My Purchases

[Guest guest]

gremler wrote:

Just my 2 cents

I built my first computer in 1988, it was an XT 8086 with a 20 meg HD (which was as big as 2 CD-ROMS) and 640K of Ram with a CGA monitor running DOS 3.0, since then I have built many 286's, 386's, 486's, and Pentium's and have used every MS operating system from DOS 3.0 and Windows 286 (which I still have on floppy) to XP. My last 2 computers and laptop have all been Dell's (the reason I bought the first Dell was the deal I got from work was to good to pass up). I have had no problems with any of them and have never had to call Tech support, Yea it is a lot of fun to put together your own machine, but for the price of a Dell you really can't go wrong. I will tell you that the first thing I do when one arrives is do a low level format and reload the software for scratch with only the software I want installed, And I have to agree with neworder, 95% of problems I have fixed for customers, the daughters or friends are user related and very seldom is it hardware related (that's why I got out of the computer business (stupid people should not own computers and can be a real pain in the butt).

Just my opinion

Bill

I agree with Bill, and what the others have said. I have built PCs going back to the 386 days, and ending with the P2s. Sold those last November and bought 2 Dells.

As has been said quality is fine, but tech support is weak.

The prices of the Dell, and others now have become too cheap to justify my time in home brewing.

As to the components, I think most know the vast majority of the boards are assembled overseas, and are purchased by the major manufacturers anyway. So you are getting many of the same component boards from the Dells, etc. of the world, as you are buying them on your own.

You just need to know the specs of the motherboard and components you want to be sure you are getting the newer quality boards. Also I stay away from integrated audio and video on the MB, using plug ins instead, but I am somewhat picky as to both quality and performance.

Greg

[Guest guest]

The prices of the Dell, and others now have become too cheap to justify my time in home brewing.

I'm with you, Greg.

Here recently, I got an extremely good deal from Dell. Two low-end computers, new, for $200 each, including taxes and shipping. One is a guest computer. The other was a MythTV box, but I'm now repurposing it to be my Light-O-Rama box. BTW... got the tip-off on the great deal here: http://www.slickdeals.net/

That said, as far as the cheap boxes, I tend to prefer Compaq. The hardware is pretty good, but I hate all the desktop garbage they push off on customers.

But I can't just build PCs this cheap (even more so with the added cost of a licensed OS).

[Guest guest]

AntiDellFlame-suit on:My 2 cents... My neice is an employee of Dell Corporate in Texas. She shared a little info with me when I was looking to buy a new laptop. Dell's website has a department called "Dell Outlet" In the Outlet inventory there is some stock that is new/unshipped. These items are usually preordered systems that were in the production phase when an order was cancelled or financing fell through. They are not allowed to disassemble a system and put the parts back in inventory so they sell them as pre-ordered/unshipped systems at up to 20% off the configurator price.

I went to Dell.com and designed my laptop, then went to the Outlet and searched for my model. There were about 30 machines there and half were these new systems. I found the one closest to what I wanted and saved about $300.

Now for the flame part... I, like Bill G. have dabbled with every OS, and built systems and worked on computers. All the way back to the Z80 microprocessor I added to the Flight Simulator I worked on in the Air Force.

I have had Dell systems for years. During those years I stopped building machines because I couldn't beat the deals I got at Dell. They are reliable and when they do fail, a guy comes to the house and repairs them. Last year my Mom sent me her laptop from Florida to repair (an HP from Sears of all places) I went to the Dell outlet and ordered her a new machine as an early Christmas Present, and I'm sure I saved money in time, effort and shipping.

I work for an S&P listed Gas and Electric Utility that has 5000+ Dells, and we consistantly are the most reliable electric utility in the Country. Our lights are always on! I use a company Dell to program Breaker Controls and line relys every day. In harsh environments and bad weather. Works like a charm every time (Unless those dastardly IT people get their hands on it)

I have nothing but good things to say about Dell. As a very happy Dell customer I feel it's my responsibility to defend them! (not to mention they pay my Neice...):laughing:

jeff

Suit-Off!

