[1rudeboy]

I’d love to buy a Dell, but I am unable to navigate its website. (All I want is a laptop with a 1GB graphics card, and the hardware to run it).

[McGruff]

I bought my son a Dell 2 years ago and he hasn't been able to kill it. I'd recommend Dell and the model you quoted sounds about right. Order online and have it shipped right to you. You can also customize the order. I'd get Windows 7 though if I were going to buy a new PC.

[Big Giant Head]

Dells are good machines, if it fits your budget.... Buy it.

Is this the Studio XPS desktop? I’m trying to read up.

[loungitude]

I have had about five Dells over the past five or so years. Quality and service were always very good.

[txnuke]

I recently purchased an Inspiron 545 (CPU is "Yorkfield 8200" which is a quad core 2.33 MHz Intel CPU) with 1 TB hard drive, 16x DVD+/-RW, 8 GB of DDR2 memory, and a ATI 3670 graphics card for $466 dollars (after a discount coupon, 8% tax and free shipping). It came with a keyboard and a mouse, but no monitor. I threw away the modem. It only has 2 USB ports in back and 2 in front. But it has one of those 19-in-1 media card readers and some audio ports in the front, too.

Pretty good deal.

Here is the catch. It was refurbished. I got it from www.outlet.dell.com and it came with only a 90-day warranty. If you want to spend $179 or something on a 3 year warranty, then this is a good way to get a nice computer for a cheap price and still have it covered in case something goes wrong.

Just my opinion. Might work for you.

[toddausauras]

Dell’s have worked fine for me.

[ottbmare]

Three Dells in the family in the past few years. All have died ugly deaths. Tech support is marvelous if you work for a big company that has a business relationship with Dell—then they roll out the red carpet for you with real American tech guys to help!—but if you’re a human, you get treated like scum. Dealing with their tech people was nightmarish. Will never, ever, ever have a Dell again. Three failures out of three is not a good track record.

[republicangel]

I would never buy another Dell. Bought two XPS’s. The first one died within 1 and 1/2 years. Bought another and got the top of the line warranty. The warranty was worthless. Brush up on your non-English speaking skills to talk with their warranty people. They replaced her second one, but not with an XPS. They replaced it with an even bigger piece of crap.
When it was time for me to buy a new one, Toshiba baby.

[GLDNGUN]

I've bought about 5 computers from Dell and have been very happy with every one of them. I really doubt you need an XPS for your basic needs. I do a LOT of computer work, and I usually buy one of their lower-end models, and, again, have never been disappointed. You might look in their "Outlet store" for even better deals.

I am in need of a cheap little "netbook", so I searched all over the 'net, figuring I didn't "have" to have a Dell for this one. I looked at all kinds of refurbs on as many sites as I could find. Where did I end up with the best deal? Dell. Just ordered a netbook for $215. Nobody else could beat that.

[mdittmar]

Typing this on a Dell Dimension 8100 bought in 2001,it’s an antique,but still running.

[Jeff Head]

I have an XPS M1730 notebook with 4GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 at 2.5 GHZ (dual), two nVidia GeForce 8700M GT in SLI, run a High Def 28" wide screen monitor, Bose Companion 5 sound system, and use bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse.

Have had it for 18 months or so. Love it.

No problems.

Desktop is an older XPS 600 and it has worked out equally well for me. Lots of high-end gaming, graphics and video manipulations, etc., on both and have been completely satisfied.

Will probably be getting a new XPS desktop next year.

Here a couple of pics:

[Vendome]

On a Studio 17 right now. Dropped my Sony VAIO and needed a quick computer.

Went to Best Buy to buy the latest VAIO, none in stock.

Asked for something equivalent and took home Dell Studio 17.

I prefer the screen of VAIO but other than that, great computer.

If someone didn’t have the loot for a Sony I would definitely recommend Dell Studio.

[Kirkwood]

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.

[Spacetrucker]

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.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I’d go with Sony instead. It’s the only PC brand that never caused me any serious problems.

[drjulie]

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.

[Lancey Howard]

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.

[Terpfen]

I am not a techie nor am I a gamer . Use the computer for basic stuff .

Then you don't need an XPS. XPS is Dell's high-end line. It's overkill in terms of both specs and pricing, considering that you only want to do "basic stuff." Lower your sights to the Inspiron line, or check out competing models from Asus, the Acer Timeline series, and HP.

Just curious: why did you abandon your investigation into Apple?

[Zman]

Bought a new Dell desktop 1.5 years ago; withing six months the disk crashed (Chinese manufacture), wiping out all files; had that fixed; two months later power supply shorted out. Had that fixed; four months later, motherboard went cablooey.

As you can imagine, I'm done with Dell. Have been using a brand x since, built by local wizard. No problems.

[Zman]

Bought a new Dell desktop 1.5 years ago; withing six months the disk crashed (Chinese manufacture), wiping out all files; had that fixed; two months later power supply shorted out. Had that fixed; four months later, motherboard went cablooey.

As you can imagine, I'm done with Dell. Have been using a brand x since, built by local wizard. No problems.