Dell sucks!

You lost me at "laptop." With that one word, I'd immediately say EVERY manufacturer sucks.

 

Boy, Rob, I have followed almost the exact same pattern with Dell, though I started with a Gateway in 1992. Latest is an XPS from 2009, that still runs great. Bought an Insipron 15 (in the garage) and a Mini 10 (for travel) over the last few years, and the cheapness is really apparent. They are performing okay, but the plastic quality is not what Dell used to be. I think the XPS 17s were the last good ones, but they dropped them when they started the Alienware.

What is the current story with Michael Dell buying back the company?

 

I've got an HP elitebook 8570w that's an absolute beast of a machine. I haven't rebooted in over a month, and then it was only due to software updates. i7, Nvidia Quadro etc. I'm not a fan of the lower end HP stuff but this thing is built like a tank (all aluminum) and very fast for a laptop.

 

A truly wise decision IMESHO....

Cheers,
Ian

 

I have the EXACT same problem with Dell. They're a shell of the company they used to be.

Rewind to about February last year I ordered a new laptop from them. It was a busy time for me and it took me a few weeks to even open the box. After I did, I wanted to give Windows 8 a chance. A few weeks of that and I realized how bad Wuin* is so I called customer service. They couldn't help me at all.

A couple weeks ago they emailed me a customer satisfaction survey. I blasted them and told them they made me an Apple customer. It's sad on 2 parts. First, it's sad that Dell's customer service is nonexistent. And secondly, Microsoft really dumped a load on all resellers with Win8. You have to think that MS offered concessions to resellers like Dell.
The Apples are at least double the money of a comparable Dell but if they work without all the headaches they are worth it.

One tip--ask for a tech support person in the US. Tell him that you've had the computer rebuilt and it is still not right. They'll send you a new one. Or at least they used to.

 

Different priorities. I have no reason for a computer to be mobile. Laptops get really clunky when you try to connect 16 or more USB devices to them. Why use a crappy built in keyboard of a laptop when you can have a keyboard with few or no compromises? Why be stuck with a 17" or maybe 21" display? Why have a battery/power supply that you know is going to crap out in 2 years or less?

 

I had one with video issues, and they tried to resolve it over the phone. He then asked if I had some small screwdrivers to open up the case and re-seat some circuit boards. I told him I was incapable of that kind of technical work. Sure I could do it, but it was still under warranty, and I am not an authorized tech. After some back and forth, they sent a new one with a box to send the old one back. If they do not receive the old one in 60 days, they bill you for the new one.

 

This is disheartening. I was looking to go back to Dell...I wanted to use one of the larger
touch enabled units...maybe an XPS 27. This has put me off of it. Back to MAC.

 

Here at work we are standardized on Dell. Desktops and laptops. Honestly, we have very good luck overall. We still buy the 3yr onsite warranty, and occasionally use it, but overall they've been great. But the nicest laptops I've used were IBM Thinkpad's, now bought out by Lenovo.

 

You should definitely get a Macbook Pro, but the reason to do it is the user experience. MBPs have had their share of hardware problems, most notably GPU meltdowns on '07/'08 models (and possibly '11s, too).

 

call me old fashioned, but I love a desktop. it has the fewest compromises, especially if you don't travel or do the "third place" coffee shop office thing.

but I do agree with Dell, they lost the plot mid-00's.

 

I just checked yesterday and we have at work a little over 5,400 Dell computers currently running on our network. About 250 Macs and ~500 iPads. The Dells are mainly desktops and a couple hundred laptops. We buy 4 year warranties and they are pretty good about fixing hardware problems. I have my Dell warranty certification and can order replacement parts online and they do overnight delivery. I can also request a Dell technician to fix the computer if needed. We moved away from Gateway about ten years ago because their quality declined. We still use a lot of HP stuff in our server room.

My impression is that Dell is focusing less and less on home users and more on business, government, and education. I own a Macbook, iPad and iPhone, but I will never embrace Apple until they start putting at least a dual mouse button on their laptops!

