Why is Dell Bad??

[Zaber177]

Hey there,

I am trying my best to understand something.

I am going to be buying a new PC to replace my old outdated Dell Studio XPS tower. Tempted to buy ALienware from The Dell company.

Here is my concern. People are screaming at me 'don't buy from dell. " They are cheap". "They rip you off" and junk like that.

Could some one explain to me why people hate Dell so much as a pc company? Despite their rumors, Dell pc kept me running for 7 years so far.

Anyway, any help here would be appreciated. Also if people do recommend a better gaming PC< perhaps they can share links of where I can find good ones. Thank you.

 

[wpgwpg]

I haven't heard the complaints you mention. I have two Dell desktops and a Dell laptop at home, all working just fine (desktops are 3 & 4 years old, laptop 4 months). I support 28 Dell desktops; they're all 5 years old and working great. One thing I have noticed though; Dell puts a lot of Seagate hard drives in their PCs, and Seagate drives have had reliability problems the last couple of years.

Good luck.

 

[Supernova1138]

Dell has not been known to offer the best support and their machines do have a tendency to be somewhat flimsily built and/or have parts that can suffer from reliability problems. Alienware tends to be horribly overpriced for what you're getting most of the time, and you're pretty much paying $500 to $1000 more than the value of the hardware in the computer just for the Alienware name.

You're probably best off building a PC yourself if you want a gaming system, as you'd get much more value for your money that way. If you're not comfortable building a PC, paying NCIX $50 to assemble the parts you select or buying a prebuilt from some place like Cyberpower would be less of a rip off than what Alienware will offer you.

 

[SBMfromLA]

Dell has not been known to offer the best support and their machines do have a tendency to be somewhat flimsily built and/or have parts that can suffer from reliability problems. Alienware tends to be horribly overpriced for what you're getting most of the time, and you're pretty much paying $500 to $1000 more than the value of the hardware in the computer just for the Alienware name.

You're probably best off building a PC yourself if you want a gaming system, as you'd get much more value for your money that way. If you're not comfortable building a PC, paying NCIX $50 to assemble the parts you select or buying a prebuilt from some place like Cyberpower would be less of a rip off than what Alienware will offer you.

Actually a few years ago building a PC System yourself was a better value... but in today's market... You can't build one cheaper anymore... and those people that claim you do.. always like to cheat by NOT including the price of the O/S, or the Mouse/Keyboard/DVD and always use the cheapest most generic cases they could find.

 

[cdabc123]

its because you will save alot of money building your own computer. making the dell with the same parts appear like a ripoff.

 

[cdabc123]

Dell has not been known to offer the best support and their machines do have a tendency to be somewhat flimsily built and/or have parts that can suffer from reliability problems. Alienware tends to be horribly overpriced for what you're getting most of the time, and you're pretty much paying $500 to $1000 more than the value of the hardware in the computer just for the Alienware name.

You're probably best off building a PC yourself if you want a gaming system, as you'd get much more value for your money that way. If you're not comfortable building a PC, paying NCIX $50 to assemble the parts you select or buying a prebuilt from some place like Cyberpower would be less of a rip off than what Alienware will offer you.

Actually a few years ago building a PC System yourself was a better value... but in today's market... You can't build one cheaper anymore... and those people that claim you do.. always like to cheat by NOT including the price of the O/S, or the Mouse/Keyboard/DVD and always use the cheapest most generic cases they could find.

depends on what you build and where you get your parts. the build in my sig was less than 800.

 

[delaro]

Hey there,

I am trying my best to understand something.

I am going to be buying a new PC to replace my old outdated Dell Studio XPS tower. Tempted to buy ALienware from The Dell company.

Here is my concern. People are screaming at me 'don't buy from dell. " They are cheap". "They rip you off" and junk like that.

Could some one explain to me why people hate Dell so much as a pc company? Despite their rumors, Dell pc kept me running for 7 years so far.

Anyway, any help here would be appreciated. Also if people do recommend a better gaming PC< perhaps they can share links of where I can find good ones. Thank you.

