jack. Also the front flap is annoying as "H" "E" double hockey sticks. Also the DVD and CD drives have a plastic border that can be removed. I had to remove these so that my new DVD-RW drive could eject it's tray. Other than these small annoyances, I think this is a great comptuer.
www.everytenminutes.net
http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=20720074
User Rating: 8/10
High performance, good value.
Pros: Fast, no problems.
Cons: Somewhat Pricey
User Rating: 1/10
Horrible machine! Will never buy Dell again!
Pros: nothing positive about this machine
Cons: customer service, tech support, overall product
User Rating: 5/10
Dell Dim 8400
Pros: Cant think of any yet
Cons: difficult to access front USB ports
I get constant Blue Screen shut-dowms, and system "not responding" messages; tried everything, going on my third Dim 8400 from Dell, but the problem continues. As long as problem exists, warranty does not run-out; thanks to basic contract law.
Dell claims this is a super computer, with all the amenities. I run minimal services with only minimal programs. And, what I have learned since my first Compaq Presario is that you can never have too much memory.
This 8400 came with "double" the memory at 512MB as promotion, but it would not function properly. So I purchased an extra 1GB, but this thing constantly seized and shut-down. The claim of hyper-thread multi-functioning is not observable with this model.
Furthermore, I told Dell that the front USB ports were crude, so I guess they took my advice and changed the port design too.
User Rating: 
10/10
GREAT PC, GREAT COMPANY
Pros: Easy to upgrade for future apps. Reliable,strong performer.
Cons: I wished I could have purchased one sooner.
User Rating: 3/10
Very Disappointed with Dell
Pros: Machine was good for 8 months
Cons: Dell's Overseas Tech Support
Dealing with Dell Support is a frustrating experience and requires unlimited patience. Even though "my case" is on file, every time I call I have to re-explain the situation and answer the same questions over again. Every time I call, I am promised that the problem will be fixed.
Well, it's been seven calls to tech support and three visits by a Dell technician. I have had the motherboard replaced twice, the power supply replaced twice and the heat sink replaced once. The problem is not resolved.
I must say that the Dell technician has been trying his best but he can only replace what the overseas support group authorizes. During his last visit, he told me that the problem is most likely either the CPU or ram cards. He also told me that I would have to convince Dell Support to authorize replacing these components.
This does not make any sense to me. Why can't the Dell Tech communicate directly with Dell Support? This is not a logical way to do business and Dell has lost me as a customer. I've had it with Dell Support and this unreliable 8400.
After diligently searching the 'net for information on my 8400 problem, I found the following:
http://forums.us.dell.com/... ...sage.id=212055&view=by_date_ascending&page=1
Note that the posts in this thread - on Dell's own support forum - accurately describe my exact problem. I am dismayed that Dell's Tech Support seems to know nothing about this problem or this thread in their forum. Yet, many other 8400 owners have had this problem too. Dell Tech wasted a lot of my time and they incurred significant cost by needlessly replacing working components. Just proves to me that Dell Tech Support leaves much to be desired. How clueless can they be?
Now, I just need to convince Dell Support to send me a new power supply designated as revision "A02" or higher...
User Rating: 
2/10
I will never buy another dell
Pros: Great price
Cons: I got a lemon served with bad tech support
I have to say, however that I couldn't have gotten a cheaper computer anywhere else and even now I just priced one out and it's more expensive than what I payed but it still wasn't worth it.
User Rating: 9/10
This is a great computer
Pros: Upgradeable and capable of running any program
Cons: There are really no cons to this computer
User Rating: 2/10
if you have any problems, you are out of luck with Dell
Pros: packed with features, fast
Cons: unreliable, support is terrible
and it has crashed about every 10 days.
I asked for my money back after 30 days but apparently their refund policy is now 3 weeks. It still crashes about once every few weeks. The only advice i get from Dell is to strip it down to OS only and see if it crashes then. I wish I had the time to waste doint that. Dell might be fine if you do not have any issues with your PC,
but if you do then you are really out of luck.
User Rating: 9/10
Another Award Winning PC From Dell But A Tad Pricey
Pros: Top Edge Performance, Generous Speakers, Cutting Edge Gaming Power
Cons: Pricey ($3,000+). No Media Card Reader
Boy was i wrong, the mind blowing power that fuels Dell's monster of a PC literally blew me away.
The only dissapointment is that their are no media card readers and it is a bit pricey
Otherwise a top class machine
User Rating: 9/10
spectacular product
Pros: It works efficiently and is very quiet and fast.
Cons: nothing is wrong with this computer that I can think of.
User Rating: 9/10
Great Computer but sort of expensive
Pros: Good for gaming and multimedia functions, new processor and graphics card
Cons: pricey, no media card reader, front acess ports are hard to reach
It has a great graphics card and a top of the line intel pentium 4 proccesor
the only problems is that it does not have a media card reader
the other one is that the front access ports are NOT reachable
you have to bend down and since they are on the bottom you cannot see them
on top of that, there is a pretty high price
but if you buy and external media card reader, usb hub, and but it then it is great
User Rating: 9/10
Quiet and fast
Pros: + Quiet, Fast, cheap, fast
Cons: - bulky case
User Rating: 4/10
3 different crashes later... I would look elsewhere
Pros: When it works, it's great
Cons: It's crashed hard 3 times. Drive failure is the latest victim.
Dell's Support is anything but supportive.
I usually respect CNet's ratings, but I would highly recommend staying away from this system.
User Rating: 
6/10
Ok computer.. just be sure to back up regularly!
Pros: Easy to upgrade, case opens easily, overall, a good design
Cons: USB plugs on front of computer are awkwardly placed if the computer is on the floor, some reliability issues.
User Rating: 9/10
The Beast Re-visited
Pros: power/speed/value
Cons: fan noise/peripherals/no MS Office/cheap materials for case/
3.2 GHz processor w/ Intel's HyperThread technology, 1 Gig of memory at 400 Hz, 320 Gigabyte hard drive at 7200 RPM, 1 DVD burner, 1 DVD player, graphics provided by NVIDIA GeForce 6800, audio by Creative which includes THX (read: movie theater sound);
Monitor: Dell's 17 inch LCD flat screen;
Used mainly for: video and image creation and editing; occasionally watch a DVD; web site creation and administration;
The Good: this monster has enough resources to run Adobe's Photoshop AND Premier AND various HTML/WYSIWYG programs AND Instant Messengers AND various other programs AT THE SAME TIME without crashing. I used to have three computers at the same time for all these tasks, the Dimension 8400 as configured above can handle it all - and then some;
Fast startup & shutdown; More than enough USB inputs; Graphics card includes Firewire input;
The Bad: for the total cost of over $1800 Dell really could have thrown in a optical mouse or even wireless keyboard. Instead it comes with the cheapest of the cheap old fashioned ball mouse and regular keyboard.
The fan noise of this system is extremely disturbing, very loud at times;
Also, the hard drive can be heard "working" at times, something that doesn't make me feel very comfortable. It's a Seagate brand and so far I've had no problems, however.
There is no MS Office inlcuded in the price either, instead you get Corel's Office Suite which leaves many things to be desired, especially if you need to work with spreadsheets ala Excel.
Summary: fantastic, very powerful system; Iinstead of sending those cheesy speakers I'd rather get a good set of wireless keyboard and mouse as well as MS Office (at a discount). If Dell can do that, this computer will beat out anything else on the market considering performance and overall price/value.
