The only thing I’ve never upgraded on a dell system is the power supply and motherboard/CPU. I’ve had zero problems with any other upgrade.
Anecdotal evidence, FTW.
I’m surprised sites like www.newegg.com and www.tigerdirect.com didn’t have better deals. They have lots of systems, most of which are designed to be upgraded/work with standard componants, and have good prices, more specs listed than you could possibly want, and a good customer review system.
I’ve had horrible experiences with both Best Buy and Dell. I haven’t bought from either of them in about three years and have no plans to do so. But of course YMMV
I checked. They weren’t even close. Yes, I was surprised.
tacoloco, CandidGamera, xtisme, BigT: My previous experience with Dell was Made of Awesome. Their machines had no huge messes, they were designed to be rugged and easily repaired. Thus, while I’ve heard some bad things nowadays, I was still inclined to give them some credit. Plus the problems I heard about were more with laptops, not desktops.
However, It was indeed their corporate/education side. I definitely didn’t know Dell crippled things on the consumer side, and their business models didn’t have this level of dick move. I also checked. There might be a power supply from Dellhich would fit… but my check using a metal ruler tells me it’s too large. In fact, Dell is mostly selling power supplies exactly like the ones down at the local store which don’t fit, so I’ve pretty much given up on them.
Right now, I’ve taken back the power supply. There was no seal and Best Buy apparently doesn’t care as long as its within the return period anyway, so I will return the computer tommorow. They’ve tried to offer to “satisfy” me (which took on a whole new meaning coming from a cute-but-bored-looking girl), but I really doubt I can find a comparable machine for the same money.
Anyway, I am off to box this sucker back up, making this my first and last post from this computer.
FWIW, perhaps?
It looks like Dell’s nonstandard component days may be mostly behind them, according to Wikipedia. Dell - Wikipedia - so perhaps my view of their reputation is out of date.
All Dell’s are underpowered. Every single one. Just assume when you buy one that you will need to factor in a $100- 200 to buy a usable power supply. I have never had one that was hard to upgrade though.
I mostly can’t disagree with that. My E520 has a 305w power supply so I had to either upgrade the main supply or add a dedicated one for the video card. I opted for the latter, as it less work to do.
It isn’t as if Dell doesn’t have competition.
I understand the desire to buy from a physical brick and mortar store, but I have bought my last three computers online and never intend to EVER enter Best Buy again except to buy a new keyboard or something like that.
I may have missed the thread where you detailed you desired specs. Might you repost them, or provide a link?
Thanks.
Another Dell hater here. My last two experiences with them have both been poor. I don’t have any experience with Best Buy (or minimal anyway.)
The Dells, Gateways, and eMachines of the world don’t use name brand components for many slots in their machines. They go to China and start taking bids on 10 million hard drives, ram sticks, power supplies and Blu-ray players. It’s cheaper that way, and you often get what you pay for.
New Egg and Tiger Direct are usually using name brand. That costs more.
Yep, computers are now commodity items. Volume and low cost win out over usefulness.
I never posted them. I was looking ideally for a 3.0 ghz system with 8 GB RAM and a 1Tb drive. CD burner needed, DVD optional and a PCIx16 slot. But it was more a case of “how much can I afford”.
It’s a Dell, dude.
And it is done. The Computer is gone.
While there, saw the customer service returns girl blatantly lie to the customer and claim it was federal law which prevented them from offering returns on opened software.
Hell, my roommate works at BB and he won’t even buy a computer there…then again, he’s an enthusiast building his own awesome gaming rig, but still…
This is what I bought.
I just replaced my Dell power supply (it lasted 2.5 years, which is a little surprising). I bought a 500W, Active PFC, 80Plus certified, modular power supply and ended up paying around $50.
Now if you’re trying to turn a Dell into a high-end gaming machine, then you might need a $150 power supply to go with your $500 graphics card. But I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be building your own computer at that point. And you’re not going to convince me that paying that much for a graphics card is worth it, either.
Me either.
Frankly, I really don’t need anyone’s advice at this point, because you’re not helping. At all. I know exactly what I want and why and don’t really need your input, particularly seeing as you apparently haven’t read some of the other threads I’ve created. I wasn’t even trying to build a “high-end gaming machine.” I was trying to build a good one. I needed nothing more than slightly better power supply, not a mighty one, and either one wouldn’t fit in the case in any case.
You may actually have lucked out in not being able to fit your power supply in the case. I don’t know that they do this anymore, but Dell used to use nonstandard pinouts for the motherboard power connectors. A standard power supply’s connector would fit, but would fry the motherboard when it was switched on.
They stopped that like 10 years ago.