Dell computers

ajdroidx · January 24th, 2012, 02:01 PM

Just wondering if anyone here uses dell computers or have used them before. At home or work. I am thinking of getting an inspiron series for my mom who is no power user. She mostly wants to do some web surfing, some DVD movie watching and light photo archiving and editing. Perhaps some light DVD authoring say burning her canon s95 clips to DVD to watch on TV. If nothing else I can load the clips to my PC and do the cutting and splicing.

Anyway what I really want to know is if Dell is worth it. I do know that some of the laptops are expensive for their quality.

Just want to hear from those users of Dell's computers not what you have read on the net or what your friends sisters brothers son has said

I know there are better laptops for the money out there, that's not my question here.

use (or have used one before) a Dell? Please share your thoughts.

Thanks

TxGoat · January 24th, 2012, 03:02 PM

I buy computers for my company and if you're buying computers for more than 20 or so people then I have no problem recommending Dells since they work well with large account holders and enterprise. If you're buying just 1 computer for personal use then there's no way I'd recommend Dell. If Dell provided the same level of customer support for their retail customers as they do for their corporate customers then one could MAYBE qualify paying their bloated prices, but considering you're given poor customer support after the sale, I'd say you have better options out there.

If I was in the market for a laptop, I'd probably take a look at the Acer Timeline series. They have a certain elegance to them and while I wouldn't say they have exceptional build quality, I'd say they're better than brands like Compaq and probably just as good as Dells without breaking the bank.

Oh and if you ever want to test my recommendation about Dell, call their 800 number as a home user and then a corporate user. 1 (866) 400 1331

SUroot · January 25th, 2012, 01:28 AM

Dells pro support is brilliant for an enterprise solution and the latitude series are a good, robust machine.

I would not necessarily recommend a dell consumer machine though. They're ok, I had an inspiron for 3 years until I was burgled. It worked well but it had the old dell hinge seize problem which lead to other structural and aesthetic issues.

The internal hardware was actually really solid and the newer insurance replacement laptop of a similar spec was nowhere near as good (toshiba)

Dell enterprise laptops are expensive at the high end but you see where the cost goes. As much as I love dell, I wouldn't have a consumer one again as I see less value for money.

I'd probably get an acer. That said, I have ventured into enterprise level computing for my home use so actually I'm a dell latitude man now

Edit> what he said ^^

NYCHitman1 · January 25th, 2012, 08:32 AM

Like everyone has stated, great for enterprise solutions, but poor for personal solutions. MSi has some nice rigs/laptops. Acer/Lenovo are also very reliable companies for simple builds too.

ajdroidx · January 25th, 2012, 11:42 AM

Thanks for the info.

I hit up amazon and found an i5 Acer that looks like it would be very nice albeit a bit over kill but its about 65 bucks more then the i3 version at a lower price then the Dell

entrecon · January 30th, 2012, 08:46 PM

We run Dells in our shop too with very little trouble. I have a gateway at home. I think a computer is a computer. If you get a bad part swap it out.

Remeniz · January 31st, 2012, 04:25 AM

I'd check out the second hand market for refurbished units. They won't be new and could be a few years old but you'll get the Pro equipment; hi end Dell's and HP's.

I've just picked up a Lenovo T61 for less than £200. Core 2 Duo T7300 with 2gb ram. Runs my audio apps fine and does everything else easily.

linuxrich · January 31st, 2012, 05:45 AM

IMHO, based on what I use at home, you can't go far wrong with a Dell or HP machine if you can pick one up at a reasonable price.

lennydude · January 31st, 2012, 06:37 AM

I will throw in my 2 cents............... i am typing this on a year old Dell i7 15.6" laptop that is hooked up to a Dell 24" monitor. Have had absolutely zero issues with this setup so far. Hope i do not jinx myself.........lol.
Prior to this i used a Dell refurb desktop and sold it to my buddies mom. Still going strong.
I have however not used any type of warranty so can not speak to that part of this issue?

TxGoat · January 31st, 2012, 03:43 PM

Take a look at the acer timeline-x as they built it to be a more "cost effective" (cheaper, but they don't like that terminology) alternative to the MacBook air.

saywat? · February 3rd, 2012, 07:20 PM

i love dells (business laptops) . i have a old lat c640 with win7 and it refuses to ever die . my laptops atleast 12 years old lol still going strong

SUroot · February 4th, 2012, 07:05 PM

Ah I remember the c series.

ajdroidx · February 4th, 2012, 09:12 PM

After doing some more poking around, I think I may just get my mom a Mac Mini. I was going to try a Linux distro on a live CD for her but could not get it to work. The laptop she is on now is only 1.6ghz CPU Single core with a max out 2gig of ram. No wonder the live CD would not work.

I think the Mac mini would work. Plan on hooking it up to the HDTV out in the front room. Its got some power for its money. The software that comes with it she can actually use (ilife)

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