I probably should have thrown another sentence between the cheap and PS2 ports comments. It's not the presence of those ports that make it cheap. Those ports however, are just a reminder of how generic the system actually is. If they're super cost sensitive on the low end, they should leave those off, even if only to save 50 cents per mainboard. They were using sub-standard corrugated cardboard inside the main box and that was definitely to save some pennies.

Back to the lack of restore discs... I didn't notice in the order process (on Dell.ca) that you could receive physical media for an additional $10 (that would have tipped me off that it came without in the first place). The paper notice also didn't mention that you could burn said discs from what was installed on the computer.

I also didn't mention the hardware wouldn't be useful nor that it wasn't worth its price. In fact I mentioned it was well worth not trying to build one yourself given the price of the Dell. I could have completely wiped and re-installed the original computer I was replacing - the point of the Dell was so I wouldn't have to bother with that.

The Dell is precisely not suited for the market it's intended for - people like my parents. If I want some low-cost hardware to run as a small server or workstation, yeah, I don't have a problem buying something like this and wiping it all (I'm doing just that with a couple of PCs I've already got here and they're all going to get Ubuntu). I will still continue to run Windows PC myself, just not as primary/work machines. Also, ever PC I've ever owned I've built myself, so this was my first experience with a "name-brand" from unpacking to initial setup.

But my parents? They'll be much better served with the more "expensive" mini (which I suppose can still have Windows installed at some point in the future if the sky begins to fall or some other cataclysmic event requires it).