[Bill Ward]

Try here and here

All is not necessarily well with Dell.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

wont get any complaints from me, been using my dell laptop for the past few years without issue. why go searching for dirt, if its there its there, you wont have to dig. im sure there are dell haters just as there are with any computer apple, mac, etc. they're all like onions, the more you peel them the more they stink (obligatory seinfeld reference intended.)

 

[AuroraProject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieFactory Hint: Ever try to change the stock drivers?

Yes, I've owned 2 Dells, never had any problems updating the drivers.

 

[star882]

One of the biggest problems with Dell is the lack of AMD64. I decided to build my AMD64 system instead of waiting on Dell to make them.
Other than that, no problems.

 

[Onix]

At work we use Optiplex GX260, and some of them are used 24/7. Mine has some issues with memory, since sometimes it freezes when I use more than four aplications, but most of the time it works well.

 

[CookieFactory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AuroraProject Yes, I've owned 2 Dells, never had any problems updating the drivers.

I'm talking about real customization.

 

[mr_baseball_08]

Thanks Bill, that second link was spot on with what I needed!

 

[AuroraProject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieFactory I'm talking about real customization.

Such as?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Why do a negative speech? It might work for politicians, but persuasion works best when you're positive about something. Think about it in a sales context. What if you walked into a store to buy a widget, and the salesman only talked about how terrible the other widget manufacturers were. Would you buy his widget because the other ones were bad? Probably not. You still don't know if his widget is any good, and you might start wondering if any widget is worth buying.

When you're giving a speech, you have to consider the audience. How many Dell owners will be there? Probably more than a few. How many will tune you out simply because they like theirs? Probably most. If you offend your audience, your task will be much harder.

If you want to be persuasive, sell something. Sell something you believe in. Trust me, it works. Was your topic assigned, or can you change it? If you can change it, pick something you love. The speech will write itself and you'll get a good grade. Maybe even change a few minds.

 

[AlanY]

Personally, I would choose a slightly different topic where the differences are more substantial. Staying in the computer realm, you might consider arguing for/against a Windows PC versus a Mac with OS X.

But if you stick to the Dell topic, here are some points:

1) Their phone support for consumer products is terrible. You get shunted to someone in India who gives you a fake american-style name and is trying to simulate a mock american-style accent (I have nothing against India, I love the country, it's the phony act that I hate. Dell should give it up; let the Indians sound Indian). The people you speak to generally know nothing about technical support; they're told to read through a fixed support script. No independent thinking on their part is involved or allowed. Sometimes when you get to the end of the support script, they bounce you to someone who actually knows something about tech support. More often, they just tell you to use the system restore disk, zapping your configuration.

2) Their laptops are not as durable as some competitors, and the materials are typically lower quality. However, their price is also typically quite a bit less than an equivalent ThinkPad, for example, so really, this isn't that much of a knock against Dell. They aim for a mass-market, price-conscious consumer and do well at that.

3) Look into the stories about how they handle bad pixels on some of their LCD screens. There are guys on the Dell support forum who've returned LCD monitors five or more times, never getting one that quite satisfies them. Again, to be fair, all manufacturers are prone to bad pixels occasionally, but it boggles my mind that Dell doesn't just ship a cherry-picked perfect display once a customer has gotten to three returns or so. It makes you wonder if Dell hopes the customer will give up first.

4) Dell continuously shops the world for the lowest priced suppliers and frequently switches component suppliers, so a machine that your friend bought three months ago and has proven to be super reliable may not be the same machine you would get if you ordered today, even though it has the same model number.

5) Dell has been pushing "special deals" and "coupon codes" more and more frequently. It's not uncommon to get $500-700 off a computer if you have the right coupon code. However, there has been some jacking up of their "standard" prices, and if you're not savvy enough to find those deals, it has become very easy to pay too much for a Dell. Imagine how bad you'd feel if you bought the same computer as your friend, on the same day, but he had a $700 off coupon code and you paid full price. Also, their "standard" prices are not as competitive relative to some of the other PC vendors as they used to be before Dell really pushed hard on the deals.

6) Dell gives you different prices for *identical* items depending on whether you select "corporate", "small business", or "consumer" on the first page of their website. Check it yourself. Usually the "small business" prices are the best. Many people feel this differential pricing is dishonest. Others feel it's fine.

Really, though, Dell isn't so bad, and it's hard to argue against them. They're the Wal-Mart of the PC world. Decent stuff, almost always the best price if you have the right coupon codes or hit the right promotions, but for the most part, not premium quality. That's okay, since you're not paying premium prices.

 

[smeggy]

Though i wouldn't probably choose a Dell as a personal purchase I can't relly complain about them either. I've used Dells at work for the last 7 years and they are on 24/7 all year round without a hitch. Companies lease them by the truckload so there will always be some issues but they are generally small. My only complaint, if I were to make one, would be the noise of the power supply interfering with my listening.

 

[shiggins]

My Dell P200 from 1996 is still going strong and in daily use as a broadband router/firewall!

Anyway, your question reminded me of this recent story:
Dell sells file server to man with two PCs

 

[fewtch]

How about that annoying, overly-upbeat woman they have doing voiceovers for their commercials?

Actually, the best reason I can think of is simply that you get a lot more choice and better quality putting together your own PC -- although this would apply to any/all store-bought brands, not just Dell.

 

[warpdriver]

I don't think you are going to find that much dirt on Dells

The only knocks I think are consistent:

- Dell uses some custom designed parts which means you can't replace certain items with aftermarket parts. For example, on some earlier Dells, the power supply had different connectors. For most common upgrades like memory, hard disks, video cards, Dells are fully upgradable except for their cheapest desktop (video is not upgradable due to lack of PCIe slot)
- Dell technical support may be outsourced from India and other countries (not different from any other manufacturer), and all but useless.
- Dell systems are more closed, there is no way to overclock CPU's, or manage settings because the BIOS is closed. Because of this, sometimes you are a bit limited as to what kinds of memory or CPU you can upgrade.
- they make lots of profit on the incremental upgrades when you configure the computer.

I don't think Dell uses any substandard parts per se. Dell's motherboards are pretty standard fare, and use standard Intel chipsets. The motherboards lack the fancy features that you need to support the customizability you want in a custom computer.

- if you have special needs or are a power user, it's better to go to a custom builder

What's great about Dell's:
- they are REALLY quiet
- most people find them rock solid
- if you shop carefully, and wait for deals, and just want a cheap computer, you can get one for cheaper than if you were to build one yourself. It's hard to beat a basic system with Win OS included for $299 shipped (or less) with a decent warranty.

 

[mbriant]

In January I bought a slightly used, one month old Dell XPS from a programmer who'd been transferred to England right after he bought it, and it's been great. His warranty/service package was transferred to me without a hitch, and when I needed a couple of mounting clips so I could add a second HD and second DVD drive, they were sent out overnight at no charge. So far it's worked flawlessly...so no complaints here.

I do remember a friend having problems with a proprietary Nividia ( I think )video card which came with a Dell computer several years ago. Updated drivers weren't available for the Dell/Nividia card while they were available for the oriiginal Nividia.

I'm guessing, that like Apple, they have two reasons for not wanting owners to start messing with the insides of their computers ... 1) because they want the aftermarket sales for themselves, and 2) it cuts down on conflicts and compatibility problems making tech support simpler and more effective.