Dude...do you really want a Dell??

[HyTekJosh]

Now I know why so many people criticize people for getting Dells...
URL: <a href="http://forums.hytekcomputer.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1990" target=_BLANK>http://forums.hytekcomputer.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1990</A>

What do you guys think of Dell?

 

[bickerford]

There are three kinds of PC's.

Premade PC's (Dell, Gateway, Compaq, emachines, etc.)
Configurable professionally made PC's (Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Voodoo Computers, etc.)
PC's you build yourself

The first class of PC's universally suck. They use the cheapest and least reliable components possible. So-called "service" is impersonal, often not helpful at all, and simply a scam to siphon even more money off of the naive consumer (in the form of extended service plan). You can exchange any one of those manufacturers for any other one, they all suck.

The second class of PC's are fast and reliable, but perhaps cost a little too much compared to what you can build on your own, and how valuable your time is.

The third class of PC's are by definition the best PC's money can buy, provided that you are willing to put the time into research, component selection, component integration, and burn-in.

 

[poopaskoopa]

I think it's fine.

 

[FSUpaintball]

I just found out something that blew me away today. Nobody in town is qualified to work on Dells over here, because Dell uses proprietary parts. I believe working on one will void the warranty.

The only way to get it fixed locally is to contact a local Dell-certified technician.

Get this: To become Dell-Certified, all you have to do is take a test online at their site!!! It only takes an hour and a half! You don't even have to be A+ certified or ANYTHING!!!!:Q:Q:Q

This is REALLY scary. Someone who knows next to nothing about computers could easily be "Dell Qualified" and working on your laptop!

If you have to buy a preconfigured setup by one of the big companies, don't go with Gateway or Dell. They won't let anyone else work on their systems, and many times they have a long turnaround time.

Of course, the best option is a custom-built computer, either by yourself, or Alienware, etc.

 

[munruss]

I have a Dell PIII 500MHz and it's fine.

 

[notfred]

Maybe they have better service for governemt accounts, cause all the machines at work are fine. They'll even fedex replacement parts overnight if we need them.

 

[bulldawg]

I'm not a big store bought computer man, but the Dells I've used have worked flawlessly.

 

[MacBaine]

<< The first class of PC's universally suck. They use the cheapest and least reliable components possible. So-called "service" is impersonal, often not helpful at all, and simply a scam to siphon even more money off of the naive consumer (in the form of extended service plan). You can exchange any one of those manufacturers for any other one, they all suck. >>



What a naive, ignorant comment. My primary PC is a Dell 4100 which I have had for about a year and a half, and I have had absolutely NO problems with it. I configured it myself, so I know exactly what it in it. The parts they use are far from "the least reliable possible". Consider this as well, 99% of the population doesn't know jck about how to build a computer. For under $1000, anybody can buy a top of the line PC from manufacturers such as Dell. If something breaks, they have a warrenty, extended warrenty, service plan, tachnical help, etc. If you build your own computer, sure, you may be able to save a couple hundred, but what if you screw up? Plug the wrong cord in and everything gets fried, what do you do? You are out $700-1000. Most warranties, if not all, will not replace something if you screw up. All in all, if you don't want to go to the hassle of building a computer, having to deal with warranties, compatability, buy a prefab. Like I said, I have had absolutely no problems with my Dell. If you want to blame anything for prefab computers' bad rep, blame idiot consumers and poor software.

 

[Carbo]

<< I have a Dell PIII 500MHz and it's fine. >>

Just how long have you had this system? I dare say it will be imploding by Wednesday.

 

[bickerford]

<< Most warranties, if not all, will not replace something if you screw up. >>



You try opening your Dell and plugging something in the wrong way, then try calling Dell and see if they will replace anything.

 

[deftron]

<< Dell uses proprietary parts. >>





How do they do that?

I thought all IBM Compatible PC's use easily interchangeable parts..
Hence, the "compatible"

 

[LoTecha]

On my last dell, the only proprietary part was the case and mobo. The sound card, vid card, hd, ram, keyboard, mouse, floppy, cdrom, etc. were definitely standard issue, not dell proprietary.

 

[RGN]

Last month I bouhgt a laptop, and it's been fine. I've spec'd a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of Dell equipment for companies and there have been no major problems.


They are the number one PC manufacturer. There will be problems, how many of you have had to RMA parts after a month? 6 Months? 1 year? Take a look around these forums, there are 65,000 or so people registered here and the place is filled with people having problems.

Now take the problem count and multiple it by like 1000. Dell will never be perfect, but they aren't doing to bad either.

And the comment about proprietary parts is reasonably bogus. The larger desktop/workstation/server lines are not proprietary. THe value desktopss may be, but look at a sv24/25 tell me those aren't... If you want to talk about laptops, every manufacturer has there own design - not just Dell

As somebody who is not scared to build my own machine, I'd probaly not buy one. But for the corporate world and the casual user, there is no better. (well, maybe apple...)

