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My aren't we hateful? The entire time I was reading your post I was waiting for a "Go Mac" rant. Thank god it never came.  
 
There will always be a market for Dell and gateway because there are just too many people out there that just don't have the time, patience or knowledge to put together their own system.  
 
Personally, I have 2 Dell desktops and 2 Dell laptops in my family and have never had an issue with them. Dell support has always been there for us and has always resolved our issues. This was also before my parents trusted me to build my own system without screwing something up.
 
Would I ever buy another system from Dell or any other OEM? Unless it's a laptop the answer is most likely no. I know the benefits of building my own and will probably do so for myself or my family should they need a system.

 To sumerize it.
 
 Dell is a good brand for everyone looking for a PC fast and don't know how to build their own.
 
 Building your own computer is ALWAYS ALWAYS better if you know how to. It is better in quality and cheaper in price, there is no comparison here. Also, for people who wants to build an "optimum" computer I don't think you can find any brand who gives you something that YOU want.

OK I dont know how many of you actually know anything about computers, but crazyhorse can drop the horse part of his name...and the guy who agreed with him can check in to the looney bin as well...DELL computers suck ass. As a computer technician, I can tell you of many horror stories my clients have had with DELL's, HP's and Compaq's are probably worse, but DELL's are crap. They do use Intel AND intel based motherboards, but they are usually proprietary, and wont work in a non-DELL application(it needs to be in a DELL case or it needs to be run with a DELL version of XP or VISTA, something like that I'm not sure) DELL likes to have those MB's made without features they think you wont miss, to save money. Look at it like this, for $499. you get the complete system with a 19" LCD monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, free upgrade to a 2nd gig of ram, DVD/R-RW CD/R-RW, XP or Vista...Most people know that any mid-quality 19"LCD monitor that isnt a P.O.S. runs about $189, Michael Dell doesnt manufacture monitors he has them made for him, a mid-quality printer runs about $40-$70 including half-full ink cartridges, the "free" 2nd gig of ram probably about $60 nowadays, but ram prices have only dropped in the past year, before that ram was more than $100 per gig, in fact it was more like $100 per 512 mb. CD/DVD R-RW is still around $75, so lets add these things up...189+55+60+75=379 OK Dell is a businessman who buys in large volume and gets a rather nice discount, but it has to be reasonable! Not like the larger than reasonable cuts he was getting from Intel on the cpu's so they wouldnt use AMD cpu's, but thats another story...So lets say Dell gets a 40% cut off the top of the costs of these components for buying in bulk, that is now $227.40. Now figure in the OS License, that has to be at least $70 per, the case, $30?, back up to $327.40. OK I'll go lowballing here and give a 300GB harddrive for $80, so the sub-total now is $407.40. We havent factored in the CPU, motherboard, mouse, keyboard, bundled software...for the remaining ninety-two-sixty, how damn cheap do these last things need to be to get to you for 500 bucks?!?!?! CHEAP components is how Dell offers such a deal, I dont believe you can find a comparably **** motherboard on a computer store shelf. Most people I know who build their own systems INVARIABLY prefer AMD cpu's. And an emphatic NO WAY are home built computers of a lesser quality than prebuilt computers. The competition in the motherboard market is on the shelves of the computer stores, not in the pre-built computers. There are more features on more boards on the shelves than you will find in 85% of the pre-built proprietary MB's. I could talk tech all damn day, so Im going to stop now, but I wanted to set some of those misconceptions I read straight...

 
Not necessary....at all. That is their opinion and the are entitled to it and unlike you, they didn't make fun of anyone for it. The first part (about tech knowledge) may be true, but it is not a prerequisite of being part of these forums.
 
 

 
Yes and no. They are Intel based boards, but some are manufactured by reputable companies (i.e. Foxconn). As to the needing to be in Dell stuff, that depends. I have a Dimension 4700 (it's over 3 years old and still kicking) and it uses a non proprietary mATX board. Meaning I can stick that motherboard in any micro ATX case I want. My brother is using a non Dell version of XP on his Dell and it works, so no.
 
 
 

 
The low end Dell's do lack some features or have others disabled, manly in regards to controlling the FSB. Dell is not the only company to do this though. It is done so that the user (most aren't tech savy) can't go in, screw something up and then complain to Dell that their system no longer works.
 
As to the AMD comments, Dell now uses AMD CPU's so that point (if there was one) is moot. The people you know who build systems with AMD are most likely doing it to save money and aren't looking for power. It's fairly obvious that AMD mobos are cheaper than Intel and Nvidia boards so from a cost standpoint, it's a decent one.

dell are great for reliability as you can be assured that it wont break down within a week like some other computers. i dont like it because they dont allow much choice for choosing parts. also, they get way too expensive withh th higher end models. for  a casual user, dells are fine. but they cant be upgraded easily or much, so they will get old quickly. i like pcspecialist as  there is a lot more choice in the parts. it's like you're building it yourself, but without all the hassle of seeing if parts work together or having to do it yourself. plus they give guarantees!

I wouldn't be so antidell my work have around 800 dells and there running fine . The only beef i have is the shortcuts they take! the power supplies are all TERRIBLE i've seen so many cause problems its really annoying. There motherboards are also pretty poor quality.
 
