As I mentioned in another thread, I am looking at the possibility of buying a new computer.
I’ve had my share of HP and since they merged with Compaq, I’ll take a pass on them, too.
That doesn’t leave much to choose from. I’ve horror stories about Gateway AND Dell, but more about Gateway.
I’d like to be able to edit and create video, so I’ll need something fast. I already have a DVD burner (which I just fixed, woo hoo!) so I’ll need a high end video capture system with video out and lots of memory.
Dell looks like the front runner right now, but reviews I have read don’t seem to be very helpful.
I support about 600 PCs of varying ages and capabilities for a Government agency. Our Compaqs are a nightmare, the old HPs are bullet-proof, but our favorite is Dell, at least the commerical Optiplex and Latitude lines. Online documentation is the best and business support, at least, is knowledgable and helpful. (Retail support may be more problematical if the call ends up offshore).
People are quick to tell me their computer stories and I haven’t heard anything bad about Dell Demensions. I bought my daughter one of the $499 specials about a year ago, and after I added some memory, it has been a fine machine. It was a dog at 128 MB. Don’t know anything about Gateways, but some posters on the boards have painted some gloomy pictures about the company from the inside.
All Dell does is get a bunch of parts from other companies such as Intel and a few others and assemble them. They are just a final assembly point. Gateway is the same.
These days most PC companies are probably just final assembly points. The Dells I have used have an OK reliability.
I’ve got a Dell and it’s the absolute worst piece of crap that I could have bought. The damn thing came and wouldn’t work, long wait for tech support and the dude got pissed off because he couldn’t figure out what was going on. I hung up, opened the damn thing and found that my heat sink was dislodged. I couldnt’ for the life of me figure out how to replace it (maybe I’m the idiot) and the next tech support goofus started berating me because I didn’t see what he saw. I asked him to email me the page he was looking at and…he tried sending something from his super-secret proprietary helpdesk page, so I couldn’t find the freakin’ thing. I did manage to find out on the user help desk what the thing should have looked like and…it was a completely different part!
After I figured that out, the freakin’ DVD player didn’t work. Two technicians, four trips and a nearly entirely new computer later, they realized that they had connected something they weren’t supposed to (I dunno how that works).
And! And! A month after the warranty was up, the freakin’ hard drive busted.
Needless to say, after getting shuffled around retarted offshore tech support, I’ve learned how to fix the damn thing on my own.
My brother and sister both got Dells and those things got fucked up right away (I’ll blame it on them though, they did some pretty odd things with the computers).
To be fair, my dad’s had one for years and no problems and a friend bought one the same week I did and the only thing that’s happened to his was that the hard drive busted…a month or two after the warranty expired. My computer is now almost three years old and after I put the new hard drive in and reloaded Windows (fuck all that crap Dell throws in for no reason, I’m running stripped-down as all hell), I haven’t had a problem.
I’ve been happy with my Dells (an Inspiron laptop maybe 3-4 years old & a Dimension desktop). I haven’t used enough computers to say how it stacks up against others, though. I have the desktop tweaked for midi, virtual synths, and digital recording. I boot up, start up the programs and start making music, so it’s good in that regard. However, I think I could have done better for myself if I had gotten a system more geared towards music production rather than a general purpose machine, which the Dell is. I don’t know how much horsepower you need for video editing, but I imagine quite a bit. So depending on how serious you are about it, you might want to frequent whatever video editing message boards that are out there and see what those people are using before buying. It may turn out there’s a Dell out there that’s just fine for what you want to do.
I have two dells now, a desktop and a laptop. Both are great computers. The laptop is a replacement on my first dell.(Note: computers don’t work so well after they go flying through windshields.) My aunt has the same. Tech support, the few times I’ve had to call them, have been basically helpful, but as others have said, quality went down a bit when calls started getting transferred overseas.
Gateway… Oh how I loathe Gateway. My sister has one. It is an evil peace of machinery. Granted she probably does sinister things to it, but that computer has had to have a fan replaced almost right out the box, the dialup modem has never worked right(My sister decided to blame it on AOhell, but it was the demon computer). Their tech support was surly and the managers even worse. I don’t like Gateway.
-Lil
Last I heard, Dell was still using systems with the ATX power connector rearranged slightly, so that if you used a non-Dell power supply with a Dell motherboard, or non-Dell motherboard with a Dell power supply, both components were fried. IIRC, they switched a ground pin and a +12V pin while keeping the connectors mechanically compatible. I guess this isn’t really a serious issue for most people, but I don’t like proprietary parts as a matter of principle.
I would say your best bet is to get a system custom built, either from a local geek or an independent computer store. You’ll get a faster system for your money (since it’s tailored to your needs) and can choose to get top quality parts if reliability is important to you.
I hate my dell with a passion. Dell Latitude. The company assigned it to me without a choice. The footprint is too big, and it’s too heavy. Moreover, the damn mouse pad has been replaced 3 times now. Try working with a cursor that just zooms across the screen. It crashes several times per day, and replacing the motherboard has not helped. I’ve also had the cover plate crack and replaced (it cracked not owing to being dropped or abuse). The fucking battery is good for 2 - 2.5 hours.
I’m on my second Dell laptop (we get new ones every 3 years). In 4 years of lugging these things all over hell and gone I have had exactly one hardware problem. My screen died.
