DELL SUCKS

[jombo]

Boy oh Boy this is an interesting thread. I been building and repairing computers for 20 years here and I never seen ANY prebuilt computer last over a week in my computer room without me redoing parts of it. And I in no way intend to put down any computer brand in my response here. I just simply state things as i see them.

But in the shop when a person asks me what is the best bang for the buck my response will be Dell every time. And no I DO NOT work for Dell. For those that are just looking for decent support and a laptop/desktop to browse and get email pictures from grandkids just about any will do the job. But I work on computers in a shop and we see less Dells in for repair out of warranty than any other brand by a long shot.

Setting here looking around me in my computer room with 15 machines running almost all 24/7 there are more modified Dells in here than any other. And some of em Dell and other brands have been doing it in this room for years and years and keep on keeping on. They all have their weakness because of price competition and Dell is no different than the rest they cut cost to sell more thats life on this rock we live on.

This of course is just an opinion and we all know everybody has 1 right. And grandma and grandpa usually do not have the option to build their own. Lots of us do and man isn't it great!

Peace and Goodwill to all they say and may your computer (whatever brand it is) last forever.

 

[builderbobftw]

I'm a High school student, so i don't have enought time to get a real job, or have the degree to get a decent job. So as a way of making money, I've taken to going to the local dump, and collecting the machine's there. Some of the stuff i sell to a scapper if it's realy old, but other stuff I part and sell on Ebay. It's amazing how people will just throw away 3.0-2.0ghzP4s/ Older C2Ds, buecuase a memory dimm or the HDD is dead. I part the machine's, and sell the parts on Ebay. People pay like 50$ for a Mobo, memory, and a cpu for a p4 system. 90% of the defective machines are Dells. I don't know if it's buecuase Dell makes low quality parts, or just bucuase they have a huge market controll, bue something is fishy about the quality of Dell machines.

 

[Hellboy]

Dell machines blow CPUS... How cheap does a pc have to be before the CPU fails..

Is it because Dell on purpose make AMD in their machine look bad.. let alone their own build quality.

Dell 520 series AMD based burn out the processor, I have had three now and its not good..

never untill recently has a processor failed. I have 1 Intel in a Philips / Ion machine and 3 AMD processors in a dell have gone wrong ( 520 Series ) - never had a Intel fail in a Dell.

 

[builderbobftw]

Yeh. Most of the machines i see come in have bad Memory, or bad CPUs. Something about that dell mobo just fries them. One time i was testing a machine, i power it on, smell something burning. I turn it of, it it turns out the PSU had fried. Nearly burned my house down....

 

[JAS34613]

DELL AND EVERY OTHER PRE BUILT COMPUTER SUCKS
I WANT TO KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE THINK BUILDING THERE OWN COMPUTER IS SO MUCH BETTER AND LESS COSTLY AND YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED NOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF CRAPY PARTS AND SOFTWARE.
😀

I agree you buy your parts based on the documentation provided which is getting skimpier and skimpier with pre built. And I hate the preconfigured OS. I want my own Install CD. http://img.tomshardware.com/forum/uk/icones/smilies/pt1cable.gif

 

[joshc123]

1) Yes, Dell can suck but when it comes to building a pc for £300 most of the time you can't beat it because of how cheap they get the os and labour.
2) Also not everyone 'pwnes n00bs on crysis with a 3 monitor setup', most people just surf the internet and do word processing.
3) Lastly my Mum isn't going to build her own pc is she ...
4) Matter of fact, not many people can or would build a pc.

 

[lotri]

If you buy a computer, people will build it for you and handle all the service stuff for you as well. If you build your own, you'll have to put it together, do all the memory/HD checks yourself, and call into the manufacturers to deal with warranties.

It's a better value to build your own, but only if you know what you're doing or if you learn very quickly.

 

[builderbobftw]

1) Yes, Dell can suck but when it comes to building a pc for £300 most of the time you can't beat it because of how cheap they get the os and labour.
2) Also not everyone 'pwnes n00bs on crysis with a 3 monitor setup', most people just surf the internet and do word processing.
3) Lastly my Mum isn't going to build her own pc is she ...
4) Matter of fact, not many people can or would build a pc.

Building you're own PC/ Disasembling PCs for scrap metal requires the brain of a squirell. After all, I can do it with ease.

