[W1_hooyah]

"Dell's are the Toyotas of the Computer world. They are reliable and long-lived."

Don't insult Toyota by comparing them with Dell, or any other unreliable PC maker for that matter. I would LOVE to find the "toyota" of computers but it doesn't exist.

I've never been an Apple fan, but I may become one soon. Too many problems with all PC models related to cheap components and miserable old MS software. Computers are too cheap in my opinion, I would be willing to pay more for a manufacturer who used reliable components.

[JohnSmithee]

"Don't insult Toyota by comparing them with Dell, or any other unreliable PC maker for that matter. I would LOVE to find the "toyota" of computers but it doesn't exist."

A few months ago I came across a Toyota with 450K+ miles on it. Hard to believe.

[cinFLA]

Computers are too cheap in my opinion, I would be willing to pay more for a manufacturer who used reliable components.

You can. There are plenty of vendors that provide higher grade PC's - at a price.

[jalisco555]

I've never been an Apple fan, but I may become one soon.

Roger that. I had a Dell laptop that froze on me in the middle of a Powerpoint presentation to 75 people. Dell tech support said that I needed to update the video drivers and BIOS, despite the machine only being 2 months old. Well, the problem continued off and on for another year with no solution despite multiple calls to tech support in Bangalore. Finally the agreed to replace the hard drive (but they only sent me a 4 Gig drive to replace the old 20 Gig version) and RAM and it works OK now.

Anyway, I gave the Dell piece of you-know-what to my son and I got a Mac laptop. Now I'm happy as a clam.

[ZULU]

I've had a Dell at home for seven years and it still runs likie a clock. We only use Dells at work and I haven't had a problem with any of them.

As for the research - check out Consumer Reports - they rate the highest in reliability - just like Toyotas.

Sorry you had bad a bad experience with them.