vostro 200 slim

Question

How reliable are the Vostro 200 Slim.  I'm thinking if they put off the same amount of heat as the normal non-slim design that it may not be as reliable.  What has people expereinces been with the slim case ?  Dell has a special in there catalog for $449 that looks pretty tempting.   Thanks, Chris

SR45 · Answer

Slim case, more heat depending on the cpu installed, where you place it, and video card installed.  During Idle the heat should not be an issue and normal run time will not be an issue either for longevity.    Should last a very long time unless you get a lemon.    Its not a gaming system, never will be since the only cards available are on the low profile, and they are lower level cards.  Expanding is also an issue.  Upgrading it will be limited.  Be sure you know what your needs are prior to getting any slim case.   Many not happy because they thought it would play games very well but not the case.   Normal applications, business and school stuff and that is a very good system.

pete661 · Answer

Its a nice machine, but as SR45 said: know exactly what you want it for and what you'll need in the future because its not an upgrade friendly case. There's not too much to set the normal and slimline apart, if space is an issue go the slimline otherwise me thinks the normal. cheers!

Chris97654 · Answer

How is the Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 Integrated video. We're going to mostly be using the computer for office stuff like email, spreadsheet, office 2003, websites. Will this video card be sufficient ? or will the picture quality noticeably improve it I add a graphics card to this computer. Thanks, Chris

Klabbage · Answer

I have this system:Vostro 200 Slim TowerIntel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2160 GB HD (Seagate)1 GB MemoryTSST 653B DVD R/WVista Home Basic, set for 'Best Performance' rather than default.Running the default firewall and Windows Defender, plus AVG Antivirus.19 in. WS monitorPurchased a week before black friday without much research since a monitor on another pc failed and the pc itself was giving me trouble; and next day shipping was gratis. At $ 430 all inclusive, I figured might as well go for the system rather than just get a new monitor.The Intel graphics are ok but you will definitely get better results for an 8 hour workday from an add on card. It does not need to be an expensive card for text, and you are limited in any case because of the low profile design, as other folks have mentioned.This is a very handsome machine as a tower even though it is not marketed on that basis. Being able to use it vertically or horizontally is probably a flexiblility that is important for businesses. There is a vent on the top and on one side, in addition to the ones in the back and the front.Only con so far: DVD drive. During audio cd playback, there is a 1 second glitch every 20-30 minutes. Only happens on audio cd playback (have not played a dvd movie, don't own any), not on internet radio or on music played from the hard drive. Happens using WMP 11 and VLC Media player. I can live with the glitch during music playback, but I do wonder what could happen if I need to run the OS reinstall dvd someday. Burning a music cd was flawless, but happened so fast that it was not a good test. Could be a Vista issue and perhaps more memory is the answer.

pete661 · Answer

After market Graphics Options: Slimline: ATI Radeon HD 2400 pro + $70
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT + $120

Standard graphics (Intel 3100) will be fine for email, spreadsheets, office and websites. Depending on what resolution / size monitor you will use may influence you towards a separate graphics card. Also, which operating system were you thinking of choosing ?

If you are going to watch high definition video or do some mild gaming I would recommend the upgrade to either of the 2400 cards. I have a HD 2400 Pro myself and I know it is definitely inferior to the 2400 XT, however, you have to draw the line with regards to budget and what you're going to use it for.

By the sounds of your needs, I'd say to go with the Integrated graphics or the HD 2400 pro if you think you will demand more graphically intensive operations from your computer. Good luck & enjoy your computer!

Chris97654 · Answer

I'm going to be using Win XP and dells widescreen lcd at 1440x900 resolution.

Richardus · Answer

I work with such a 200 Slim machine for about 3 months now, mainly business. It's got an E6750: 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz, 4 MB Cache, Duo core.
Number crunching tasks on both CPU cores etc I usually do for aprox. 1 hour per day. Then the fans start to get louder. :-) So I usually let this do during lunch time.

I also use 3D graphics for about approx. 1 hour per day. I took a Vostro with bundled extra PCIe ATI card (X1300 pro 256 MB, low profile). It's not state of the art, but you can well do 3d graphics including games and all video apps.

The machine is 100% stable, and it's fast (with WinXP & Linux. Vista's a performance killer).
Also the LG DVD drive is good.

I also like that the machine lies flat on the table, with the monitor sitting on it. That's a feature of the SLIM case. :-)

Message Edited by Richardus on 12-12-2007 08:51 AM

pete661 · Answer

Windows XP would be the best choice of OS unless you prefer a specific Linux distribution. Vista looks pretty, but without a heavy duty machine, it won't run as well as XP would. You said you are going to run it at 1440x900 res. The Intel GMA 3100 can support resolutions up to 2048x1536, however, if you are planning to run video or more graphically intensive applications at your desired resolution you would definitely want to upgrade to a separate graphics card. Good luck!

Message Edited by pete661 on 12-12-2007 11:20 AM

visualcnc · Answer

I am about to purchase the Vostro 200 Slim with on-board graphics, and was wondering if this card:

http://www.jronsite.com/productcart/pc/Sapphire-ATI-Radeon-HD2400XT-256MB-DVI-HDCP-PCI-Express-Video-Card-69577-737p6134.htm

Is the same as the $150 Dell upgrade? Is DDR3 ram on a card compatible with DDR2 ram in the Tower?

Also, will a Seagate Barracuda go in as a second drive? I got the 250G SATA as primary, and have a recent 250G ATA100 for back up (if there's a connector for it).

Message Edited by visualcnc on 03-26-2008 06:33 PM

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vostro 200 slim

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