Would you recommend buying a Dell?

[vsrdan]

Hopefully this might limit all the fuss and bad language against Dell going on. Just cast your vote without using bad/foul language against Dell here. We can see what majority thinks about Dell without arguing about this and that.

[Keetha]

Laptop = Yes
Desktop = Cheap ones, definitely not! More expensive ones, probably no, unless they really don't to build one or have somone build it for them. Also, the XPSs are pretty cool.

[tdg]

Definatly no. I refurbish computers and laptops for a living, and Dells are consistently the most failure prone machines around, especially their lower end stuff. Their higher end machines are better, but still not in the same class as most other units.

[hAppy]

I vote maybe not, b/c someone told me that they use the cheapest possible parts and sell it at the highest price they can. And that's the reason people are mad, they're mad that their computer is crap, but they don't know the quality of the parts.

[[T5K]thrasher]

I voted maybe yes.. Just becuase I love my lappy :p for desktops DIY or find some one to do it for you.

[Juic3]

Well good deals from DELL are hard to pass up from time to time ;) .

[machwireless]

laptops, monitors, and other peripherals, yes

desktops for a business, yes

desktops for home, hell no

[1c3d0g]

Well good deals from DELL are hard to pass up from time to time ;) .
This is quite true. It's what made me choose Dell the last time... or at least that's what motivitated family members... :o but never again. Their hardware is too "watered-down" and too proprietary to upgrade later on. You're much better off with some other company. For people who'll never upgrade, maybe it's a good choice, depending on their needs of course. That's why I voted "May or may not (depends on what is needed)". :)

[Seelenlos]

No no no. Everytime we deal with them we end up regreting it. Temptation of some of the deals i've seen here are not even worth it anymore after the lastest round of problems getting support and even just ordering from them.

[Oldwolf]

I did a job installing a parallel network for a client in the bay area a few months ago, so he could transfer his old stuff to the new network.

He was replacing his old systems with brand new Dells and to our astonishment NONE of the new Dells had any PS/2 ports!!!

EVERYTHING was USB driven. Oy!!!

ALL of our KVM boxes were useless to us. We hadda go to Fry's and get adaptors just to make everything work.

Do you're research IN DETAIL before you buy, so you won't get stuck having to make a mad dash to a `puter store at night like I had to do.

[Zok]

It's maybe :p

[TheGamerZ]

please don't buy a dell... i hate to see people shoot themselves in the foot...

96% of my repair calls are for dell machines (the other 4% consist of other premades)

[MD_Willington]

Hopefully this might limit all the fuss and bad language against Dell going on. Just cast your vote without using bad/foul language against Dell here. We can see what majority thinks about Dell without arguing about this and that.
If I needed something for home office or internet surfing, I'd pick up a celeron based DELL.

Personally I've never had a problem with my Optiplex, it is what it is, a workstation...

So I don't really know what all the fuss is about.

MD

[moetop]

Worked on a lot of Dell's and IBM's over the past 10 years. (Literally thousands in a large corporate setting) I would take a Dell over IBM laptop or desktop any day. We have about %40 failure rate on our IBM laptop harddrives and several other components with high failure rate on the IBM's (Motherboards / Dockers). We have had our issues with Dell, but not nearly as much as IBM... The Dell laptops are not as mechanically sturdy (Read drop test), but nothing major.

IBM. Putting the death in deathstar (deskstar). (Flame on IBM lovers.. ;) )

Professionally I used to support several thousand Dell PC's, now mostly IBM's.

I personally own and support the following.

1 Toshiba Laptop 2.8 Ghz HT (My run around machine)
3 Dell dimension 4700's (The kids machines 2.8Ghz's HT)
1 Dell Dimension 4600 (The Snapstream HTPC 4 tuners 2.4 Ghz HT)
1 Dell Dimension 8200 (2.8Ghz HT Video/ picture/ extra gaming machine)
1 Dell Dimension 4300 (1.7Ghz Parents PC) (Remotely supported)
1 Dell Dimension 2200 (Cant remember speed. Used as a secondary PC for one of the Kids at his fathers house.)
1 PowerEdge 1600SC (2.8GHz Xeon Testbed server)
1 PowerEdge SC1425 (Dual 3Ghz 2Mb cache Xeon's. Battlefield 2 server (Linux))
1 Homebuilt AMD 64 3200 (My main game machine)
1 Homebuilt 2.4 Ghz (8 camera Home security system)
1 Homebuilt 2.4 Ghz (Kitchen PC. E-mail / General web surfing)
1 Homebuilt 1.7 Ghz (Grandma's machine) (Remotely supported)

What it comes down to for me are these 2 things.

Generally I could not build the Dell Pc's for the money they cost me. I always end up spending about $100 more for the same level or lower quality parts than Dell would put in. They are great for what they are and have treated me very well. The few issues I have had have been very minor.

My Homebuilt PC's have also served me well, but are mostly specialty PC's (Gaming/ Home security, Utility). I could have bought Dell's but I wanted specific parts in these PC's as well as a bit more performance. Sure I could have bought a Dell and added to it, but it would have cost me the same if not more.

-----------
In the end it comes down to the Price / Performance / Features. Dell sometimes fits the bill and sometimes not. For gaming, I would probably never buy an XPS, because for the same money or less I could build my own PC with the same or better performance.

[moetop]

please don't buy a dell... i hate to see people shoot themselves in the foot...

96% of my repair calls are for dell machines (the other 4% consist of other premades)

Is this all hardware or stupid user with Virus/Spyware infested PC? I would expect the Virus / Spyware...

[Teancum]

For desktops, and purely based on price, I would say the only time I would ever buy a Dell is if I were going for a low-end system. The kind they sell for $350 or less. If you want ANYTHING better than the low end, it will be cheaper to build it yourself, even including the cost of Windows.

The incremental cost of getting more RAM/bigger HD/faster CPU/whatever is ridiculous.

There is one other advantage to building your own computer, and for me, this is a HUGE issue: I get to install and tweak my own OS and have a perfectly clean environment to start off with. If you buy a Dell (or any other vendor), you start off with a truckload of cruftware. I like my OS clean. No stupid AOL software, no Dell phone-home spyware, nothing except what I want.

Case in point: My several-years-old IBM Thinkpad 600 (PII-266) vs. my dad's Thinkpad R42 (P-M 1.4GHz). Mine has a custom install of Win2k, his has the factory install of WinXP. Mine cold boots to a responsive state (no hourglass of any kind) a full minute before his. And that's after I tweaked (as much as possible) his services and start up programs.

[ntrinzik]

Laptop= No. 30% failure rate of HD in over 10000 laptops in our corporation. Dell replaced with hard drives that failed as well. Took them 6 months to figure out issue.
Desktop= Probably. 20000 ordered, maybe 1 percent have failed.

[moetop]

Laptop= No. 30% failure rate of HD in over 10000 laptops in our corporation. Dell replaced with hard drives that failed as well. Took them 6 months to figure out issue.
Desktop= Probably. 20000 ordered, maybe 1 percent have failed.

Were running at about %40 HD failure with our IBM laptops. Several repeat HD failures as well. Sounds similar.. Do you know what model drive they are?

[hikeskool]

I did a job installing a parallel network for a client in the bay area a few months ago, so he could transfer his old stuff to the new network.

He was replacing his old systems with brand new Dells and to our astonishment NONE of the new Dells had any PS/2 ports!!!

EVERYTHING was USB driven. Oy!!!

ALL of our KVM boxes were useless to us. We hadda go to Fry's and get adaptors just to make everything work.

Do you're research IN DETAIL before you buy, so you won't get stuck having to make a mad dash to a `puter store at night like I had to do.

Wait, so it's Dell's fault you or your client were too stupid to do the proper research? Or maybe you are so ignorant you didn't even consider if legacy support would be an issue.

Yeah, looks like Dell is the culprit here.

[docmenach]

Depends on the situation. At the place I work I do all the maintenance and tech work, we use almost all Dell machines. We pretty much stick with the lower end systems because they are cost efficeint for the purpose we use them for, once software is included there is no possible way we could build a similar system for cheaper. After 3 years (when the current batch of dells were purchasd, also when I started working here) I have seen only two probelms out of 25 Dell systems. One was a hard drive that went bad, the other was an excessivley loud fan. Dell overnighted replacement parts, before I had even sent the bad parts back to them. Two thumbs up there. So for purposes such as these I would say Dell is great, and thier customer service is better than other companies I have dealt with.

On the other hand I dont think I would ever suggest someone purchase a dell for a high end gaming system. Thier profit margin on high end systems is beyond unreasonable. I build systems for friends/family and will usually create a Dell quote for comparison purposes. I almost always end up building high-end systems for 50-60% of the price that Dell charges.

[tiraides]

I'd take a Dell over Gateway or HP/Compaq any day. However, I prefer building my own desktops than having one by Dell. Laptops are another matter: after using one for over a year, I would choose a Dell without any hesitation.

But I would gladly recommend them to my family... less repair work for me to do. :D

[1c3d0g]

@ Teancum: if you're interested in tweaking Windoze XP to the max, consider nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/). Yes, even the Dell-supplied OEM CD can be completely cleaned by this amazing program. A better solution would be to switch to Linux altogether, but that's another story for another day. ;)

Regarding Dell, their quality control is now getting WORSE. Just look at this (http://theinquirer.net/?article=24596)... I'd stay well-away from them for the time-being... :(

[Bomber]

I currently have 2 Dells - my laptop thanks to the first $750 coupon last October and the 2nd I got a refurb for my wife cause it was cheaper than building one (scary). I chose maybe depending on situation because I really wasn't looking at a computer either time...just did it because of the deals.

[TheGamerZ]

Is this all hardware or stupid user with Virus/Spyware infested PC? I would expect the Virus / Spyware...


Virus' and Spyware are more common, but I get a healthy dose of failed hardware. Caps on the motherboards burst, hard drives burn themselves up, powersupplies fail, all that good stuff.

[ckozlowski]

We support about 1000 dell machines here between laptops, desktops, and servers.

I would reccomend their server units for their management features and ease of access. Their rack systems seem vastly superior to any Compaq and HP system we've recieved.

Laptops are alright, I like the docking stations, failure rates have been low on our Latitude D600s.

Desktops, eh. I hate the chassis design, as the locking mechanism is prone to bending, not to mention that the chassis itself is awkard to work with. Desktop diagnostic is useless for reporting hard drive errors, and I've fought with Dell when trying to explain to them that even those their diagnostics says everything is fine, Ghost won't copy to the hard drive and Western Digital's utility (on a WD drive) says it's broken.

