What I don't like about my new Dell

Posted on 2007-03-12

Instead of a Mac Mini, I got a Dell Dimension XPS 210. I'm comparing it to the Mac Mini, which I was considering getting, and this is the what I don't like about it. My daughter has a Mac Mini, so I'm not just guessing about the Mac side of things.

• Noise - the fan is a lot quieter than my old Dell box, but it is still way too loud. I have it in our bedroom, and have to turn it off at night.
• Size - it is a "small" form factor box, but it is huge compared the Mac Mini. I haven't measured, but you could probably fit 6 Mac Minis in the same space.
• DVI output - I thought it came with it: I was shocked when I went to plug in the monitor and didn't find it. I never even considered that Dell would sell a box (other than a completely barebones one) without DVI.
• Gigabit ethernet - at least I knew this in advance. It isn't absolutely mandatory, but really, how much more does GigE cost compared to FastE? Two dollars?
• Door - it has this stupid pop-up door on the front that covers the DVD, USB/Firewire ports and speaker & microphone connection. I can't imagine who would find something like this cool: it is just plain cheesy. And you can't have the speaker/mic plugged in with it closed. And it doesn't close easily. And it's flimsy. And the open button is shaped so your finger gets in the way of it opening. It just reeks of "design-by-committee".

Still, I'm happy with, mainly because the software side of things is working so well.

Tags: dell hardware mac