Dell Vostro 410 desktop isn't ashamed of its greenness

Dell's been squarely situated on the green bandwagon for years now, and just as it did with the OptiPlex 755, Round Rock is making quite a fuss about the all new Vostro 410 desktop. The mini-tower features Intel's Core 2 Quad processors, an optional 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT, room for four internal hard drives / six PCIe or PCI cards, gigabit Ethernet, up to 4GB of RAM, dual-layer DVD burner and a rather run-of-the-mill port assortment. Potentially best of all, however, isn't the 47-percent energy savings it's purported to deliver -- oh no, it's the complete absence of bloatware, as Dell looks to fit the machine "with only the software you want" for your business. Check it out now in North / South America and the UK starting at $599, while Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have access before the end of next week.

[Mile @ May 28th 2008 1:34PM]

How are they supporting their claim of 47% energy reduction? Changing suspend time to 5 minutes of no activity?

[DarkLight @ May 28th 2008 1:44PM]

Well, bloated computers (read: most of the computers, if you don't remove the bloatware when you get it) sometimes reach 90% processor activity when idle, keeping the power consumption high...

My theory is that they removed bloatware until it idled at 47% less power

[tom @ May 28th 2008 1:47PM]

+1 This is no different to HP claiming their printing supplies (cartridge, toner, and packaging) are environmentally friendly.

How is 4 hard drives, 6 slots, 4 gig of ram and nvidia 8800GT being environmentally friendly? getting the job done faster and returning to idle sooner?

Pleeeeease...

[iEye @ May 28th 2008 1:37PM]

Dell can go to Hell... bunch of crooks...

[kjb434 @ May 28th 2008 1:41PM]

Screw the green BS, the absence of anything but basic operating system and maybe MS Office if you want it is that best thing!

This is one of the reasons why I avoid buying computers pre-built. They install all this crapp. (and yes, it needs two p's)

Some smaller outfits do allow limited software installation which is good.

I prefer absolutely nothing installed with a blank slate to start from, then I can install just like i like it.

Oh, and the specs on that computer up there aren't bad.

[DarkLight @ May 28th 2008 1:48PM]

What, formatting and installing a fresh or even slimmed-down OS (wich takes just a few minutes) too much hassle?

[CraigJ @ May 28th 2008 2:14PM]

Actually, read this:

Vostro Desktops at a Glance
* No unwanted Trialware - fitted only with the software you want
* Genuine Windows Vista® Business or
Genuine Windows® XP Professional

Believe it... or not.

[Pochi @ May 28th 2008 1:43PM]

I have a Vostro 200 Slim and I think it's great.

I'm not sure how good of a reference this is, but Vista gives it a "4.9." I'm running 64-bit and I can play any game I throw at it (although I doubt I'll ever try to cram Crysis down its throat). A really good little machine. Really aesthetically pleasing, too.

So, in closing, the Vostro 200 is cool and I have absolutely nothing to say about the 410. I'm sure you're all fascinated.

[tiuk @ May 28th 2008 2:53PM]

The 200s are pretty nice indeed. At work I recently got one for an employee.

[steedums @ May 28th 2008 1:45PM]

actually, if you get the vostro's (small business line), the bloatware is pretty much non-existant. I just got one a month or two ago. I got a home laptop from them about a year ago and it was pretty much crippled with crap.

[Mile @ May 28th 2008 1:54PM]

"Crippled With Crap" would make a good name for a band.

[Pochi @ May 28th 2008 1:45PM]

Two lines of signature for one line of comment? I'm not sure I want to take "brevity lessons" from you.

[RD @ May 28th 2008 1:59PM]

I don't see where you can actually buy the 410 model...

[Andrew @ May 28th 2008 2:14PM]

I worked at Dell for a few years - good paying job and got to touch a lot of stuff. Their green message doesn't exist internally though. I was building out an internal lab and had packing material from hundreds of servers - it all went in the trash. Sure the cardboard went in the cardboard dumpster, but pallets and giant foam blocks went in the trash. Manuals and docs in the plastic wrap - manufacturing didn't want it back - so it too went into the recycling. Sending thousands of pounds of stuff to recycle centers when you could reuse it is not my idea of being green.

Still, I like their products.

[CraigJ @ May 28th 2008 2:18PM]

You can get a quad core, with 2 GB RAM, 22inch monitor, etc. for $680. It has room for 4 drives.

I think I just found the starting point for my media server: Add SATA RAID controller and 3 TB drives, install Ubuntu and call it good.

[Bill @ May 28th 2008 2:43PM]

I got a Dell Vostro 200 Mini-tower not to long ago and quite like it. And, yes, it didn't come with any crapware loaded on it - except Google toolbar and Adobe Reader, both of which I quickly dismissed.

[whatuusay1 @ May 29th 2008 12:10AM]

I love the Vostro line up... its not as expensive as the Optiplex line and i've had absolutely no problems with them. Fast, economic machines - period. If you check out the Dell Deals page you can find a vostro 200/400 with a Core2Duo, 2GB Ram,19-20" LCD, DVD burner and free shipping for $450-550. I've yet to see anyone beat it. Not to mention you can easily add an extra 2GB ram, or an add on video card (pciexpress) from newegg and its still a very cheap machine. Vostro's receive US based support too.... FYI.

[phanbouy @ May 29th 2008 1:15AM]

VOSOTROS

[Chris @ May 29th 2008 3:29AM]

The Dell Vostro 410 come with Windows Vista Service pack 1 preinstall from the factory this is good.

[Chris @ May 29th 2008 1:51AM]

¡Explicaos!

[biddy79uk @ Jun 19th 2008 4:27AM]

so what is the 3rd expansion bay on the Vostro 410,
i just dont see the point of it even being there

[Bill @ Jun 19th 2008 7:16PM]

It's for a second optical drive. However, it could be used for other devices that require a 5.25" bay also.