Also, they use some cheap plastic retention mechanism to hold the expansions cards in. This is prone to breaking, meaning VGA cards suddenly pop out of the slots of running machines when a user moves their tower. I've had to go in and screw down the video cards of countless desktops. I endlessly reminded the OEM company I worked for of this issue when evaluating chassis designs.

[djnes]

Call me biased if you want, but I'll never recommend any system that uses proprietary parts. Now, crack open any new HP computer, and find a regular Asus board slapped inside. Back it up with the last two years of customer satisfaction and quality awards that Dell can only dream of....and the answer becomes clear.

[NotEnoughSpeed]

I bought my mother a Dell Dimension 4700 PC because for $589.99 I got a P4 3.0, an Intel 915 PCI express mobo, 80 GB hard drive, 512 ram, CD-RW, and a dell 193 19 " LCD. Now granted when I got it I wiped the drive, and reloaded it with only the software I wanted on it for my mother, and it works great. She almost never calls me up for tech support. I am looking to buy one of their inspiron 700m notebooks soon. Tech support sucks with dell, but their machines arent all that bad.

[Rustedimpala]

Ive had a few Dells and never had any real problems out of them. I currently have a Dell Inspiron 6000 and its great. Biggest problem with dells is all the crap they load onto the hard drives, its best to just wipe them and reinstall the OS. The only other problem I see with the lower end Dells is the lack of memory and what they charge to add more. Best to buy the least amount of memory from Dell and order a stick or two from Newegg and install it yourself.





http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/2473 (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=2473)

http://www.hardfolding.com/utag.php/mem/1296.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=36&id=1296)

[soulsaver_8229]

i voted cause tv comercials say i have a voice! and my 1 vote counts!!!! hooray

everyone listen to me now cause i voted! :D








really tho, i say may or may not......depends the situation.......thats a rahter vague poll :p


soulsaver_8229

[csdibiase]

I use a lot of Dell's at work becuase that's what we're allowed to buy... honestly some of the newer machines that have come in have been okay, but Dell likes to use custom board layouts that are hard if not impossible to replace with off the shelf components.

That wouldn't worry me as much expcet that I've seen whole batches of dell's come in either DOA or DshortlyafterA...

Add that to the outsourced support and well, yeah I probably wouldn't but you can't keep a completely closed mind when you're buying OEM machines.

[chrisf6969]

I've had many Dells, and recommend them to many people. They have nice quality stable machines, and if you ever have a problem their tech support is top notch too.

Personally, for my home machines, I build my own. But for my office or other people (who I don't want to be their tech support on) I recommend Dell. In fact, Dell should be giving me a cut. I've recommended over 20+ Dells the past few years. In fact, I just stepped someone through ordering a Dell 700m laptop last week. (I configured it, put in their CC#, etc.. for them = held their hand through the purchase)

And I've done that for:

friend John 2x
his parents
my parents
my brother
other friend John
his wife with 2 office PC's
ANOTHER friend John 3x (=1 lap, 2 desk)
friend Mike 2x
friend Matt & his gf
my work PC's 4x
1 of my employees

Lets see... thats 20 right off the top of my head, who I helped configure their DELL PC's in the past few years. That not counting the many other's that I've just recommend or forgotten about. Everyone has been happy with their purchases to my knowledge, and I've helped a few of them with upgrades, etc... many get spyware/viruses, and Dell stepped them through a clean install, etc..

Any Dell reps reading this PM me, if you want to set me up with some type of referral credit system. Credit toward a purchase of a system or accessories. (thinking about buying a 24" 2405 monitor or 7800GTX maybe)

I remember a few years back when the P4's had just come out there was supposed to be like a $100 referral thing, but I never got it either. It must have been some MIR thing. (b/c 2 different people put me in as their referrals and I never GOT ANYTHING :( )

Plus I've bought 4 Dell 19" flat panels in the past 2 years. 3 direct through Dell, 1 new one off of ebay. (2 were just last month or so)

[bishop7]

So far the Optiblek GX110's are pretty stable and not failure-prone at all (only thing to go on any of those so far have been the drives, which is typical for any system)

However, I voted no.

The fact is we've been burned BADLY once by Dell during a major issue with one of their servers. The server had bad RAM, but they wouldn't replace the RAM because the utility they gave us to test it with didn't say the RAM was bad (they did end up replacing it after the fact with *refurbished* RAM, but lost several days worth of time on our production network because they were so anal about replacing the RAM)

A friends Dell SAN shits itself, and is told they "have nobody to send" even though they have a 4-hour response time in their service contract.

Their sales reps don't even return our calls when we wanted to evaluate their laptops when we were looking to replace our Stinkpads and Trashiba's (They eventually went with Gateway. We went with HP in our Canadian facility)

One of their sales goons called us up once and asked if we'd be interested in buying servers from them. We laughed in his face. After that fiasco with the RAM, we'll never touch another one of their 'servers'

Their servers suck anyway, we've replaced most of their servers with HP DL380 and DL385 servers and couldn't be happier in terms of performance, manageability (iLo > *) and their support (which, IMO, is the best in their industry with regards to their server and backup hardware)

[akelly999]

I wouldn't touch for the simple reason that their customer/ tech support is horrible. Ever since they outsourced to India, it has gone downhill. I ended up returning a laptop (faulty hard drive - go figure) after being on hold for 2 hours for tech support only to get a tech who barely spoke english. All in all it took me 8 hours to set up a return.

I used to work for Dell sales and I have heard customers literally crying because of being on hold, or transferred back and forth.... only to wind up in my department's phone que.

I understand that tech support is much better for business customers. Dell seems to want to keep them. I understand that tech support is still in the US.

[akelly999]

I remember that the old Dells (4300s, 8100s) had a custom power supply so that limited future upgrades. I don't know if they still do that now though...

[SnackDaddy]

I've used dozens of dell servers and hundreds of dell desktops and laptops. Same with IBM, Compaq, Gateway, HP.

They all have problems. They all work well most of the time. All of them have crappy tech support from time to time. They have really good support much of the time too. They ALL use proprietary hardware in some systems and less proprietary in others. (this is the argument I hate the most)

It's up to you to be 100% informed about what you are buying. After that you just have to hope you aren't one of the unlucky ones.

I have been most satisfied with dell. But not unsatisfied with the others Still have a 7 year old Dell server running 24x7 with no problems at one place. We will be replacing it next month though, just in case. Got a couple 5-6 yr old Compaqs and IBMs too.

I've personally used homebuilt/overclocked for years but this last time I didn't have the time or the ambition to mess with configuring, building and tweaking a system of my own design. I chose a Dell 8400 desktop. The XPS was way overpriced for basicaly the same system and the lower end just didn't meet my needs. I'm completely happy with it after almost 1 year. Got a good deal. Couldn't have built the same machine with legal software cheaper.Have had no problems at all. Plays HL2, Doom 3 and WoW just fine. I did wipe the drive and reinstall windows, but I would have had to install it on a homebew too so no big deal there. Probably can't overclock it, haven't looked, but I don't care anymore. 3GHz and a gig of DDR2 is pretty fast.

Just like the undying Chevy vs. Ford debate, depends on the individual and their experience.

I would buy or recommend Dell any time.

[Jasonx82]

Sure Why not, For People who upgrade alot then no.. but for simple web browesing.. etc.. its a great value.. :)

[DR_K13]

Well good deals from DELL are hard to pass up from time to time ;) .


I got my 1st dell this way. ( Power Edge SC420 server )

Other then that, I would recommend their Laptops, maybe a server ( if the $ was right) and I would NOT recommend a Desktop.

[vsrdan]

My experiences with Dell are here (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=926448) (post #11).

[akelly999]

If you don't mind being your own tech support, go for it. I think that a lot of Dell's customer base is not as tech minded and there in lies the rub.

As a counterpoint, I contacted Emachines tech support twice for my m6805; the wait time was 20 seconds for the first time and 31 seconds for the second, and the tech gave me his rep id as well (said that was the procedure they followed).

Try that with Dell support...

[brom42]

I would recommend Dell to most people that don't want me to build them a PC. I have had excellent luck with Dells support. I do stay away from Dell home like it is a plague, but so far small business has treated me very well. I also install and repair Dells at work, when we switched from Gateway to Dell, our failure rate dropped dramatically. Plus so far when they have screwed up, it has been in my favor.

[Rune75]

If this was a poll for Dell laptops, I woulda voted deffinately yes. But for general desktops, depends...

[MTXR]

after constructing 2 DIYsystems i decided to purchase a Dell. It ran great.

All these people who talk about how they have the biggest failures blah blah blah stuff., must take into account that of course they will have the most failures. They are the biggest distributer of PCs.

If they ship more than the competition, (lets say a 1% failure rate as an example) compared to 1% of HP or whoever the number in general will be bigger for dell.

But after the dell system, i built a DIY system and no longer use the dell.

I recommend Dell systems to almost everyone except for the enthusiast.

[moetop]

For those interested, here is some good info about all the manufactures.
PCworld Manufacture survey (http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118514,pg,1,00.asp)

[icehokplyr]

For a laptop, I would say yes but for a home system, I have three words: NO!
Seriously though, I would never buy a Dell home system. Build your own. It's well worth it.

[icehokplyr]

Hopefully this might limit all the fuss and bad language against Dell going on. Just cast your vote without using bad/foul language against Dell here. We can see what majority thinks about Dell without arguing about this and that.

I love Dell. They showed me that building your own machine is the smartest thing you can do. No bad language here. "Thanks Dell" LOL :D :D :D

[James54321]

I also voted "may or may not" and agree with the general consensus:

Laptops = Yes (most of the time)
Desktops = No (most of the time)

The reason I don't give it a complete no is because for business use, Dells are just awesome. Our IT department has gone through three generations of Dells (over 250 machines each generation) and they've been great. B2B, there's no question that Dell is a solid company.

Personal use however... That's a different story. They have the typical outsourced tech support that will connect you to someone in India and with the exception of their ingenious case/hardware setup (really neat how they pack some of that stuff in and yet keep it standard), most of Dell's home systems are still priced to move (meaning cheaper, more integrated and proprietary).

That said, out of all the "name brand B&M computer companies," I’d have to say that Dell is the least proprietary (unlike Compaq and their hexagonal screw system and special HD mounting solution, ugh). Additionally, the majority of home service calls I've done are due to user-error and not hardware error. So if anything, Dell does build solid systems.

Ultimately, the best solution is almost always to build your own system, especially if you want scalability.

- James

[DamienThorn]

Depends. If you want to lease, then hell no! They expect EVERYTHING back, including all their useless one page pieces of paper. We got screwed out of a couple hundred bucks by Dell because a support technician said that the papers weren't "that important."