Dimension 8400
User Rating: 10/10
Awesome PC. If you like cutting edge this is for you
Pros: Fast Audio\video editor (Adobe) and solid game play (DOOM3)
Cons: None. Has been a solid performer.
With the acception of the Intel processor (I'm an AMD guy) the 8400 had everything I was looking for. Add the 21" ultra LCD and $2800 later I have a Very fast gaming (DOOM3 Rock!!) and application (Photo and Audio editing)PC and top notch support.
Purchased October 23rd 2004 and have put this computer thru the ringer and it hasn't missed a beat. Here's the basics:
21" Ultra LCD
Radeon X850 XT
2G memory
Pentium 4 550 (3.4GHz)
320G harddrive
XP Pro
User Rating: 8/10
If you can find a good deal, Jump on it.
Pros: Excellent Performance, Funky Case, Plenty of extra room for expansion.
Cons: Funky Case.
User Rating: 8/10
Good Performance / Reasonable Price
Pros: MCE 2005 works as advertised
Cons: Sharp and awkward case
Out of the box setup took 15 minutes, setup for the Media Center took an additional 5. Began recording shows immediately--very nice. If you plan to get the Media Center, be sure to order the tuner (dual, if you want to watch a show while recording another...cheaper than an aftermarket solution without the hassles). Dell does not make it very obvious that just because you select the Media Center OS, doesn't mean you will be able to take advantage of the OS's TV capabilities. You have to select the tuner card(s) separately.
Somewhat disappointed with the picture quality of the LCD, have tinkered with settings, but still no luck...may switch back to old CRT.
Installation of existing programs has been flawless. Installation of a downloaded Half Life 2 demo (thanks Downloads.com) seems to have derailed one insignificant pre-installed game. No biggie, I'd rather play Half Life.
Complaints about the case. I wanted to add a floppy drive and a Lite-On DVD burner that I already owned. As mentioned in the CNet review, the case is awkward and requires much space to open. Not mentioned is that the case is very flimsey (sp) and damn sharp!
One band-aid later, I popped the slot covers and shot the floppy drive clean through the box and out the front! Didn't notice you need to use mounting brackets (wasn't that way in my Gateway). That's what I get for hurrying.
Fortunately, I still had the mounting screws for each drive--not supplied by Dell--and once I was able to pry the brackets Dell did supply from the inside of the case (warning...brackets also sharp!), I was able to easily install the drives without issue.
From most reviews, it seems that if you get the computer and then can get it setup, you are over the two primary Dell hurdles. I had no problem with either and am, so far, happy with the 8400.
User Rating: 9/10
THIS PC ROCKS !!!
Pros: Super Fast...Quick boot up time.
Cons: None I can think of .
User Rating: 1/10
Misleading & RAM failure out of the box
Pros: the price, you know what they say about if it sounds too good...
Cons: Horrible Tech Support, No reliability, All samsung parts, long wait times, and 2 months to process returns.
The machine had ...
Samsung RAM
Samsung HD
Samsung CD drve
Samsung V-card
Hitachi DVD drive
"Dell" motherboard
"Dell" Case
The system is a HORRIBLE deal. I work in computer retail and computer support, and I've never seen such a horrible computer company. They've taking over 2 months to process my return, and I STILL DON'T HAVE MY MONEY!! Yes they tell you 7-9 days for a return, lol what a joke! Build your own, or if you can't check local computer stores, if not get an Alienware PC which is what I did.
User Rating: 10/10
Amazing PC read my review!
Pros: Ultimate power and speed.
Cons: can be expensive if your not careful
User Rating: 9/10
This is one powerful PC
Pros: I've played several of the latest games with video set at the highest level and had no problems whatsoever
Cons: Too much extra 3rd party software.
User Rating: 6/10
Dell hardware good, Support is not what it used to be.
Pros: 4 months old still screaming !
Cons: If it breaks you;ve got to deal with Dell customer Support
User Rating: 8/10
Great computer and value but you have to reinstall...
Pros: Value! Customer service and warranty
Cons: System arrives with spyware, bloatware, you name it
Onto the 8400, CNET really needs to update their review on it. But I bought this system and it was delivered 3 days later. Great? Well, no. The monitor and speakers have yet to arrive and I had to call Dell to find out about the monitor since their tracking system indicated it had been delivered with the system. That's kind of important to me since its their 24" LCD which costs more than the computer itself. But the customer service rep was on top of it.
The person below me (csmac71) brings up some good points to remember. The system (hooked up to my old monitor right now) comes with so much spyware and bloatware that it should be a crime. C'mon Dell, let's make that an option. But just like a dell laptop purchased a month ago, the first thing you should do is stick the Windows CD in and reinstall after formating the harddrive. But like csmac71 learned, go to Dell's customer support website and download the drivers as the CD doesn't have them. As an alternative, you can copy C:/drivers to a cd but the ones on dell's site are more user friendly and current. (you should always make sure you have drivers before reinstalling)
It would be easy to be mad and downgrade Dell because of this, but I have to keep in mind the value I got. The system is fast. The customer service rep was friendly and prompt in helping me. Finding another company that can do better (and provide upgrades like a 24" LCD) at this pricing would be a challenge.
I fully recommend Dell. Just keep in mind it'll take a couple of hours of reinstalling after downloading the drivers. However, I'm sure most computers are like this these days..with stuff you don't want on it like AOL, earthlink, mcafee security, and the list goes on..
3ghz pentium iv, 1gb ram, 160gb harddrive, 128mb video ati x300 w/dvi, audigy 2 soundcard, 3 year extended warranty, 24" ultrasharp LCD monitor (amazing upgrade), klipsch 5.1 speakers
Came to 1988.00 after tax. Take off the speakers and its around 1600-1700.
Try the outrageous deals for small business or the epp program for students/teachers (they didn't even want proof that I was a teacher nor did they ask). EPP will get you an extra 12 percent off with 3 or 4 year extended warranty..
Especially if you want to view the highest resolution. Ebay the x300 for about 50 dollars and get a x800xl (or similar) for around 250 by shopping around.
Otherwise, this system still rocks..
User Rating: 3/10
Dell does not make good PCs at all
Pros: None that come to mind... Oh, wait! It turns on I guess
Cons: Everything I can think of, which, ironically, isn't a lot
User Rating: 5/10
One bad experience ruins it
Pros: It is a stable machine with lots of potential
Cons: Where do I start?
Afer calling back infuriated and speaking to several Tech's I finally got one that was ok with English. She got an approval for me to return the whole system but I had to pay the shipping. Fine! But shipping is more expensive than the cost of the printer so now I am stuck with a scanner that takes up a whole lot of room. All in all I am disgusted with Dell and their total lack of concern for customer care. I used to love them and their build it your way online store and now I am out one very precious tool for my photo work.
User Rating: 9/10
This thing screams!
Pros: Fast performance, great design and tremendous upgrade potential
Cons: Can't think of any ...
User Rating: 8/10
Dell...unbelievable price for excellent system.
Pros: I got 160GB Hard Drive, 1GB Memory, Dual drives (CD and DVD), 256 bit video card (not top of the line, but the next level), 19 inch flat panel monitor, upgraded sub-woofer speakers for $1377 ($1490 with tax). Unbelievable price!!! I got my system in les
Cons: None at this point. I'm interested in how the customer service will be when I do have an issue.
