I am going to be upgrading my office’s computers. We now have a mishmash of makes, models, operating systems, software versions, etc. It’s a real mess. I want to get everyone on the same equipment. We are likely going to go with either Dell, because we have had good experience with them in the past; or Compaq, because our outside computer firm specializes in Compaqs. Do any of you tech types have opinions on which company, overall, is “better”?
Most of our computers currently have no more than a 200 mHz processor (some with only 166), 32 or 64 MB RAM. My basic requirements are for everyone to have a lot faster processor (how fast should I look for?) and 128 MB RAM.
Right now everyone either has Windows 95 or 98; everyone will go to either 98 or 2000. We are on Office 97 Professional and will either stay with that or move up to Office 2000. We already are using Outlook 2000. Everyone will also need to have IE, Netscape, WinZip, Acrobat, Quicken Expensables, Visioneer Paperport, and McAfee VirusScan. Some people will also have other job-specific software such as AccPac, CCH, Microsoft Money, PhotoShop, Palm Pilot, etc. – I don’t know if these facts would change anyone’s opinion about which hardware brand is better but just in case I thought I should mention everything. Also, we are on Windows NT 4.0 for our network, Microsoft Exchange for the e-mail server, and HP for printers.
So, any opinions right off the bat? Anyone hate one or the other brand? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Compaq vs. Dell: Get Dell. Compaq likes to customize lots and lots of the innards, and Dell tends to be more generic, which is good. I work at a major software company, and the most difficult systems to get our software to work on are Compaqs. We have a dedicated test lab, and they’re ALWAYS bitching about the Compaqs. If you’re going to have problems with software compatibility, it’ll show up the Compaq, guaranteed.
Dells, on the other hand, are the workhorse computers on everyone’s desk. I’m using a Dell as I type right now.
As far as processor speed, get as speedy as you can afford, because in 1-2 years it’ll seem slow no matter what you buy. I’ve got dual Pentium II 500’s on my machine, and let me tell you how slow it seems at times. A year ago it was the speediest thing I could imagine.
Athena has it right, I’d just add that no matter what you decide as far as purchasing new computers in life, never choose a compaq, they’re all around techie problems. Propietary internal components make it virtually impossible to upgrade yourself, and IMO, theyr’e too cheap to care about their products or customer service. Dell on the other hand, from my experience, gives amazing customer service, and the PC’s are easily customizable and upgradable.
Another vote for Dell, here. Compaq’s have been decreasing in quality for the past several years. They’ve sort of become the new Packard Bells, which is not good.
Yet another vote for Dell. Compaq used to be a popular corporate player, but the desktop quality seems to have declined over the past five years, and the innovation that was once Compaq’s forte has lessened as other vendors and off-the-shelf components have caught up. When it comes to servers though, Compaq still has it going on pretty well with their rackmount systems. My experience with Dells in the office has been that they’re fast, reliable, and come with excellent corporate customer tech support, though that could vary with how large the account is. For laptop systems, Dell has made great strides over the last few years, and has some excellent offerings. I still prefer the IBM ThinkPads though, but that’s just a personal preference.
I previously was lead support in a Compaq-only company. They’re good machines most of the time; Compaq occasionally cranks out whole productions runs of lemons, and that’s a nightmare when you’re directly supporting hundreds or thousands of desktops. The PC’s components, however, are either proprietary or third-party that must be Compaq-authorized.
I’d rate their support for corporate customers as excellent; it’s their support of non-corporate customers that’s horrible. Some of our employees bought Compaq home PCs because they had Compaq on the office desk; they regretted having done so. Compaq definitely stiffs the civilians.
I’ve worked briefly in Dell-only houses and Gateway-only houses, and it struck me that the Compaqs had only marginally higher rates of compatibility problems than the other brands. It may be that at the Compaq house we stuck with consistent software arrangements.
But the Compaqs definitely are picky about what h/w you put into 'em.
Compaq utilises more and more proprietary software each day. Soon they’ll be the kind of company that if you need a new hard drive, you might as well cash in the enitre unit, besides the monitor, because everything will be linked together.
Compaq is also so cheap as to not shield their speakers in the laptops so you get lovely speaker noise from radio interference or magnets.
Dell isn’t much better, but they’re still not that bad.
Wow - talk about fast customer service! Thanks SO much for your speedy responses. I kind of thought that Dell would be better, but hardware’s not really my thing and I really needed to get some knowledgeable opinions.
Necros, not at all biased, are you?
Anyone who wanders in now, I’m still looking for more opinions so keep on posting. Thanks again!
Sounds like you’ve already come to a decision, but allow me to reinforce it: Dell. The sharpest tech support guy I ever talked to on the phone was a Dell employee; evidently, they really know their stuff.
Compaq has a long history of using non-standard parts, all the way down to the screws (tech persons who remember the “star” screws, raise your hands). They’re just…ick. A computer guy’s nightmare. And, as was said before, they’re putting lots of highly-customized software on their machines these days, to drive crap like the keyboard buttons that open your browser and such. In my book, those custom additions are just more things that can go wrong. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Dell, in general, is better, especially in the components that are most important: Hardware and Driver support. Compaq has horrible, obscurely named little zip files on their site for collecting install info, tech specs, and drivers. A real PITA to find what you’re looking for.