If you're a home user, and know absolutely nothing about computers, then dell is ok. They're not great, but there are far worse computers that are out there. If you're willing to build your own computer, you can usually built it cheaper, with better components, but have to deal with multiple warranty's, rather than just one.

[neo86]

I wouldn't recommend a Dell laptop. I admit I haven't used one. I just don't think I could recommend something so overpriced. I've seen quite a few people get one that was over-priced and underperforming compared to this Acer laptop I have. One guy didn't even get built-in wireless with his and it costed him $300 more than my trusty Acer. :o

[ELMO]

AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....:tear:... :p
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Recommend a Dell...your a funny guy, for a second there, I thought you were serious.
Kinda like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion... because they would save money and wouldn't have to go threw the trouble of childbirth.

[FlatLine84]

AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....:tear:... :p
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Recommend a Dell...your a funny guy, for a second there, I thought you were serious.
Kinda like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion... because they would save money and wouldn't have to go threw the trouble of childbirth.


That's not a very good analogy......

[icehokplyr]

AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....:tear:... :p
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Recommend a Dell...your a funny guy, for a second there, I thought you were serious.
Kinda like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion... because they would save money and wouldn't have to go threw the trouble of childbirth.

I don't get it.....

[neo86]

AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....:tear:... :p
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Recommend a Dell...your a funny guy, for a second there, I thought you were serious.
Kinda like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion... because they would save money and wouldn't have to go threw the trouble of childbirth.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *tear*:p
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

Recommend a Dell? You're a funny guy! For a second there I thought you were serious.
It's kind of like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion because they would save money and wouldn't have to go through the trouble of childbirth.

Slightly fixed for spelling errors to make sense. I only bothered because this made sense. Although... Were you trying to disprove my point? In which case your post is very retarded since it supports my point. Nonetheless, at the same time it is even more retarded because you're comparing a machine to a human life. I don't think such a comparison is morally correct, and I'm pretty sure most sane people would agree. The point of having children is not a selfish one, but rather an unselfish one.

Like most people I don't really see the point of your post. I'm trying to rationalize it myself, but I don't think I've quite succeeded. Please explain further or lay off the sauce.

;)

[magoo]

Please get back on track???? Dell monitors....Good, cheap, nice deals every once in a while, built well.
Dell desktops....POS, IMO (our office bought three, 2 suck,1 is very noisy,full of cheap components, but nice monitors.)
Home service people dont seem to understand ENGLISH.
2 cents. :cool:

[icehokplyr]

Please get back on track???? Dell monitors....Good, cheap, nice deals every once in a while, built well.
Dell desktops....POS, IMO (our office bought three, 2 suck,1 is very noisy,full of cheap components, but nice monitors.)
Home service people dont seem to understand ENGLISH.
2 cents. :cool:

The man brings up some good points here.

[stonedwaldo420]

One thing to remember about the Dell tech support is that if you want English, you pay for either an OptiPlex desktop or a Latitude laptop. Both of them have US ONLY TECH SUPPORT! And a lot of us can get significant discounts either through our workplace, or university. Dell does a great job working with large businesses and the education sector.

But anyway, Dell laptops a good value plus offer a really diverse selection, and if you can build your own system, GREAT! I build mine, and would never waste money on an OEM machine. But remember, 90% of the American public simply CAN’T build their own system. They wouldn’t even know what basic components go into building a computer, let alone be able to match things like RAM, CPU, and Graphics cards to a MOBO. For all of those folks out there, I have no problem recommending a Dell. For all of you ripping on Dell, what OEM would you recommend for the tech illiterate ?

Plus their engineering team really does put some effort into their systems. The airflow in the new OptiPlex GX280 BTX formfactor systems is really quite nice.
Even the consumer level Dimension desktop systems utilize a pretty expensive looking heatsink solution that has dual copper heat pipes and is vented directly out the back of the system, so as not to put any of the heat into the computer case. And they have really nice modular drive bays and everything is pretty accessible and easy to service.

Bottom line: if you can build it, nothing compares. If you can’t, dude, get a Dell!

BTW, you can probably tell I work in the tech department of a major state university that is 95% Dell (darn 5% Mac folks!!!).

[stonedwaldo420]

There is one thing I completely forgot to add!!!
There are a good number of game enthusiasts out there who are not hardware enthusiasts. IF they are unwilling to learn how to build a gaming machine themselves, I would have to recommend Alienware or Falcon Northwest, or some of those special game system builders. They are mad pricy, but offer wonderful things like AMD FX-57 processors and SLI. For the hardware gamer, those specialty builders beat Dell hands down (on everything but cost).
However, I still stand by my statements for occasional basic gamers, business only folks, and the VAST majority of the public that will never play an advanced 3D game on their computer.

[Crosshairs]

I vote maybe not, b/c someone told me that they use the cheapest possible parts and sell it at the highest price they can. And that's the reason people are mad, they're mad that their computer is crap, but they don't know the quality of the parts.

You voted based on what someone told you ?
Thats pretty bad, and not what the poll was intended for......

And Im pretty sure most business plans include buying for less than you sell for :)

[vsrdan]

You voted based on what someone told you ?
Thats pretty bad, and not what the poll was intended for......

Quite right!

[ufster8]

My father owns a dell inspiron p4-m 1.7 GHz,1 GB DDR266, it has slight problems with display other than that it's fine. I guess their high-end laptop line just makes the cut and lasts longer than lower priced ones.

[icehokplyr]

I think the bottom line is this: We all have above average experience knowledge to build our own machines. If we were like the average person who didn't know any better, we would buy a Dell too. Cheap Dell prices and special deals make people think they are getting a good computer. Our computers are just far more advanced and better. Your fathers can keep their Dell computers. I want better performance as well as all of you. That's why we are all here.

We all know the answer to this question.

[Chris_Morley]

AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....:tear:... :p
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Recommend a Dell...your a funny guy, for a second there, I thought you were serious.
Kinda like going to the gynocologist and talking every chick there into having an abortion... because they would save money and wouldn't have to go threw the trouble of childbirth.
You think your HDD is faster because of your HDD cables?

Interesting.

[will5757]

i'd reccomend a dell for a web broswer.maybe a little light gaming (hl1..those sort of games\mods)

if you want something well built..get it custom done..even if you have to pay someone else to do it..

i don't know anything about dell laptops..i hear there good..

also..the reason dell monitors are good is because they aren't made by dell..they are made by someone else and stamed with teh dell name..which is fine by me..as long as it looks good

[Chris_Morley]

i'd reccomend a dell for a web broswer.maybe a little light gaming (hl1..those sort of games\mods)

if you want something well built..get it custom done..even if you have to pay someone else to do it..

i don't know anything about dell laptops..i hear there good..

also..the reason dell monitors are good is because they aren't made by dell..they are made by someone else and stamed with teh dell name..which is fine by me..as long as it looks good
Out of curiousity, why would a Dell not be able to handle "heavy" gaming as opposed to "light" gaming if you purchase it with the right hardware in it?

[Crosshairs]

I voted YES... I have a Dell SC420 Server.....It runs 24/7 ..and has been since new ( 4 months)...Not one problem.....not one reboot....
I paid a lot less for this that I could have even bought the parts for, so for me its a no brainer :)

[will5757]

i'm not saying it could..i'm sure some dell's could handle heavy gameing..

but if your going to put that much money into a machine you should get it done by a shop..

i'm not a fan of any pre-built...but it's a good way to buy a comp for someone who isn't going to use it for much more than light gaming.

if your going to buy a gaming machine..i don't think dell is where you should be looking..not because they won't preform well enough..but because they aren't easily upgradeable..which every gaming machine should be..

i'll stick with saying that if your building a gameing machine that you should get it custom built..or build it ourself

[towert7]

I do not like Dell's business approach, especially with laying off many US workers in exchange for much cheaper work in other countries at the expense of the customer. And obviously there are other problems, like their low priced computers being very cheap in terms of build quality, especially compared to cheap IBM's. Oh, and this Intel/Dell thing might not turn out good.... i'm waiting to find out what they find.

I would try to recommend other companies before dell.

[madmat]

For someone I don't like, yes otherwise, no...I'd build 'em a PC first (this applies to desktops).

[threeclaws]

They are who I exclusively recc. now.

After building a few dozen systems over the last 10yrs for family/friends I grew tired of the phone calls and wasting my time only to be unappreciated and uncompensated.

Now when someone calls asking me to build them a computer I point the to Dell, for one I can't beat their prices and two when they have a problem they can call Dell and deal with them.

I have a few Dell lappies/desktops/servers (sc400/420's) strewn throughout my family now and nobody has had any major problems that weren't a direct result of something they did, so until something does happen I will continue to recc. Dell with a smile on my face :D

[madmat]

I worked in an independent PC shop for a while, we loved Dell customers simply because Dell's were our main source of repair business followed closely by HP, Compaq and with a distant 4th Gateway.

The brand we saw the least that wasn't one we sold was eMachines and they were and likely still are one of the main sellers in that area. Go figure. Out of all the machines we serviced the ones we sold came in the least to our shop. All ours were built with retail mobo's, CPU's and ODD's, the HDD's and ram were OEM. I have to say that I didn't like the fact we used the cheap bundled in PSU's that came with the cases but fortunately they work ok for a low demand system and are actually about as good as anything the major OEM's use in their PC's.

[magoo]

This is an interesting thread. I agree with most everyone in some form or another (for what that's worth) The average person wants to have a computer that will allow them to go online and to order stuff from Lands End or Amazon... Their children need to google stuff for school and write papers, some want a big hard drive for video or picture albums. This stuff does not require an FX-57, a dual core, or an ATI 850 XTPE or 7800 GTX. Christ, Dell's new "game" site doesnt even offer a 6800 GT. Most people would get dizzy if they even considered spending over $750 on a computer (and they'd want a free printer and LCD monitor to boot!!) Dell has seen the promised land. It happens to be my mother and father who just want to send an email. It's YOUR mother and father who just want to send YOU an email. Most everyone DOESNT even know there are other choices!!!! Dell has positioned themselves to provide a product that most likely will appeal to everyone but people like us who are essentially the "gearheads" of the computer world. (no offense, only term I could think of) Henry Ford did the same thing,remember. Their goofy home support banks on the fact that the most complicated question they're gonna get is"I pushed the wrong button...." (I have no experience with their business product.) BUT, you know what. I have a small EMachine that runs like a champ and has since I plugged it in. I use it for all the stuff I talked about above. It is much better than the Dells I have at my office that my partner thought we should buy because they were cheaper. Well thats another story. Have a good day ....2cents. :cool:

[brionbastian]

I would never reccomend a Dell for home of business use, becuase I have seen an unbelievable number of their hard drive fail. They use mainly Maxtor drives, which are cheap but now reliable. One system at my workplace had two 80GB SATA HDDs fail within 2 weeks. It cost over $1600 to recover a $30 million proposal from the first bad drive, and would have cost that much again if they hadn't gotten a WD external HDD to back it up to when the second drive failed a week later. If you call that efficient for a business, then you live in a different world from me. I'd say for desktops, DIY or get someone who can. For laptops....... wow they have some killer deals sometimes, like now, but I wouldn't do it unless there was a really good reason. Overall, I vote definitely no.

