Dell has an awesome deal on the XPS 420. I configured it with two CableCard tuners and changed the anti-virus protection from 36 months to 15 months and the price comes out to $1158.00. Also, with this deal you get a 4 year in home warranty for parts and labor included in that price and free 2nd day shipping AND no interest financing until 2009 (it says the no interest part expires today)! I've been holding out for a while but this has me seriously thinking about making the jump to a CableCard PC (and cable since I have DirecTV right now).

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&oc=dxdwqrs&dgc=CJ&cid=7420&lid=0

Sweet deal.. Too bad CableCard only works with legacy cable though. It's too bad still that there may be 5 different solutions to getting HD Pay TV (I hate calling it "cable") into your PC. I'm sure the Sat companies will have separate solutions and well as the IPTV variants, if ever for those two..

 

 

jhale83:

Dell has an awesome deal on the XPS 420. I configured it with two CableCard tuners and changed the anti-virus protection from 36 months to 15 months and the price comes out to $1158.00. Also, with this deal you get a 4 year in home warranty for parts and labor included in that price and free 2nd day shipping AND no interest financing until 2009 (it says the no interest part expires today)! I've been holding out for a while but this has me seriously thinking about making the jump to a CableCard PC (and cable since I have DirecTV right now).

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&oc=dxdwqrs&dgc=CJ&cid=7420&lid=0

Yup, great deal, I actually took advantage of this on 12/22 and already have my system, just awaiting the Cable Cards from Verizon now.  The 2600XT is a decent upgrade, and it will also put out sound over it's DVI out, with a DVI-HDMI Converter.

This also includes a $50 Gift card as well.

-D

genius74:

Sweet deal.. Too bad CableCard only works with legacy cable though. It's too bad still that there may be 5 different solutions to getting HD Pay TV (I hate calling it "cable") into your PC. I'm sure the Sat companies will have separate solutions and well as the IPTV variants, if ever for those two.

While there are other solutions in route for getting HD Pay TV to your pc, BOCUR, MOCUR, etc, none of these solutions are even close to being put into production.  Yes, this solution will only work with legacy cable for now, will not work with switched video, or Satellite.  But for right now it's the only available solution, and I imagine with the Custom CableLab bios already there, these machines will have the ability to upgrade to the new tuners, with purchase of a new tuner.  

It's not a bad price at all in reality.  Yes a Tivo HD is cheaper, but this is more than just a Tivo.  I use it for my DVD Library, Music Library, Picture Library, etc.

-D

Don't expect to get the tuner very quickly though.  Mine was not shipped with the PC and just got a notice that it's delayed a week.

 

I"m sitting on the fense

it's a lot of pc to sit in my closet and do nothing but record and view tv

does nobody make a true media center that is just a media center and not a over built pc?

megad:

I"m sitting on the fense

it's a lot of pc to sit in my closet and do nothing but record and view tv

does nobody make a true media center that is just a media center and not a over built pc?

TiVo. :)

---

-- jcf

To anyone who has ordered one and recieved it, do you know how many open pci-e slots, pci slots, etc are left in it?  I'm considering getting one but would like to add in a dedicated raid card and want to make sure there is room for it.  As for the hard drives, from what I can tell in some pictures there are two 3.5" area's for them, with a minimum of one used I presume.

Thanks

jcf:

megad:

I"m sitting on the fense

it's a lot of pc to sit in my closet and do nothing but record and view tv

does nobody make a true media center that is just a media center and not a over built pc?

TiVo. :)

tivo uses cablecards and does even less than the xps media center solution will

I have 3 rooms, 2 HD, and 1 480p, add up the costs to watch my recorded shows in any room with tivo, vs media extenders

I ordered a xps 420 this morning, and a hdhomerun, and a gigabite switch to upgrade all the lan drops in the house

beinguseless:

To anyone who has ordered one and recieved it, do you know how many open pci-e slots, pci slots, etc are left in it?  I'm considering getting one but would like to add in a dedicated raid card and want to make sure there is room for it.  As for the hard drives, from what I can tell in some pictures there are two 3.5" area's for them, with a minimum of one used I presume.