Dell systems are not all that bad, there were much worse like eMachines and Acer even some of the Compaq units. I was a Authorized Dell Reseller for 15 years, so I have seen my share of them. You however will get a much better system by building one over any Prebuilt unit, much more Bang for your Buck when your not paying a middle man.

Dell has not been known to offer the best support and their machines do have a tendency to be somewhat flimsily built and/or have parts that can suffer from reliability problems. Alienware tends to be horribly overpriced for what you're getting most of the time, and you're pretty much paying $500 to $1000 more than the value of the hardware in the computer just for the Alienware name.

You're probably best off building a PC yourself if you want a gaming system, as you'd get much more value for your money that way. If you're not comfortable building a PC, paying NCIX $50 to assemble the parts you select or buying a prebuilt from some place like Cyberpower would be less of a rip off than what Alienware will offer you.

Actually a few years ago building a PC System yourself was a better value... but in today's market... You can't build one cheaper anymore... and those people that claim you do.. always like to cheat by NOT including the price of the O/S, or the Mouse/Keyboard/DVD and always use the cheapest most generic cases they could find.

You have no Idea what you are talking about of you have not even looked into the cost of a PC. There is a big quality difference between a $800 PreBuilt and a custom $800 PC. Look it up and see for yourself.

Here is a perfect Example.
http://www.xoticpc.com/scourge-amd-990fx-p-6635.html
$1269 + Tax

AMD® Vishera FX-6300 "$99"
GIGABYTE® GA-990FXA "$130"
NVIDIA® EVGA GTX 950 [2GB] OC/ ACX "$150"
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM "$35"
1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive "$45"
EVGA® SuperNOVA 750W G2 "$80"
Case/Mouse/Keyboard/DVD Drive---- $65
Win 10 Home Edition "$83"
........................................
$687 to buy these parts yourself add $200 and you get a SSD, Better HD, Better CPU, Better GPU. This is typical of a Prebuilt, outdated Motherboard, Slower CPU, low to mid range GPU, slower hard drive but you get a flashy Case and maybe some Customer support. It's not hard at all to bet a prebuilt gaming rig if you know how to look.

 

[USAFRet]

Dell is not 'bad'. But if you are looking for a custom config, or something you can upgrade in the future, you can do a lot better if you build one yourself.

Alienware is not 'bad', just overpriced for the specific specs. They're just playing on the name.

 

[USAFRet]

Actually a few years ago building a PC System yourself was a better value... but in today's market... You can't build one cheaper anymore... and those people that claim you do.. always like to cheat by NOT including the price of the O/S, or the Mouse/Keyboard/DVD and always use the cheapest most generic cases they could find.

'cheaper' is not always the main consideration.
Customization often is, for "near" the same price.

 

[Zaber177]

Rofl I see I opened a can of worms here.

Building a PC i can see would be more affordable. Sadly i have no pc building skills and don't trust myself to build it. I would prefer preconstructed OR get someone to help.

But yeah other names that would help are good outside of Dell. Ty. One reason i only consider dell is because family has an account with them so i WOULD get a deal off retail.

But again, you guys make valid points. I just am lost though to get something new from scratch and have it loaded and last. Plus software as well

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Saying something like Dell is any more unreliable than other PC brands is a very subjective thing. Dell is an assembler, they don't make the actual hardware (except maybe the cases). If anything, most all prebuilt companies like to skimp on the PSU. I do recall, though, some Dells using Delta as a PSU OEM, and Delta is solid, but I'm not sure. Your typical office Dell computer that draws 80W under load, though, is not going to really cause enough heat or strain to make those PSUs die quickly; hence why they often last years upon years. But once you get into the gaming PCs, it concerns me that these companies still don't use reliable units. Every cent saved I guess.

Yes, Alienware is overpriced. Sometimes they use laptop hardware in their desktops even. I disagree that building is more expensive these days, it's definitely cheaper. It might not be way much cheaper, but considering you can get a quality PSU, retail Windows, probably a better motherboard, for cheaper, building is a good thing to give a shot.

 

[king3pj]

We have no complaints with the Dell workstation PCs and Dell Precision Server in our office. They are plenty fast for the accounting and office software we have here and we have never had one fail. Every machine we have ever bought from them was still running when we replaced it with a newer model.

