What makes Dell computers so badass?

H

horn1

25+ Posts
Whenever I hear someone talk about getting a new computer, the first words that come out of their mouth is....Dell. Dell this, Dell that.

WTF?

I go to buy a new computer 8 months ago and I can't find anything at Dell that meets my needs for under $1200.

Then I go to HP.com and find the almost exact same computer for $800 (2800+AMD, 512K RAM, 128MB Nvidia video card, DVD-R, CD-R/RW)

My HP is pretty damn fast and has never crashed once. Madden 2004 and Knights of the Old Republic run fast as **** and look fantastic.

I go back to Dell.com today and find my same compariable computer that I bought 8 months ago now costs $950, while HP.com sells it now for $615.

WTF?

Why is everybody always up on Dell's nuts? Seems to me that they are just way overpriced.
 
I have a Dell and I absolutely hate it. I will never buy another Dell computer. Oh and also Dell support sucks ***.
 
dell computers in general when you are talking about the low end, under 1000 bucks are pretty weak and hard to upgrade.
but then again hp is probably worse for a comparable machine. dell just allows for a cheap system and the give a lot of rebates so people buy them. anyone who wants a really good system wouldnt get a dell.
 
horn1,

I need more details on the HP and comparable Dell machines. How about the graphics card? how much RAM is on the graphics card? How about included software?

I get some good deals from HP/Compaq through availalbe discounts to me, but even then the configurations are inferior to what you can get with a Dell.

I've had very good experiences with Dell desktops. not good with the one laptop I bought.
 
The computer itself is a commodity. But I think Dell has better front end service for ordering your configuration. If I remember correctly, the Dell site gives a faster ship time as well.
 
as a student, i personally like the price for the system i got for $500. 2.4 pentium 4, 256 RAM, 60 GB, DVD-RW. I originally wanted a sony Vaio, like i had at home, which i loved (but are kind of pricey). I sure as hell wasnt going to get a compaq or hp.
Dell has done an excellent job market to my demographic which is a reason as to why they are "badass".
As for performance, its about what i expected-good but not great.
 
my self built pc (year old) outperforms my dads dell even though the dell has 2x memory and has a faster processor. (i'm judging by graphics/load times)
 
If you wait for the right deal, you can get a P4 2.4 ghz with 15 in LCD for under 500 dollars from Dell... I doubt anyone can even come close to touching that, even home-built.

I'm a "roll your own computer" guy, but Dells have lots of advantages for the average user. Good tech support, fairly decent base components, and best of all, they're pretty damn quiet. Now, their laptops are a different story and are just plain crappy.
 
It is called "resting on their laurels". They used to have the best customer support of any company in existence. Then, suddenly, they outsourced that to India for increased profits and now customer support is a reason to avoid Dell, not a big plus.
 
I am currently typing this message on a Dell Inspiron 5100 and I love it. I've had many different laptops over the last 4 years or so and got this one at the beginning of the year. I have no issues with it at all.

I had a Sony Viao before this and it was great, but not better than this Dell. That and it was about a grand more. I have an HP desktop which I like ok, but I prefer this laptop.
 
dell computers = america online for comp users. If you want to do a little legwork and build your own ****, it's easy, cheap, and you'll blow away a dell. If it's a laptop you want, well, i don't really know **** about that.
 
well dell isnt the total holy grail, but it isnt the horse manure that this thread would have you believe. its a good solid, affordable computer manufacturer for everyone.

i personally was thinking of purchasing either a dell d600, ibm t41, or some kind of toshiba... i eventually went with the IBM though, b/c i found it to be superior to the d600
 
Just go to the hole in the wall computer place down the street and get a custom job, they hardly charge a thing to put it together.
 
I think Dell also doesn't outsource tech support calls from federal, state and local government agencies.
 
dell is good enough for most people so it usually isnt a matter.

as far as building your own system it is damn hard to do it cheaper then dell does nowadays, the parts alone usually ad up to more then dells total price. of course if you build your own it will most likely be better but you have no warranty so the cost can be even more if something fails.

as far as hp/compaq it is almost hilarious how bad those comps can be, might as well get an emachine and save half the price
 
it's cheaper to buy a budget pcs...but consider any sort of an high end pc and a build it yourselfer will save at least 1,000 or more.
 
My whole in the wall computer was warranted for a year, my power supply went out after 3 years, that was the only thing that has happened for the 4 years that I have had it. Time for me to upgrade by the way! If you have your own software as I did its much cheaper for a high end machine.
 
I get a kick out of these threads.

Build your own computer: High end, yes you are going to save money over ANY computer company. You also have to have somewhat of an idea of what you are doing and the time to do it.

HP is losing money pretty much on every personal computer they sell. Dell isn't. Dell can respond to a price change in components faster than any other computer company in the world.

The money is no longer in the PC business and the market is saturated. Dell still views home users as a very valuable customer but it isn't going to be like it was 5-10 years ago. Business, servers, storage, printers are where its at now.

Simple economics.

Tech support is still in India except for business customers.
 
Holy **** ! I recently visited a plant here in Austin that was changing out defective mother boards for over thirty thousand Dell units. You should have seen these units getting opened up like old beer cans and then thrown back together. I thought to myself...man,if the people that eventually buy these found out what they had been through,they would be pissed !
 
My mom is one of those people. She bought a new Dell 3 weeks ago and has already had 3 seperate hard drives and ALL 3 of them have crashed. Dell products are **** in my book at this point.

All of the outsourcing has caused nothing but hassles for my poor mom and she's been reduced to tears several times within the past few weeks being shuffled around to various dept.'s and reps.

After listening in on one conversation with a rep. that lasted for 2 1/2 hours I'm convinced that everyone at that company has their heads buried up their ***.

I offered to drop the piece of crap off in front of Michael Dell's gate but she she said she'd rather do it herself if this keeps happening.

Sorry for the rant, just hate seeing my mom so upset about something that should have worked right the first time.
 
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