Sony or Dell

[quackagator]

I don't know if this the right forum if not so be it let it be moved.
I'm thinking of buying a new pc. Sony or Dell or have one built?
Input please all knowing anandtecher's

 

[SeaSerpent]

None of the above.....


Build your own

 

[MrBond]

Dell will probably get you a good deal on a do-anything pc. A locally built system will give you the same deal as a dell, but with (probably) better components for more money. Sony you're going to pay a premium for, but they've got lots of neat multimedia gizmos that the dell/white box won't have.

 

[RossMAN]

What's your budget?

If you are ready to buy NOW (before Wednesday 1/8 at 11:00 PM CST) you can buy a Dell Dimension 4550 for $503

Intel P4-2GHz
Free CD-RW
128MB DDR
30GB
NIC
XP Home
with Free Palm, printer or digicam!

Upgrade to 4x DVD+RW/+R Drive w/CD-RW for only $149 more.

I'll PM you a link.

 

[quackagator]

I was thinking about spending around $1,400

 

[nord1899]

Leave it to RossMan to always have a HD ready for these threads.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: quackagator
I was thinking about spending around $1,400

If you're into serious movie editing then I would consider getting a Sony because of the software it comes bundled with and the hardware.

But bang for your buck you'll get the most out of a Dell Dimension 4550, I'm not to crazy about the 8250 because of the expensive and finicky RDRAM.

 

[Lonyo]

Buy Dell. I had a Dell that ran for about 2-3 years on Win 98 SE, never reinstalled, not even sure if it was defragmented, not on a regular basis at least, ran like a dream pretty much all that time. Go for a Dell dude!

 

[CraigRT]

Dell, Sony computers are not that great, but they look nice!

 

[Stark]

build your own... if you don't we're all going to laugh at you.

 

[Harvey]

Spend some time to learn about the components you would want in your machine. Intel or AMD chips both work reliably on good motherboards. Do you need a Pentium or Athlon, or would a Celeron or Duron perform well enough? The latter will save you money you can use on more and/or better quality peripherals.

Check reviews and forums on AT and other sites about motherboards and chipsets, video cards, etc. If you do your homework, you can build a better system than any "department store" computer for less money, including a better selection of peripheral hardware, because you chose the parts from the best of what is available, now.

The only thing Sony, Dell, etc. has to offer is whatever continued service they provide. If you live in a city with any reasonable amount of technology, good help and parts availability should be good enough to overcome that. And of course, you can always check back with your AT friends.

 

[MisterMe]

Dell unless you know full well how to build your own and figure out all the little things that might hold you up along the way...

 

[LouPoir]

Dell or build your own.

IMHO

Lou

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: nord1899
Leave it to RossMan to always have a HD ready for these threads.

Response time was almost an hour...he's slipping

Seriously though, go with Dell if you don't want to DYI. Sometimes its better to start with baby steps, if you have an interest in upgrading Dell is a decent platform (they use mostly non-proprietary stuff nowadays). Plus Dell with give you tech support and a warranty........Sony support and warranty = nonexistent.

Chiz

 

[RossMAN]

Chiz - Cut me some slack

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that Sony's tech support is non-existant.

Dell's isn't that great either but at least it's there.

 

[nick1985]

build your own, its less costly and its a valuable learning experience.

 

[Dufman]

d00d
you should get a dell. or build your own

 

[Macro2]

Dells tech supports has fallen off the earth. Like those dudes said it would 500 years ago when they were sailing for the East Indies. Hint.
If you want a good computer w/top notch parts you almost have to piece it toether or have it pieced. You can buy parts on Newegg and always pay someone to put it together for you.

The only low end computer I would buy is a build to order Compaq with an nforce1 board. You can configure them under their business section.

From the Dells, gateways and Sonys i've seen lately they always have a weak link like a 5400 rpm HD that sounds like a wookpecker. I guess you can configre them different but by the time you do you will jack the price pretty good.

A couple of points.
1.Usually you get a restore disk...this sucks.
2. You'll not get a case like an Antec that is built like a tank.
3. You'll not get a HD with 8 mb cache unless...?
4. Your power supply will make you wonder because of it's low wattage.
5. You will be laughed at on Anandtech

On the plus side you'll get good color coordination although you can get this if you look around.

 

[everman]

If I "must" choose between dell and sony I"d go dell. But I"d rather build it myself.

 

[nanyangview]

lol get lafed at? I have both a Compaq Machine (use most often) and a self built. Both a very respectable PC hehe.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: nanyangview
lol get lafed at? I have both a Compaq Machine (use most often) and a self built. Both a very respectable PC hehe.

:Q Saying the "C" word is a bannable offense :Q



Chiz

 

[tart666]

Sony or Dell or have one built?

Depends on needs. Here's what I feel each is good for:

Dell: Cheap, solid, simple, fastest for the money. Best for playing games, encoding audio/video for someone who know how to do it already. No firewire in the front, so not the best for video.

Sony: Good for a beginner, especially if you are going to do video. VAIO actually stands for Video Audio In-Out. Very good bundled software for video/ audio editing for a newbie. Always Firewire / USB front and back. Not the cheapest, but a much better deal than an Apple.

Built: Only good for overclockers these days. More expensive than a Dell, OR Sony (if you add all the software costs) Buy this only if you are overclocking / upgrading incessantly. Edit: Actually, as for upgrading, Dell is no worse than self-built these days. 4550 comes with a standard ATX P4 PSU even.

 

[yhelothar]

build your own... any brainless bastard can build a comp.. hell even a trained ape can do it, it's like putting together a puzzle...

or get one from ABS, best prices, and they rock.. btw it's the parent company of newegg, so you know their service 0wnz!

 

[newbiepcuser]

If you want something pre-built, then go with the Dell deals.
I've dealt with Sony as a techie, I wouldn't buy one.

Dell isn't the greatest for tech support/customer service but a lot better than Sony.


Building your own PC is cool, if you want the ultimate gaming machine or the Overclocking rush, etc...but if you just surf the web, do e-mail and word processing, then Dell is the way to go.

 

[prosaic]

I have Dells and Sonys around the house. Sony's tech support isn't non-existent. You just have to know where to find it. Truly. I have found frequent updates for software and drivers on their support site, and their phone support has, in my experience, been better than Dell's. Dell phone line tech support used to be awesomely good. Now it seems to be awesome in a different way.

The two Sony video editing systems have been terrific in their limited roles. I did experience early failure of a Western Digital drive on one of them. (Actually, it wasn't a frank failure. It just started making a high-pitched buzz that I told Sony support was annoying me.) I was kind of annoyed that the only way I could get the drive replaced was to ship the system all the way across the country (at Sony's expense) to let them replace it themselves. On the other hand, the time from first phone call to having my system back in operation was four days. And I got a faster, quieter hard drive in the process. System function on these machines is flawless. They run like freight trains (quiet ones) constantly with no errors of any kind ever cropping up. And they get used very heavily.

On the other hand, I've never had any failures of hardware on my Dell workstations, though two of them use the same WD drive model that failed in the Sony. The OEM images, which I blew away with retail OS installations, are not nearly as well-integrated and functional as those on the Sonys. Dell just seems to dump stuff on their drives to create the image instead of designing components to work really smoothly together.

Slightly OT: But my Dell notebook has failed repeatedly over three years. Most, if not all, of those failures were due to the incredibly lousy build quality -- flimsy plastics and flexible chassis. Despite my three year on-site-next-business-day warranty (which costs extra, of course) Dell has not managed to get that machine up and running in less than a week's time, minimum. One repair took three weeks! How many repairs? Ten. Yes, ten.

- prosaic