Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1733 in Personal Computers
- Brand: Dell
- Model: i660-3036BK
- Released on: 2012-10-26
- Dimensions: 14.88" h x
19.25" w x
21.93" l,
- CPU: Core i5-3330 3 GHz
- Memory: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM
- Hard Disk: 1024GB
Features
- 3rd gen Intel Core i5-3330M Processor
- 8 GB DDR3
- 1 TB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
- Windows 8
Dell Inspiron i660-3036BK Desktop
Product Description
The Inspiron 660 delivers a powerful entertainment experience with high-performance processing and massive storage.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
55 of 57 people found the following review helpful.
By kievite
Prices on Amazon fluctuate so you need to compare with Dell direct price before buying. Shipping is quicker for Amazon.This is a typical consumer minitower with Windows 8 installed (a regular version, not a pro version but you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $70). IMHO Windows 8 is OK for regular users, but can be problematic for power users and enthusiasts. So try any Windows 8 PC without touch screen in store, before you buy this model. A similar model can be bought with Windows 7 instead of Windows 8 (see model Dell Inspiron i660-6029BK). For long time Windows users Windows 7 is a safer bet. My feeling is that Windows 8 does not provide return on investment in learning a new interface for those who do not have a touch screen.This model uses built-in Intel video. There is also a similar model with NVIDIA GT 620 (i660-4032BK). The latter is better for gamers. Does not matter for anybody else.The tower has one free bay for an additional harddrive, but just two memory slots on the motherboard (both used by 4 GB RAM sticks). It has two USB 3.0 ports which is very important for photo-enthusiasts and for backups of your data. Large drive guarantee that you will not run out of space for a long time (although photo-enthusiasts would be better off by buying additional mirrored USB 3.0 drive or installing the second drive into computer).Like other consumer oriented Dell machines it is very well built and piano-black looks very attractive on the table (I would say not worse then more expensive OptiPlex 9010 which would be competing Dell offering).It has regular analog VGA port and HDMI port. So it can support two monitors configuration (you need a cable to convert HDMI to DVI for older monitors to connect the second monitor).The PC also has a slot for SD cards, for which you often pay extra on other Dell models.Due to Windows 8 installed booting is very fast (actually instead of full boot Windows 8 simply wakes up from hybernation to cut time). Please note that it has secure boot enabled so to create dual boot environment (I did not tried this myself) you need to disable it first. You might need the second harddrive too. Speed of browsing is limited by speed of your Internet connection. As it has i5 CPU it can perform multiple tasks simultaneously without sweating.Windows 8 installation makes it more like consumer-oriented appliance that a traditional multi-purpose Windows machine to which line of Microsoft OSes from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7 used to belong. Now there is distinct flavor of Apple-style closed ecosystem. Which many entry-level users might like and enjoy, but which annoy power users and Pc enthusiasts. Tiles that are automatically updated on a new "full-screen" start up screen are actually pretty cute and default installation is populated with Amazon, Ebay, Weather, Finance and other tiles.If you are a computer science student or just a hobbyist which like to tinker with OS and hardware you might be better served by a similar model with Windows 7(i660-4032BK) which actually is priced lower, or by OptiPlex 9010 which also can be bought with Windows 7 and recovery disks. The latter (OptiPlex 9010) allows hardware mirrowing of hard drives.But for a regular consumer this is a perfect desktop which will serve 3-5 years without problems. Please note the Windows 8 provide good built-in free virus protection (Windows Defender). I would delete McAfee trial that Dell preinstall as IMHO it's useless and represents Windows insecurity tax which security companies try to force you to pay, but your mileage may vary. In any case do not pay for extension when the trial expire, as built-in protection (Windows Defender) is adequate for most consumers and for those it is inadequate Mcafee will be inadequate too. In view of complexity of modern malware you are better off using a second PC dedicated to financial and other important trasactions instead of paying AV companies for illusionary protection.Another important thing for consumer is that recovery from virus infections can be much easier due to built in ability of Windows 8 to restore the default configuration. This is a feature of all PCs with Windows 8 installed not only this one.Note: Keyboard supplied with the machine looks very nice and is adequate for occasional typing. If you spend long hours typing you better change it to more professional keyboard like Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. The same is true about the mouse provided with the tower.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By Jana Taylor
This is a really good computer at a good price. But the pictures are misleading. This computer does NOT come with the video card as shown in the pictures and windows 8 is not backward compatible for many of the older video cards which will almost immediately mean an upgrade. That said there is an HDMI as well as a VGI port.The upside is the computer is fast. Right away you'll notice a boot up speed which is impressive if you are not yet familiar with Win8.Another issue for the tower is the build is not very expandable. Meaning there is only one port for an additional internal harddrive. There are several Dell towers which are much easier to upgrade the hardware for.If my review were simply of Windows 8 I would tell the average user to hold off. Microsoft is doing some exciting stuff with the interface splash screen and their new metro screen and cloud logons, but for a desktop windows 7 would be the application of choice. I would, rather, suggest that if you are interested in exploring windows 8 then you should include a touch monitor or better - check out the tablets and phones that Win8 it truly designed for.Additionally - the last upgrade from Microsoft for Win8 has been causing issues when restarting the computer. The system will not go through the restart process, but it will startup if shut down. I assume they will have a fix out shortly.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
By Cody M.
When I bought this computer and saw the specs and how much it was at best buy I thought it was a pretty good deal except for the Windows 8 Part. I thought I would be able to downgrade to Windows 7 when I got it which seems like it would be possible at the time. Well I got the computer and called dell first to make sure I was able to downgrade and the lady said that I can. So I did and as soon as I installed that Intel HD Graphics driver and restarted the computer I would get the blue screen of death and an error message IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS. So I called back dell and after 2 hours of support to why this happened they still couldn't fix it and the guy sent me a Windows 8 disc. So I called back the next day to get help on installing back 8 and the guy on the phone kept trying to sell me Dell Contract or whatever and wanted me to pay up 100 dollars for one time help with installing Windows 8 back. One of the agents on the phone before though told me I had premium support for 60 says after I bought the computer so I told the guy that and it took him 5 minutes to figure that out so he helped me put Windows 8 back. Overall the computer runs great if you don't want Windows 7 back ever again (not sure about Vista or XP). I hope Intel or Dell fix this issue with the driver because I don't want this to be the 3rd computer I return.
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