[brom42]

One system at my workplace had two 80GB SATA HDDs fail within 2 weeks. It cost over $1600 to recover a $30 million proposal from the first bad drive, and would have cost that much again if they hadn't gotten a WD external HDD to back it up to when the second drive failed a week later




This isn't defending Dell, but you're telling me you were working on a $30 million proposal and you weren't backing it up?? Wow, thats simply amazing. So let me guess, you are now using the external hard drive and it is sitting in the same room. Guess what happens if there is a power surge or there is a fire? Kiss your original and backup goodbye. I would think that any company that is putting out multi-million dollar proposals would atleast have network storage for them and have off site backups. But I guess it is Dell's responsability to provide drives that never fail. :rolleyes:

[brionbastian]

This isn't defending Dell, but you're telling me you were working on a $30 million proposal and you weren't backing it up?? Wow, thats simply amazing. So let me guess, you are now using the external hard drive and it is sitting in the same room. Guess what happens if there is a power surge or there is a fire? Kiss your original and backup goodbye. I would think that any company that is putting out multi-million dollar proposals would atleast have network storage for them and have off site backups. But I guess it is Dell's responsability to provide drives that never fail. :rolleyes:

Nono, it wasn't MY system. I work in the IT support department there, and this was a professor's admin assistant's system. I would never be that dense, to not back up something like that. Now the backup drive is on a surge protector, on a separate circuit, as well as being backed up to DVD weekly. I don't control the university's IT department, and have no input on offsite backups or network storage, that's up to the main IT department.

[bob]

Well, it seems that everyone is firing off ramdom statistics, I will fire off one that is true.

about 37% of hardforum members recommend dells. (definatley yes + maybe yes).

I would recommend one, only in few cases. Dells very cheap $370 computers (monitor included) in which they advertise on tv, I would recommend those for someone who needs to play solitare, burn CDs, or internet.

Dell XPS... I laughed at those.

[zone_86]

Most of the models that Dell advertises on TV are not the $300.00 models - usually the 4700 dimension line which are much more respectable. They do more then just surf the net as was eluded to above by a poster. It's getting to the point that hardware forums just like this one has more mis-information then general tech forums with not nearly as many "gearheads'. After years in the business of higher end tech you start to come full circle and realize that noobs actually do hang out on places like [H] forums. Noobs can be people that have built 1-10 PC's and suddenly come to the conclusion that AMD or Intel, or ATI, or nVIDA sucks for some reason, or ...that a Dell XPS is only good for web surfing and gramps email-checking, and that they don't offer higher and video cards. :rolleyes:

[Crosshairs]

They use mainly Maxtor drives, which are cheap .....One system at my workplace had two 80GB SATA HDDs fail within 2 weeks. It cost over $1600 to recover a $30 million proposal from the first bad drive, and would have cost that much again if they hadn't gotten a WD external HDD to back it up to when the second drive failed a week later.


I didnt know Dell made hard drives.......so you can hardly blame the failure on them..... I have MANY Maxtor drives that have been running for years, with no problem.....Maybe you have dirty power at your work place......

[brionbastian]

I didnt know Dell made hard drives.......so you can hardly blame the failure on them..... I have MANY Maxtor drives that have been running for years, with no problem.....Maybe you have dirty power at your work place......

Who said Dell made hard drives? I said that I had seen 2 of them die within the same week, which did not impress me with the quality of the drives. I didn't say they were garbage, I said they aren't the most reliable brand. In the time that I've seen about 5 Maxtors die, I've seen no Seagate or WD's die. I'm sure that's partly because there's more Maxtor's around than any other brand, but there's no way I'd ever put one in my system again while there's other brands available in the same price range.

[magoo]

Most of the models that Dell advertises on TV are not the $300.00 models - usually the 4700 dimension line which are much more respectable. They do more then just surf the net as was eluded to above by a poster. It's getting to the point that hardware forums just like this one has more mis-information then general tech forums with not nearly as many "gearheads'. After years in the business of higher end tech you start to come full circle and realize that noobs actually do hang out on places like [H] forums. Noobs can be people that have built 1-10 PC's and suddenly come to the conclusion that AMD or Intel, or ATI, or nVIDA sucks for some reason, or ...that a Dell XPS is only good for web surfing and gramps email-checking, and that they don't offer higher and video cards. :rolleyes:
You flatter me. BUT.... I dont think you read the whole thing. I dont hate nVidia,ATI AMD or Intel (or anyone else for that matter) I wasnt speaking about the XPS set in specific,yet I was correct in saying there wasnt a high end card in the whole "gaming" section. You could imagine someone ordering their "gaming" computer from Dell only to find it wont run their favourite game on anything but medium and 800 x 600 res. That, for 1500$ would be a crime (that may be a bit harsh). I DO think Dell markets their BASIC computer to be just that....a web surfer and email device that can store and print pictures or duplicate CDs or DVDs. No, Im not "high-end tech" but I think I can sort out what Dell has to offer and what Velocity Micro or some other boutique gaming store has to offer. The problem is that most people dont know what else there is "out there" because they dont do the research. They watch advertising on TV and purchase what their friends have. The word SNOB comes to mind,sir. Im sorry I offended your high endedness. have a good day :D Do you work for Dell or something??? Having a bad day??? :mad:

[threeclaws]

yet I was correct in saying there wasnt a high end card in the whole "gaming" section.:

256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X850 XT PE

Is this not a high end card? :confused: Because it is an available option on the XPS systems (probably some other systems as well.)

[magoo]

Woah, Im sorry??? I guess when I read the deal I was looking at the nVIDIA choices and not the ATI. I apologize to the Dell. That was not cool. Im not an ATI user so I definately overlooked it. Another knucklehead deal by magoo :eek: BUT in my own defense, I believe that the page first came up on Thursday this week??? The lead caption was "NO SISSIES ALLOWED"... which I see is gone. AND on that day,which was the last time I looked, the ATI 850 XT was not offered. The vanilla 6800 was the only choice at the time if I remember correctly. But Im still wrong now and I apologize. :p

[zone_86]

You flatter me. BUT.... I dont think you read the whole thing. I dont hate nVidia,ATI AMD or Intel (or anyone else for that matter) I wasnt speaking about the XPS set in specific,yet I was correct in saying there wasnt a high end card in the whole "gaming" section.

They have offered high end cards for a long time now (usually ATI as of late). One of the reasons the X800-850 XT PE was short in AGP trim for a while was because of the Dell contracts with ATI,


You could imagine someone ordering their "gaming" computer from Dell only to find it wont run their favourite game on anything but medium and 800 x 600 res. That, for 1500$ would be a crime (that may be a bit harsh). I DO think Dell markets their BASIC computer to be just that....a web surfer and email device that can store and print pictures or duplicate CDs or DVDs.

Most Dells - even the moderate slightly older 4700 Dimensions with 865G chipsets (mATX) will run slightly older games at 1024x768 with IGP and certainly with a 9800 Pro (which you could configure it with a ways back) will easily do 1024x768+ high settings with a 3.0-3.2C P4. Esentially when you say "800x600" i think you are thinking someone is using only the IGP Intel built in and many people configured these units with an add-in AGP card. Don't you think a 865G/I865G/915 intel with an X800 Pro will do ok? Maybe not as well as an A643000+ with the same cards, but hardly limited to 800x600.


No, Im not "high-end tech" but I think I can sort out what Dell has to offer and what Velocity Micro or some other boutique gaming store has to offer. The problem is that most people dont know what else there is "out there" because they dont do the research. They watch advertising on TV and purchase what their friends have. The word SNOB comes to mind,sir. Im sorry I offended your high endedness. have a good day :D Do you work for Dell or something??? Having a bad day??? :mad:

Snob?.. quite the contrary i'm just clarifying a few things with you. Work for Dell? No - but i have owned and ran my own shop for 3 1/2 years. So i build alot of custom jobs, but i also know that while Dells are certainly proprietary in most regards, most of the 4700-8300-8400-XPS lines are prefectly capable machines. Maybe not as capable as the AMD machines thesedays but the new X2 P4's (Gen 5 XPS) have some zip in them. Also - i very much support AMD and use AMD myself, but it's hard to sit here and read assertations about Dell that just aren't true. If you go with the lower end Dell models with celerons obviously that along with onboard intel IGP you get a less that capable machine for a performance oriented enthusiast type of end user, and that type of machine actually IS for email, spreadsheets grandpas apps...etc...etc... I understand AMD has the edge in just pure framerates and money vs. performance catagories, but do remember that it was not that long ago when the P4C northwood was considered much better than the athlon xp.


Have a nice day :)

[elite.mafia]

if the price is right... go for the dell!

[bob]

I think the bottom line is this: We all have above average experience knowledge to build our own machines. If we were like the average person who didn't know any better, we would buy a Dell too. I dont completly agree with you on your point of view your taking.

You are right. If I didnt know anything about computers, wanted to buy one, and were overwhelmed with dell ads, I would end up with one. Honestly, when was the last time I saw a toshiba, Ibm, or Hp ad for cheap-ass $400.00 computers?

As a person who knows a thing or two about computers, I look at what I can buy online at newegg, and what dell is using. Its really hard to beat their deals.

Sure, their pc's might break and go up in smoke 2 years from now, but comptuers arnt designed to last forever anymore. Buying a $400.00 computer is like buying a $400.00 car with good paint and interior:

Just like the grab-bags at the 2nd hand stores, you will get mixed results. You may get a lemon that breaks and makes you pay out the ass for repairs, or you may get a good one that lasts for a few years.

Edit:

I just thought. My school I go to, uses dells only. We used to have macs. Those things lasted and took a beating. These dells, they fall apart very fast. Most of them last a few years, but there is always 2 or 3 pcs out of each classroom that end up in the corner, and eventually into salvage, after less than 1 semester.

[vsrdan]

Sure, their pc's might break and go up in smoke 2 years from now, but comptuers arnt designed to last forever anymore. Buying a $400.00 computer is like buying a $400.00 car with good paint and interior:

For a business environment, this may be true, but not for ALL the personal purchases. I know somebody who is using his old computer (Win 95) for more than 7 years and his computer is still working well for his work. Recently, I assembled a computer for another person, and she was telling me that she might use it as long as it works. People do not intend to trash their computers after 2-3 years use, although companies and govt. institutions do so (there are very good reasons for them to do so). So, regular people, who purchase computers for home use, think of using it for a long time without a problem.

