Computer choices

Does anyone have any negative comments to make about Dell computers? I've
been using Tri-CAD computers custom built by Tri-Star. I'm looking for
something dependable, without overspending. All serious recommendations are
appreciated. Thanks.

Rocky

www.dzynsource.com

 

You might find a few comments on the newsgroup about Dell. The biggest
drawback right now is simply that the fastest Dell's you can buy are
quite a bit slower than state of the art and will quickly outlive their
usefullness if and when 64 bit goes mainstream.

For example here is a recent posting by someone who acquired a fairly
state of the art Dell for about $6,000 a piece and the response by an
AMD64 equipped user at $4,500 a piece:

Dell Xeon Precision 670 single processor
3.6GHz Intel
4.0 gig RAM
nVidia Quadro 4400 (256 meg RAM) PCI Express
Western Digital SATA Raptor drive

Windows XP pro SP2
SW2005 SP3
Ship in a bottle

33.19 sec with edges turned off

34.22
34.75
35.75 sec with edges turned on

and here is the response from another user:

You need an upgrade.

28 s

18 s if I use fast setting in Image Properties.

We have equivalent hardware but for the CPU.

 

Dell's customer service sucks that's for sure. My last computer I
bought was almost a Dell until the sales department put me on hold and
went home. I'm not kidding. Then when I called a day later I had to
wait and wait and wait so I sent them an email asking them to contact
me because I wanted to give them my money.

I got a form letter email saying something like "Dell strives to
provide the highest level of blah blah blah."

So I sent a second email to a different email address and guess what? I
got the exact same form email response!

I bought a Eurocom ultimately www.eurocom.com. These guys were way
better, fast response, awesome computer and WAY better service.

I also have a colleague who had nightmarish problems getting his Dell
laptop fixed. It showed up with the CD drive non-functional. His first
attempt at getting it fixed was an hour on the phone with some woman in
India who had no idea how to help him, he finally gave up. It took a
few days but after enough emails and phone calls someone from Dell
fixed his computer. It shouldn't be that painful.

 

Many thanks for your insights. I also have a friend who recommended
building my own computer, using 64-bit technology. It sounds like AMD will
be a better choice for the processor.

Thanks again.

 

I bought a Eurocom ultimately www.eurocom.com. These guys were way

Do these guys above specialize in laptops only?

 

See an earlier thread called "Portable Workstations (laptops on
steroids)" for a discussion about laptops. The Eurocom was by far the
most expensive of the lot.

 

I think they only do laptops. I bought a D900T fully loaded with the
Nvidia Quadro card they offer. As Matt said they are expensive but holy
cow does that computer cook, it's really fast.

Like I said before, Eurocom's service was pretty good too. The computer
is well built and the display is amazing.

I could have spent less buying from Dell but I also believe you
typically get what you pay for. I'm still waiting for Dell to get back
to me on my computer purchase!

 

Here is the reply from one of our IT guys after I forwarded this email to
him.

Well, over all Dell does a good job. If you buy a Precision you can only get
an nVidia 440 with 512 Mb memory (not 256). You could save $700 by choosing
a 256 Mb nVidia 3400. If you are going to get 4 Gb RAM then get a 64 bit
processor, that way you can actually access all the RAM.

I just priced a Dell with the specs listed below for $5000, I priced an
identical system with Tri-star for over $6000? I guess you can save a bundle
with an AMD.

Pros for Dell:
Highly customizable
High quality components
Drivers for Windows XP 64 will work with Dell computers long before custom
setups Cheap Descent support - 3 yr warranty included Dependable - 98% of
our 40+ Precisions are still running great. 70% were bought over 4 yrs ago.
Usually delivered in less than a week.

Cons for Dell:
AMD not offered
Tech support offshore

WT