User Rating: 
7/10
Dependable Good Gamer
Pros: No rpoblems found everyhting i wanted in a good gaming system at a good price with customer service to back it up
Cons: No media card reader Had to purchase seperatly
User Rating: 8/10
Fantastic is all I can say.
Pros: Easy to use, easy to get, and easy to pay for.
Cons: Tech support stinks, you cannot understand most of their technicians. You try to tell them what is wrong and they do not comprehend.
User Rating: 8/10
Dell is number one for a reason
Pros: The great thing about this system is that you can game with it, its upgradable and there are system out there offering far this for a much higher price. Also, as far as the customer service being in India, who cares?? Dell was the LAST computer company t
Cons:
User Rating: 5/10
Tech. & Customer "NO" Service is TERRIBLE!
Pros: This is a very feature rich PC and the on-line ordering, tracking and etc. is easy. It is a shame all home PC tech. and customer support is in India. This fact has ended my long-term business with Dell.
Cons: Dell has made it impossible to speak with anyone other than support centers in India for home purchases. Please note, all (or at least in the USA) business tech. and customer support previously outsourced to India has been returned to the USA because it
User Rating: 9/10
"Absolutly Amazing System"
Pros: I just got my new 8400 and wow, its amazing. I'm a hard core gamer and IT professional, and there isn't much more I could ask for in my home computer. Blazing fast graphics, great sound, great monitor. Dell spares no expense in building this system.
Cons: There is nothing bad I can say about this system, however, this isn't a good system for basic users. In order to take full advantage of this technology, you need to be a power user. If your not, your wasting your money.
User Rating: 8/10
A very good, wellrounded PC
Pros: very good consumer support and more standard options than most PC's. I bought my Dimension 8400 series last month and. It was my first Dell PC but it probibly wont be my last I am very pleased over all.
Cons: Its not an alienware
User Rating: 9/10
Dell is top of the line
Pros: Heard alot about Dells. Owning is believing. Simple and easy tp use. Best PC I have owned in a long time.
Cons:
User Rating: 8/10
I am enjoying it!
Pros: I am not an expert but find it to be very user friendly.
Cons: It doesn't warn me when I am about to do something stupid....
User Rating: 5/10
Dell Support
Pros: Excellent system
Cons: Customer Support seems to more of a hasel more then a convienence, I mean these represenatives Don't enjoy thier jobs and shows through their frustration on the phone. I'm not to good with computers and I ordered a Dell with thier supposed award winning s
User Rating: 10/10
I have had it for months,
Pros: nice graphics, really fast, takes control of the SATA technoligy (also dell does'nt fill all the ram slots,)
Cons: Not very open to hard drive upgrades, (can stick and extra one but no more) but overall i love my new dell
User Rating: 7/10
Super machine
Pros: Fast, reliable, able to handle all my media needs. I record alot of music and so far had no problems recording 10 tracks simultaeously.
Cons: Dell customer service is the worst.UPS shipped the product to the wrong location and when I contacted Dell I got someone on the phone from India whose name was supposedly "John" and who tried to convince me that he would reorder my machine only if I would
User Rating: 8/10
This PC is fast and reliable.
Pros: It comes equipped with a large 80 GB hard drive, as well as an Intel Inside Pentium 4 3.6 Ghz processor.
Cons: It is easily susceptible to spyware as well as adware.
User Rating: 7/10
Quite possibly the worst customer service
Pros: I don't know yet as right now its serving as a paperweight
Cons: Terrible customer service. Hours on the phone. I've had the computer for 10 days and although I paid for installation and data migration it is not complete and today is Friday so who knows when they'll get around to me.
User Rating: 7/10
Love Affair Over
Pros: Best system builder around. You get to build your machine with the widest available selection of the latest and greatest components at the best possible price. Quick shipping: I ordered my system on a Friday and it was at my door the next Thursday. I got
Cons: The case is very flimsy. I cracked it at a stress point when I closed it. Its very thin plastic. Now I need to get something off my chest: this is our fourth Dell. Dell computers have been for me what Camels are for a lot of smokers: it was 'My Brand'. Th
User Rating: 8/10
good product if you do some tweaking
Pros: high power computer, fast processor, easy to upgrade DDR2-533 ram, great overall performace. 19 inch monitor offers great picture.
Cons: Ran incredibly slow until i deleted the included Mcafee Security Suite and installed Norton System Works in its place. The case is very cheap flimsy and ugly plastic, for such a nice computer why not have a good aluminum case? Also runs loud, looking bac
User Rating: 10/10
I bought it got a great deal and I love it it is faster than anything I have ever used and also user
Pros:
Cons:
User Rating: 3/10
Video Problems
Pros: For normal every day use this is a screaming machine. For Gaming it is not.
Cons: Video does not support gaming. Simple games that are graphics intensive are choppy at best and near unplayable. The 8300 with Nvidia works much better.
User Rating: 10/10
8400 4 less than $1000!
Pros: I caught a deal just after Christmas, so my 8400 was only $954. 1GB RAM, 160GB SATA, ordered 3.2 arrived with 3.4. I wiped all the "crap" Dell puts on their systems as soon as I pulled it out of the box. XP Pro SP2, Office 2003, Symantec Corp Antivirus &#
Cons: Customer service!!!! ***!!!! I completely agree with the negatives on this! I wasn't aware that Dell contracted it's customer service out to India. I found it amusing at first when for two days in a row I felt like I was talking to the same man in every s
User Rating: 9/10
Hottest computer I've ever used!
Pros: Fast & Reliable w/ Pentium® 4 Processor 540 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB) Very low price for what you get! We got 1 for the office to test out. Loved it so much we got 8 more plus 3 others for home use. No problem with any of them after 3
Cons: Absolutely NONE. (BTW I have nothing to do with CNET or Dell either and you couldn't buy my opinion if you tried.)
User Rating: 3/10
Should be called SAMSUNG 8400 not Dell
Pros: Price: On the surface it?s a great deal for around $1,000.00. The same specs with HP would have cost me around $400-600.00 more and apr. $1.000 more with Alienware. Delivery: Timely delivery, (arrived earlier then advertised) Return Policy: Easy to Retu
Cons: Value: The price only looks good on paper cause they won't tell you who makes their parts. The RAM was Samsung, HD was Samsung, CD drive was Samsung, DVD drive Hitachi, Graphics Card was Samsung. ...why did it say ?DELL? and not ?SAMSUNG?? Quality: RAM
User Rating: 1/10
Dell Service is very bad, In my package , Dell Resource Application CD and Module Software is missed
Pros:
Cons:
User Rating: 8/10
Lightning fast very good looking
Pros: nice looking. very quick. got lots of extra free upgrades ie 250gb hard drive, extra ram. not bad price for top pc. paid about £1100 as live in england. that's about $2200
Cons: cust support puts you through to india or somewhere and is difficult trying to expalin to someone who doesn't understand or speak english that well what you want.
User Rating: 2/10
this fan is loud! I cant stand it!
Pros: its fast, no doubt of that
Cons: the fan is way too loud . I cant hear over it when im in a game of half life.
User Rating: 3/10
This computer is not as good as an earlier model
Pros: not many that my other Dell doesn't already have
Cons: This computer is quite an expensive peice of machinery, it loads up slowly, and i do not recommend it, unless you want to spend lots of money on a low-grade PC
User Rating: 4/10
Customer service from India sucks
Pros: Customer service is good if you have a corporate account, but forget it if you are a home user.
