Dell Computers - Any Good? (Very slightly boaty)

Lakesailor

Lakesailor

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I'm in the market for a new pc and Dell have some good prices deals on their 3000 range. I know they're an old model but I can live with that.
Any forum members have any good/bad experiences with Dell?
 
Have had about 20 in the last few years and they have stood up to varied industrial jobs as well as anything else we tried. My laptop doubles up as a chart plotter and has lasted 2 years of being lugged on and off boat in addition to on site demos at customers.
 
I use Dell PCs a lot - one work laptop and 2 (1 laptop and a desktop) at home - good PCs all. The only complaint is that they often don't work with vanilla installs of operating systems - ie you have to buy the Dell OEM version with specific drivers.
 
HP will match any price Dell are offering at the mo (a counter attack me thinks).

HP PC's are now mainly from the "Compaq" stable and are superb. I manage over 700 of them and get 1 or two hardware failures a year! Outstanding.

I am sure Dell are a good company that make good product, but not in my experience (Last site, 400+ Dell desktops and Laptops)


***Please don't flame me Dell users, I work in IT and I'm telling you what I have experienced, not "feel".***
 
I've owned various laptops and desktops for work, leisure and chartplotting for the past 10 years and have had no hardware problems other than a USB port breaking in the period I've used them. The engineering is in the upper quartile (consultant speak for as good as the best) and their ergonmics especially things like keyboard layout and feel are well thought through.

They offshored their support from Ireland to India and there was a problem with understanding some of the staff but I understand Dell have/ are about to move the service back to Europe/US.

Dell's business model seems to be around trying to tempt us with the latest technology with price to match. Buying older models at lower prices from them is a smart move unless you really need cutting edge stuff.
 
When this question was asked several months ago there were more votes for Dell than any other brand.

Regarding their special offers, though, do check the specs carefully you may well find that what you actually want is not one of their offers. That's what I discovered when I was looking.
 
Bought one a few months ago....nice machine, good value, but dreadful dreadful delivery service, basically the carrier lost it somewhere for a week and a half and nobody at the carrier or Dell itself seemed to care.
 
[ QUOTE ]
deals on their 3000 range. I know they're an old model but I can live with that.

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you sure you can live with the noisy rattley chassis of this model? Noise has been the achilles heel of the Dell range for the past 5 years, Dell know this and have addressed the issue in the new 5000 range.

To give this thread a boaty theme I view Dell as the Bavaria of the PC industry, i.e. they are just good enough at a keen price. I own one of each.
 
Hi Lakesailor,

Like many here, I and the family, have used Dell for years both in PC and, latterly, laptop form. My own laptop(s) have been on board and off, for about 12 years including full time cruising for over seven years and have behaved perfectly. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You do need to watch the 'extras' when ordering on the Web 'cos it's possible to get a bit carried away, but the whole buying thing is painless, very efficient and most units are delivered within a week. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

However , as I posted recently on this forum, their after-sales service that a few years ago was unbeatable anywhere, has now seriously declined IMHO. It coincides with Dell's farming out the contact/service side to an Indian call centre, resulting in the near impossibility of getting effective action. My experience with this current laptop (one of two bought just before Xmas) may not be typical, but getting a faulty computer replaced took over two and a half hours of 'phone calls, 5 weeks, a lot of threats and eventually my demanding to be given an English number to use. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Interestingly, when I rang this number, the person admitted that they were having problems and that they'd had a lot of complaints. Even more interestingly, about 3 weeks ago, I was sent a questionaire by Dell, seeking my views on the purchasing element (great) and the after sales service!! Guess what I wrote!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Ok, their eventual response was generous (to say the least) but I'd sooner have had their long gone 'usual' service and done without the hassle.

The plain fact is however, that as far as value for money goes, little comes near Dell IMHO, so buying their slightly lesser specced units makes even better sense. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Because I was buying a very high spec. unit this time, I checked out IBM 'cos these are the best constructed IMHO, but the price for exactly the same spec was almost double!! Well, for me, and bearing in mind the swift increases in 'average' specs year on year, it made sense to buy the Dell and be prepared to buy again if anything went wrong. From our experiences though, this is highly unlikely.

Overall, I recommend Dell, because they do value their customers and I suspect the service side will get a boot up the backside sooner rather than later!! It may indeed have already happened!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Cheers Jerry
 
Have used a number of different dell models in work, without too many problems, However, if you want to buy with an intention (or even a possibility) of future upgrades, they can be very difficult to upgrade with non-dell parts.
 
Hmmm - Mainly votes for.
To give it a further boaty connection, I'm using the Mirror Offshore of the computing world at the moment, an oldish Packard Bell.
On that basis anything with a Pentium 4 (2.8ghz) 512mgb RAM, a 160 GB harddrive and a CD-RW/DVD and a 17" flat panel monitor and XP installed for £329 sounds good.
A noise issue could be relevant and "excluding delivery and VAT" could lead to a big hike.
I'll try HP and a local firm as well and see if I can get a match on spec and price.
Thanks for your advice.
(My wife used to buy these 3000's by the shedload for installing an emergency vehicle tracking system into clients' premises, but she never actually got to use one, so the noise thing is unresolved.)
 
The noise issue can go unnoticed in an office environment but at home!

In addition to rattles the CPU cooling fan sensors can become partially detached, then it is like working in a wind tunnel. Dell will honor the onsite warranty towards the end of the contract and a few wind tunnels around my office have been silenced.

My 4 year old home Dell PC will be replaced soon, for me there is no debate that the near silent operation of the 5000 range is worth the money but as others have suggested I will back peddle on the extras, the slowest 2.8Mhz CPU option is way fast enough for me.
 
I am thinking of looking for a laptop too, where the laptops start off at a basic price it's £1200+ before you turn around which one did you buy as a matter of interest as I am thinking along the same lines as others for use on a boat

thanks

JaneK
 
There isn't alot to differ one m/fctr from another - however Dell seem to be the best at upselling - so what starts at £299 can end at at £450 quite quickly.

For me one of the big issues is service and HP service is good and operates from a UK centre - think Dell is an overseas one.
 
If my life depended on it, I'd not buy a DELL. Otherwise they can't be beaten on price. We have thousands of them at work, HOWEVER, I've had two laptop harddrives die on me, we have more desktops fail than I've ever seen, the motherboards pack in regularly.

Laptops stick to Toshiba. Desktops, used to be HP had a good name, don't know if that's still true.

This is just my experience....
 
I asked the same question on the forum earlier in the year and, based on the overwhelming advice, I bought a DELL.
All I can say is that it's been fine, everything works, exactly as promised. The flat LCD screen is excellent.
 
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