Thanks

1 pci-e x16
1 pci-e x4
1 pci-e x1
3 pci (one of them is right above the pci-e x16, so you might not want to use it if the card you want to put in there might block off the vid's ventilation.

As for the HDs, there is a one empty one right next to the existing HD on the bottom of the unit.  I think there is room for 2 more in the drive bays.  If you go to Dell's website, you can download the manual as a pdf.  It will give you more details.

dkrift:

beinguseless:

To anyone who has ordered one and recieved it, do you know how many open pci-e slots, pci slots, etc are left in it?  I'm considering getting one but would like to add in a dedicated raid card and want to make sure there is room for it.  As for the hard drives, from what I can tell in some pictures there are two 3.5" area's for them, with a minimum of one used I presume.

Thanks

1 pci-e x16
1 pci-e x4
1 pci-e x1
3 pci (one of them is right above the pci-e x16, so you might not want to use it if the card you want to put in there might block off the vid's ventilation.

As for the HDs, there is a one empty one right next to the existing HD on the bottom of the unit.  I think there is room for 2 more in the drive bays.  If you go to Dell's website, you can download the manual as a pdf.  It will give you more details.

Thanks for the info, and the suggestion.  I didn't cross my mind that they posted such a detailed manual online now without logging in.  I'm presuming that with the default options the only slot taken is the pci-e x16 for the video card.  Is that correct?  Thanks for the spacing tip too for the pci slot above it.

beinguseless:

Thanks for the info, and the suggestion.  I didn't cross my mind that they posted such a detailed manual online now without logging in.  I'm presuming that with the default options the only slot taken is the pci-e x16 for the video card.  Is that correct?  Thanks for the spacing tip too for the pci slot above it.

You are right, although on mine they included a PCI modem which I asked not to have.  I simply put another device in it's place.

 

-D

jhale83:

Dell has an awesome deal on the XPS 420. I configured it with two CableCard tuners and changed the anti-virus protection from 36 months to 15 months and the price comes out to $1158.00. Also, with this deal you get a 4 year in home warranty for parts and labor included in that price and free 2nd day shipping AND no interest financing until 2009 (it says the no interest part expires today)! I've been holding out for a while but this has me seriously thinking about making the jump to a CableCard PC (and cable since I have DirecTV right now).

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&oc=dxdwqrs&dgc=CJ&cid=7420&lid=0

Awesome Deal! I've been considering an XPS 420 for a while now. Do you know if this deal is a limited time offer and if so, when does it expire?
-Scott

the big coupons like this (500 off) tend to last a couple weeks or until they sell enough that they pull it

I did not catch the date on this one when I ordered, and I dont see it on the promo page

scbauer:

jhale83:

Dell has an awesome deal on the XPS 420. I configured it with two CableCard tuners and changed the anti-virus protection from 36 months to 15 months and the price comes out to $1158.00. Also, with this deal you get a 4 year in home warranty for parts and labor included in that price and free 2nd day shipping AND no interest financing until 2009 (it says the no interest part expires today)! I've been holding out for a while but this has me seriously thinking about making the jump to a CableCard PC (and cable since I have DirecTV right now).

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=us&l=en&vw=list&oc=dxdwqrs&dgc=CJ&cid=7420&lid=0

Awesome Deal! I've been considering an XPS 420 for a while now. Do you know if this deal is a limited time offer and if so, when does it expire? -Scott

The big one ($500 off and 4 year warranty) expires January 31st. No interest until 2009 expires January 30th. Free 2nd day shipping expires March 31st. There may also be a $50 gift card as it mentions something about it on the warranty selection page but it does not inlcude anything when the item is in your cart (which I'm pretty sure it should because all other promotional items show up in the cart). Even without the gift card, it's still an amazing deal.