Cons: Purchased 8300. The OS was not properly installed, and Dell failed to ship all of the documents needed. No problem, except for the horrible customer service from India. When they can't understand you, they say they can't hear you, which results in frus
User Rating: 6/10
60 Days from purchase to full function.
Pros: Fast, quiet, and able to handle many simultaneous functions. (For the price, it should).
Cons: First machine needed to be returned for OS issues (XP Media Edition). Second machine had cooling system issues. 2 Motherboards, 2 processors, and 3 cooling fans later, the decible level is now down to what it should be, from when it used to be deafening
User Rating: 5/10
Hard think of a worst compueter!
Pros: If I can get it to run more than a week, maybe I can come up with a PRO
Cons: Where do I start...after a month of fighting with dell they replaces everything inside but the hard drive, Power Supply, Ram, DVD/RW drive, mother board etc...Week later OOPS Hard drive crashed! Still waiting or a preplacement. My first and last Dell! I'm
User Rating: 7/10
Ultimate Computer for a moderate price
Pros: Fast Processor and Graphics card and easy to upgrade
Cons: Too many useless programs installed on the computer. Also, the case sometimes hard to open.
User Rating: 10/10
This is my second Dell computer
Pros: My 3.2G 8400 w1th 1G DDR2 533 RAM with 250G harddrive & the ATI 128MB PCI graphics card performs excellent after 3 months of usage. It is also much quieter than my previous Dell 8200 which my wife now enjoys using. The new flat 17" monitor is excellen
Cons: I recommend getting the optional Audigy2 ZS sound card with the system which enhances the sound experience over the standard integrated sound device.
User Rating: 1/10
WORST TECH SUPPORT IN THE BUSINESS
Pros: GREAT MONITOR-ULTRA SHARP 17"
Cons: BUNDLED SOFTWARE IS VERY WEAK-YOU GET A TRIAL VERSION OF ONE PRODUCT. AGAIN DELL'S TECH SUPPORT IS ABSOLUTELY SECOND TO EVERYONE. YOU GET TRANSFERRED THE HUNG UP ON SO YOU CALL BACK AND START OVER AND IT HAPPENS AGAIN. I SPOKE TO ONE TECH CALLED "rudolph"
User Rating: 8/10
Great if you get it at the right price.
Pros: I got this 8400 with an e193fp lcd for $750 dollars. Pretty good deal, as I wanted it for the cheap fast 19 lcd. I made sure it was basic with pci express, x300 se, 512 ddr2, 3.2 p4, and the rest was basic. Just got a 6800 ultra for it and an audigy 2
Cons: lcd has color banding on large gray areas, also pretty rough on other resolutions. That's why I'm trashing the video card. Case is quiet, machine is fast. Make sure you go to http://www.gotapex.com to watch for deals on these before you buy, as they se
User Rating: 10/10
From the 8250 to 8400
Pros: P4 w/HT Tech Extreme Edition 3.40GHz, 800 FSB with 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 256 PCI Express and the Hard Drive is 500GB Perfomance RAID SATA. Dell 20.1 UltraSharo 2005FPW monitor. I got it today! I love my Dell! (Billy Amato NYC)
Cons: Merry Christmas
User Rating: 2/10
Ok, if you wait for a deal and don't mind some noise
Pros: The Dimension 8400 utilizes the Intel 925X chipset with a Prescott Pentium IV. These currently (12/04) represent the latest and greatest from Intel. The problem is that these components really don't perform much better than the 875 chipset and Northwood
Cons: For me, the system is too loud. The cost premium for 925X and Prescott is not rewarded with performance increases.
User Rating: 7/10
Bang for your buck ?
Pros: I just purchased 8400 2days it runs super fast can do many things at once but .
Cons: it freezes up a casualy and it takes along time to load some websites and is pricey I may be returning this one to dell
User Rating: 10/10
Very good deal for the money
Pros: What I got: P4 550 (3.4Ghz, HT, 800FSB), 1 GB Dual Channel(2x512) DDR 533 SDRAM, 80 GB SATA HD, 256MB PCI Express16 Nvidia 6800GTO, 48x CD-RW, 16x DVD +/- RW w dbl layer write, onboard Gigabit Ethernet, onboard 5.1 sound, and 17" Ultrasharp LCD...all for
Cons: I ordered a P4 540(3.2G) and they sent me a P4 550(3.4G) for the same price. I can deal with that. Lots of buy-me-ware installed but easily removed.
User Rating: 10/10
Out of the box...WOW
Pros: Ok, so it may be premature to rate a product that I've only had about 2 hours on. However, I must say, I love it already! The computer I was replacing was a 750mhz machine from Best Buy in 2000 and I paid less for this 8400 than I paid for the last comp
Cons: The location of the angled usb ports on the front don't seem very user friendly if your pc is on the floor or under the desk.
User Rating: 3/10
Dell's reputation has gone South!
Pros: Suposedly an advance over last generation of machine. We'll see.
Cons: Supposedly an improvement over the previous generation, Dell's Dimension 8400 demenstrates a philosophy that has gone haywire.Gone are the days of the trustworthiness of the Dell name. Read the reviews. This version demonstrates no improvement over the pr
User Rating: 8/10
An amazing bang for the buck
Pros: Great customer support Great performance for an amazing price
Cons: space taking but nothing astronomical
User Rating: 7/10
NOISE! Can you hear me now?
Pros: This is an excellent system. Loaded with features and well built Except for the case.
Cons: I ended up returning it to Dell for a full refund of my money because the Fan would go all the way up and stay there. My electricity bill went up an additional 30+ dollars and the noise was so agravating that I finally sent it back.
User Rating: 7/10
Excellent Performance for Excellent Price
Pros: I was actually thinking of building one until I weighed in the factors of price. It was actually cheaper to buy one. Anyway, awesome performace for 3Ghz, 1GB RAM, 160GB SATA, and Radeon X300 for $600. Runs EXTREMELY quiet. People who say that it's loud
Cons: Stupid USB ports facing downward at the front of the case. What the hell are they thinking?!
User Rating: 8/10
Decent machine.
Pros: Preety easy to upgrade. I totally don't understand how some people said it is hard.(u kidding me? comparing to Imb and hp). Also really cheap at what u get.
Cons: one remark to everyone....know ur needs. I was tricked really badly this time wif buying a x300 graphics card. I thougtht it will work fine, but no.... 128mb is fake. I works terribly. U need better graphics card to play games. (I don't play much game, bu
User Rating: 7/10
best available
Pros: 1. great product 2. reliable 3. documentation excellent
Cons: 1. lack of testing can cause setback 2. getting help from India is a pain. 3. Programs for cd/dvd even those bought extra are not full featured.
User Rating: 8/10
Awsome computer for the price!
Pros: I've had this computer for a little over two months now and it has pleased me in every way. I love the fact that it comes with Intel's new chipset (925x) which means it will be upgradable in the future. PCI Express rocks! Even with the lower graphics c
Cons: The DVD-ROM drive is a little noisy when opening and closing, but not enough to get annoying. It's heavy, but that's to be expected with such a loaded desktop. My only major gripe is the front mounted USB ports; they're mounted at an angle that makes th
User Rating: 1/10
8400 dragging by the bad casing design
Pros: relatively quiet, nice 17" display, nice colored rear panel. I had 8400 only for 2 days, but had XPS and 4600 for about 6 months. XPS is much nosier, 4600 is the quietest one. Easy set-up is a plus.