There is a HUGE difference between buying a $400 computer and a $400 car - in terms of unreliability. Although it would be slow, a $400 computer would still work for day-to-day computer work (such as e-mail, internet, and word processing). They are not supposed to crash or die within the warranty period. Afterall, who is going to give a warranty for a $400 car?

[V-e-l-o-c-i-t-Y]

maybe yes... lappys and everything cept desktops = great for price... desktops = pos that should burn in hell along with their customer service reps (f'ing get the run around every two minutes)

Me- hi i need help with my laptop
softwarlady- ok let me patch u to the hardware section
me-k

hardware arab-how can i help u
me-um im having troubles with my dell latitude
hadware arab- ok let me send u to laptop specialists

lappy specialist-how may i be of service
me- im having a problem with my laptop (pissed)
lappy specialist- what model
me- latitude
lappy specialist- let me send you to my manager he is more aware of the latitude model
me- look im tird of getting the runaround
specialist- im sorry sir were doing all we can to help
me- well this is what i can do... i hung up

(bastards)

[Nasty_Savage]

I work for school systems and here's my take.

The Macs tend to hold their value IMO, better then the PC's, up until the death of OS 9 and the switch for ten steepened the system requirements. Macs have gone down a bit in quality but I still believe they will hold their value better then a cheaper Dell.

The Dell Optiplex units have shitty cooling, especially the desktop models which seem to be the majority of the units most k-12 schools purchase anyway. Combine this with lack of AC in school districts and ad-hoc power arangements (I've seen surge protector's daisy chained in order to get all the computers in one spot)

Should you buy a Dell? I think the old adage applies: you get what you pay for. Now, the lower end models I would consider "disposable" at best. The higher priced models are a good deal if you get one of those retarded 35% off coupons, I don't see how you can go wrong. My personal opinion is make sure there is enough ventilation for them and they SHOULD last you awhile. But I would still build my own unless the deal was too good to be true. I'm actually looking at a Dell server at the moment because they are running free upgrade deals on a second processor and a second HD. But its not a game rig...I can't see paying the kind of money Dell charges (w/o discounts, which I think is kind of a scam to get you to check them out and what not...the list prices of some of them are off the chart) for 'premium' set up when I can fully customize a box that would be cheaper and look cooler and probably last longer.

For a gaming rig, you're going to dump some money into it anyway over the years, so unless you are bad at building computers, I just do not see the point of buying from the top shelf with Dell. JMO :)

[zone_86]

i agree with building your own in most cases. as far as lower end dells being 'disposable at best' i would take issue with that - they can educate a child, and check email. as far as better looking with DIY i agree with that. if you make alot of money typically you can afford ot easily configure a higher end XPS and get a new one each year to two years (and sell the older one), one thing i really don't like about teh XPS is all of the cabling and how the case is literally overstuffed. the design needs to change to look clean and lean instead of loaded and bloated.

[SN4p]

One reason that Dell is 90 some percent of that guys fix-it runs is becuase they are by far the most popular. I'd go with Dell for laptops and monitors (2405 gooom). Build my own for desktops tho.

[magoo]

I think by disposable he means not easily upgradable. You could of course use an old one to FOLD. I still feel that the advertising Dell does drives their lower end sales, which are the more difficult models to upgrade if at all. Look inside a Dimension or XPS sometime. One cannot even upgrade powersupplies, MOBOs or other components (for the most part) due to proprietary components. This may also lend to disposable computers which is a shame, but a way to sell more computers. :D

[Nasty_Savage]

I think by disposable he means not easily upgradable. You could of course use an old one to FOLD. I still feel that the advertising Dell does drives their lower end sales, which are the more difficult models to upgrade if at all. Look inside a Dimension or XPS sometime. One cannot even upgrade powersupplies, MOBOs or other components (for the most part) due to proprietary components. This may also lend to disposable computers which is a shame, but a way to sell more computers. :D

Quite correct, the $299 computers they sell aren't really worth upgrading. When they get to the pint where they are choking then pitch it and buy a new one. For instance, lets say the specs for Longhorn out date the current 299 dollar Dell. Do you upgrade the Ram, card and processor to handle the new OS or do you "heave it" and buy a new 299 computer with it pre-installed? Guess where my vote goes ;) That's what I mean by disposable :)

[vsrdan]

All OEM computer manufacturers sell their computers with a warranty. So, when we buy them, we pay for the computer + warranty. If somebody who cannot repair a computer without expert help would definitely think about the warranty that comes with the computer. For example let's say manufacturer X sells a computer with 3 year at-home warranty, and manufacturer Y selles a similar computer (I mean similar specs.) with 2 year "send-in" warranty. What would a rational person buy? .. Definitely X's computer. But when the computer is malfunctioning after 3-4 months (or before warranty expires) then only the customer would have a chance to realize the exact quality of X's warranty. If it something like what Dell has in store for thier home users - the customer, pretty much, has purchased a "disposable" computer with warranty. Is this fair? Company X is not only taking their customers for a ride with an "unusable" warranty, but also "succesfully" competing against their rivals in the same business.

Some here say Dell is not good for home use because home user warranty/customer service is not as good as that of small business/govt. users . I think, in reality, Dell knows it is easier to give a run around for a single home user, but it would be difficult to get away from business or govt. users (they have money and other resources to stand against Dell). Therefore, unsuspecting home users are getting trapped in Dell's cheap computers those come with fairly good warranties (at least on paper).

[Hyper_Psycho]

buying a dell is like buying a hummer to save on gas money

[threeclaws]

buying a dell is like buying a hummer to save on gas money

How so?

[joecool234]

please don't buy a dell... i hate to see people shoot themselves in the foot...

96% of my repair calls are for dell machines (the other 4% consist of other premades)

Man, I'm not even gonna bother to read the rest of this thread. Did you ever think this is because 96% of all PC's sold to people (who can't fix them themselves) are Dell's?

All Dell haters are simply retarded. For anyone that can't build their own PC, Dell is the only option as far as I'm concerned.

[zone_86]

I agree Jooecool. I also ran a business but i saw the reverse. Dells were usually rock solid. Most of my tech support call were to get spyware off of OEM machines of any kind, because lay people many times don't keep up with what spyware is and how it can affect a system. It has zero to do with the system being a Dell or Gateway or HP.... I also got alot of calls and walk in's form overclocking experiments gone bad from teenagers with DFI's that didn't know the first thing about tweakage. not just DFI but MSI and trying to set up SLI. I charged like a MF to young guys that came in talking a big game trying to pick my head and telling me i might not know what i'm doing only to bring in their own box unbootable. Guys under 20 are the worst type of customers to get in and most of them are DIY'ers that got in over their heads or are just too stupid to do research on how to set up SATA or RAID arrays properly. Yeah- i charge those guys HEAVILY but only after i show them the machine booted- up and running great. Older people with Dells are a pleasure to deal with. No egos and stupid build config's and attemping 2.8 Ghz on a 3000 venice6800 Ultrax2/DFI ultra-d (with parents money) with a cheap 350W PSU 20 pin connector with 15A listed on the +12v and can't get SATA RAID running..... THOSE are the worst customers, and the ones you can make a living on. It's irony at it's best, because you would think supposed enthusiast types would know more, but sometimes having a little knowledge and not choosing to do research and look for memory compatibilies and RTFM makes very young enthisiasts the very worst customers overall. Dells are EASY to maintain and run flawlessly for the most part with an extremely low failure rate. Because people that own them are not trying to be a trunk-monkey/overlocking king posting CPU-Z screenies all over the web to be cool.


/end rant

[Frangible]

For other people I recommend Macs.

"What? You're having problems with your computer? Sorry dude, can't help you, I don't know anything about Macs."

[stonedwaldo420]

One thing to think about is that many people gunk up the software side of computers long before any hardware has a chance to go bad. To make matters worse, these people don’t realize that something as simple as a reformat will solve all of their problems.

Guess that explains the whole throw away PC trend story [H] posted Saturday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/technology/17spy.html?hp&ex=1121572800&en=178b2edcf06c6a45&ei=5094&partner=homepage

For them, a cheap dell makes a great throwaway machine.

[Mr_Evil]

I'm an on-site warranty technician for Dell as well as IBM. And when broken down proportionally. I work on as many IBM Thinkcentres and Netvistas as I do Optiplex and Dimension systems. So you're looking at about the normal 1% failure rate. HOWEVER, Dell's only the biggest freakin PC Maker so obviously you're going to see more of their systems go down. The key thing is to look at the proportions how many failed vs how many were sold. I would reccomend Dell to someone looking for a notebook or low-end PC. But some of the characteristics of their "high end" bother me a bit (particularly with the lack of hard drive cooling) in addition to the inflated price.

buying a dell is like buying a hummer to save on gas money
"If you don't understand analogies, just don't use them....It's like a pig on a tightrope."
-Penn Gillette

[Hyper_Psycho]

How so?

I go to a non technical school and so I end up being that 'computer guy' for most of my friends and their friends. I would say that most of them have Dells. Over the past two years I did my fair share of listening to what dell technicians had to say and how most of the time the problem was not solved.


...blah blah blah ... snip


"If you don't understand analogies, just don't use them....It's like a pig on a tightrope."
-Penn Gillette


haha I was too tired from being oustide (mountain biking) to make a proper one

[hikeskool]

I'll just go ahead and unsubscribe to this thread now...

[name]

I was given a Dell Dimension 8200 about 5 years ago, 2.4 ghz p4 geforce 4600ti, etc. Since then I have upgraded the processor (3.06ghz), hard drive, video card (x800xtpe), power supply, and memory (twice, to 2gb). I work the thing pretty hard, and I haven't experienced any of the quality issues mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

If you are going to upgrade your computer on a regular basis, don't buy a Dell - they use proprietary parts to a great extent and that often limits what you can fit in your case, on your mb, etc. For example, I had to mod my case just to fit an Antec power supply because the opening on the back of the case wouldn't allow for the power switch. The mb that came with the system is incomptable with standard ATX cases because of its size - Dell made thier own board. There is no intake fan, nor room to add one on the front of the case, so cooling is limited, especially around the hard drives. In addition, though this isn't Dell's fault and shouldn't be an issue today, the RDRAM in the system is hard to find for reasonable prices and is a dead format.

If you just want a decent computer to do every day tasks on, Dell has good deals and decent service and they make it easy for the novice to shop and buy. When it comes down to it, that is who a Dell is for: the novice, who will not be building his or her own system and will care little about the aforementioned limitations.

