My boss bought me a New Dell E521 as a development and test platform for the 300+ websites I am charged with developing and maintaining. Turns out that when you order a 64-bit Dell with Windows Vista you get a 32-bit copy of Vista (unless you pay extra for Vista Ultimate Edition). If you buy Windows Vista Home Premium from Dell for $239 you can use the product key at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/64bit.mspx to get a 64-bit copy. If you buy any Dell with any edition of Vista other than Ultimate, you have to pay Dell or some other 3rd party if you want to have a 64-bit version of Windows Vista. I think it is dishonest that Dell does not tell you while you are buying your 64-bit computer that, oh by the way, we will be shipping you a 32-bit version of the OS even though Microsoft sells that exact same edition of the OS for the exact same price in a 64-bit version.
Here is what my boss ordered:
Quantity | Item Number | Description |
|
1 | 222-5671 | Dimension E521,Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.00GHz, 512Kx2) |
1 | 311-6581 | 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz |
1 | 310-8025 | Dell USB Keyboard |
1 | 310-7965 | Dell USB 2-button mouse |
1 | 320-5179 | Video ready w/o Monitor, DIM X2 |
1 | 320-4270 | Integrated Graphics |
1 | 341-3280 | 250GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM) |
1 | 341-4028 | No Floppy Drive Requested |
1 | 466-2386 | Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English |
1 | 420-5769 | Internet Search and Portal |
1 | 420-5924 | Icon Consolidation Application |
1 | 463-2282 | Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access |
1 | 420-6436 | Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp |
1 | 420-6481 | Dell Support, Vista, Dim/Insp |
1 | 313-4911 | Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup |
1 | 310-1966 | Mouse included in Dell Wireless or Bluetooth Package |
1 | 430-0412 | Integrated NIC card |
1 | 313-4593 | 56K PCI Data Fax Modem |
1 | 412-0914 | Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 |
1 | 313-4579 | 16X DVD+/-RW Drive |
1 | 420-6464 | Roxio Creator Basic |
1 | 313-2758 | Integrated Audio |
1 | 313-2198 | No Speaker Requested |
1 | 420-6594 | Network Associates McAfee 8.0 English, 30-Day Trial |
1 | 412-0934 | Earthlink |
1 | 412-0933 | AOL for Broadband |
1 | 412-0912 | MS WORKS 8.5 |
1 | 950-3337 | 1 Year Limited Warranty |
1 | 950-9797 | No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 |
1 | 985-1278 | Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year |
1 | 980-3310 | Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year |
1 | 960-2800 | Warranty Support,Initial Year |
1 | 465-7668 | Thank you for choosing Dell! |
1 | 412-0943 | Basic digital Music,Photo and Game experience |
1 | 310-8626 | You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System |
Note that they cleverly omitted the Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English version, no where while ordering did they say which one it was, no where did they give the option to buy 64-bit (only those willing to purchase the more expensive Ultimate Edition can buy a 64-bit version of Windows Vista from Dell with their desktop order [and that is yet to be confirmed because while the retail version of Ultimate comes with the 64-bit and 32-bit install discs, the OEM version may only be 32-bit, please let me know if you know what you get when you buy Ultimate Edition with your Dell desktop]).