[Guest guest]

Greg Young wrote:

Also I stay away from integrated audio and video on the MB, using plug ins instead, but I am somewhat picky as to both quality and performance.

Greg

After about a year I upgraded the sound card with a Sound Blaster live 24 bit 5.1 card and the video card with a ATI Radeon 9200 on my Dell and just turned off the on board video and sound thru BIO'S, and I could not be more happy with my machine. I think the main problem people have with their PC's are they don't know what they are doing, Did I mention stupid people should not own a computer, that is why I gave up my computer business several years back.

Just a funny side note - Several years back I had built a PC for my Father, (who I love very much, and hope he does not read this), I get a call from him and he is really upset and he Tell's me that the computer has told him that he has performed an illeagle operation and he asked - William should I call the police and turn my self in? And I said father, it is fine and if I ever get another like this I will fly up there and take the computer away from you.

Did I mention stupid people should not own a computer or even have access to one.

Bill

[Guest guest]

gremler wrote:

Greg Young wrote:

Also I stay away from integrated audio and video on the MB, using plug ins instead, but I am somewhat picky as to both quality and performance.

Greg

After about a year I upgraded the sound card with a Sound Blaster live 24 bit 5.1 card and the video card with a ATI Radeon 9200 on my Dell and just turned off the on board video and sound thru BIO'S, and I could not be more happy with my machine.
Bill

I am using exactly the same 2 audio and video boards.

Guess we think alike!

Greg

[Guest guest]

gremler wrote:

he Tell's me that the computer has told him that he has performed an illeagle operation and he asked - William should I call the police and turn my self in?

I had the same thing happen with my cousin after I rebuilt her computer. She didn't understand what was so funny:laughing:

I've been a returning Dell customer for 6-7 years now (bought at least 7-8 computers in that time - Only 2 not mine). Like it has been said, can't piece one together as cheap anymore and they do last.

I hear all the time about the people who talk to Dell and have their hard drive replaced. I bet you 90% of them just installed something that really screwed it up and couldn't recover. I wonder how many useless returns Dell gets? Of course I HATE when I do have a problem and try to talk to the Dell rep in India. It takes a while to convince them I know what is wrong (luckily only a couple of times).

[Guest guest]

Well, I have to chime in here, I am now a Dell fan. I purchased a Dell 42" HDTV and the service and quality are really there. The most amazing thing is that they have refunded me $400 without my asking because of their own price reductions! I got checks in the mail!!!

Dell for me really has the marketing, service and price down. An amazing product for my needs.

[Guest guest]

I still like the custom made computers or we nickname "Puters" at our house i can expand them as big i can get them

I am working on buying a 2 terabyte computer custom made of course with alot of disc space in it. It will be used for my company and my display.

I just got the LOR package about a few weeks and still working on the programming of the LOR

give me a break iam a Texan and proud of it

i hope people respect me for that

txstraitfan4

[Guest guest]

txstraitfan4 wrote:

give me a break iam a Texan and proud of it
i hope people respect me for that

I hear that with alarming regularity from Texans... ?

[Guest guest]

She didn't understand what was so funny

Oh, my gosh... that brought back some funny memories. A guy from work called me at almost midnight one night. He was very agitated and asked me if I could take a look at his computer on Monday. He wouldn't give me *any* details, but I promised I'd take a look.

On Monday, I got the full story. As he had been typing in an email to a close friend about an apparently intimate subject, his computer had popped up an advertisement window (one of those "looks just like a real warning" types) claiming that his computer was infested with spyware and he should take action immediately. His response was to pull the computer's power plug from the power outlet. Now that's immediate action. He wouldn't tell me any details on the phone because the message, "gave (him) the creeps".

