naganodave 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I am looking round now to buy a new pc and came across this, which makes some interesting points about Dell "Confessions of a formed Dell sales manager" http://consumerist.com/consumer/insiders/22-confessions-of-a-former-dell-sales-manager-268831.php I sure agree with the play around with the website. You can get wildly different prices on exactly the same spec by going in via different packages/routes. Quite annoying actually. Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You can avoid this hasle by buying a Toshiba Dynabook. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Or a Vaio, if you can afford one... Link to post Share on other sites
snowboarding-sam 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Aren't Vaio notorious for loading the machine down with junk? Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 yap they are, and also for braking down way too often. Link to post Share on other sites
bushpig 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 My Toshiba Dynabook has lasted me 5 years and it is still going strong! Not ever had to take it back for repairs or fixes. Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I just upgraded my video card yesterday in my dell laptop. Not because I needed to, but because I'm preparing for Vista. (oh be quiet...) Thankfully Dell had some pretty rad instructions online for me to follow. However, I should have done that BEFORE commiting to the upgrade. It's not comfortable having your monitor over there, your keyboard over here, and your laptop in six pieces with your motherboard completely exposed. It's all great now, but that was a stressful hour. Oh, and I do love my dell. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 When you buy from people like Dell is it actually possible to order "without the preinstalled shit, please"? Or I suppose that is part of the price deal, we need the preinstalled shit to keep the price down... Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I'm sure you'd be able to get whatever you want. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I'm sure you can't. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 when I bought my desktop 4 years ago Dell was the only viable package for me. Every computer in the stores had a 5 man tv tuner which I didn't want! With Dell I was able to get exactly what I wanted. Granted, the bios sucks, but my setup is still going strong...and my 20.1inch flat screen still kicks ass offtopic:Last year I bought an NEC laptop for my wife...and it's soooo slow. I can't believe they sell crap like that! I feel like we've gone back in time. New out of the box it had an over-5min load up time. I went to work deleting all the crap they have on there and got it down to 3 and half mins... still too long Link to post Share on other sites
klingon 10 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Yes they really load them things up. Were you able to get the "naked" Dell minus all the software they add in there Kumapix? Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 it was 4 years ago so it might have changed but I think I only had to uninstall 2 or 3 progs. ie the dell music/video player and prob some internet provider stuff. actually if I remember correctly I did have some problems but that was because I was doing some tech stuff (trying to get windows to boot off the ide drive instead of the raid array) IMO apart from building your own machine, Dell offers the most personalized computers. I loved being able to get a good video card without having to 'jump' to the next level. ie with a vaio you get the either the basic, mid or expensive version. You can't just get the one expensive part that you need with the basic model. at least that's how it was for me Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Originally Posted By: Kumapix offtopic:Last year I bought an NEC laptop for my wife...and it's soooo slow. I can't believe they sell crap like that! I feel like we've gone back in time. New out of the box it had an over-5min load up time. I went to work deleting all the crap they have on there and got it down to 3 and half mins... still too long good point kuma. Whitch reminds me, I have to do it for my laptop too. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 the stupid thing about it is that it insists on searching for wifi, even if I have the wifi switch off. It does this on loadup. hmmm, maybe I can turn that off somehow Link to post Share on other sites
tsondaboy 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 PS, Its not only background processes that slow down the performance. I just maxed my memory on my laptop (1.5G) and loading times etc went 2 times faster. It seems that wifi is still on the start up programs list. Try to erase it from the list and if possible check if it is still on the programs registry. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 too easy! thanks Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 I had such a bad experience with Dell I started to write "I hate Dell" Haikus! I currently have a Vaio, but you are right, it's loaded down with junk and it is fussy, already been serviced once. The laptop that I have had the best experience with is the Panasonics. They are super light, and super reliable - but a bit pricey. I think my next laptop is going to be the PANA. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Anyone have an IBM think pad? They seem really expensive, I was wondering if you paid for just the name or if there was something especially good about them. Link to post Share on other sites
SirJibAlot 0 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 chinese technology - beware.... Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I just unloaded all the preloaded junk from the Vaio, and its been pretty reliable, considering the travelling it's done. I have a Dell too, which I use for work, and no complaints there either. Before that, a Toshiba Satellite, no problems. I guess I'm just lucky. The only problem I ever had, that I couldn't fix myself, was when the ofice staff bought me a USB coffee cup warmer, which toasted my USB ports. Link to post Share on other sites
merryJim 1 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 USB coffee cup warmer! It warmed up the wrong end did it? I have had no problems with new PCs I have bought. Usually the first thing I do before installing anything is uninstall all the junk on there. There's some guys at work who still have all that on their desktop - they don't use it - and even kept the (now worn out) sticker with the specs on their NEC from 4 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 The coffee warmer still worked, and there was still power to the USB ports, but no communication with the PC. My Dell warranty had run out, and they wanted to charge me something like $300 to have the notebook picked up and examined, so I just bought a new one, and got a longer warranty. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Quote: and even kept the (now worn out) sticker with the specs on their NEC from 4 years ago. What is it with that? First thing that comes off if I buy something. A few of the people in my office have those things still on. Link to post Share on other sites
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