It took two days for the tech to arrive and 20 minutes for him to fix it.
My home desktop is now about 4 years old, no problems. I did call support over some software issues, and it was handled with that one call.
Am I happy with my results?
Yes
Would I buy another?
Yes.
Are they the best you can buy?
Probably not
Are they price competive?
Yes, very
Can you do a Burger King and get it your way?
You bet
Personally, since I started building my own computers, I have never looked back. Pre built boxes are such a pain in the ass to upgrade and fix, plus I can get more for my money building my own. But I understand that not everyone has the time or patience for that.
I’d say based on my experiences fixing computers for friends that Dell and HP are the best bets. For the love of God, never buy an E-Machine, they are the worst pieces of crap on the market. Be sure to get plenty of RAM for your video editing needs and I recommend getting a REAL Windows disk (assuming that’s your OS of choice) instead of the ones that come bundled with a ton of useless crap.
I HATE Dell with the fiery burning passion of ten thousand hells. I had an Inspiron laptop (actually still have it, it’s in the corner collecting dust.) It was the most unreliable piece of crap it’s ever been my misfortune to own. And tech support was totally unhelpful and downright rude. It turned out that the model I bought had a “known issue” with Windows 98 2e, the operating system that it came shipped with. Tech support told me that I could put on a different OS to solve the “known issue” (god forbid they use the word “problem”) but doing so would void the warranty!! They offered no other help or solutions and going thru several levels of management did no good at all. Finally I replaced it with a Toshiba laptop and I love it.
I also for a really long time had a Gateway desktop computer, which was terrific. It never gave me a day’s trouble (okay, maybe one day, but that’s all). Can’t comment on their tech support because I never had to call them!! Finally after around 5 years it became obsolete and just this Xmas we replaced it with a home-built machine.
In sum, I have nothing but good things to say about Gateway and nothing but bad things to say about Dell. YMMV, of course.
Eh, they all have problems of one sort or another, but here is my experience for what it’s worth.
DELL: I run a department that has about 15 Dell computers installed by our IS department. The damn things are noisy; the fan vibrates the case. The keyboards have sticking problems new from the box. The USB ports are behind a door that you have to lift up and grope around inside.
The most annoying feature is that all the drive bays are recessed to the point where you can’t see which drive to stick the disk in (I’m assuming this is supposed to give the thing some exotic look). The case is black, so you can’t see the symbol etched on the case. I had to make labels so I can tell whether I’m using the CD, CDR, Zip, or floppy. The whole office hates these things.
GATEWAY: I’m on my second Gateway at home, and we had three versions of Gateway at work before they switched to Dell (low bid contract). I have had ZERO problems with these computers. My Pentium IV runs like greased goose shit, the USB ports are right where you can see them, and the best feature is that it takes about one whole minute to swap out or install a new drive. The side unlatches and everything is right in front of you. The flat screen monitor is excellent, and I’m running two printers and a scanner off various ports.
I’ve had two Dells and one custom Frankenputer. The Dells I plug in and run them 24/7 for years; pretty much the only time I reboot is when the cable modem drops connection. Did have one problem with the HD when I did an upgrade to XP rather than a complete wipe and reinstall, but once I did a wipe and reinstall all seemed well. The new Dells have an easy access case and adding new HDs and hardware is a breeze. Dells are usually a couple hundred cheaper than comparable Gateways, and you have a lot of flexibility as to processor/memory/video card/etc. No problem with getting rebates in my experience. I run processor-intensive graphics programs and work with over 100mg files and it runs well, although the 1 gig of memory may have more to do with that than the computer brand.
I’m reading this on my new Dell laptop, and I’m pretty happy with it. It came quickly, and everything worked just as it should. At this point in my experience, yes, I’d buy another Dell when the time came.
Of course, nothing has gone wrong with it, so I can’t say anything about their customer service, and a bad experience there would certainly make me change my mind.
My cousin has a Dell and came to a family dinner raving about their service- she said that when hers broke, they were very helpful and prompt and she was delighted with the service.
About the mouse, you could get an external mouse. Then disable the built in mouse from device manager to end your mouse troubles. It’s a real simple proccess to disable a device. I could walk you through it if you want me too.
My mom had the same problems with her Dell that Chairman Pow has had, as far as I can remember (I wasn’t living at home then, but I got caught up after it happened).
Out of the box, keyboard didn’t work. After several days of trying to get through to someone, they said they’d send out a new keyboard. A week later, got one. Didn’t work. Repeat. FINALLY got one that worked. This is about a month after getting the computer - they haven’t been able to use it all this time.
At some point, the motherboard fried (I don’t have details as to how/why).
Some other things happened after I moved across the country.
It’s now sitting on the computer desk next to my mom’s new HP (no problems so far), collecting dust. It won’t even turn on now. She got it, oh, 3 years ago.
But since I lived in Round Rock (5 minute walk from where Mr. Dell worked - when he actually came to work), I hate Dell for some irrational reason. Maybe cause they treated so many of my friends who worked there like shit. Dunno.
I own an eMachine. Never had any problems with it. But I have really good luck with not having computer problems (my first comp - a 133 running Win95 [sorry, I forget who made it - I took the shell off it] never crashed until the fan started stalling [thus the lack of shell - I hafta kick start the fan]).
I basically just buy whatever fits my needs and price range and hope it doesn’t crash. Hasn’t yet.