Dell Computers

[mweitz]

I support both Apples and PC's. Macs are wonderfully made machines, but they are quite slow compared to a similarly priced PC. I would say they do require a bit less maintenance than the PC.

Were we talking laptops or desktops here? Evo is the business class Compaq Desktop, which the DeskPro evolved into. Since he was talking about making it himself I presumed that he was talking about Desktops. For Laptops we strictly use Thinkpads. I actually now use HP xw4000 workstations with U320 15K SCSI drives for my users ;p. Let em complain that their computers are slow NOW!

Peace,

Mark

 

[MikeC]

The GF's computer is a Dell 4100, PIII 866MHz, it has been rock solid in the three or four years she has had it. I have bumped up the RAM, added a bigger HD and added USB 2.0 to it but it still runs. The one time I called their customer service was when it was in India, needed to find out how to get the damn case apart, that took 20 minutes to talk to a guy who knew his stuff but his English was bad.

The weakest link with any PC will be the Windows OS.

 

[jiveturkey]

Most of what you hear is true, about the crappy stuff. And tech support is a direct hotline to hell. No one there speaks real English, and none of them know anything more than "Pleese twy restarhting serh" "Oohkay try deez an din call zis noombre bak ageen"

Then you call back: "Ooh, serh, Aiah cannut teel joo eech peersoon yoo speeked wif, cen aiah vee of heelp to joo?"

So, yes, I have had some experiences with them.

Coke alert that one please.

 

[glbirch]

Jiveturkey, just out of curiosity, why don't you want to build your own?

Everyone has their opinons, but for what it's worth:

I've been supporting a growing number of Dells (200 or so these days, and climbing) for a few years now. In my experience tech support is good (they outsourced to India for a while, but I think they've realized that wasn't one of their better ideas) and they deliver a fairly solid product.

Having said that, I wouldn't buy one myself. Not because they are poor quality, but because like all the big names these days, they tend toward integrated motherboards. I prefer to build my own systems, based on my requirements at the time. As well, I like the flexibility of being able to swap components between the various sytems in my network as required.

Compaq? Not even if it was free. (Again, my opinion based on my experience)

Good luck with your choice, and never forget the difference between Microsoft Windows and a virus.

 

[scubapro50]

My daughter worked as a Dell service rep. here in Port Arthur last year. The company she worked for "Service Zone" took calls on service problems for Dell. She said the callers were really surprised and delighted when they reached her because so many of the calls were going to India where they really weren't all that helpful. Dell doesn't make their own parts but take bids from suppliers for parts that meet their requirements then builds the computers at different locations. (Kenmore does the same for their appliances at Sears) I own a Dimension XPS that is about 5 years old. I have upgraded it over the years with more memory, a larger hard drive and last year changed out the video card for a faster one with no problem. You get what you pay for. A low end Dell is not going to have the all the features you may want. Be sure you have extra space to add additonal drives or PCI cards.

 

[adder70]

My experience has been that major manufacturers always make sure they have the best price on a comp with the same processor. Thus, the processor is usually the fast part and everything else on the comp is slow and the computer performs much slower than a comp with the same processor but better other equipment (mobo, memory, disk drive, etc.).

I think the work experiences mean nothing especially when dealing with tech support. If you control the upgrades for a hundred computers, of course you stand a better chance of getting good tech support. I haven't had experience at home with Dell, although I have heard good things about Dell compared to other nat'l brands. I HAVE heard of horror stories concerning Dell and AOL and "trial" periods where AOL got credit card info (and charged repeatedly after cancellation!) even though none were submitted with "trial period" ap. Did they get it from Dell? Who knows. My best advice is to remove all preinstalled trial programs (internet especially) as soon as you get home and take note of the companies. Then buy from their competitors.

My experience has been Gateway giving decent comps at OK prices, but propietary issues and lower quality parts. (MUCH cheaper than good aftermarket choices on a second tier model (P3 800 when 1Ghz models were the biggest thing)).

My experience with our laptop has led me to vow to never do any business with Compost again, and now I can't decide if I can ever bring myself to deal with HP now that they have merged. NEVER, EVER buy a Compost!!!!!!! Crappiest everything possible, horrible performance, and battery lasted maybe a year with careful and not frequent use. (Properly discharged fully every time, and got to where you can't even fully start up before a "fully charged" battery will shut down due to power loss.) A Yugo would have to have had more quality. I think there at least 3 still Yugos left on the roads!

I will personally be going local and specifying the components if I don't build it up myself. The only cost issue id the price of softwarte that MS practically gives away to major manufacturers to have its product be the standard and freeze out competition.

 

[tndiveinstruct1]

The company I work for has 130,000 employees and the computer we use right now is Dell. Over my 15 years with this company, we have used HP, Gateway, IBM, and Dell for desktops. The Dells have been rock solid. The new HP desktop machines seem to be a bit better than the old ones. I wouldn't buy another Gateway or IBM.

For laptops we have used Toshiba, IBM, and Dell. I have had all 3, and my personal preference is a Toshiba. Yes it's heavier, but I'm a big guy. My boss has a new Dell laptop and it seems quite nice.

My brother bought a Dell for his replacement computer at home based on my recommendation. He had a problem right after he got it. His youngest son jammed the CDRW drive somehow. He called Dell and the next day a tech showed up with a replacement drive. It worked fine and he hasn't had any problems with it since. He does accident reconstruction for insurance companies, so his has to be reliable.

Hope this helps...

Randy Cain

 

[jiveturkey]

Jiveturkey, just out of curiosity, why don't you want to build your own?

Because I'm moving to Ottawa in 2 days and I'll be looking for work. I need a computer to help me and search the HRDC website....and scubaboard hehehe. I don't have time to research the components to find out what's a good deal but at the same time a compatible and efficient piece of hardware. I will have no computer in 2 days (I gave my old one away and now I'm just using my father's) so I won't have easy access to the internet to troubleshoot if things go wrong.

Also, you don't really seem to save much money when you build yourself. And, when you buy a completed model, you end up getting a bunch of software or an operating system at the very least. I had a pirated version of xp on my old system but never again. I ended up having to reinstall it 3 times over the course of a year and each time I had to find a new crack. Never again. I'm going legit

 

[jonnythan]

Jiveturkey, just out of curiosity, why don't you want to build your own?

I've built lots of computers, and the only two PC's in my house (this desktop and my OpenBSD server) are built by myself, with the great aid of pricewatch.com

Looking at some of the prices on the cheap Dells these days, I can replace my computer for less it would cost me to upgrade just my mobo/proc/ram to similar specs. It's certainly the smarter option, I think.

That being said, I'll pay the extra money to build my own... I just couldn't stand the thought of running something that I didn't build

 

[chuck_zc]

After years of working with junk I bought a Dell. Great system. The tech support needs to be upgraded though. When I bought mine a few months back it came with the all-in-one printer,copier,fax machine. Well the driver CD had some corrupt files on it and I had to make a call to order a new CD....big mistake. Now I must admit that my English isn't that great but it's a hell of a lot better than the 3 yes 3 people I spoke to in tech support. In the end I downloaded the info(31meg) from their site on dial up.
Other than that everything works great. Solid machine.