[Ultra Wide]

I've built my own and own Dell as well.

From the T500, 8250, 400SC and now Precision 380.

I would not hesitate to recommend Dell as long as you know how to fix your own problems. Anytime something went wrong, I don't call. I just e-mail them and they send me the parts. I replace them, pack the old stuff in the box and call UPS to pick it up. Costs me $0 since it was included in the warranty.

The only reason I wouldn't go with Dell is if you need something really custom, like 2 x Dual-core Opteron with hot-swap SCSI RAID. Otherwise with the coupons and deals Dells are a good choice and worry free. Just upgrade certain stuff on your own and they make good systems.

[synergyo1]

My dad recently bought a new Dell Dimension 9100. Overall I say its pretty nice. He bought it with that Small Business deal where it comes with a 2005fpw.

The case is really easy to work with IMHO (installed a DVDRW that I bought off of Newegg. The price on Dell is ridiculous). The computer is extremely quiet also. Only thing I can hear is the faint HD seeking. Maybe its the BTX design?

Only thing I would really gripe about is all the crap software they install. A quick reformat does the trick :)

So yea... I would only recommend someone a Dell if

1) Killer deal available
2) Only use is web browsing, listening to music, word processing, etcetera.

[t00thless]

it wasn't too long ago i said i would recommend dell.

however i have changed my mind.

we are having lots of problems at work that started a couple of months ago and have gotten really bad in the past few weeks (school just started back so the problems are really adding up)

10 dead PSUs in 18 month old 260s

13 270s that are having a checkerboard pattern that locks up the system. dell has been zero help on this.

two new labs came in (65 computers) 3 are dead (havne't had time to call dell yet) and 2 dead LCDs. straight from the factory.

1 poweredge (cant remember the model# but it cost 5,000$; its only a month old) that we had to re-install server2k3 the first day after geting it because it wouldn't boot to windows.

13 dead PSUs in 5 year old GX1s in one of our labs. we can't knock dell for this because they're 5 years old. pretty good that they lasted this long. it just sucks they worked at the beginning of the summer now they dont.

3 gx280s that had bad ram. one had bad ram and a bad mobo.

there's more, but that's all i can think of right now.

this post was pretty whiny, but really theraputic :D

[doox00]

2) Only use is web browsing, listening to music, word processing, etcetera.

think that is the first time i have ever in my life seen the word etcetera spelled out, is that how its really spelled?
:p

[synergyo1]

think that is the first time i have ever in my life seen the word etcetera spelled out, is that how its really spelled?
:p

yep

[br0k3nman]

I've used dozens of dell servers and hundreds of dell desktops and laptops. Same with IBM, Compaq, Gateway, HP.

They all have problems. They all work well most of the time. All of them have crappy tech support from time to time. They have really good support much of the time too. They ALL use proprietary hardware in some systems and less proprietary in others. (this is the argument I hate the most)

It's up to you to be 100% informed about what you are buying. After that you just have to hope you aren't one of the unlucky ones.

I have been most satisfied with dell. But not unsatisfied with the others Still have a 7 year old Dell server running 24x7 with no problems at one place. We will be replacing it next month though, just in case. Got a couple 5-6 yr old Compaqs and IBMs too.

I've personally used homebuilt/overclocked for years but this last time I didn't have the time or the ambition to mess with configuring, building and tweaking a system of my own design. I chose a Dell 8400 desktop. The XPS was way overpriced for basicaly the same system and the lower end just didn't meet my needs. I'm completely happy with it after almost 1 year. Got a good deal. Couldn't have built the same machine with legal software cheaper.Have had no problems at all. Plays HL2, Doom 3 and WoW just fine. I did wipe the drive and reinstall windows, but I would have had to install it on a homebew too so no big deal there. Probably can't overclock it, haven't looked, but I don't care anymore. 3GHz and a gig of DDR2 is pretty fast.

Just like the undying Chevy vs. Ford debate, depends on the individual and their experience.

I would buy or recommend Dell any time.


I agree. An extended service plan will go well witht them as well for my family who I don't feel like supporting all of their little tech problems anymore. I got them $350 dells and they couldn't be happier and I couldn't be happier knowing that if anything happens in the next two years, it's not my problem.

[br0k3nman]

it wasn't too long ago i said i would recommend dell.

however i have changed my mind.

we are having lots of problems at work that started a couple of months ago and have gotten really bad in the past few weeks (school just started back so the problems are really adding up)

10 dead PSUs in 18 month old 260s

13 270s that are having a checkerboard pattern that locks up the system. dell has been zero help on this.

two new labs came in (65 computers) 3 are dead (havne't had time to call dell yet) and 2 dead LCDs. straight from the factory.

1 poweredge (cant remember the model# but it cost 5,000$; its only a month old) that we had to re-install server2k3 the first day after geting it because it wouldn't boot to windows.

13 dead PSUs in 5 year old GX1s in one of our labs. we can't knock dell for this because they're 5 years old. pretty good that they lasted this long. it just sucks they worked at the beginning of the summer now they dont.

3 gx280s that had bad ram. one had bad ram and a bad mobo.

there's more, but that's all i can think of right now.

this post was pretty whiny, but really theraputic :D


Wow, this sounds really similar to our network where I work (~70 systems or so) and we've had NOTHING like that happen. We had a bad PSU in one of our poweredges a while back. Are you in a humidity and temperature controlled environment? I can't imagine that failure rate.

I've had a couple of bad hard drives here and there but that's par for the course. So I have to reghost a machine, dell sends me a new drive in a day or two and I have the user back online in no time.

[Laxx]

i'd recommend a dell. i've owned two dells so far, dimension xps (don't know which one it was, but it was a 2.8p4 with ht, 9800pro back when it was new) and the only problem i have with it is the loudness of it (makes me think it's gen 2 because that's when the xps was at it's loudest). i currently own a dimension 9100 and it runs great. it's pretty amazing how quiet the computer runs. i just put a eVGA 7800gtx in it, though the idle temps aren't great (65C, but that's probably due to the ambient temps being around 75-80F), the load temps are around 69-73C after 2 hours of gaming. considering it's btx and the gtx's fan blows the air below the btx air flow, the temps seem pretty good.

i sometimes regret not building my own. god knows the performance would be better with an Athlon64, but i'm a pretty lazy guy. :rolleyes: so far so good though. if all goes accordingly, the 9100 should be off my hands and i'll be builing something most likely with a 3800 X2 which will house my current gtx..

[t00thless]

^ we have over 800 dells at work spread among five schools. we think it may have to do with temp/humidity but it happens all accross the county.

oh thought of some more gripes :D, we pay for next day service but i have never received a part next day; also we've never had a tech show up the next day. most of the time it takes 3 days. twice i requested imaged drives and was told ok by the phone tech, but recieved clean drives. one phone tech admitted to me they usually screw that up.

[jon67]

i sometimes regret not building my own. god knows the performance would be better with an Athlon64, but i'm a pretty lazy guy. :rolleyes: so far so good though. if all goes accordingly, the 9100 should be off my hands and i'll be builing something most likely with a 3800 X2 which will house my current gtx..

Have no regrets. The A64 would have given you a few fps more in gaming, which you probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, and it would have been worse than a P4 in normal use with multi-tasking, a difference even my father have noticed.

[CastleBravo]

To answer the topic question, it depends. In general, I have a very negative opinion of Dell. Their customer service for the consumer market (as distinguished from their business support) is horrible. The people who process incoming orders are also complete idiots, go to the Dell forums and you will see that they CONSTANTLY give bad advice (or outright lie) to customers who ask them questions. "Sure, our integrated graphics will run Far Cry in HDR mode just fine. You'll have no problem gaming with a Dimension 2400..." :rolleyes:

Funny thing is, the reason I decided to build my own system was that Dell kept screwing up an order I placed online, and lying about the status of the order, and changing things without telling me, over the course of maybe 6 weeks, to the point where I just couldn't stand to deal with the idiots anymore and cancelled it. They were literally too stupid to deliver me a computer I spec'ed out on their web site. Dell's SALES DEPARTMENT convinced me to never buy a Dell again.

Of course, their desktop hardware often stinks. They are full of off-brand and/or proprietary junk. They lard up the system with junk software and their PCs under-perform for the hardware installed. Upgradability for the most part is horrible to non-existent. Their dedicated gaming systems are built with P4's, which makes them a poor value for their intended purpose.

But you know what? To most Dell customers, none of that matters, because none of them will stress their systems enoguh to notice any of that. And most of them won't need Dell's awful customer support anyway, in part precisely because they won't push their system hard enough to reveal its inherent crappiness... even a cheap Dell can run Word or Internet Explorer with 1,000,000 of its transistors tied behind its back. So that leaves them with getting what they need from Dell for a cheap price, or getting what they need from somebody else for more money and with no apparent advantage to them.

[CastleBravo]

Have no regrets. The A64 would have given you a few fps more in gaming, which you probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, and it would have been worse than a P4 in normal use with multi-tasking, a difference even my father have noticed.

I dunno, $1,000 Intel processors being matched in performance by $350 AMD processors in games seems non-trivial to me. ;)

[jon67]

Of course, their desktop hardware often stinks. They are full of off-brand and/or proprietary junk. They lard up the system with junk software and their PCs under-perform for the hardware installed. Upgradability for the most part is horrible to non-existent. Their dedicated gaming systems are built with P4's, which makes them a poor value for their intended purpose.


Lying about proprietary parts and upgradability only makes you look stupid. You're obviously not very familiar with Dells. Dell use standard connectors and slots, and you can upgrade/replace basically anything: Vid cards, CPUs, HDDs, RAM etc.

The P4s w/HT are much more suitable for allround and multi-tasking use than an A64, you can run CPU-demanding services in the background (virus scan, folding etc) with minor impact (as perceived) on the active application(s). With A64s you'd have to shut down such services in order to experience smooth gameplay, regardless of framerates.

[CastleBravo]

Lying about proprietary parts and upgradability only makes you look stupid. You're obviously not very familiar with Dells. Dell use standard connectors and slots, and you can upgrade/replace basically anything: Vid cards, CPUs, HDDs, RAM etc.

LOL, here is a hint: I actually took one apart and looked at it. Had a friend who wanted to upgrade their Dell, oops. A big ol' tower with no extra internal drive bays, no graphics card slot, some crappy proprietary heatsink/fan, and a non-standard PSU rated for some ridiculously low wattage (another hint: PCP&C sell Dell-specific PSU upgrades because Dells don't all comply with ATX standards, oops). But yeah, I'm a liar. :rolleyes:

The P4s w/HT are much more suitable for allround and multi-tasking use than an A64, you can run CPU-demanding services in the background (virus scan, folding etc) with minor impact (as perceived) on the active application(s). With A64s you'd have to shut down such services in order to experience smooth gameplay, regardless of framerates.