Cons: extremely ugly finishing on casing, and cheap plastic feels like a cheaper model than my 4600. BUT THE MOST unbelievable design crime is the front USB panel, they are pointing down in about 45 degrees and my Creative UPS MP3 player can barely get inserted
User Rating: 8/10
8400 is a screamer
Pros: Excellent speed, no issues with system. Spec it with 160GB HD flat screen. This thing flies
Cons: None over the past 2 months
User Rating: 5/10
Poor Tech Support
Pros:
Cons: Dell's tech support for business is in the US, for residential tech support is in India.
User Rating: 8/10
Great product by Dell
Pros: I just purchased and this is a great machine. I purchased it to be used as a family computer. Easy to use and powerful.
Cons: It is expensive so get in on some of the deals that Dell offers.
User Rating: 10/10
For 998 bucks you get 3.6GHz computer, decent RAM, a very good graphics card. What more do you need?
Pros: Everything!
Cons: A very bad sound card.
User Rating: 10/10
1st time to buy Dell, very pleased!
Pros: Great Support, very quiet, easy to do upgrades myself, very, very fast, plays games better than anything I have seen.
Cons: Front USB access is clunky. No card reader. Dell has shipping delays in December.
User Rating: 8/10
Dude, I got a Dell!!!
Pros: Stable, reliable, lots of USB ports (the front ones are very useful). And whith a 3 year guarantee
Cons: A little expensive, DVD reader and CD burner make a lot of noise.
User Rating: 9/10
I Love this machine
Pros: Installation was a snap! Just plugged it up and it walked me right through the setup process. It hooked right into my home network without my help and log right on to the internet. I read many people complain about the noise of the fans, but it seems pr
Cons: No media card reader built in. This should at least be an option. I did order a printer that has the card reader so I guess I can live with it. Needs a nicer optical mouse, I'm sticking with my IBM mouse for now.
User Rating: 9/10
Great machine so far
Pros: Doing lots of photos - so now I'm able to open 20 -36mg tiff files at once and still listen to my music. All my sofware is installing fine. Haven't gotten around to adding any hardware yet.
Cons: The Jukebox locks for a bit when first opening. No con but just a regret - now that I've seen the 19in fine LCD-I wish I had gotten the 20.1 LCD-oh well something to look forward to.
User Rating: 7/10
fast, well built machine..
Pros: -a ton of usb2.0 ports -fast startup -w/the 160g SATA hdrive running at 7200rpm and the 2 fans, it's a pretty quiet machine. - good all around machine. -cheap price compared to comparable Compaq, HP, or Gateway.
Cons: no media reader! no built in firewire port!
User Rating: 7/10
Good computer, good price
Pros: I've had this for a couple of weeks now and haven't had any problems with it at all. The price was very reasonable for what I got (3.4GHz @800MHz, 1GB DDR2 @533MHz, 128MB ATI X600XT, 250GB HDD, DVD-RW + DVD-ROM, 19" Ultrasharp FPD, 5.1 speakers, printer,
Cons: There are a few... 1. The case is just awful... I would love to speak to the engineer who designed it. 2. All of the worthless demo/garbage software they put on it. Can't stand Dell's default software load, so I formatted and reloaded just how I want
User Rating: 9/10
Great Computer if you get the right deal
Pros: Fast and Powerful Latest Technology (PCI-Express, DDR2, SATA, etc) Great Upgradeability Unbeatable Price Full review at http://www.shinyplastic.com/a rchives/12-15-04-reviews-dell- dimension-8400-review.php
Cons: Unattractive Flimsy Case No Overclocking Poor Graphics Card
User Rating: 9/10
You Can't Go Wrong With A Dell
Pros: I have the 8300 and it's a blazing fast PC (512MB, pentium 4, w/two 80GB hardrives). The ability to upgrade the computer in the future is a snap as the the PC's case opens almost like a book (no screws to deal with).
Cons: Tech support, like most others, suck.
User Rating: 9/10
excellent computer
Pros: id great for mutitasking have watch a dvd and played a game at sametime had no problems
Cons: you need broadband internet to use it to full pottenshel
User Rating: 4/10
Bad tech support, Poor quality
Pros: Easy to setup, good value.. until something goes wrong
Cons: Tech support is outsourced to india. The technicians have little or no experience. They can rarely pull up your information due to "system upgrades". I have experience with a variety of companies. Dell tech support used to be #1. It is now by far the
User Rating: 7/10
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Cons: y[t=y[=tpt- ]t ]y];up7youpy[jopylujuypk jolyt0ujkyo0jhy9ji9yu[yp09y -0yy6tyyup-yp7y-uo 50yoy0ui0pyu0uy0-i
User Rating: 7/10
Thumbs up-with reservations...
Pros: I bought mine about 2 months ago. Configured it with a gig of 533 RAM, 6800 GTO, 3.2 processor, 160 gig hd. Everything worked fine for about a week and the video card died. Got a new one overnighted and has worked fine ever since. About two weeks after th
Cons: Questionable componants. After both the video card and the hard drive died I thought I might have a lemon, but so far so good. Tech support is ok, but still not great. The most annoying this about the purchase was the repeated after the sale marketing eff
User Rating: 10/10
BOTTOM LINE...BEST COMPUTER FOR THE PRICE
Pros: I don't care what anyone has to say about Dell, for me the proof is in the pudding. The 8400 is the best computer on the market for the price. For under $2,000 Try to find one with a Pentium 4 540 processor, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 400GB SATA hard drive
Cons: I have used it for a month now and have found no cons so far.
User Rating: 7/10
no problems here--nice computer
Pros: 19" flat screen monitor upgrade for free, very nice computer. No problems at all.
Cons: had to deal with India when my shipment was late. The lady didn't know what she was talking about--said it already shipped...called the next day and spoke with an american employee who got everything squared away. I can see the India customer service (or
User Rating: 6/10
beware of dells sales reps
Pros: easy to contact when you want to buy a product.
Cons: sometimes hell trying to get answers to simple questions. beware of sales reps and be ready for poor tech and customer care support. HP service far better.
User Rating: 9/10
Fantastic computer!
Pros: This computer is superb. I have had ZERO problems with it. I installed and was running a complete MSOffice XP Pro installation in under 3 minutes. If you have problems with the included software... er, well, delete it. I've been up and running for about t
Cons: I will say one thing in the con column. I have a combo CD-RW/DVD-RW drive, and it whirs startlingly loudly, but it reads the information so freaking fast, it's not really a big problem. Well, plus, I'm not trying to be sneaky in using it; I suppose, if yo
User Rating: 7/10
A great game machine and more...
Pros: I just got the Dell 8400 with 512 mb of ram, 250 gig hard drive the awesome Ati x800 vid card and all the other features that came along. I got it at the price of $1200 cause I added the 17 inch flat screen, but what a buy. This is the ultimate pc for wh
Cons: I have no complaints.
User Rating: 8/10
Very nice PC, buy from Costco to get best price
Pros: Fast processor, dual DVD drives. It cranks.
Cons: Had a problem with Samsung memory module - tech rep has been dispatched, so we will see...
User Rating: 9/10
Great Machine but lacks some features...
Pros: Speedy machine, nice features such as gigabit ethernet, built-in raid.