 

[lotri]

Alas, you're builder bob! If it can be built, and even if it can't, you can do it!

 

[saaiello]

Dell is there for the people out there that just need a computer that works for small business for school work or for just a home internet machine that can maybe pla some gaming and burn some DVDs. My parent had bought a dell 2 years ago i believe an xps studio something had a core 2 quad tons of ram a decent video card also came with a nice 2.1 speaker setup printer monitor keyboard mouse for $900 now i could a built one for them but would cost a few hundred more and just wasnt worth it for what they needed it for.

So dell and all the other pre builts out there have plenty of people out there that will have all there needs met by a dell. Now for an enthusiast like myself of course i would never buy a dell but that your choice no one forces you to buy it its there for who needs it and thats it.

 

[lotri]

Well, we should all thank tecmo34 for this thread to help people who want a better value for their desktop systems. =)

 

[dbs1crew]

I bought a Dell laptop 3 years ago. Ive taken it everywhere with me (even Iraq) and its still kickin hard. If you dont feel like trolling through different websites looking for the lowest price on X mobo or Y graphics card then ordering it all and having to put it together once you get it all Dell isnt a bad choice. I enjoy building my own computers, but I bought a cheap Dell for my wife to use for school. So all in all building your own computer > Dell, but Dell isnt all that bad...

 

[lotri]

Or you could do what my friend did. Buy a cheap Dell computer, and swap out parts. He actually machined a new siding for the tower as well.. looked pretty awesome (designed in Solidworks 😀).

 

[builderbobftw]

Yeh, all prebuilt computers are lacking in quality, and price/preformance , espacialy if you don't want to buy an OS. The only good thing is the dell laptops. My dad got a centrino duo Dell 14" laptop like 4 years ago, for 400$, and it's still working nicely, and it's nice and thin.

Low end Dell laptops=Win.

High end Dell desktops= Fail.

 

[lotri]

Lol, $1200 Dell laptop 5 years ago, still chugging away (slowly because dual core hadn't come out yet on laptops).

 

[builderbobftw]

Wha do you mean C2D hasn't come out on mobile yet? I have a C2D extreme 2.8ghx 6mb cache 45nm X9000 on my laptop, and am looking at buying a C2Q for it. Nevermind, dual core, quad core ahs been out for years.

 

[Flying_J]

I must concur that Dell does, in fact, suck. Here is my very recent experience:

Ordered an Inspiron 546 on 1/04/2010. Got many upgrades: graphics card, Phenom II x4 820, big Hard Drive, etc. Now, let's break down the terrible experience by category:

Shipping: DELL has a VERY long estimated time of delivery for their custom systems. By custom, I mean ANY upgrade whatsoever. I ordered on the 4th, and it came on the 26th.. what the hell.

System: It comes with an ass load of extra nonsense you don't need. Even if you opt OUT of all of the additional things, it's still installed somewhere in there, it's just not on startup.

TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE: I get back home from work, and I noticed my computer froze. Hmmm. That's weird. So I restart it and instead of a greeting screen I get nothing: no post, anything. All that happened is the light on the front blinks and it makes a beeping noise over and over. Great! Broken computer!

Technical Support: Of course this part of DELL has always been nonsense. I literally COULD NOT get the tech to understand me, nor could I understand him. In the end, he couldn't figure out what was wrong over the phone but judging from my description it was either the mainboard or the RAM. So they sent out an on-site tech.

On-Site Repair: The tech was great, but it's not like he was a DELL employee. he had to replace the WHOLE motherboard. Then, it worked, but with more problems when running various programs. So I decided to return it and THANK GOD i found out about the problem early because otherwise I would have been screwed (see below).

RETURN POLICY (SO STUPID): DELL's return policy states that in order to do a full exchange or return you MUST return the item (postmarked) within 21 days of the invoice date. Let me say that again.. not the DELIVERY date, the INVOICE date. So, my machine took about 18 days to arrive, and 2 days to break. Leaving me ONE DAY to call and request a return authorization. Had I waited only a COUPLE days, I would have been completely stuck with it. Basically, if the Mobo would have died a couple days later - I'd still have it.

Value? WHAT value?: I decided to return it (of course) and build my own PC. I tallied up what the system WOULD have cost had I built it on my own by referencing various sites online. I paid $850 after shipping.. and I calculated I could have built it for 400 or LESS!!!