Reading is fundamental, I was talking about Dell's self-proclaimed GAMING SYSTEMS, which by defintion don't have "allaround [sic] and multi-tasking use" as a priority. Otherwise, they'd be called something else, now wouldn't they? ;)

Dollar-for-dollar, A64 performance in games is better than the P4, period, end of discussion. If it makes you feel better to live in denial of that objective fact, then go on ahead.

43 FPS slower... perfect choice for a gaming rig. (http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTExNTM5NzM4MUNQaDljWXlNc1RfMl84X2wuZ2lm) :D

Oh noes, HardOCP is part of an anti-Intel conspiracy! :p

[jon67]

Who cares if you dissected an "big ol tower", new Dell systems use standard connections and branded parts, and basically everything can be upgraded. I will go on repeating this until the myth dies.

I cannot see that you mentioned Dell's gaming systems in specific anywhere in your ranting post, so yeah, reading really is fundamental. Writing too. And understanding.

Also, I have never denied that A64s generally achieve higher scores than P4s in gaming benchmarks (if the vid card allows), but hyperthreading can still give smoother gameplay on a P4 than on a A64 when other processes are running in the background. This is just as, or even more, important as the overhead in framerates.

btw I'm talking about single-cores, which are what is normally associated with the terms "P4" and "A64", not top-of-the-line dual-cores like you show in your link.

[synergyo1]

The new 9100 has standard parts. The only thing proprietary I would imagine is the PSU.

[talon64]

I've had no problems with my 4700. I just reformated it to get rid of all the crap they install, but pretty much all oem systems have crap installed so I can't really blame Dell for that. The cooling is not the best, the hd and northbridge get very hot but it's been completely stable. I do miss building my own pc though, but the Dell was a couple hundred less than a comparable system.

[slowbiz]

If you know how to take care of a computer, 99.9% of the time, it doesn't matter what kind of computer you use.

[CastleBravo]

I cannot see that you mentioned Dell's gaming systems in specific anywhere in your ranting post, so yeah, reading really is fundamental. Writing too. And understanding.

Boy, are you about to look silly... :p

Their dedicated gaming systems are built with P4's, which makes them a poor value for their intended purpose.

Emphasis added, in case you can't read well because of bad eyesight.

Who cares if you dissected an "big ol tower", new Dell systems use standard connections and branded parts, and basically everything can be upgraded. I will go on repeating this until the myth dies.

Translation: "Who cares what reality is, I'll just repeat what I like to believe. LALALALALA..."

This was a Dell all of 1 years old, incidentally. :rolleyes:

Note that there is constant complaining about this ON THE DELL OWNERS' FORUMS!!! Guess they are making it up, too? Sort of a self-effacing conspiracy?

Also, I have never denied that A64s generally achieve higher scores than P4s in gaming benchmarks (if the vid card allows), but hyperthreading can still give smoother gameplay on a P4 than on a A64 when other processes are running in the background. This is just as, or even more, important as the overhead in framerates.

Except, of course, that this ISN'T TRUE. Unless you are encoding MP3s while playing Doom 3 or something. I know because I've played games on both (P4 3.2E & A64 3500+), run FRAPS timedemos on both, and the P4 still loses, in both actual gameplay and in benchmarks, quite badly in fact. Lower minimum and maximum frames per second, lower average frames per second... and yes, that's with my anti-virus and anti-spyware and firewall programs running on both. So much for the magic hyper-threading benefit for games. :rolleyes:

btw I'm talking about single-cores, which are what is normally associated with the terms "P4" and "A64", not top-of-the-line dual-cores like you show in your link.

The performance gap is across the board. I just linked to one example. If I provided a link to every review that showed the P4's inferior gaming performance to the A64, I would exceed the limit on # of characters per post. :D

Like this (http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA5OTE2NTM1OUdnMklWYkc3cDFfNV81X2wuZ2lm)

And this (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjMwLDc=)

And looky here (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjI2LDU=)

(Note my emphasis on gaming, yet again, because I'm not saying the P4 sucks across the board... as my quote of myself indicated, I was talking about Dell's use of P4 processors in self-proclamed "super amazing GAMING systems" )

To reiterate yet again, because reading is still fundamental:

Their DEDICATED GAMING SYSTEMS are built with P4's, which makes them a poor value FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSE.

Anyway, I'm done playing here, welcome to the killfile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killfile).

[jon67]

Note that there is constant complaining about this ON THE DELL OWNERS' FORUMS!!!

Yeah that's right, you're actually so desperate about bashing Dell that you're posting misinformation on the Dell Community Forum... poor guy :rolleyes: btw it's a SUPPORT forum, you're supposed to post your problems there.

The conclusion remains that Dell systems come with standard connections and parts from renowned manufacturers, and basically everything can be upgraded.

[WCES Ryan]

I don't know if I ever would. I work in government IT and we bought a crapload of Dell's for lifecycle replacements (think numbers in the 1000's) and I did not experience them personally a great deal (I took leave to go back to school shortly after we deployed them), but from what I heard they were a disaster and we won't be using them again. Since we purchased our load of Dells, we have gone back to the original supplier whom we also used before Dell. I wish I had more info but I really don't. I'm curious as to what if any the big deal was with them. maybe I will talk to my boss and see what she has to say.

[pxc]

I like Dell desktops. Solid, quiet, stable. And i've owned many.

[postalcop]

I know a few people who have bought Dells and they have not had any problems.

[Dew]

I recommend Dell(SB if the price it right) to all my friends who just want a computer they don't have to muck with(I restore the system as soon as they get it). I see a Dell 9400(whatever is the 9300 equivilient to a XPS3 with 7800 in it) in my future.

[scalez]

i voted May or may not (depends on what is needed)

if it's for a gaming rig, i'll build it
but if it's a laptop i tell people get a dell/hp and load up on the warranty
same thing with a cheapy internet pc - get a dell/hp and load up on the warranty

their good for the low end, because i can't beat the price . . . and i don't want the support hassels

[acascianelli]

Anybody who doesnt know enough about hardware to build there own, I suggest buying a dell.

[screwmesa]

I'd recommend a dell to anyone as long as they opt for the longer warranty. I have 150+ optiplex machines at work and they have had a 12 hour turn around on getting parts to me on all issues. Granted this is small business, but I've had friends with the same luck from Dell home.

I love the no questions askes from the small business warranty though, "I need a hard drive", 12 hours later DHL is there with my hard drive. Sweeeet. :p

[jon67]

I love the no questions askes from the small business warranty though, "I need a hard drive", 12 hours later DHL is there with my hard drive. Sweeeet. :p

Yeah, business contracts are the meat and potatoes for Dell and they struggle to be competitive. They were just awarded a 12000-PCs contract with the norwegian postal service, much due to their responsive support system. Too bad it's not nearly as good for home users...

[qb4ever]

I voted may or may not

for notebooks yes
for desktops no, not for $300...

So far I've had a good experience with this dell dimension 2400 that I got from a friend. He said the drive went bad and I didnt get one with it. It is built with decent quality components runs good for what it is but isn't worth $300. I built my main rig for that much!
With the Intel integrated graphics it scores 2010 in 3dmark01 and was laggy running windows 2000 so I threw my gf2 mx400 in there and getting 3500 in 3dmark01. Now it's running smooth as butter with office and firefox making it a great workstation pc.

specs:
Internet box: Dell dimension 2400, 400fsb 128kb NW celeron 2.4ghz ,256mb ddr333, 8gb hdd, GF2 MX400 64mb

[freddiepm61]

It depends on what you want.
due to economies of scale, at the low end they are very cheap.
however their dell xps systems are horrificllly overpriced.
they have the best dtr laptop however, as it is a pentium m so a sensible size.
For a mid range/low end system they are great, and for family members it is the best, as though it is expensive their next buisness day on site fixing is the best around, as they don't screw about and they actually know about pcs. (uk residents pc world?!!?!?!)
therefore they are pretty good I think, but for high end, build your own...
p/s on the pc world thing, they have now actually changed to a 3rd party fixer, and they are now pretty good. however they don't do on site, and it is now as expensive as dells....
Dell is solid and good, there may be cheaper but dell uses very good components in a neat and tidy fashion, and you will never get the 'its all gone blue' call again, as an unlucky dell guy will do it instead.
f

[Brodel]

for low to mid end systems, yes. there are three in my house, two desktops and a laptop and over 4 years there has only been on problem which was with the laptop and they sent someone to fix it within 24 hours.

[talon64]

I voted may or may not

for notebooks yes
for desktops no, not for $300...

So far I've had a good experience with this dell dimension 2400 that I got from a friend. He said the drive went bad and I didnt get one with it. It is built with decent quality components runs good for what it is but isn't worth $300. I built my main rig for that much!
With the Intel integrated graphics it scores 2010 in 3dmark01 and was laggy running windows 2000 so I threw my gf2 mx400 in there and getting 3500 in 3dmark01. Now it's running smooth as butter with office and firefox making it a great workstation pc.

specs:
Internet box: Dell dimension 2400, 400fsb 128kb NW celeron 2.4ghz ,256mb ddr333, 8gb hdd, GF2 MX400 64mb


You built a complete pc with windows xp for $300? How?

[Mr_Evil]

I'm thinking bootlegged OS and cheapest parts on Newegg + some used parts.

[natekoz]

with 40% coupons how can you say no?

[XteriorMotive]

if its what you want then yes cus all my dads works pcs are dell and they are reliable and dont come with extras you may not need or want

[Darkstar850]

I rebuilt the entire network at my dad's small business with Dell stuff, and so far I have been very impressed. Granted it isn't alot of machines.
I got 5 4700 desktop machines (p4 2.8+, 512mb ram, cd-rw, 17 inch LCD) and a 1600SC server (xeon 2.8, gig ram, 2 10k SCSI drives raid1, dual NIC) for 5000 bucks. Granted I had to wait and cherry pick deals, but 6 systems, including a solid server for 5000 bucks is a great deal.
These have been up for about a year now, and its running great. The chassis I have opens kind of like a book, making anything I need to do simple (only thing so far was to move a floppy drive). Now they sure won't upgrade well, but in this situation I have no need to. I will buy new ones starting in a year or two and start them on a reasonable replacement cycle.

We are also a Dell shop at work. The desktop support guys seem to like them. I have 2 desktops under my desk & 3 19 inch lcd monitors in front of me, and they have been trouble free.

Can't comment on the support aspect, as I have never needed them.

