DO Dell Computers have higher quality components?

[Charlie98]

My original Dell desktop (2006) had the PSU puke in it's first 6 months, but otherwise has been rock solid for 7 years. I only just recently took it out of service because of XP EOL and I didn't want to spend the money to upgrade a 7 year old Pentium D. My 2 Dell laptops (2005, 2007) have been solid as well. Dell support has always been good to me as well. With the delicate balance of profitability vs serviceability in mind, I think Dell is better than most.

If I didn't build my own PC's, Dell would be my choice, again. In fact, I recommended a couple of Inspiron 660s to my family (that I have to support ) and when I replace my aging laptops next year I'll bet getting a Dell.

As far as picking your own components, just buying something off Newegg doesn't mean it's the best choice. They sell POS's to the DIY'ers, just FYI, IMHO.

 

[Torn Mind]

My original Dell desktop (2006) had the PSU puke in it's first 6 months, but otherwise has been rock solid for 7 years. I only just recently took it out of service because of XP EOL and I didn't want to spend the money to upgrade a 7 year old Pentium D. My 2 Dell laptops (2005, 2007) have been solid as well. Dell support has always been good to me as well. With the delicate balance of profitability vs serviceability in mind, I think Dell is better than most.

If I didn't build my own PC's, Dell would be my choice, again. In fact, I recommended a couple of Inspiron 660s to my family (that I have to support ) and when I replace my aging laptops next year I'll bet getting a Dell.

As far as picking your own components, just buying something off Newegg doesn't mean it's the best choice. They sell POS's to the DIY'ers, just FYI, IMHO.

Well, it's the combos that that can be risky Newegg buy. Sometimes, a Logisys PSU is in the combo. It's like building your own Emachines; blow up your computer after 3-5 years, but at least you built it.

 

[88keys]

My original Dell desktop (2006) had the PSU puke in it's first 6 months, but otherwise has been rock solid for 7 years. I only just recently took it out of service because of XP EOL and I didn't want to spend the money to upgrade a 7 year old Pentium D. My 2 Dell laptops (2005, 2007) have been solid as well. Dell support has always been good to me as well. With the delicate balance of profitability vs serviceability in mind, I think Dell is better than most.

If I didn't build my own PC's, Dell would be my choice, again. In fact, I recommended a couple of Inspiron 660s to my family (that I have to support ) and when I replace my aging laptops next year I'll bet getting a Dell.

As far as picking your own components, just buying something off Newegg doesn't mean it's the best choice. They sell POS's to the DIY'ers, just FYI, IMHO.

I recommend Dell PCs for lower end needs and they seem to run OK. I select a few for some friends of mine a few years ago and I never hear them complain about them. I also generally recommend their laptops. I've generally stuck to the Latitude/Vostro lines as they seem to have better build quality. That and I'm more familiar with working on them (Dell laptops) and I know that replacement parts for Dell PCs/Laptops can usually be found pretty darn cheap because they are so common. And I've always been able to upgrade Dell Laptops with any CPU/RAM so long as the bus speed matches the CPU/RAM it was shipped with. I've also never had issues with WLAN card or Optical drive compatibility. HP on the other hand has white lists for alot of their components and it's been hit and miss when trying to upgrade their CPU/RAM. Although I haven't had an HP since 2005 so that could have changed by now.


But I have alot of experience dealing with Dells and I have never had a problem with Dell in terms of reliability or anything else, so I don't agree with alot of these "race to the bottom" comments.

 

[Charlie98]

Well, it's the combos that that can be risky Newegg buy. Sometimes, a Logisys PSU is in the combo. It's like building your own Emachines; blow up your computer after 3-5 years, but at least you built it.

Never bought a combo... there is always one or two components in there that I just don't want... :\ ...and where is the value in that?

 

[Liangxinhuo]

It doesn't matter if Dell have a higher quality components, Dell is really worth of a high price.