I'll never buy Dell again.

Your post caught my attention because I specifically asked a Dell rep about this during a chat the other night. Here's the part of the transcript......

02/26/2010 06:17:25PM John: "if i buy a laptop, use it for a week, and want to return it for one with a faster processor, can I do that? If so, what will it cost me aside from the higher cost of the i-5 system?"
02/26/2010 06:17:49PM Agent (BE_PR2_Rep_Hermelyn): "you may return the system 21 days upon receiving the item...and there will be a 15% restocking fee.."

I'm shopping for a Dell laptop now and if you're correct about 21 days from invoice (instead of delivery) then it's a deal-breaker for me.

I was also planning on buying the 3-year "enhanced" warranty that covers accidental damage but after reading through this thread I question if it's worth the money. May be best for me to stick with the 1-year warranty and consider it a "disposable" if there are problems.

On the flipside, in fairness to Dell, I've worked with Dell PowerEdge servers for years and consider them among the best.

j

 

[builderbobftw]

...I've worked among them to. The best if you want to mimic the sound of a attack helicopter taking of, combined with the theraml output of a missle fired from a attack helicopter. In all those Car comerils they have a picture of a Helipotyer, and it ays enginered from planes, but the poweredge servers realy were the products that were direactly enginered from planes.

 

[lotri]

Wha do you mean C2D hasn't come out on mobile yet? I have a C2D extreme 2.8ghx 6mb cache 45nm X9000 on my laptop, and am looking at buying a C2Q for it. Nevermind, dual core, quad core ahs been out for years.

I said HADN'T, as in past-tense. lol

Perhaps Dell has gone downhill since my last purchase. I just remember that my system came pretty quickly. Although unrelated, the delivery guy was pretty nice. He came back three times to make sure he got the computer to us - he kept missing us earlier in the day, heh.

I usually suggest people to use their online customer service. Although you don't hear a real person, it's a lot less stressful and most overseas tech support folks read/write English better than they speak/understand it.

 

[Userremoved]

Now it's my little brother's problem :twisted:

Muhahahahahahahahaha! 😀

Yeah prebuilded pc are not meant for gaming but for surfing the net there fine.

 

[Userremoved]

This thread will never die as long as people with bad experiences complain about it and people with good experiences back it up. Since the quality of your computer experience is relative,there is no definite answer. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :lol: :lol: 😀 😉 😉 😴

Keep them coming!

 

[builderbobftw]

I mean, right now I'm using a prebuilt HP XW 4400 Worksation. Not that I owuld ever buy one, My freind who works in the buisness bought like 100 WX4400s at a Govt Seizure auction, bucuase they had some expensive veido cards int them. I think some had soem Quadro FX 5800 cards in them, and others had Video streaming cards that were worth money. He offered my my current build for 250$, and i bought it from him, and then bought a 4870 1gb for it. IT's okay, but all the parts arn't comaptible with any upgrade i would want to do, so zero upgrade path. I definatly wouldn't pay the HP 3000$+ reatil price lol.

 

[rockyjohn]

If the other components are good, getting a new mobo, CPU, and memory for $300 to $400 could give you a spiffy machine with the 4870 video card, assuming the other compoonents are good - the case, PSU, HD, DVD, etc.

 

[rockyjohn]

Oh Gee. "Consumer Reports, an independent and non-profit publication, released its latest ratings for computer tech support for laptops and desktops......The running selection for desktop brands was narrower with only four brands. Based on responses from owners of 3,711 desktop computers, Apple took top spot at 87 points out of 100. Dell scored 55 for second place; HP/Compaq scored 53 for third; and Acer/Gateway/eMachines grabbed another 39."

The much higher priced Apple continues in first place. First among all other brands, still Dell, despite all the anecdotal grousing we see above.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/computer-tech-support-quality-ratings,9863.html

If you want to look beyond just the support, go to the CR website where you will see their top rated full sized desktop is the Dell XPS 9000.

Dell has had a few misques over the past several years, but independent evaluators consistently rate them at or near the top - over time their consistent performance tops any other brand name computer in the mainstream market.

 

[builderbobftw]

They didn't compare it to custom built. Among prebuilts, Dell is top. They are the smartest kid on the short bus.