R.

 

[bickerford]

<< They are the number one PC manufacturer. >>



McDonalds is the number one fast food manufacturer, Microsoft is the number one OS manufacturer, AOL is the number one ISP, and all of them make the lowest quality, least reliable products in their markets.

Popularity is not an indicatior of high quality. If anything, it is a pretty good indicator of horrible quality.

 

[poopaskoopa]

<< You try opening your Dell and plugging something in the wrong way, then try calling Dell and see if they will replace anything. >>


They will. Without commenting on the specifics, I'll say that I've never seen my friends/associates who are Dell owners not get their way(eventually). At work we buy from Dell only(for x86s, anyway), and they have been great.

 

[MacBaine]

<< You try opening your Dell and plugging something in the wrong way, then try calling Dell and see if they will replace anything. >>



I, being knowledgable enough not to plug something in wrong, have never had to open my Dell up to replace, change, or fix anything. If I were a regular consumer, I would never had to have open it up. Period. That is how reliable and stable it has been. Yes, I have opened it up, as any geek would do, just to play around. Other than that, none of the components have failed, nothing has gone wrong, and I have never had to call technical support for anything. Maybe if you would get out of the "all prefab PCs suck" mindset, you would see how ignorant you really are.

 

[bickerford]

<< Without commenting on the specifics >>



So if you fry your mobo, RMA it back "without commenting on the specifics".

If dishonesty is a way of life for you, you can be dishonest with newegg as well as Dell.

 

[HyTekJosh]

<<

<< They are the number one PC manufacturer. >>

McDonalds is the number one fast food manufacturer, Microsoft is the number one OS manufacturer, AOL is the number one ISP, and all of them make the lowest quality, least reliable products in their markets. Popularity is not an indicatior of high quality. If anything, it is a pretty good indicator of horrible quality. >>



Now that is a good point!

 

[RGN]

<<

<<

<< They are the number one PC manufacturer. >>

McDonalds is the number one fast food manufacturer, Microsoft is the number one OS manufacturer, AOL is the number one ISP, and all of them make the lowest quality, least reliable products in their markets. Popularity is not an indicatior of high quality. If anything, it is a pretty good indicator of horrible quality. >>



Now that is a good point! >>



Yeah, and BMW is the number one German Car manufacturer... Opps, there went your argument.

You missed the point. When there is volume production, there are is a percentage of product that will fail. Period.

When you have thousands of Customer care reps, there will be a percentage that can't satisfy a customer.

When there are millions of customers, there will be a percentage that cannot be satisfied at all.




Now, mix these up. What if a good customer gets a bad product? Dell will fix it. What if a bad customer gets a bad product? Are you catching on yet?

 

[bickerford]

<< Yeah, and BMW is the number one German Car manufacturer... >>



This is irrelevant. BMW is not competing with other German cars, it is competing with all available cars.

"German cars" is a submarketplace. The marketplace is that of cars, and in the car marketplace BMW is by no means the leader.

My point stands.

 

[RGN]

So, your gross generalization is that if you have the number one sales in your industry, you have poor quality? Isn't that a little harsh?

 

[WilsonTung]

Lets see, iirc in past years the Honda Accord was one of the most popular sedans. What does that say about your argument Mr. Bickerford? If your assesment was true, we'd all be driving Yugos.

Dell computers are hardly built on "low quality" components. Take my Dimension XPS-T as it was originally configured:

P3-450
128 MB RAM (Siemmans assembled, Infineon chips)
Intel Motherboard, 440 BX (as stable as you can get)
3COM TXM905C NIC (The best in its day, highly recommended by Anandtech, Tomshardware in past years)
9.1 GB Western Digital 7200RPM HDD
Diamond Viper TNT 16 MB
Integrated Yamaha PCI sound chip
3COM 56K modem
Palo Alto Case (recieved very favorable reviews from Anandtech)

I never had problems with this system. Not all "premade" systems suck. They may not be top performers but they get the job done for most of us.

 

[RGN]

I guess that means while running my company, I need to shoot for the number 2 spot. After all #1 is sh!tty.

 

[bickerford]

<< So, your gross generalization is that if you have the number one sales in your industry, you have poor quality? Isn't that a little harsh? >>



I don't care if it's harsh. I gave 4 examples proving my point (Dell, McDonalds, Microsoft, AOL) and there are a lot of other examples as well.

I can think of no counterexamples and nobody here can think of any either.

My point stands.

 

[bickerford]

<< I guess that means while running my company, I need to shoot for the number 2 spot. After all #1 is sh!tty. >>



If you're an honest businessman, you should shoot for high product quality and high customer satisfaction.

If you're a money hungry unethical businessman, you should shoot for incompatibilities with your competition, misinformation, expensive marketing campaigns, and anticompetitive business practices designed to backstab your competition. Quality does not even figure into the equation.