With both companies, go for the mid-range, full sized, models: They both have some fancy small-footprint designs that look great but have the majority of components on the back-plane, and/or require specialized (expensive) low-profile parts.
One quible: Some Dell laptops are rather painfull to deal with. Stick to the ‘Latitude’ line if you’re going after Dell Laptops. Compaq laptops are a first-rate b!tch if you’re loading NT.
I’m not a techie, but I use a Compaq Presario computer at home and a Dell OptiPlex GX1 at work.
The Compaq has crashed a few times since I bought it over 3 years ago. The Dell, which is just a little over a year old, crashes almost daily. It is slow; I have to reboot the thing at least 2 or 3 times a day when it “freezes.” Tech support at work says it’s just the way the computers are. It really sucks when I’m in a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet, and I get the dreaded blue screen and fatal error message. Using Access is also a pain.
Why not try a smaller, local computer assembly company. They usually don’t want to risk losing you as a customer and go all out. Also, they can use the most reliable parts.
Dell and Compaq both have contracts with parts manufacturers to try and keep costs lower. That means you could save 5-10$, but because of their volume thay save hundreds of thousands. For that 10$, you could have gotten a better modem, or network card. Independant companies do not have these kind of contracts, and will tell you "Well, this one costs 5$ more, but I never receive any complaints or have to service this card.
The small company is also more personalised, and if your company is looking to give them a bit of business, they really go all out.
I don’t know if you still need the input - but we had a compaq and had a lot of trouble with it freezing up to where all you could do was to turn it off and back on again.
Our Dell was fine until the power supply fried out.
Now we’ve got the kind that you have put together at the computer place - you tell them what you want and they assemble it.
Previously Zeos computers, I have to admit a strong fondness for Micron’s machines. They may not always been the fastest thing on the block, but the one’s I’ve had have been darn near bulletproof.
To give you an idea of the environment I put them in. I’m a cat owner. Before I became serperated, the number of felines that were sharing my domain passed the double digits. (nope, not posting the exact number, but lets just say more felines than two adult human beings should ever share their abode with unless they are independently wealthy and have an on call vet that does house calls)
There were two litter boxes in the same room with my CPU. At times those litter boxes were filled with expensive clumping litter, and at times cheap clay litter. I only cleaned the fur out every year or so.
That CPU was powered up and functional for over 4 years. Occasional reboots, but I am constantly amazed that it didn’t just choke up a hairball of its own and blow up. As far as I know this CPU’s still running. I have it to a friend when I replaced it with a new Micron.
Of course then I got seperated and the wonderful micron was burgled from my apartment <sigh>. Someday I’ll get another one. A cheap CompUSA is what I could afford so that’s what I have for now. Only two furry felines with me and the litter box is a good distance away, with air filter near it. We’ll see how it does.
Oh… and on the professional side, being a computer consultant, I’ve been at maybe 20 - 30 client sites over the last decade. The most frequent thing I’m seeing is standardization on Dells, Gateways, and occasionally a local PC producer. The bigger the company, the more likely they use Dells. Medium tend toward Gateway, and the smaller one’s usually don’t standardize.
TheNerd and dublos, re Micron: we do now have some of their machines and I am totally unimpressed. However, that may well be because the nimrods who bought this stuff a few years ago bought the absolute cheapest, most basic-featured models - lowest RAM, slowest processors, no monitors (duh!), cheapest software package (among other things, no PowerPoint because the stupid controller didn’t need it so therefore nobody should), no modems, weakest graphics cards, etc. (Can anyone tell I am SO annoyed at being left to fix some idiot’s wish to save a few bucks on the bottom line without considering future costs?)
I’ve just spent the last 4 hours with our computer tech trying to get a new employee’s machine configured. I mentioned that we were considering either Dell or Compaq and he totally slammed Dell. I asked if he wasn’t perhaps biased, since his company sells Compaqs direct, and he said no, that Dell’s customer service sucks (not my experience) and their components are awful (again, NME). I’m not sure I put too much stock in his opinion (especially since I practically knew more about how to configure this new employee’s computer and server controls than he did).
Trixie, you are outnumbered! I would bet anything that your Dell at work has all those problems because of either something to do with your network or because your machine was configured incorrectly. I don’t know the specs on the GX1 but it really sounds like something is funky with the set-up – even the worst machine shouldn’t get the blue screen every day.
Ouch. Those local places have a nasty habit of going out of business. And bdee-bdee-bdee, that’s all she wrote for the warranty support, folks.
Twice I’ve worked at companies that went that route.
The first time, 250 PCs and several servers from the #1 indie in the Seattle area. About the time the warranty period expired, the vendor went paws up. (It wasn’t my call then, thank goodness, and I was gone from that company long before the vendor died.)
The second time, I was IS director at the local symphony, and because of insane budgetary constraints I had to go the indie route again. 30 PCs. Murphy’s Law hit big-time: when one of the PCs died, it was only then that we found out the vendor had gone bust the week before. I incurred serious political damage from that.
Indies are great for home buyers–especially the more intrepid ones–but I’d never recommend indie vendors for a corporate environment.
