Would you buy a Dell?

"Grinder" wrote in message
news:2SAMc.23060$eM2.2016@attbi_s51...
kony wrote:

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 16:39:58 GMT, "Who"
wrote:

snip

You'll get no argument from me on Compaqs,they're the most proprietary
PC
I've ever encountered,they use substandard,underpowered power supplies
that
can't be upgraded,and their support is so bad that I've never gotten a
correct answer from them,twice I've had to return replacement parts
because
they don't even know what's in their own systems.If people with Dells
aren't
complaining because the problems are getting fixed under warranty,then
their
support must be infinitely better than Compaq's!



Isn't the average Dell warranty now 1 year? If so it's not very
long to get warranty work done, especially considering that a
PC's worst flaw is the nut behind the mouse, one who may start
fiddling with system more after that "new" feel wears off.

It's even worse with Gateway. My nephew recently purchased a machine
from them. 90 days warranty and support, or one year for an additional
$50.

I believe that most big dealers offer a year at most,they figure they can
make extra money by offering warranty extensions.But 90 days is ridiculously
short,and people I've known who bought Gateways seemed to have a lot of
problems with them.

Who wrote:
"Grinder" wrote in message
news:2SAMc.23060$eM2.2016@attbi_s51...

kony wrote:


On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 16:39:58 GMT, "Who"
wrote:

snip

You'll get no argument from me on Compaqs,they're the most proprietary

PC

I've ever encountered,they use substandard,underpowered power supplies

that

can't be upgraded,and their support is so bad that I've never gotten a
correct answer from them,twice I've had to return replacement parts

because

they don't even know what's in their own systems.If people with Dells

aren't

complaining because the problems are getting fixed under warranty,then

their

support must be infinitely better than Compaq's!



Isn't the average Dell warranty now 1 year? If so it's not very
long to get warranty work done, especially considering that a
PC's worst flaw is the nut behind the mouse, one who may start
fiddling with system more after that "new" feel wears off.

It's even worse with Gateway. My nephew recently purchased a machine
from them. 90 days warranty and support, or one year for an additional

$50.

I believe that most big dealers offer a year at most,they figure they can
make extra money by offering warranty extensions.But 90 days is ridiculously
short,and people I've known who bought Gateways seemed to have a lot of
problems with them.

I have to offer a counter-anecdote here. I've been very happy with a
Gateway that I purchased a few years ago. Notably:

1) I received actual actual OS (Win 2000) installer, not a homegrown
system restore. (It does check the bios to see if it's installing to a
Gateway machine however.)

2) Not a lot of pre-installed crapware. (trialware versions of
software whose principle purpose is to spend additional money with
someone for a product or servious of dubious value.)

3) No proprietary hardware.

4) I well-designed, but not extravagent, case. Thumbscrews, PCI
tension bar, quick-release drive bays (without having to mount rails)
and adequate airflow. (No case fans though.)

5) A good stable PSU that had some to spare -- 350W.

Around the same time, I purchased a similar machine for my parents.
Both machines have performed well for nearly three years now.

Although my nephews machine has come with a lot of extra plastic
"effect" on his case, it appears to be a similar endeavor. There's a
lot more junk pre-installed though -- I wish that was an option on their
"build a system" page. The machine is a refurb, and I couldn't beat the
price. $400 bucks got us a 2.7Ghz Pentium 4, 256Mb RAM, 40 Gb drive,
32 Mb AGP video card, PCI Sound card, onboard network, USB, ... Perhaps
I don't know where to shop, but I just could get all those components
together for less.

Adding up all of the Gateway's I've owned or maintained over the last 10
years, I have to say that they have given me less trouble than any other
major label. At the bottom of the pile: Packard Bell, and nowdays,
Compaq. At any rate, it's only opinion, and opinion based upon a
relatively small sample size.

kony said:

IMHO, there is nothing wrong with a Dell system for someone
wanting a complete, ready to use system that isn't expected to
accomdate as many upgrades as a clone box.

My former company bought Dells by the pallet load and we rarely ever had
problems that weren't caused by the user. If the box worked when it was
powered up, it usually worked for years without problem. When my home
system needed upgrading, I bought a Dell box and have no regrets. I have
built dozens of systems for myself and others and I wouldn't hesitate to
buy another Dell, it's the best value for the money if you need the whole
system including software.
--
Mac Cool

A Dell desktop might seem to be low cost if someone must have an
Intel based system with a brand name on the box. There are more
attractive alternatives, such as AMD based systems with carefully
chosen components. I am fairly sure that at each price point I can
find higher performing alternatives using an AMD cpu. As for
notebooks, one could probably get much better value from an
AMD based HP or Compaq than from a Dell.

Mac Cool wrote:

kony said:

IMHO, there is nothing wrong with a Dell system for someone
wanting a complete, ready to use system that isn't expected to
accomdate as many upgrades as a clone box.

My former company bought Dells by the pallet load and we rarely ever had
problems that weren't caused by the user. If the box worked when it was
powered up, it usually worked for years without problem. When my home
system needed upgrading, I bought a Dell box and have no regrets. I have
built dozens of systems for myself and others and I wouldn't hesitate to
buy another Dell, it's the best value for the money if you need the whole
system including software.
--
Mac Cool

On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 14:23:24 -0400, JK
wrote:

A Dell desktop might seem to be low cost if someone must have an
Intel based system with a brand name on the box. There are more
attractive alternatives, such as AMD based systems with carefully
chosen components. I am fairly sure that at each price point I can
find higher performing alternatives using an AMD cpu.


Dell often has additional discounts, coupons, rebates to result
in price MUCH lower than regular website pricing, making it
possible to end up with about same performance per CPU if you can
accept their chosen parts, which many power users wouldn't, and
even then it's for a system wilth minimal amounts of memory, so
it's cheaper to buy with least memory possible then add your own.


With additional discounts it's impossible to build for same price
when considering value of included software, but many of us don't
need the SW beyond windows if that's the target OS. I build my
own boxes but some people aren't as picky.... some don't even
upgrade because they need high performance, it's just that their
old box died and it wasn't cost-effective to pour $ into it.

JK said:

I am fairly sure that at each price point I can
find higher performing alternatives using an AMD cpu.

Using an AMD would be the only way. In another forum, a guy claimed he
could build a higher performance AMD system for 10% less than the price of
a similiar Dell. He picked the Dell and got close but never did it. When
the Christmas sales start, you can forget it, you can't touch their
prices.

I bought my Dell 2.5 years ago during a Christmas sale and I could sell it
today for about the same price I paid for it. That's value.
--
Mac Cool