Cons: Small power supply (only 350w), Only Raid 0 or 1 - not 0+1 - so you can have 2 - 800 GB drives but not a 1.6 TB drive like everyone is stating, lack of expandability - only 2 hard drive spaces total! Had to add custom cage for additional drives and a larg
User Rating: 4/10
fan makes to much noise
Pros: this is a loud machine. System fan sounds like an airplane. Should be quieter for this price.
Cons: Tech supp seems to have vanished at Dell. Took 3 days & six countries to get COMPETENT help. Got new fan, motherboard & Pentium, still loud as loud as my 8300!!!!
User Rating: 8/10
One heck of a deal
Pros: Fast, Great Hardware, Amazing Price, Configurability, incredible deal! If you subtract out the value of the 19" LCD that was thrown in for free I got the system for ~$600 w/ 2-day delivery.
Cons: If you're worried about brands of components buy a Vaio or build it yourself. There's also the fact that you can't return it anywhere, but you know that going into it.
User Rating: 10/10
The best computer around!
Pros: The fastest and cheapest computer with the latest technology, what else can you ask for?
Cons: none at all!
User Rating: 2/10
Great Features/Horrible Company
Pros: A vast array of features and the latest/fastest Pentium.
Cons: I regret ever dealing with this company. The Dell salesperson misled me about the brand of components found in my PC. Company won't take responsibility. Dell support HORRIBLE. HD crash was terrible. Buyer beware!
User Rating: 4/10
well it is high end but sometimes needs help
Pros: up-to-date, new will last for a while without having to upgrade
Cons: a bit loud if you do upgrade you will need some new parts
User Rating: 9/10
Maybe, If your looking to replace.
Pros: The Dell Dimension 8400 is a great machine but so is the 8300 and the 8250, why? the 8400 new high-performance 925X Express chipset and that is all. It still has the old 8250/8300 case and iners, don't get me worng, if your about to get a new computer or
Cons: The Dell 8400 is a rebilt in parts of the 8250/8300.
User Rating: 6/10
Very loud system-Did I say LOUD
Pros: If you get one that works they are great. Price is the best I found in shopping around.
Cons: Loud loud loud, whines. They need to upgrade their fans and cooling design. Hard to do anything inside the case. Outsourcing of tech support. Can't understand the techs and they can't undertand you. Quality control is nonexistent. They say they test prior
User Rating: 3/10
I would rather be back in Viet Nam
Pros: basic computing
Cons: Customer service is the single most frustrating experience I have ever been through in 50 years of life. Support doesn't speak English, they keep you on hold for years of life and that is with the PREFERRED service agreement. I absolutely hate this compan
User Rating: 2/10
HUGE DELL CONCERNS!
Pros:
Cons: WATCH OUT! This machine has given us problems non-stopped since it was shipped! We must replace the wireless adapter, the entire mother board, the processor and the power supply! ALL DEFECTIVE! You sit on the phone for 3 hours and get no where with th
User Rating: 9/10
Great PC for a great price.
Pros: Fast! Full featured. Several hundred dollars cheaper than its nearest big name rival. Did I mention that it's fast!
Cons: Didn't offer the video card I prefered (ATI w/256 MB), thought the highend Nvidia it came with is plenty nice. The fans are fairly loud.
User Rating: 6/10
Good machine with some quirks
Pros: Great processor, a lot of memory, good configuration
Cons: Lacks a multicard reader
User Rating: 1/10
Low-end 8400 Dimension creator...CREATOR must be a SPY from Dell's competitors!!!
Pros: Newest Technology..Hyperthreading/pc i-express/RAID*SATA
Cons: 8400 DIMENSIONS with RADEON x800 graphics card is ABSOLUTELY THUMBS UP!!! But with a RADEON X300(NO BUILT-IN FAN)? How LOW Dell think of its Customers. DOUBLE the bandwidth of AGP and a HIGH-END system WITH a lower-than-mediocre GRAPHICS CARD is comparabl
User Rating: 7/10
Not a big fan of the 16X DVD+RW Drive
Pros: Fast computer, really good graphics card. Never freezes. Seperate partition for a drive image :)
Cons: I don¡¦t even know the actual recording speed for my 16x DVD+RW drive. The recording program sucks. When I first turned on the computer, I had to call tech support because windows wouldn't start. I had to go and repair windows with the set-up CD. If you h
User Rating: 8/10
Quality and Performance Key for Me.
Pros: I have a Dell Dimension XPS which I have had about one month. Love the Speed, 2 Gig of Fast Memory, Complete Care Service, Expansion potential, and Latest Technology.
Cons: No built in Memory card reader for my Digital SLR Utra II Compact Flash Cards. Price is high, but you get what you pay for.
User Rating: 9/10
Can't go wrong.
Pros: Forget the 3k price tag. you can get this puppy tweaked out for about 1600.00, just go to the web site and do it yourself and see. I got the 8250 and will be getting either this model or the next in in like 4 months. For the dollar Dell cant be beat.
Cons: I never did like the case much. It looks nice but doesnt feel to solid. A Solid aluminum case would be a better pick.
User Rating: 9/10
The Best Computer
Pros: If you need a computer to do all your hard graphic processing or gaming, then look no further.
Cons: Not many manufacturers are using the PCI express boards; Pentium 4 isn't as great as the AMD 64 FX-53 chipset.
User Rating: 9/10
Wickedly Fast PC
Pros: Pentium 550 (3.4ghz) need I say more? this computer is so fast, it's a see it to believe it kind of thing.. Loading multiple sounds and programs are at super speed and the machine only takes 19 seconds to start up!
Cons: there is a lot of nonsense software from aol, etc.. but it's easy to uninstall!
User Rating: 8/10
Overall Great Computer
Pros: Great value. 160GB HD / 1GB of RAM / 16XDVD-RW + 48X CDRW / 17 Flat panel disply all for $1400.
Cons: With DVD+CDRW all IDE connectors taken up. Mother board has only one IDE connector. I had to buy a separate PCI controller card with an IDE slot on it to be able to transfer my hard drive from my old computer to they new 8400. (havent got it yet-hope it w
User Rating: 8/10
Good overall!
Pros: Easy of use and install, alot of features. Good quality and support.
Cons: kind of expensive. CPU tower kind of bulky.
User Rating: 10/10
great PC at any price
Pros: it's got it all and more
Cons: if you don't use all it's features you will not appreicate it
User Rating: 9/10
This is a great system!!!!!!!!!!
Pros: This system is great. I have the 8400 running Win Xp Prof., 3.00G Pentium 4, 1G RAM, Sound Blaster Audigy 2, and so on. This computer never slows down, sometimes I wonder if it will be making me breakfast in the AM. If you afford to customize this syst
Cons: The only cons I have with the system is when I recieved it from Dell it had WAY to much B.S. software installed, it booted sorta slow, and I had some Windows errors. I just reinstalled Windows and installed only the software I wanted...now she's great!!
User Rating: 8/10
New 8400 Works Quite Well For Me!
Pros: Very quick to boot up - only 20 seconds from power on to user log-on! Very reliable - never froze up, never had to reboot!
Cons: Front USB ports hard to use - they are stacked on top of each other at an angle - user cannot see them without tilting computer back. Mine are also mounted upside down! Ordered mine the 1st day Dell offered the 8400 and didn't get the computer until a m
User Rating: 10/10
Greater then the sum of its parts...best PC yet!!!