 

One finger is left-click. Two fingers is right-click. No buttons. The whole track pad is your button. Click anywhere.

 

Bought a 26" dell monitor and have barely had it over a year. It has not been used even 40 hrs a week. The bottom half stopped displaying clearly. Their stuff is junk.

 

We have only purchased Lenovo laptops for some time. (Other than a few macbook airs) They seem to be very durable and the performance is very good. I use a Thinkpad W530 for my office and travelling. I have a docking station at work that drives 3 24" monitors. I had the previous model W520 but it would only support 2 external monitors connected to the docking station. I have had this current one for about a year with 2 500GB SSD drives and 12G of RAM. I use VmWare workstation and keep several VM's on the second SSD and the performance there is also very good. It supports up to 32G of Ram but so far I have not needed any more.

 

I've had some experience with all this and my conclusion is that Dell does make some reliable machines however in this age of extreme competition, all manufacturers who compete on price are under a lot of pressure to optimize cost vs. value while at the same time constantly tweaking features, parts sourcing, etc. and this has resulted in hit-or-miss reliability problems depending on the model/revision.

When I bought my last laptop in 2010 I looked at Dell and found via reviews that a lot of people were having problems while others were not (and yes, I agree Dell has gone downhill in terms of quality over the last decade) so your experience will depend a lot on which specific model/revision you end up with.

That being said, my HP DV7 bought at Costco has been dead on reliable for 3.5 years now. It has blu ray, HD screen, numeric keypad, lots of ports, good battery life and has been my primary machine 8-12 hours a day the whole time. There's a newer version now called an Envy that looks even more like a Macbook and has a backlit keyboard and touch-screen that I'd love to have, but my current machine is so good and problem-free I can't justify switching.

On a side note, Costco includes a great two-year Concierge service for anything that goes wrong during that time. I had a problem with the screen going haywire and after spending a very generous amount of time on the phone troubleshooting the situation with a very knowledgeable and helpful representative they shipped me a pre-paid, empty overnight box in one day and had the machine back to me, fixed in less than a week. The problem was a loose ribbon cable, and while they were in there they replaced the fan. Note: this this seamless experience is one reason why I still maintain my experience to be problem-free -- that and everything else about my particular machine has been way above average. So caveat emptor, but for me HP+Costco has been great.

 

don't do it. I have the xps 27 and while the best dell I have had for a while, after 15+ years of PC's, mostly dell's, who will always hold a special place in my heart, I've had enough. Picked up a imac a couple months ago and while I'm using them both, I'm gradually phasing out the dell as I need the time to learn the new system. So far, MUCH less problems with the mac.

Very sad to see the way Dell has gone over the years.

 

I never liked Dell's, never liked the way/sound they booted up. I never owned one but used some. As for Apple, over-priced, over-hyped average stuff. I had one years ago back when windows still made you load device drivers and such, but those days are gone.

The best solution I have found is my Lenovo 540 All-in-One. Very neat space saving design that does not look like a desktop, has a big screen, but a full keyboard and mouse. Fantastic product. And for mobile stuff I have the lumia 1020, if I learn how all that works.


http://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/9008/9008191_sa.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500

 

That looks like a great machine. I'd snap one up in a heartbeat for my mother if somebody had it available with Win7. I just think at this point, Win8 would be too frustrating for her.

 

Yeah I am not a big fan of windows 8, but I guess they made it, "8", for touch screen devices, which the Lenovo comes in. I have the non-touch screen version, but maybe the touch screen version would be easy for your mother.

 

i have over 20 pc's in my office network.
we only buy hp's.
dell computers are no better than gateway, imho.

 

I've suffered with a Dell/Alienware laptop for 5 years now. It's especially painful because it was expensive and touted as exceptional when it came out. It is not

 

MacBook Pro - Buy MacBook Pro with Retina display - Apple Store (U.S.)

Cheers!