There are a few reasons I build my own gaming PCs. As others have said, it's just cheaper. Alienware and other gaming PC manufacturers have to pay someone (or machines) to put these PCs together. They also have to make a profit. If I build my own I can choose to either save a few hundred dollars or use that savings to go with more powerful components. If I choose to build instead of buying I might be able to get a 980 Ti instead of a 970 for the same amount of money or less.

The other thing is when you build you actually get the parts you want. The companies that sell pre-built gaming PCs often make decisions I would never make myself. Alienware isn't alone in this. They all do it. Here is an example of what I'm talking about.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-area51-r2/pd?ref=PD_OC

This is the Alienware Area 51 base model. Keep in mind that this costs $1600.

CPU - i7-5820k
GPU - R9 370
RAM - 8GB DDR4 2133MHz
Storage - 2TB HDD
DVD Burner
Alienware Approved 850W PSU

To me, and I assume most people who build their own gaming PCs, these specs don't make any sense. They chose to pair a $400 enthusiast grade CPU with a sub $150, budget GPU.

Sure the CPU is important but in a gaming PC the GPU is where I'm going to put most of my budget. A $200 i5-6500 will suffice for most gaming builds. The idea that a $1600 gaming PC will have a $150 370 is laughable. If I am going to put $1600 into a gaming PC it's going to have a $650 980 Ti in it.

 

[king3pj]

That being said, the console sized $1249.99 X51 isn't that terrible if you are dead set against building your own. It's still not the exact parts I would choose and you could still build it a little cheaper but it's much closer than the Area 51 models.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51-r3/pd

For $1250 you get

CPU - i7 6700
GPU - GTX 970
RAM - 8GB DDR4 2133MHz
Storage - 1TB HDD
DVD Burner
Bundled Xbox 360 Controller

 

[ScrewySqrl]

That being said, the console sized $1249.99 X51 isn't that terrible if you are dead set against building your own. It's still not the exact parts I would choose and you could still build it a little cheaper but it's much closer than the Area 51 models.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51-r3/pd

For $1250 you get

CPU - i7 6700
GPU - GTX 970
RAM - 8GB DDR4 2133MHz
Storage - 1TB HDD
DVD Burner
Bundled Xbox 360 Controller

just for comparison, I put this together:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($252.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus E3 PRO GAMING V5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($145.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair Force LE 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($86.86 @ Amazon)
Monitor: LG 23MP47HQ 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($27.69 @ Amazon)
Total: $1249.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-03 20:35 EDT-0400

the Xeon is the same CPU as the 6700, just no iGPU that you won't use anyway.
for the same cost I have the following improvemnets:
16 GB vs 8 GB DDR4-2133
1 480 GB SSD + 2 TB HDD vs jsut a 1 TB HDD
Higher quality powersupply (you won't go wrong with Seasonic)

Also included:
Windows 10,
a Gaming Keyboard and Mouse. Blue LED backlighting matches the Blue LED front fan on the case, too.
and a 23" 1920x1080 IPS 5ms monitor. (which the Alienware doesn't include)

I don't have an XBox controller, but I do have more RAM, more storage, and a Monitor. and keyboard and mouse are better anyway. Also no DVD player, but who uses one of those anymore?

 

[Anarkie13]

Dell hardware is not usually of what enthusiasts and gamers would consider good quality. Anything non-specialized seems to suffer the most. However, their specialized builds and lines (Precision, Alienware and pretty much any of the workstation style systems) are much better in every way. They still tend to do inexplicable things (I've seen a system of theirs recently using an AMD APU with an Intel GPU)

The generic cheap lines such as the Inspirons, etc... Have extremely cheap parts and tend to be much harder to upgrade because everything was built with limited intentions for a low-end user-base.

I'd personally say that if you want to get better quality at a lower price, you need to build. BUT... If you need help, find someone that you know and trust that can build systems. Ask them if they'll help you build the machine when the parts come in. Ask them to guide and explain as you do the work. This way, you get the experience needed and you learn how to deal with the parts so you can upgrade and fix if needed.