Dell XPS 410 Desktop Computer (Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40GHz/500GB/2GB)

Pros: Quiet, Cool

Cons: No Skull Grill or Neon Lights (But that's O.K. :)

Summary: I purchased an XPS 410 from DELL and was pleasantly surprised by the product. For years I have made fun of DELL as something that I would never buy due to my perceiving them as being not very good, however, at least with this model I have to change my view. I ordered online at the end of October and received my configured machine in my hands just 4 days later. Aside from having to pop it open which was easy and screwless to install a wireless internet card, it was ready to go right out of the box. Although not a huge fan of the styling I thought the case was pretty good. Upon hooking it up and starting the PC one of the first things I noticed was how extremely quiet it was. I mean, I have to get close to it to realize if it's still running or not. That's definitely a big difference to my old machine. The 2nd thing I noticed after putting my hand in the front and back vents of the machine was that some pretty cool air was flowing out. I was surprised and thought the machine would be packing more heat. So I definitely have to give it good marks for being a very quiet, very cool running gadget. I thought the wiring inside and general setup inside the case was well laid out. It's all tool less and screw less. Popping the wireless lan card in, a snap. I also liked the many USB ports it had both in front and in back. So, because there were no physical defects, because it's a top quality machine, both lay out wise, wiring and parts I'm giving this thing a 9. But why not a 10, you ask? Well, what can I say my old case was pretty cool, I spent a lot of time attaching various lights and weird stuff I got off the web like a skull grill and what not. So I have to give 1 out of 10 props to the wicked cool case I wish I had. But other than that, this machine is top notch. From what I reviewed one of the best deals currently at 2 gigabytes of RAM, 2.4 Core 2 duo (moderately fast) and a X-Fi xtrememusic card, which, believe me is a worthwhile investment if you're wanting great sound. All priced at 1300 and change. As far as the video card goes, I got the X1300 pro, I know that I would have rather had the 7900 GS, a marked improvement it would have been, however the X1300 supports my 24 inch monitor nicely. I will upgrade to a better video card, but I can do that when more money comes in. For now this will do fine. I would recommend the DELL XPS 410 to a friend.