Compaq or Dell?

[de8212]

EDIT
I just retyped this whole thing because it gave me a "Boards ar too busy, try later" error when I tried to postAAARGGGGGGGGGGG
END EDIT

.We are preparing to buy new pc's for work. This will be a mixture of desktops and laptops (w/docking station). We currently have Compaqs that are very problematic. Our IT department has given us the prices for the new compaq laptops they have picked out. Just for the heck of it, we went to Dell's site and priced out their top of the line laptop. Dells was 850 P3 rather than the Compaq's 700 P3, Dells was 256MB RAM rather than 128MB Compaq, etc. To our surprise the Dells were CHEAPER than the Compaq prices that IT provided for us. We have been told by one of the "higher-ups" to get addtional info comparing the two company's. even comparing tech support would be useful. Anything!!! We need to get this ASAP.
Anyone know of any good links that could give me some good info pertaining to this? We need facts rather than opinions.
BTW I am not trying to bash Compaqs, we have them now and they have not been relaible and their tech support is a joke.
thanks

 

[Rogue]

I am in a purchasing period also for both desktops and laptops. The Dells are better priced and appear to have better support also. I'd go Dell all the way.

 

[WDCentral]

I would go with Dell anyway

 

[Ryan]

NO DELL! My mom runs her squadron on base, and thought that dells were the best. She bought about 300 laptops from dell, and she has had nothing but problems with them. She has been trying to get tech support to help, but all they have done is put her on hold for 2-3hours a day. I would stay away from them. Soon, she is gonna return all of the laptops, and but gateways. The gateway country store is located near the base, so she can just take the laptops there is she has a problem.

 

[Judgement]

I would go with Dell also. The only problem I've had with my last one was its crappy and loud western didgital hard drive. Bad sectors galore.

Otherwise its been a good pc.

 

[Sunner]

Depends on what series of comps you're atlking about.
For the Compaq's, if the ones you're considdering are Prosignias, go dell.
The Armada's and DeskPro's are very good however, and I'd take those over Dell's anyday.

As for support, it seems to me like that differ from country to country, here both Dell's and Compaq's support is excellent, but Dell's spare part shipping times and prices are horrid.

For example, they wanted 1100$ for 128(yes 128, no missing 0's) of PC-100 RAM for a Lattitude, and 1000$ for a 12 GB HD for that same computer.
And their shipping times have been around 1-2 months the few times I've ordered stuff from them, in most cases when we need upgrades and such we simply buy new computers since thats usually not much more expensive

BTW while on the subject, maybe someone could tell me if Dell's spare part/upgrade prices are as redicilous in other countries as well?
I live in Sweden BTW.

 

[Ender78]

Have you considered IBM ? We have a few thousand Thinkpads on campus and they seem to work fairly well. Pricing is good if you are going to be purchasing any larger number.

 

[RossMAN]

Without a doubt go with the Dell Inspiron 8000 laptop, that's a no brainer. Remember the total cost of ownership, not just the initial cost to purchase the laptop. With a Dell you'll probably have a lot less tech support issues.

Don't forget about the current specials that Dell is offering with the purchase of any laptop:
FREE GROUND (3-5 days) SHIPPING!
FREE Upgrade to DVD-ROM!
FREE Printer, Scanner, Digital Camera or 2nd Battery!

 

[Modus]

Why pay a premium for any name brand system? For their exhorbiant prices and proprietary hardware, all you get is the often-shirked promise of better service. A competent local resller or consultant can always beat Dell or other OEM prices while providing decent service. You also have the peace of mind of knowing that, should something happen outside of the warranty, parts will be cheap and readily available, instead of the usual OEM price gouging on replacements and upgrades.

Modus

 

[KingofSnake]

I would go with Compaq if you are considering Deskpro's and Armada's. I use both on a regular basis and when I have had to deal with their technical support it has always gone smoothly & quickly.

-KoS

 

[Kingofcomputer]

I second Modus.

If your company buy custom software from a computer consultant company, it's better to buy their home-built computer too, they know what your company need, they won't put in sound card, cd-rom extra stuff. Although they charge you more for the computer than street price to build by yourself, they take care all of the support, warranty stuff as long as you're paying maintenance fee for both the software and hardware. If something goes wrong, they'll come to fix immediately. This approach is good for small to mid size company.

Unless your company has a computer department, you employ some computer geeks who can write the software you need and maintain everything, then ask them to decide buy which brand name computer or build it. This is good for mid to large size company.

For brand name computers in the office, I'd choose IBM, the name "IBM" sounds more professional, the machine's look is also good.

 

[denon]

Go with Gateway.

 

[JohnnyTT]

Out of those 2, Dell. The place I used to trade at used Dells, and never any problems.

Your best be would be to buy Dells, format and reinstall what you want, or uninstall all that CRAP they pre-load on their systems. It's all really annoying.

 

[Modus]

Kingofcomputer,

That's a good point. Any environment big enough to demand the volume and uniformity of OEM systems will probably have on-site IT personelle. It's the competence and ability of these people, as well as your choice of software solution, that ultimately determine your computing experience. The guy who picks up the Phillips to put the thing together is basically irrelevant. Thus, your purchasing decision should be based mainly on price/performance and reliability, which tend to favor small, reputable, local dealers over large OEM's like Dell.

Modus

 

[Sunner]

Well, to play the devil's advocate, Ill throw in my .02$ about homebuilt for corporate use.

DONT DO IT!
Its asking for unwanted trouble, and hardware costs are very low compared to personel, software etc, so there's no money to save really, just lots ot time to lose.

You'll never see homebuilts in decently sized corporations, and there's a good reason for it.

 

[DaveJ]

Not to start the whole homebuilt vs. OEM debate again, but I'd definitely NOT build your own machines... OEMs like Compaq and Dell can offer MUCH more in the form of warranty support (like onsite next day replacement), and you'd be able to standardize on one or two models, which your local screwdriver shop likely won't be able to do unless you're only ordering 10-20 machines. For a few hundred boxes, Compaq or Dell are the only way to go.

FWIW, I love the Compaq Deskpros... they are SOLID machines, and are very easy to work on. We have close to 1500 where I work and we vry rarely have hardware problems...

Dave

 

[ku]

I myself would say neither... but... if I HAD to choose, I'd take Dell anyday. They have good tech support (only 1 snobby person out of hundreds of calls)

 

[Vinny N]

I'll add another vote for Compaq.

People discount them too quickly because for the most part it seems that most experiences with them personally or via word of mouth are with the infamous home user line that includes no so favorable Presarios, etc.

If people tried out the corporate line (Deskpros desktops and Armada laptops as some have already pointed out) we find that Compaq IS quite capable of making a good PC.

 

[geeman]

At work we have dells, they have hundreds of them, and they our computing department, doesn't even open the cases, they have a case opened warning in bios. They are cheap crappy computers, but they have no problem dealing with the hundreds of computers they use as servers on their network, with a minimal staff. For large companies, it's the way to go.