Posted on 10/31/2009 5:03:19 PM PDT by sushiman
For a variety of reasons I've given up on the switch to Apple and am now considering buying a Dell here in Japan . Never owned any Dell products . If one Google searches one can find a _______( fill in co. name of choice ) SUCKS blogs for every computer company in existence inc. Apple . : ) Need some good advice re: next purchase . I am not a techie nor am I a gamer . Use the computer for basic stuff . The XPS I'm thinking of getting would come with the Intel i5 2.66mhz 8MB ; 6 GB of RAM ; 500 HDD ; 21.5 monitor and NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 1024MB . Would you advise getting Dell Care for 3 years ? Any advice appreciated .
I have a couple hundred Dells in my business. Various types of workstations, desktops and laptops. They are all solid machines. None have ever had an early demise. I especially like the Dell workstation models. However, I find the Dell laptops to be somewhat heavy and so I personally use Sony Vaio laptops. I give high marks to Sony laptops, especially for the video display, but they are often loaded with trial software that needs to be deleted.
Doubt there is an “ outlet “ store in Japan .
I bought a Dell XPS Studio 17 about 6 months ago, and am quite happy with it. They are not the most graphics-heavy laptops in the world, but will suffice for all but the most ardent graphics designers or super-gamers. It seems quite capable of multi-tasking as many as 7 windows at a time (the most I have tasked it with at once). I am a bigger fan of HP products, but this purchase has lightened my opinion of Dell. One thing I was not aware of when I purchased it is that Dell contributes to some not-so-conservative causes - research them yourself so to avoid any misconceptions.
I’d go with Sony instead. It’s the only PC brand that never caused me any serious problems.
In fact I just bouthg a workstation that should be in next week.
Only suggestion I would have is to take the Raid 1 option and mirror your drive. Smoother and easiers than ghosting or backing up individual files.
The worst customer service experience of my life was with dell - tech. support. The fan was making a terrible noise on my lap top and sometimes not working. I knew it was the fan. I called tech. support numerous times. The people barely spoke English and would not take my word that the fan was bad. They kept putting me through these long trouble shooting exercises. I finally got the permission to send it in and they lost it. I did get it back, eventually (several months later). They replaced the motherboard (though I don’t think there was anything wrong with it) and the fan still wasn’t working. I finally hired a local person (paid $200) to find a fan and replace it.
I’m on a Dell right now, and it’s the same Dell that’s been sitting here for at least 6 years. I beat it to death but I can’t kill it. IIRC, I replaced the monitor about 3 years ago with a Samsung. I also added a Western Digital external hard drive for storage purposes (mostly MP3s). I use this thing for work and play. When (if?) it finally dies, I’ll get another Dell.
Good luck.
Thing is , I want Windows 7 Ultimate and they don’t offer it pre-installed on the less expensive models . Need Ultimate for multi-lingual usage .
Best endorsement I've seen for a computer in some time. LOL
As you can imagine, I'm done with Dell. Have been using a brand x since, built by local wizard. No problems.
As you can imagine, I'm done with Dell. Have been using a brand x since, built by local wizard. No problems.
Wife and I were in Kyotot for a couple of weeks last October. Thought we’d look for a good deal on Toshiba laptops and various digital cameras. No such thing I think.
Stay away from Dell, Compaq, and HP unless you are just looking for cheap.
I’ve got a Dell XPS. I’ll let you make your own price/value trade off which I thought was very good.
An intangible is that after a year my HD failed which I suppose is a knock against them. On the other hand, their warranty service was excellent. And in one business day a tech came to my home and replaced the HD. After the replacement HD, I reloaded my OS and went online to download drivers etc. All OK but my wireless didn’t work...I’m an above average computer geek but couldn’t fix it. A quick call to their wireless help group. We spent 2 hours on the phone troubleshooting. It wasn’t obvious. They took control of my ‘puter over the internet and found the problem. A driver had failed to load properly and we had to reinstall. *&%$@#. There is no way I could have solved that on my own. Thanks Dell.
Bottom line I’d get another one.
The Dell website is a piece of cake. Not sure how anyone could have a problem with that website. hmmm? I would check out their low end notebooks and laptops. Just be careful with their desktops. I bought one and fans were so loud I had to return it.
I’m thinking the biggest problem with Dell for us was the laptops. I’ve had Dell desktops at work and they were always good.
I found a good sale on the Toshiba. Many years ago, lol, bought a Toshiba for the oldest daughter when she went off to college. It still works 8 years later, just very slow. She has bought a newer puter since, but she still thinks it is funny that it still works.
I have bought half a dozen over the years...me, the wife, the kids, etc. Never had a problem and when I did, they had great support. If you buy one through their credit dept., though, get ready for a dozen calls on day 31 if you have a late payment...and if you have multiple buys, they open different accounts, so it’s easy to do...I bought the last few cash...watch out for the rebuilt stuff on their web, sometimes they get them back and don’t do a very good re-install and you can get a buggy one and spend a lot of time re-installing the whole thing or sending it back...considering how long they last (I end up giving them to schools or donating them) it’s a good deal pound for pound...I have an XPS sitting next to me, but I do a lot of very heavy graphics work that requires me to open every program I have and importing, exporting and managing 3 websites as well as some other stuff I won’t go into...it is a hog...but I live on it...the $500 desktops with upgraded RAM and a good size flat screen have been great for the kids and my oldest grandson, for everyday work...I give Dell a big thumbs up...if you get a new one, you can still pay a little extra for XPS Pro, which I installed on all of mine...I am waiting for at least two SP’s before changing to 7...
I just can’t figure out a way to compare Dell models efficiently. What do you think I’m doing incorrectly?
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