Pros: Solid and spectacular...a rare but pleasing combo. A better investment then paying a little less for old technology, but the 530 (3 Ghz)with the faster ram is the best overal buy
Cons: Stupid front flap & ports
User Rating: 4/10
Great Product, but where is the support
Pros: Appreciate the standard hardware and quality when it does work properly. This product is not for beginners.
Cons: The technical support is very poor, and I have decided to return my Dell Dimension 8400 back to Dell. No support, what's the point.
User Rating: 5/10
Problems from the start-TERRIBLE TECH HELP
Pros: nice looking. i had 3.4ghz processor-1gb 533 ram-160gb hd-wireless keyboard and mouse-klipsh ultra 501 speakers
Cons: dell's tech support is terrible. if you can understand them-that helps. they learn as they go and are incredibly slow. the P4 is not as fast as a comparable Athlon processor. printer didn't work (brand new)- right front channel on klipsh didn't work (not
User Rating: 4/10
Not worth the cash
Pros: Its fast its easy to use.
Cons: Most if not all pcs are easy to use this doesnt matter. No agp for video pci is old. 512 megs of ram for high end gaming recomend 1-2 gigs. 80 Gig hard drive 80 dollars standard could do better. Loaded with programs you will never use and you get charged
User Rating: 9/10
Works very well for me.
Pros: I was limited on my budget, needed a gaming computer. Bought the Dimension 8400, 3GHz w/ HT, 512mb of DDR2@400MHz, 80gig hard drive, Radeon x800SE 128mb. Worked with the highest settings on Battlefield Vietnam, Far cry, Flight Simulator 2004 (microsoft),
Cons: One day I was playing BFV, loading a new map, all the sudden the screen went blue with no error message. When I restarted my computer I was told fatal error and I sent the error report and it came back saying that there was a hardware problem. Called Dell
User Rating: 9/10
$3000.00... REALLY!
Pros: You don't have to spend $3000.00 to get a well-equipped 8400. $1500.00 got a 3GHz with a 280GB SATA RAID 0 and an all in one photo printer... you have a decent keyboard monitor and mouse, right? If you don't load up on the expensive options like the over
Cons: Brand new specs and techs... who knows what may be in store.
User Rating: 8/10
Great out-of-the-box buy!
Pros: Completely easy, no hassle system. I was contemplating whether to build again or buy, but when my pc died, I needed something quickly. It contained all the power components I needed for my work & excellent for gaming. Plenty of options for upgradin
Cons: None so far - but then again, I haven't had to deal with the 'wonderful' Dell support I've heard so much about.
User Rating: 8/10
Top o' the line!
Pros: Great value, extremely dependable, good warentee, completely customizable
Cons: Boring two-tone case, takes a long time to ship, xp isnt a very dependable os, not much support yet for pci express
User Rating: 8/10
Good Buy and easy to upgrade
Pros: Great new hardware: the 925X chip, PCI Express Video Card, Dual channel RAM up to 4GB's at 533mhz. Basic setup cost me under $700
Cons: The ATI 300 SE video card is the worst. Use the money you save by buying a top of the line pci express video card and make this PC in to a true Gaming Rig.
User Rating: 9/10
This Is THE COMPUTER
Pros: This is the setup: 3.2 ghz cpu; 1GB 533 DDR2 ram;ATI x800XT 256MB Video Card; Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 soundcard; 160GB Hard drive;16X DVD-ROM; 12X DVD+RW Dual layer capable; 17' LCD flat panel; All in one 920 printer;Klipsch Pro Media Ultra 5.1 sou
Cons: All the useless AOL and other programs that no one wants. But they are easy enough to get rid of. Just a simple uninstall and it was all gone.
User Rating: 8/10
Good PC for the money
Pros: I got 8400 -3.0; 1gb 533 ram, 160g, 128 mb video card + 17 Ultrasharp. Fast. Very reasonably priced (I got additional savings from http://www.couponmountain.com /Dell/Dell_coupon.html?source= google_dellwords_dell_coupons) . Ordered my pc on thursday, re
Cons: I had to upgrade to the newer version of java, as my explorer seesions would hang ... that seemed to fix it. Other than that everything seems to be working.
User Rating: 6/10
Not as great as CNet says
Pros: Good support, easy to use and fair value.
Cons: Biased reviews, weak game performance, some weak components, average case
User Rating: 5/10
Good System, Unless You Have Problems
Pros: Uses some of the most advanced tech out there, and at an affordable price. Promising capabilities if certain issues were fixed. Recieved ready-to-use, if it works properly...and it is the right system.
Cons: Crappy tech service and customer care, and issues just drag on because they do not follow through on promises or follow up, period. After three tower exchanges because of severe cooling fan issues and missing parts during exchanges, I finally got my mone
User Rating: 1/10
I have not even turn it on
Pros: Good shipping and handly to pick up the computer... Bellow is the letter that I send to Dell
Cons: I always wanted a Dell computer, it was my dream for a computer, I ended with a HP due that it was a present, but I still look at your site your computers on a weekly basses, until one day I decide to purchase one. Since the most convenient way was to pa
User Rating: 8/10
All you have to do is compare
Pros: I just received my 8400. I spent 1600 on the computer and if you try to match components with any other company you will pay more. I am not a dell fan but do like money. If you are comparing apples to apples you can't beat the price.
Cons: The case isn't the best but other than that I can't find any.
User Rating: 9/10
The 8400 IS THE COMPUTER!
Pros: Intel P 4 HT 540 (3.2); 1 GB 533mgzDDR2 vram; 160GB hard; ATI X800XT 256 PCIExpressX's16 256MB DDR3 video card; SB Audigy 2 soundcard; Klipsch Pro Media Ultrs 5.1 Sound system; 16X dvd-rom; 16- 12 X's DVD+rw dual layer; wireless media keyboard and mouse;
Cons: people who knock something they never tried...Dell is an awesome company and this is an outstanding computer
User Rating: 9/10
Don't believe the Dell Haters.
Pros: FACT: Dell has all the latest technology because the BUILD TO ORDER. You buy and IBM or HP, that system has been sitting on the shelf for miniumum 6 weeks or more. The computer and set up is a breeze, support is awesome (love the on line support). An
Cons: Only complaint about Dell is the PC cases...you can customer EVERYTHING else, but that...wouldn't it be cool to be able to choose a 'sooped' up case too? Heck, I would pay any upgrade fees!
User Rating: 8/10
I Have it now and it is Awesome!!
Pros: Well I have been tweaking and setting it up for 6 days now and not 1 single complaint. The quality of the build is impressive, neat and organized. It has the most impressive and massive CPU heat sink you could imagine! I have the ATI x800xt and it is so f
Cons: Unecessary crap software and I hate even seeing AOL!!!!!!!!!!!!Haters beware cause this machine will smoke yours. 3DMARK03 14681!!!
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent Value and no problems
Pros: I've had my system for almost a week now, and its been running beautifully. I opted for almost all the top-of-the-line options, because I want this computer to last through college. That is, 3.4 GHz, 1 GB SDRAM, 160 GB hard drive, CD-RW and DVD-ROM drives
Cons: AOL is preinstalled no matter which "internet access offer" you choose when ordering. (More advanced users, such as me, might not like that). Also, the bundled Dell Media Experience is buggy in terms of DVD settings, and disables "Show Window Contents Whi
User Rating: 9/10
Honda of computers.
Pros: We have one 8400 series in my company and it performs very well. The guy who posted that Dell's are the Kia of computers doesn't have a clue. Does he even own the 8400? He doesn't say anything about the 8400 specifically, he's just ripping on Dell's in ge
Cons: Nothing major.