Fortunately, the URL of the page that spawned the popup was in his browser's history, and I was able to take the opportunity to do a little teaching. I set up automatic OS updates, automatic antivirus updates, and installed antispyware, ZA, and cleaned a few things up. But I've been thanked about weekly for the help. Just one of those things that makes me grin to think about.

Tom

[Guest guest]

txstraitfan4 wrote:

...my house in Kingston Idaho in the north idaho ...

give me a break iam a Texan and proud of it

You said previously on this thread you live in Idaho?

[Guest guest]

We buy Dell servers all the time.

They are far from junk.

Try to get a warrenty from your custom build.



txstraitfan4 wrote:

will u should never buy a dell the are junk buy a custom made computer then u are the biggest geek i have ever seen :] and nice ligts and where do store your LOR

See ya

[Guest guest]

greenmeanie wrote:

Try to get a warrenty from your custom build.

I agree, that is a very good point. However, as long as it is not a "basic" computer that I need, I would like to build the machine. Why? It may be a little less expensive (or a lot in the case of the one I just built) but I know that, for myself, it would come out to be cheaper for me to replace a part myself. The most expensive part of the machine (besides the $185 monitor) is the the processor, which was $114, while upgrading to a 3 year warranty from dell costs $135, when the part has a very small chance of having problems anyway.

I don't know, just a personal opinion, not meant to start flame wars.

I guess it is just if you feel you are going to screw up your parts before you finish building the computer.

[Guest guest]

I'm wondering if that $135 for a three year warranty may just be worth it for the in-laws that I recently helped buy a computer. ($330 after tax after HP rebate for Compaq SR1900NX + monitor + printer.) My question is this...

I can't hand-hold them through every new user "why can't I do this", "why is it doing that" type of question. They never end. Will HP/Compaq take those sort of new user questions on their telephone support line?

[Guest guest]

While I have never owned an HP/Compaq computer, I have had a few dells(I am on one right now), and have also gone through the same thing with apple for my iPod, which had a battery/hard drive problem.

There is no reason that I see to buy the "on-call" warranty (from dell anyway). Call them up, and they will always talk, even if your warranty has expired. But this was a system I bought three years ago...and it had a motherboard problem for which they wanted $450 to fix. But the hard-to-understand people in India were willing to talk without making me buy anything, so I don't think the on call warranty is worth it.

JMHO

[Guest guest]

You said previously on this thread you live in Idaho?

Texans are Texans no matter where they live.

Tom

[Guest guest]

My 2 cents on the Dell vs. others debate:

I am a seasoned IS/IT operations manager, and have (without exageration) spent on behalf of corporations I have worked for:

$3,000,000.00 + on Dell

$1,000,000.00 + on IBM

$500,000.00 + on HP/Compaq

$1,000,000.00 + on "other, clones, or no longer exists"

This is both on servers and desktop/laptops distributed to companies from 400 employees to over 80,000 (
Under some limited circumstances, I would buy something other than Dell (If I need more than a 4-way processor in Intel server space, if I need a truly ruggedized or newer edge technology such as tablet PCs). Other than that, I would buy Dell until market conidtions change significantly (changes in customer service levels, reliability, delivery, technology). I stake my job on it every day.

I think this translates down to the consumer grade models fairly well. No mainstream PC manufacturer is aiming at the end consumer primarily, but they market secondarily to them to keep their name on every worker's minds.

For the most part, the consumer grade line from Dell gets almost all of the benefits of the same components used in the business line.

99% of what has been perceived by my users as computer hardware/design/performance problems are either with user misuse/abuse, or incorrect expectations of what their particular system is capable of by design. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I have to make the best of systems that are sometimes inadequate to meet the business need.

So, my recommendation, unless you have very specific needs that are beyond a standard PC (such as a heavy duty gamer/overclocker), is buy a Dell. You may also want to pick up some audio tapes from the local library on how to speak several mideastern languages to improve your odds of good customer support.

Moving Target in NC - an aging geek

[Guest guest]

yes i live idaho but i was born in Humble Texas

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i live utah

[Guest guest]

where in utah