I got a dell in 2001 and its still working fine. The only reason i got a new laptop is because the configurations became to obsolete to handle the demands of modern software. I only needed to contact their customer service (which was exemplary btw) twice over 5 years.

And you are right, even I purchased a toshiba because i heard bad things about the current dell laptops. I think there could be several reasons for that:-

1) The whole battery setting the laptop on fire incident didnt help their cause much.

2) Their laptops are big and bulky and dont look sleek.

3) I also heard that their hardware quality has gone down recently since they apparently use the cheapest available parts to manufacture their laptops. The same about their customer service.

THe reason that many people do not like Dells is that they use propriitary(sp?) components. That means that you cannot upgrade many of the parts later on if you want. Also, many of the systems that they market are not even powerful enough to meet the minimum standards for windowsxp (the last time i checked). I hear that even their new XPS brand of gaming computers run super-hot. Also, Dell has been known to install a crapload of software onto the pcs eventhoguh you do not ask for them.

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Originally posted by Polt THe reason that many people do not like Dells is that they use propriitary(sp?) components. That means that you cannot upgrade many of the parts later on if you want. Also, many of the systems that they market are not even powerful enough to meet the minimum standards for windowsxp (the last time i checked). I hear that even their new XPS brand of gaming computers run super-hot. Also, Dell has been known to install a crapload of software onto the pcs eventhoguh you do not ask for them.

They do install a lot of extra crap for the lower end PC's. But they are economical and great for what you need. I bought my fiance's parents a great 250 dollar lower end model. They went from a 760mhz gateway to a 2.6ghz dell. Granted they do not do much with it, besides surf the net, pay bills and play online games. It is perfect for their needs. The biggest downfall was all of the extra shit that was on it. It took me a good 3 hours to fully remove everything that didn't need to be on the computer. There were 6 different Internet services, both Mcaffee and Norton, and loads of other crap. Getting rid of Norton was not bad but getting rid of Mcaffee AV was like trying to pull an elephant out of a tar pit. I don't use either of those. I use the Zonealarm suite to combat viruses and spyware.

But now on the other end of the spectrum. My sister also has a dell. She does graphic design and bought a high end PC from them (on the order of just under 4k). They work with you to get you what you want. That computer came stacked with everything she needed, hardwarewise. The only thing loaded on the HD were the OS and drivers for the extra components. No A/V, no misc programs.

So I think it has to deal with who typically buys what. Alot of people who go for the economical model, may need more options that can fit their budget. Hence 30 million options are loaded for them.

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Originally posted by Polt THe reason that many people do not like Dells is that they use propriitary(sp?) components. That means that you cannot upgrade many of the parts later on if you want. Also, many of the systems that they market are not even powerful enough to meet the minimum standards for windowsxp (the last time i checked). I hear that even their new XPS brand of gaming computers run super-hot. Also, Dell has been known to install a crapload of software onto the pcs eventhoguh you do not ask for them.

It's not so much because they are propriety as much as the end of life components they use.
Remember, they're constantly changing their suppliers for different components, especially in their Dimension series to keep their costs low.
What does this mean?
The HDD you got when you received it might not be the same brand if you should have to replace under warranty down the road and the m/b might already be maxed out when you bought it.
That's not necessarily a bad thing but is it something to be aware of.

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because name-brand PCs are overpriced, and you do not get to choose the components that go into them. remember, computers are a lot more complicated (in terms of choice) than they were 10 years ago. so whilst you might get that 1Gb of ram in a dell, it might be of a shitty speed compared to if you built your own systems.

packaged systems are for mums and dads who dont know any better.

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Dell's are pretty much a case of you get what you pay for, dont pay much, dont get much. The cheaper ones are exactly that, they're cheap, simple and relatively over-engineered with the hardware and software too survive the abuse of fairly much any kind of moron can throw at them. Its why unless youre very specific about what you want they simply find the cheapest alternative based on its durability, supply and price which will suit the purpose.
It's fairly easy too be snide about them but when you remember they literally sell these things too the lowest denominator of customer 9 times out of 10 that just wants the damn thing too work when they flick the button.
Besides, if you are a high end user, you DIY and people like you make up only a tiny fraction of their customers.

i have a DELL XPS laptop. Good enough for a student I'd say. Inexpensive and decent configuration. But if you are after style, brand name etc you might wana try something else.

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Personally, I think its a lot more fun building your own PC rather then buying a major brand PC. When building your own PC, You can put the newest parts you want, Then months later you can upgrade to even better parts, The motherboards are built to support newer CPUs once they come out, And this usually through a bios upgrade.

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Dell doesnt cater too the DIY crowd, who by and large do it for the fun and optimisation rather than anything else. Dell's are built either for large workgroups where the administrators have too fix/upgrade anything software base with something as simple as a ghost-image or just over the network and if one breaks, just throw in one which was exactly the same.
Or like I mentioned, average home users.
The 'fun' probably ceases when youre building a few dozen or few hundred of the damn things as well and servicing is easy because theyre all the same.

i find it relatively easy for me to use Dell for buying computers for my family members. Because I don't live with my parents to 'troubleshoot' issues, I find it much easier for me to link them up with a dell and throw on the customer support stuff in case they need to fix something. It makes my life much easier because my family needs are not nearly as much as I need, all of my computers are DIY built since I can be more specific about my needs and expectations for my computers.


i have a dell ps 400 from 1999, thing is as heavy as a brick, but its a great internet portal for visitors since it resides on the coffee table...people who want internet, feel free to jump on the laptop =)

help keep people off my computer, i despise people on my computer, i feel like they are downloading spyware, viruses, and trojans. therefore the dell laptop acts as a communal internet portal for everyone....

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depends on what u want a PC to do and how much u want to spend.

for an office environment, or a lite PC user then a Dell is fine as it's cheap and will function perfectly.

If u want a hardcore PC to overclock, swap and change hardware, add devices and all that, u've got no chance.

I have a dell at work and it's so compact you cannot put a standard PCI card in it. thats the performance vs design argument.

Tho in true Dell style they had to cheap out on it, and did. They've put a horizontally mounted DVD-ROM drive in a narrow tower case, and mounted it vertically - meaning CD's slide off easily, and also i moved the case by accident while it was reading the disc and slipped off the purch (as there was nothing to grip it) and the cd came loose doing whatever nuts speed it was, got it back out and all the outside film was scratched like i'd ran it over the road.

Also, i believe Dell got caught flashing high end graphics cards with weaker bios's to avoid overheating - as there cases have no airflow system.

Bottom line, for lite PC's and offices they're fine, for a home enthusiast, they're budget.