User Rating: 7/10
An honest opinion
Pros: I have built my last three machines myself. M parents, two heavy computer user friends and my girl friend own a dell. I have used all of these machines. They all have their ups and downs. If you are not familiar with how to assemble your own machine or ju
Cons:
User Rating: 4/10
Wait a year......
Pros: Easy to use, solid systems
Cons: Wait a year when you want to upgrade. I owned a Dimension 8200 and it was obsolete in a year which is very common in the PC world. Dell's major problem is you must purchase one of their motherboards to upgrade, which cost twice as much as top of the lin
User Rating: 4/10
Tech support is in India
Pros: Tech support is in India. Not America. How can Dell make their ads showing tech support like they are in America.
Cons:
User Rating: 4/10
Another unhappy Dell Customer!!
Pros: The name Dell is like IBM was in the 70's . Customer service response to problems quickly.
Cons: I started by ordering a 8300 on 6/11/4 with not a lot extras. I was told on estimated ship date that the chassis for the 8300 are back order and 8300 discontinued? I ordered 8400 on 6/29. Dell customer service did not me the truth- But I still waiting for
User Rating: 10/10
Cutting edge at a decent prce
Pros: it's true i don't have the computer yet but neither does anyone else so i thought i would join the fray. this thing seems like a steal from the order i just placed. 3Ghz P4, 1 GB DDR RAM @ 533Mhz, 160 GB HD, 17 inch flatscreen, DVD, CDRW. with 10% off and
Cons: Not sure, i'll write back later when i get it.
User Rating: 4/10
Ahhh Dell, The Kia of Computer Manufacturers
Pros: While the dell has many components of a high-end computer, you'll find that upgrading is never easy with the Dell.
Cons: Dell does NOT give you the ability to easily upgrade anything. Regardless of components, Dells always seem to run sub-par for me. Dell claims to cost less and offer more. Everyone I know with one seems to pay more, get less? DELL!!! The Kia of the Comput
User Rating: 8/10
More Dell Haters
Pros: Most of these posts are just personal attacks against dell and cnet. ANYWAYS the price was WONDERFUL. for 1800 i got P4 3.4, X800 XT, 1GB 533 DDR-2, 4 year warranty, 4 year complete care, plus more. more than 1k less than the exact same specs from alienwa
Cons: 15 day build time, tech support cant even tell us why theres a 15 day build time.
User Rating: 1/10
CNET'S CREDIBLE?
Pros: CNET and dell must have a connection. How else do you explain "highly recommended" when 50% of users are unhappy
Cons:
User Rating: 4/10
slow go
Pros:
Cons: ordered a computer in early June and it's still in pre-production stage at dell. how long does it take to build a computer?
User Rating: 8/10
Tried it and liked it
Pros: Very fast, got a little impatient at start up, is okay for home use and small business
Cons: Don't expect this machine to do every single thing you throw at it. Its not supposed to, for that you can custom build your own. other than that, its a pretty powerful comp.
User Rating: 6/10
Better be ready to wait a while!
Pros: Great price if you customize it to what your looking for.
Cons: You had better be ready to wait a while. I had previously ordered the 8300 model in May. After it had been pushed back twice I was told by the customer service I would not get it shipped until the last week of July. But if I ordered the 8400 I could get i
User Rating: 9/10
Dude, it's a Dell!
Pros: I don't know how this computer is considered a $3000+ computer...but I purchased my 8400 series for $1,545 WITH the 4 yr. warranty. My Specs included the base 3.0 gHz (800 mb fsb) pentium 4, 1024 MB (533 mHz) RAM, 128 MB X300 SE video card, DVD-ROM and s
Cons: This product is aimed at the more power-hungry consumer. I do a good deal of image editing and a bit of gaming, so this was a good choice for me. But 90% of all software made within the next 2 years won't have any use for this kind of power. Also, the
User Rating: 8/10
How can you be pro or con without the product?
Pros: Just ordered mine last week and it seems like a steal. With coupons I get the 550 processor, 512k ddr2, pcie 128 card and 2001fp monitor...for $1550! That's 4600 territory folks!
Cons: Don't know yet. Stay tuned. Ships mid July.
User Rating: 2/10
Dell Blows
Pros: Cutting Edge for Dell
Cons: It's a Dell, support from India, that's nice. Can they get any cheaper for your 2 hours on hold
User Rating: 4/10
This Really is BS
Pros: To the person who complained that 1 user out of 2 doesn't recommend the box... The fact is, THERE ARE NO USERS. None. Zip. Zero. The product has not yet been released yet! So there are no "users" and beta does not count.
Cons: I think CNET should not allow user comments before the product has been out, preferably a month after the product is out.
User Rating: 3/10
FUGLY dell design
Pros: wll the speakers and the monitor are actually better build then the Computer itself.
Cons: Horrible Dell design. with fugly front look. they need to hire some Asian designers
User Rating: 9/10
it's not expensive
Pros: It can be bought for only 800-900 at dell.com, far less than the 2-3k reviews are saying
Cons: Early adopters can get burned so beware.
User Rating: 8/10
The kind of BS that it is
Pros: What value are "User" comments when nobody here is a user? 15 "reviews", 9 pro, 6 con, and it's all but certain not a one has even seen the system let alone used it!
Cons: Nobody has one
User Rating: 9/10
Best of the newest
Pros: Only a few companies are jumping on the PCIe bandwagon so far. Dell is doing it the best right now. Best chipset, best graphics, best memory. Again, Dell provides a NO B.S. solutions for users that know the difference. (ps if you don't like Dell, don'
Cons: price. WOW, but cutting edge is always expensive. Can't wait to see the price of the entry level PCIe systems.
User Rating: 5/10
Dell Dimension 8400 is Cutting Edge
Pros: Has cuting edge features- New PCI X video DDR 2 Memmory
Cons: Early adopters pay a price. You'll find them on fleabay in a few weeks and save hundreds.
User Rating: 3/10
No Way Johnny D Has The PCI-Express Version
Pros: I called Dell on Friday and they told me the new models wouldn't be shipping until mid-to-late July.
Cons: Read the reviews elsewhere. This 1.0 version shows no improvement over the previous generation, even in video performance for gaming. The fastest RAM is not available now; Wireless Access Point technology is not implemented now. This is a serious wait-unt
User Rating: 8/10
oooooooohhhhhhh...<drool> ;
Pros: new pci express slots, 3.6ghz OR 3.4E P4, DDR2 Memory, add the ATI X800 for the ultimate gaming machine
Cons:
User Rating: 10/10
3.6 GHz thats just crazy
Pros: Its fast, from Dell, long warranty,lots of memory did i mention it has 3.6Ghz thats crazy man
Cons: none here
User Rating: 8/10
HAXCOR BRING US TEH COMPUT-RARS
Pros: Awesome LAN machine for true 133337 like me, CS ONLY PLEASE
Cons: NON, ARE YOU NEEEWB?
User Rating: 4/10
Overpriced and unstable
Pros: Premier performer when it ran.
Cons: Unexpectedly stops at the most inopportune times.
User Rating: 3/10
Expensive, but the ultimate computor
Pros: The Dell Dimension 8400 is a great machine for people who know litrally everything, does everything i want it to and more!
Cons: it is expensive but it can do just about anything, it freezes a couple of times. Takes a long time to load up.
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