whats the common consensus about Dell?

[PanamaE30]

Well, honestly you both have good points.

The key selling point, and which in my opinion is why even I would buy a Dell (and I'm highly technical) is warranty and service.

Onsite service, even on weekends, is great, although I'd most likely turn it down in most cases; but that's me. But being able to have any component that came with the computer replaced during my warranty at absolutely no cost sounds great to me.

In the end, it boils down to what you want to do with the computer and how long you plan to hold on to it.

[cramer]

so i'm in the market for a lap top... dell has been my first choice since i can custom order it... where are you guys getting your parts for the custom built ones? (links please :)) i need to build it from the ground up, no upgrading an old one..

[Schnell 318]

dont be a pusy.

build your own, you can get a 10x better coputer for the same price, and unless you are a complete dumbass you shouldnt need 24/7 technical support. any parts you use will still have manufacters warrentees on them.

[bmwannabe]

Meh, you can get a decent machine for cheap, but honestly you can build your own and have an overall better computer for a few bucks more

Theres no way I could come close. I could get something together by myself for relatively cheap, but then you have to figure that I would have to buy an OS, additional software, plus the flatscreen monitor. I dont tihnk the price would come close to what Dell has to offer.

Buy an OS? okay even if you wanted that under 100 bucks.

You can build an Athlon64 Rig for a rather cheap price, with name brand components, and similar cost to dell, plus its a faster machine.

James and Schnell, ill build my own, as soon as you guys hook me up with the flatscreen, printer, keyboard, and other nickel and dime shit that isnt included in your "superior custom setups"

[decay]

whenever i've been in charge of purchasing desktops for new employees at a company i've always gone with dell, and very rarely have i had cause to regret that.

once they even shipped me ~10 workstations with better processors than i ordered. a lot of companies would have notified me of the error with an invoice for the extra cost of the upgrade; dell did so with an apology.

[Charlie]

Meh, you can get a decent machine for cheap, but honestly you can build your own and have an overall better computer for a few bucks more

Theres no way I could come close. I could get something together by myself for relatively cheap, but then you have to figure that I would have to buy an OS, additional software, plus the flatscreen monitor. I dont tihnk the price would come close to what Dell has to offer.

Buy an OS? okay even if you wanted that under 100 bucks.

You can build an Athlon64 Rig for a rather cheap price, with name brand components, and similar cost to dell, plus its a faster machine.

James and Schnell, ill build my own, as soon as you guys hook me up with the flatscreen, printer, keyboard, and other nickel and dime shit that isnt included in your "superior custom setups"

Precisely.

Order the dell, that's a good deal. With the bottom dropping out of the computer market, unless you're only building a box, it's cheaper to buy a full system.

-Charlie

[m42technic]

I just bought one of those... I definitely like it so far.

[OldUser1]

edit for delete

[graphik]

my dell worked well until I shot it.

I bought a gateway recently with a phatty warranty, if it fucks up, I take it to the store and they fix it...

i thought all the gateway stores shut down?

[Brew]

I have great luck so far with my Dell Latitude D600. I got it online from the Dell outlet store, refurbished.

[Rob]

my dell worked well until I shot it.

I bought a gateway recently with a phatty warranty, if it fucks up, I take it to the store and they fix it...

i thought all the gateway stores shut down?

I hadnt noticed, WTF?

[jweb]

my dell worked well until I shot it.

I bought a gateway recently with a phatty warranty, if it fucks up, I take it to the store and they fix it...

i thought all the gateway stores shut down?

I hadnt noticed, WTF?

The gateway stores around me closed too. I heard somewhere they were going to start selling online and over the phone exclusively,like dell.

[PanamaE30]

then you have to figure that I would have to buy an OS, additional software..

Buy...software...
HAHA,

But seriously if your spending $780 on a dell, just build your own. A 15" LCD is weak, go look at one at office depot in person and you will agree. If you do end up buying one and want to mod it with a bigger HD and ram, heatsink, fan and what not you'll probably need a better power supply ( I believe the dell would come with a 250 watt PS unless otherwise noted ). I myself am running a Antec 350 watt, but thats only because it has +12V@21A rather than the average +12V@16A, which probably wouldnt power my system.
Don't plan on doing any overclocking if you get a dell either. But do what you want, its your money.

-Kenyon

Some people do care about being legit (not myself though hehe).

Furthermore, the 15" LCD's are nice quality, they match the system; something that a lot of people care about. There's something about having your whole setup look whole that gets some people.

Most Dell users aren't the type to be overclocking in the first place, but I have done it with Dell desktops AND portables. And as for the power supply, simply upping your memory and hard drive space will NOT require you to upgrade your power supply.

And Dell thermal solutions are insane. I've seen Pentium 4 systems with nothing but a fan on the processor heatsink with a plastic shroud on it run cooler than homebuilt stuff.

But hey, to each his own.

[m42technic]

then you have to figure that I would have to buy an OS, additional software..

Buy...software...
HAHA

Believe it or not, there are people out there that dont steal their software...

[bmwannabe]

then you have to figure that I would have to buy an OS, additional software..

Buy...software...
HAHA,

But seriously if your spending $780 on a dell, just build your own. A 15" LCD is weak, go look at one at office depot in person and you will agree. If you do end up buying one and want to mod it with a bigger HD and ram, heatsink, fan and what not you'll probably need a better power supply ( I believe the dell would come with a 250 watt PS unless otherwise noted ). I myself am running a Antec 350 watt, but thats only because it has +12V@21A rather than the average +12V@16A, which probably wouldnt power my system.
Don't plan on doing any overclocking if you get a dell either. But do what you want, its your money.

-Kenyon

I have no clue what overclocking is. I get on my computer, check my email, look at shit, load some pics, do basic word processing, possibly listen to music and thats it. I dont play video games, or any huge programs. I dont see the need for going all out and making my own computer.