Around the budget market Dell are one of the best, but if your going to go prebuilt i would have to agree with ITsolution, find a smaler company and get it customized to your need. They tend to sell cut less corners.

I love my Dell... sure it came with craplets, but all I had to do was use the Windows recovery disc to get rid of it. And I hear the PSU it came with is really good. The motherboard does suck though since it's BTX.

Reading all these i guess all depends on the expienece you get form the machine , if it has problems then ppl gonna bash it otherwise gonna praise it .

 
Also keep in mind that people are more likely to write a review of a bad experience then a good one. So for every negative review out there there are probably 2 positive ones not written.

 
yeah and also most people are comparing dell desktops than their dell laptops, As i know dell makes quality laptops but i haven't used them so far because lots of people goes to dell for laptops .

Dell (desktops) are for housewives and people who don't know and/or dont care about computers.  They are happy surfing the web, and paying 20% more for thier system.   It has it's place in the world.

Dell use Foxconn powersupplies and motherboards....
 
I have bought loads of foxconn motherboards and at around the year and a bit mark they have gone wrong ...
 
using cheap capacitors and components are not good..
 
 
CRAP....
 
Dells laptops are either Compal or Foxconn ..... Mmmmm quality ......
 
 
I personally hate every Dell PC thats been made in black... The white / cream ones had at least some sort of quality...
 
The Dell market has ruined all the decent pc system builders out there by flogging dog turds to the unsuspected public which pulls a software mountain that is bigger than Russia...at a the same cost of a hamster in Petsmart
 
If I want a Antivirus i dont want Norton or McAfee installed, I want to choose the option i want and what i want. Not uninstall 30 pieces of software which monitor every dump i take.. I dont want AOL, Tiscali, or what ever poxy ISP is licking mr M Dells but for money, I want to used my existing broadband for what I want to do and not Mr Dells prefered supplier.
 
 
I dont want to spend 1 hour getting a 8.4 gb DVD at £3/$6 each and then comming home to write a system disk which takes nearly two hours due to the fact that it verifies the disk twice because of the cheap dvd bulk discount dvd writer it had and then Dell says its good for the enviroment and it makes the computer available for 5 bucks...
 
I dont want to speak to a padantic person a million miles away on a small town which is unprenounciable who only interested on hows the weather and how my day is doing, and calling me Mr "first name ". My Day is  crap because im ringing a technical for my stupid computer for which a support company situated in a portacabin....
 
Then they take over the machine and sell the bank details to Fraud Credit International.. no thanks...
 
Am I Mr Angry,,,, mmmm could be but then again how many Dell call centres have you spoken too or machines that you have repaired with custom plugs for internal USB ports and wierd floppy drive cable, power leads and internal attachments..
 
Even adding a second drive is something that Tom Cruise would find difficult in Impossible Mission 4
 

The Black Dells rule.

 
 
No they dont, they suck like Monica Lewinsky.....

Check my config.  They bend to my will.  I guess I rule.

Before I built my last system (low budget PC), I priced out Dells and HP's.  That $350 entry-level Dell they're always touting is actually $450 with shipping and more if they charge taxes in your particular state.  Plus it only has 1 gig of RAM, has a crappy Celeron CPU with low cache, small HD, and has cruddy onboard graphics.
 
Whereas for under $400 in parts from Newegg, I built a great largely ASUS system.  Asus M2m-mx mainboard, AMD Athlon dual core 4000+ CPU, Maxtor 250 gig HD, Asus Nvidia 7300GT video card, Asus case, 2 gigs of RAM, Lite-on DVD writer, etc..
 
Maybe Dells are a better value on higher priced PC's, but not on the low end systems.  Most people would probably build their own PC's if they knew how to in the first place.  Because building your own has advantages -- saves money and lets you pick the exact parts you want.  Even the people who don't care about the guts of the system would probably enjoy picking out their own style/color of case.

never bought a prebuilt pc for myself (minus of course the laptop but then again  a bare bones kit after adding my stuff it truly is worth buying prebuilt from Acer in my case). my ex on the other hand both of her computers have been dells (we're still friends after we broke up so I help her a lot with her comp stuff) her first dell was this POS celeron with 128MB of ram and a 20GB HD that she had for years. when that bit the dust I was trying to convince her dad to let me build her next one but NO it had to be dell. she got a 19 inch LCD monitor 1GB RAM 160GB HD DVD burner an X2 3800 and integrated graphics for $699. I remember thinking the whole time jesus christ with some creativity I could get a 19 inch LCD for about $170 and then calculating she spent $800 after tax on her dell that would have left me 630 for a tower I could have blown away what she has now but of course her father is of the OH it's a name brand it's better than any homebuilt bent.  
 
as far as I'm concerned with component prices dropping like a rock there is no reason to buy dell or any other PC makers pre built desktop ever. laptops I can say sure why not cause you can build barebones but it is truly a PITA to do so. in conclusion I'll never ever reccommend prebuilt to anybody that I know seeing as with the prices I can get I can build a better machine for the money.

I'm Playing Crysis on my 6 year old DELL 4600! With the Old AGP 8x And 478 Socket,With Yup you Guessed it PC3200 Ram, ahahaha My old Dell Has Bean a Good Slave,