 

[Remobz]

Bought a Dell inspiron 660s for work a month ago and its very solid! No problems with Dell in my past history as well.

 

[Remobz]

people are lazy and don't want to put in the effort themselves, if you can build a computer for $1,500 but you need to spend 5+ hours putting it together and installing everything not to mention all the time needed to make sure all your components will work together and are good quality. So you end up investing a LOT of time into it.

Many people simply don't want to or don't have the time to invest, they'd much rather spend $2,500-$3,000 on that same computer and not have to deal with anything and know it will work just fine and play all the latest games out of the box.

To each their own right?

What about people who live outside the USA?

Sometimes, its still cheaper to buy a whole system or just a CPU (no monitor or peripherals included) and have it shipped as compared to buying many individual components.

 

[Maximilian]

I selected and ordered parts for my soon to become PC and they were about $900 including a SSD and a gaming mouse.

The computer that dell has that remotely match my build cost around $1300.

Do they put a lot of money into their components like the Motherboard and the Power supply?

Lmao! Hell no. Its the exact opposite!

 

[BudAshes]

I've always been impressed by the durability of their laptops. I haven't bought one in a few years now though.

 

[Red Squirrel]

With Dell and such you are paying a premium for a computer that "just works" as the parts were tested to work together and strategically selected. Self build you're often dealing with DOA/flaky parts, incompatibilities etc... I find it can be really hit and miss.

Next computer I get will probably be a prebuilt. Been fighting with my "new" i7 build for over a year now, trying different ram, different video cards, next step is different motherboard etc... pain in the ass. Never again.

 

[Morbus]

Do custom built PC usually have higher quality components?

If you buy stuff from well reputed brands, yes, they do. I have always built my own PCs and I only buy from proper brands like Asus or MSI. Except for the graphic cards, which I buy used on my tock cicles and usually get what I can. Powercolor last time, XFX before that, and Asus before that.

 

[mnewsham]

Sometimes, its still cheaper to buy a whole system or just a CPU (no monitor or peripherals included) and have it shipped as compared to buying many individual components.

Sometimes yes, but generally that requires international shipping which can introduce a whole other host of headaches and problems, you might have to pay a significant sum in import duties depending on your government and how it's being sent, if you are ordering from a dell website or other manufacture shipping specifically to your country then they will likely examine the price of computers in your market and upcharge where appropriate to match the market.

 

[Remobz]

Sometimes yes, but generally that requires international shipping which can introduce a whole other host of headaches and problems, you might have to pay a significant sum in import duties depending on your government and how it's being sent, if you are ordering from a dell website or other manufacture shipping specifically to your country then they will likely examine the price of computers in your market and upcharge where appropriate to match the market.

Actually, it works out cheaper for me to order a prebuilt CPU (no peripherals or monitor) and have my customs broker clear it for me. You cannot imagine the headache and time involved to clear and ship each individual item. A good customs broker is like gold here and you stick with them for life

 

[mnewsham]

Actually, it works out cheaper for me to order a prebuilt CPU (no peripherals or monitor) and have my customs broker clear it for me. You cannot imagine the headache and time involved to clear and ship each individual item. A good customs broker is like gold here and you stick with them for life

That will change depending on what country you are in, so that may be true for you specifically, it isn't for everyone.

 

[accguy9009]

I selected and ordered parts for my soon to become PC and they were about $900 including a SSD and a gaming mouse.

The computer that dell has that remotely match my build cost around $1300.

Do they put a lot of money into their components like the Motherboard and the Power supply?

They certainly do and also have been known to withstand hurricane winds,lol. Just kidding bro, good luck with your build

 

[escrow4]

I bought a $200 ($250 over here) Z87X-UD4H for my office box, partially because it has all the slots and ports I will ever need for this box, and partially because of all the durability features - all digital power, black caps (not just solid) etc. Similar with the PSU, I reused an Antec Neo Eco C I had from a previous build, which despite being an older design internally, is Seasonic built and will last, especially compared to some throwaway factory PSU.

