Medion MD8820

[dragon]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

you say future proof but it will have a "smell" motherboard which I do not like however its cheap

The medion probably will have a rubbish motherboard to

the Dell would be good with a better gfx as would the medion but then you lose what you save. TBH they are buildable for the price and if you did want to improve them I would be tempted to build from scratch however if your happy with the spec you get its ok as is

Originally Posted by dragon

The medion probably will have a rubbish motherboard to

yeah but its not likely to be a custom board that would take br replacable by any number of other boards whereas the dell would need a new case if you swap the mobo

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by dragon

The medion probably will have a rubbish motherboard to

Comes with a 3 year warranty though.

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

the Dell would be good with a better gfx as would the medion but then you lose what you save. TBH they are buildable for the price and if you did want to improve them I would be tempted to build from scratch however if your happy with the spec you get its ok as is

Building isn't really an option at the moment, even though I would like to build a machine from scratch one day.

Basically just looking for a base unit and £400 sounds about right.

[nffc]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

yeah but its not likely to be a custom board that would take br replacable by any number of other boards whereas the dell would need a new case if you swap the mobo

I understood this Dell deviating from ATX spec, in general, was a thing of the past... I thought all their boards were fully ATX since about 2003.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by nffc

I understood this Dell deviating from ATX spec, in general, was a thing of the past... I thought all their boards were fully ATX since about 2003.

Some dimensions are BTX
I think the newer vostros are standard ATX not sure about the others.

The psu wiring has returned to standard ATX spec afaik.

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

yeah but its not likely to be a custom board that would take br replacable by any number of other boards whereas the dell would need a new case if you swap the mobo

afaik this is the mobo manual for the 8828

now I do not mind msi mobos I know others do not like them but ive had a few good boards. However the G33 chipset is a little sucky sucky compared to the P35 or the X38 (which i fancy but others do not)

---------- Post added at 00:11 ---------- Previous post was at 00:08 ----------

Originally Posted by nffc

I understood this Dell deviating from ATX spec, in general, was a thing of the past... I thought all their boards were fully ATX since about 2003.

I would have to see one to believe it lol I must admit I do not see many smells if any post 2003 as most of them are covered by rip off extended warranty lol every smell ive seen has had a none standard mobos and would not fit into standard atx cases but as I say I do not see many newish ones. Dragon you have a new one post a few internal pics?

---------- Post added at 00:23 ---------- Previous post was at 00:11 ----------

http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-XPS-420-PC-Case-375W-PSU_W0QQitemZ120217350915QQihZ002QQcategoryZ51060Q Q_trksidZp1723.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

that does not look standard atx stand offs to me. I think you may get the board out of there to fit in a different case but you would be using a few plastic stand off .The group of 4 standoffs look to me like they will short on a atx mobo. I know I could be wrong not actually being able to see it but it does not look right to me

[alferret]

Originally Posted by homealone

afaik this is the mobo manual for the 8828

Just looked at that PDF and had to have a little laugh.
The board supports 6xSATA which is good, NO Ide but does have 1 Fdd. Why do they still do this? I havnt used a floppy disc in a PC for 6 or 7 years possibly longer and I dont even know anyone who still uses them. Legacy connections are not really needed, serial + parralel ports as well as Fdd should go, IMO.

[Nikesh]

Shall I go for the Medion then?

[southwell]

When i was at Staples many many years ago we sold medions and they were rarely returned and performed very well for the price. the warrenty was always their strong point, 3 years is brilliant.

[eth01]

Median is crap basically..

---------- Post added at 10:52 ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 ----------

Originally Posted by eth01

Median is crap basically..

Woolworths have the exact same one, in black and pink

[dragon]

Originally Posted by alferret

Just looked at that PDF and had to have a little laugh.
The board supports 6xSATA which is good, NO Ide but does have 1 Fdd. Why do they still do this? I havnt used a floppy disc in a PC for 6 or 7 years possibly longer and I dont even know anyone who still uses them. Legacy connections are not really needed, serial + parralel ports as well as Fdd should go, IMO.

Bios flash about the only reason I could see for having an FDD drive thesedays and even then could probably done from a bootcd.

[Nikesh]

Just to let you know, I got the PC and I'm impressed. A lot better than my old one.

This is the windows rating:

Processor: 5.1
Memory: 4.7
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming graphics: 5.3
Primary hard disk: 5.6

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

the tv cards are pretty poop

TV card seems to work fine. Media center is a lot better than the WinTV program I used to use. The remote is much better as well.

Thanks for all your opinions guys.

[alferret]

Originally Posted by dragon

Bios flash about the only reason I could see for having an FDD drive thesedays and even then could probably done from a bootcd.

Yea, bootcd or USB stick if there is a problem with a flash. I usually flash using the manufacturers windows flash utility in safe mode.


Father-in-law's got a medion dual core PC and he's more than happy with its speed and the TV card. He liked it so much he went and brought a Medion laptop too