Throwback Dell Ad

Over the years, computers have become increasingly more affordable. You can now buy a desktop for under $400, and a laptop too. Albeit, you’ll have to spend more to get more performance, especially gaming or video editing.

Here is a Dell ad, on the back of a Windows magazine I have, from 1998! This appears to be a high end computer, but still pretty expensive by today’s standards.

Conversation 12 comments

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    03 October, 2017 - 10:00 pm

    <p>Yeah, that was a pretty damn high-end box 19 years ago. I paid $850 for a used OptiPlex of similar configuration in '01. Worked beautifully as a gaming PC for several years for things like Jedi Outcast/Academy and other Q3A engine shooters. We were college kids, so the computer budget wasn't high. That meant having as much fun as we could with games we could run.</p><p><br></p><p>I finally upgraded to run World of Warcraft.</p>

  • ecumenical

    03 October, 2017 - 11:42 pm

    <p>Oh man, that brings back some memories. My family's first Windows PC was an XPS R450 – similar config but with a 17GB hard drive, DVD drive (novel at that time), and a different 17" monitor. Same case and keyboard though. I eventually upgraded it with a 64MB Radeon DDR (like, the first thing ever called a Radeon) and 384MB of RAM so that I could crawl through Warcraft III at barely playable framerates. Eventually replaced it with my first custom build, based on an Athlon XP 1700+.</p><p><br></p><p>Pretty sure we paid around $2200 for that. Probably later in the year. Prices and specs used to change so rapidly in the 90s/early 2000s.</p><p><br></p><p>Also I really miss poring over computer ads in the paper / magazines… </p><p><br></p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    03 October, 2017 - 11:47 pm

    <p>When I remember all I could do with just 64MB RAM and a 4GB drive . . .</p><p>I remember the new system smell and thrill of running NT4 for the first time. Windows 98? Pah!</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      04 October, 2017 - 12:51 am

      <blockquote><a href="#194978"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>Mmmmmmmm NT4. </p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 November, 2017 - 5:22 am

      <blockquote><a href="#194978"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>I remember all I could do with 1KB RAM and a cassette deck. I needed the 16KB RAM Pack for 3D Monster Maze and Flight Simulator though…</p>

  • arunphilip

    04 October, 2017 - 1:02 am

    <p>With the advent of flatscreen monitors, I had almost forgotten monitor specs that read like 17" (15.9" visible). </p>

  • PincasX

    04 October, 2017 - 7:33 am

    <p>Based in the title I was expecting that “dude your getting a dell” guy and was expecting to be irritated. This is actually pretty good and funny to think how much Dell has changed since then. </p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    04 October, 2017 - 8:34 am

    <p>Nice. I have boxes of old Byte magazines. The ads are almost better than the articles. :)</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 November, 2017 - 5:21 am

      <blockquote><a href="#199037"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>I moved too many times to still have boxes of old magazines… I threw out 20 years worth of Popular Computing Weekly, C&amp;VG, Personal Computer, PC Magazine, Computer Shopper (UK) and PC Pro when I moved to Germany in 2002. That saved me a couple of grand on the moving costs on weight alone! :-D</p><p>A similarly big move in 2008 had the same result, horded magazines were recycled. Since then, I just don't bother keeping them any more.</p>

  • ErichK

    Premium Member
    04 October, 2017 - 11:17 am

    <p>I went from a Micron system that ran on all SCSI when Windows 95 came out (I'm embarrassed to say what we paid for it) to a mom-and-pop built system in the early 2000's that had a 40 GB hard drive and ran Windows 98.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh yeah, I remember these ads. :-)</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 November, 2017 - 5:24 am

      <blockquote><a href="#200437"><em>In reply to ErichK:</em></a></blockquote><p>I remember a friend of mine had a SCSI controller and 3 hard drives, he couldn't get it to work and was throwing them away… I took them off his hands for free, plugged them into my P90 PC and set up the terminators correctly, man were those things fast! :-D</p>

      • ErichK

        Premium Member
        09 November, 2017 - 10:49 am

        <blockquote><a href="#214241"><em>In reply to wright_is:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yes, can't forget those terminators… ;-)</p><p><br></p><p>Oh yeah, my SCSI Pentium system was a beast! :)</p>

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