So no, pre builts are horrific in terms of component quality. And that build with an FX, eh. Knocked out by an Haswell i3 and with a dead platform to boot.

 

[VirtualLarry]

black caps (not just solid) etc.

AFAIK, "black" or "gold" solid caps, are really just solid caps painted. I don't believe that they are a "higher level" of solid caps. More just marketing.

 

[bryanl]

Short answer, no.

The correct short answer: yes, at least for desktop motherboards and power supplies. Exclusive use of better brand capacitors in motherboards (but there was the Nichicon manufacturing fiasco of 2001-2004 that also affected Apple and HP), rather than a mix of good and bad, and VRMs designed more conservatively and with heatsinks attached to the metal tabs of their MOSFETs, not mostly decorative heatsinks taped to the plastic packaging. Even Dell's awful clamshell desktop cases cost considerably more to manufacture than typical cases. Dell power supplies rated for 300W are more substantial than half the retail models rated 100-200W more.

 

[Blain]

Do custom built PC usually have higher quality components?

Only if higher quality components are selected.
I've seen some "custom" parts lists with pretty crappy components.

Memory: Kingston XMP Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Are these component higher than Dell's.

I would rather use Dell's 1.5v DDR3.

 

[Meghan54]

I've been surprised to see people complain about finding Delta power supplies in their Dells....as if Delta is a scut brand. Delta may not be a commonly seen brand on store shelves, in fact never seen as a brand at retail, but hosts of people interpret that as Delta being an "off-brand", which couldn't be further from the truth.

Same applies to Dell's motherboards, most of which are either Intel built or Asus build.

This is in contrast to the true scut brand, the HP WallyWorld specific computers. I've opened more than a few of those to repair to find motherboards from Tri-Gem, hard drives from true off-brand Chinese companies, memory with no branding, etc.

 

[VirtualLarry]

This is in contrast to the true scut brand, the HP WallyWorld specific computers. I've opened more than a few of those to repair to find motherboards from Tri-Gem, hard drives from true off-brand Chinese companies, memory with no branding, etc.

Tell us more. I didn't think that any other companies other than the big name-brand HDD makers had the technology and manufacturing ability to make something as precise and delicate as a HDD.

There was JTS, which I nick-named "Just Total S**t" that was one non-major-brand HDD mfg during the late 90s/2000s. Are they still around?

Does anyone else have the technology to compete with WD and Seagate?

 

[escrow4]

AFAIK, "black" or "gold" solid caps, are really just solid caps painted. I don't believe that they are a "higher level" of solid caps. More just marketing.

This:

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/MicroSite/334/images/ud-tech.html

 

[Ranulf]

Ok good.

Considering how one of the poster in this thread have stated that his Dell's have lasted for many years.

I hope this rig's lifespan can go for more than five years or more.

Generally they will last longer than the consumer level Dell stuff. But I've had name brand boards in my custom rigs die on me in 2-3 years (Asus and Gigabyte boards) for various reasons and others that are pushing 10 years (Abit nforce1 board). I still have a cheapo ECS KS75a with an old Duron in it, it was working for 5 years, I haven't fired it up in about that long though.

 

[GMasonDragonDad]

What is the power supply efficiency for the dell models? do you want 70% or 85%?

I looked at PowerSpec brand machines until I saw the Allied brand PSU in a picture on their web site. If I spend $800 and the machine will be on for 30,000+ hours, demand something better!

For PSUs, I read efficiency is best at about 50% of max load. check into efficiency for low loads.

I put my new Z220 on a kill-a-watt, and it was pulling 40 watts, and that was with 1 SSD, and two spinning rust drives. (core I7 with integrated graphics and an 80 gold rated PSU.) I was shocked that I am at 10%!

 

[ascalice]

The expensiver Dells have high quality parts. The XPS line is excellent. The Inspiron sucks. I stopped buying PCs a while ago. Now, I build PCs.