[peacetilence]

3-4 years ago no, for a person like my dad who uses his PC for work and the internet definitely, for a gamer possibly. If I were to buy a laptop for productivity I would be tempted to buy from them

So
Work and productivity for the average PC user - definitely
Gaming - possibly if the PC could be obtained for a reasonable price
Enthusiast - not a chance
Laptop for productivity - maybe


Love my Dell 2405FPW BTW.

[Rev.]

I just bought a Dell laptop, and it rocks for what I need it for.

[boredguyatcomp]

yes if all they want to do is a little web surfing,email checking,instant messageing,and playing windows solitaire.
no if they like gameing. but then again dell xps systems are pretty nice

[Gillette]

I just did recommend that someone buy a Dell, then I made the mistake of saying I would set it up for them... 3 BSODs later I have the system up and running properly using none of the original software on it other than the base Win XP installation.

Last time I recommend Dell...

[stevephhs016]

I say Maybe Yes because it really is a gamble. I just ordered my Dell E510 and for about a couple weeks now, it is running like a charm and I HOPE it continues on for another couple years. Hense the 2 year warranty. Pop the X800GTO in tonight and it will be a gamer machine. But again, even in resellerratings and other sites, opinions are mixed with Dell systems. You just HOPE that your machine won't be the one that is messed up. :D

[DirDrlr]

Here's why: My sister-in-law recently (a month ago) bought a new desktop from Dell. She purchased Norton anti-virus, 24 hour assistance plan, 21 inch LCD monitor, WinXP MCE, pretty much all of the bells and whistles (all from Dell). Her computer started giving her trouble almost immediately (personally, I think it was Norton but that's not why I would say not to get a Dell). She became locked out of her desktop. We tried to go through the BIOS page, but there was an administrator password. So, she called Dell. They wanted to charge her $35 for telephone assistance (apparently their 24 hour assistance is for online) and said that if she wanted help she should do it online. Of course, she couldn't get online. She asked for the admin password and they wouldn't give it to her for whatever reason. She asked for her OS disks (they didn't come with the comp) and they said that she didn't need them because all she needed was on her desktop--remember: she couldn't get to the desktop! After that, she asked me to call them, so I did (posing as her husband) and they did not want to help me. This computer wasn't a week old!! After I told them all I wanted was a return shipping label and a refund (I was very insistent), they were basically ready to do all we asked. When the disks (drivers and OS) came in, I reformatted the HD and installed only the drivers and OS (took all of Dell's custom setup out that I could. The computer works great now. It is really quite a machine. I just think Dell has gotten a little big for their breeches.

[TeeJayHoward]

Server? Yes. Half the price of Sun, on average 20-30% less than other major manufacturers. Things fixed NOW when they need to be.
Workstation? Yes. Rant below.
Gaming Rig? No. Build it yourself and save money.
Cheapo-neato-web-browser? Yes. Like so many others have said, it's a disposable system.
Laptop? Maybe. I've seen good, and I've seen bad. For the price, they're decent machines.
Monitor? You can have my 2405FPW when you pull it from my cold, dead fingers. :)

I worked at a university supporting 3000 Dell and Gateway machines. (About 80% Dell). We always had three or four in the cube needing repairs, but it was mostly virus/spyware related. I can recall three specific instances where hardware failed - One hard drive failure (Maxtor 80GB SATA), one motherboard failure (busted capacitor), and catastropic PSU failure (took out mobo, proc, ram, and hdd). There may have been more, but that's what I dealt with. We purchased Optiplex's exclusively, and 1/1000 failure rate is perfectly acceptable in my book. Our contract had us talking to a US Dell rep inside 10 minutes, and new components overnighted, with a tech to install them, should we so choose.

The students also had a lot of Dells, the cheapo kind. ALWAYS being brought in with spyware. There was a few computers that just randomly died, mostly things-being-yoinked-out problems, or overheating from lack of cleaning, or soda stains telling the tale. The software normally died before the hardware did, though.

My vote? Depends on the circumstances.

[JFlo]

I loath dell with a passion... i think you know what i voted

[Socrilles17]

See sig, I would recommend a Dell as long as you find one of the deals commonly posted at fatwallet.com/forums there is no one is this whole forum who could build a PC for the same price as mine that performs as well all around :)

[JFlo]

Very doubtfull, when it comes to higher end machines (1300+) you will not get as good of a deal from deal compared to just buying the parts from newegg or one of the other cheap online stores. Dell charges 500 dollars for their name brand then give you 300 dollar rebates to make it look like they are giving u a good deal.

[angrymeat]

I am a network admin for a large company. We have several thoughsand users using dell's I will say for servers and workstations they cannot be beat for a home pc their warranty is well worth it . For a gaming rig hell no.

[JFlo]

For a gaming rig hell no.
qft

[Socrilles17]

Very doubtfull, when it comes to higher end machines (1300+) you will not get as good of a deal from deal compared to just buying the parts from newegg or one of the other cheap online stores. Dell charges 500 dollars for their name brand then give you 300 dollar rebates to make it look like they are giving u a good deal.


Did you even look at my sig or are just spewing out a bunch of crap? Try to configure a system for even close to the price of mine that would outperform it in gaming, and the price I paid for it brand new is listed in my sig.

[kunsunoke]

Uh...no.

I see people everywhere with Dell boxes, and most are unhappy with them within six months of purchase. And, yes, it's mainly due to spyware and or bloatware.

My corporate issue laptop is a Dell Inspiron. It's a bug-ridden POS, hardware wise. My only saving grace is our IT department, who are exceptionally good.

Dell monitors are pretty good, though. I'm typing on one now.

Low priced, but not necessarily worth it. No thanks. I'll configure and repair my own system and make my own mistakes.

[General Crespin]

For our small business, where we need cheap computers to just run several office programs, we really can't beat Dell's price anywhere else.

But if I'm going for anything better than that, say a low-end gaming machine (I want to get one for my siblings so they don't have to use my computer! :p) or anything more expensive than Dell's cheapest models, I'd prefer to build it myself/get it custom-built.

[HopePoisoned]

IMO unless you want to reinstall windows due to the excessive and seemingly unfixable to most bloatware, or you could spend A LOT of time trying to get rid of it

and they steal your money with crappy value, and it's not like customer service is good at all

For our small business, where we need cheap computers to just run several office programs, we really can't beat Dell's price anywhere else.

But if I'm going for anything better than that, say a low-end gaming machine (I want to get one for my siblings so they don't have to use my computer! :p) or anything more expensive than Dell's cheapest models, I'd prefer to build it myself/get it custom-built.

yes i will be honest, for small/large businesses and such needs Dell does a good job - much better prices than competition and better service

[ethos747474nikon8989]

I'm happy with the Dell's that I bought for the company I work at.

I do however build my images using a clean install of XP. I don't like the bloatware for performance and security reasons in the buisness place. Your going to get that with any name brand PC though so it doesnt matter which brand you go with.

For home / gaming I strictly endorse DIY. With the ammount of upgrades your going to need to consistently keep a PC playing new games for 2 - 4 years DIY is the best option.

Dell has had a big problem with bad capacitors in the GX-270 model though. If your running a GX-270 or GX-150 check your caps! I have had several of those models go down due to leaky caps.

[Tazzman]

yes

[jeffmoss26]

I have had decent success with Dell. I set up a small office network using all Dell PCs with very little trouble. I frequently recommend Dell to my customers who are looking for decent priced systems. I don't have experience with their newer high-end computers.
Jeff

[rayman2k2]

I bought a Dimension 4400 from them 4 years ago, and I still use it. Great machine, and if I didn't want to build a PC, I would definately buy from them.

[jros]

dell has nice coupons :)

[HopePoisoned]

.... I don't like the bloatware for performance and security reasons in the buisness place. Your going to get that with any name brand PC though so it doesnt matter which brand you go with.....

no, you really dont get that much bloatware with other brands, sure you get added programs, but they can be easily removed and dont cause a ton of problems - they dont cause you to reinstall windows, not to mention dell doesn't include windows discs with the PCs so you need to go out and spend atleast 100 dollars bonus

[tthiel]

Not worth the low cost. Extremely poor support, cheap quality proprietary components, and you better pray you never have to contact their customer service.

[ChingChang]

hmm there are more "yes" than I thouught.

I would say no, unless there are good deals on laptop.

[tthiel]

Yeah but 20% yes for the dominant PC manufacturer in the U.S. is still pretty pathetic...

[tthiel]

Why would you compare a Dell server to Sun? Which model Dell and Sun are you comapring?? Sparc or Opteon on the Sun? It's apples and oranges...we have been buying the Sun Opterons which will spank any comparable Dell Intel server hard btw.

Server? Yes. Half the price of Sun, on average 20-30% less than other major manufacturers. Things fixed NOW when they need to be.
Workstation? Yes. Rant below.
Gaming Rig? No. Build it yourself and save money.
Cheapo-neato-web-browser? Yes. Like so many others have said, it's a disposable system.
Laptop? Maybe. I've seen good, and I've seen bad. For the price, they're decent machines.
Monitor? You can have my 2405FPW when you pull it from my cold, dead fingers. :)

I worked at a university supporting 3000 Dell and Gateway machines. (About 80% Dell). We always had three or four in the cube needing repairs, but it was mostly virus/spyware related. I can recall three specific instances where hardware failed - One hard drive failure (Maxtor 80GB SATA), one motherboard failure (busted capacitor), and catastropic PSU failure (took out mobo, proc, ram, and hdd). There may have been more, but that's what I dealt with. We purchased Optiplex's exclusively, and 1/1000 failure rate is perfectly acceptable in my book. Our contract had us talking to a US Dell rep inside 10 minutes, and new components overnighted, with a tech to install them, should we so choose.

The students also had a lot of Dells, the cheapo kind. ALWAYS being brought in with spyware. There was a few computers that just randomly died, mostly things-being-yoinked-out problems, or overheating from lack of cleaning, or soda stains telling the tale. The software normally died before the hardware did, though.

My vote? Depends on the circumstances.

[tthiel]

I bought an E510 for a friend, reformatted the drive and reinstalled Windows Home from scratch. Nice little system for the price with LCD monitor. I just hope it lasts. It has a small power supply btw so I don't know about putting an X800 GTO in it.

I say Maybe Yes because it really is a gamble. I just ordered my Dell E510 and for about a couple weeks now, it is running like a charm and I HOPE it continues on for another couple years. Hense the 2 year warranty. Pop the X800GTO in tonight and it will be a gamer machine. But again, even in resellerratings and other sites, opinions are mixed with Dell systems. You just HOPE that your machine won't be the one that is messed up. :D

[Tarff]

Yeah but 20% yes for the dominant PC manufacturer in the U.S. is still pretty pathetic...
Personally I'd say that was pretty good for a hardware enthusiast message board, expected it to be much lower, personally.