jnev_89 said:
dell isn't a bad company. they make very reliable computers for fiarly good prices for those who can't (or don't want to) build a pc themselves. we have 3 dell's at home, my 7yr old laptop, my old pc (2.5yrs old, now my bro's), and my dad's 5yr old pc. none of them have even required a phone call to dell. if i were buying a laptop right now, dell would probably be the first place i'd buy it from.
Ignorance is dangerous. If you're someone who likes to hand control of your pc over to a large company rather than learn how to handle it yourself, then Dell's not too bad.
The reason a lot of people on this forum - and in the tech world in general - hate Dells is because they're so popular with the "masses" and none of can understand why. Well, it boils down to ignorance:
a: Dells are overpriced considering what you're getting. For what Dell makes and charges, I could put the same together for probably half (and that is true regarding pc companies across the board). And, I would use better parts.
b: Dells use proprietary parts which are argueably not quality parts and yet are quite overpriced. I upgraded my friends computer with another 256MB Dimm which I purchased, a high quality RAM, on newegg, for $17. The same type of RAM, but less quality, Dell wanted you to pay $50 on their website.
c: Dell also designs their machines in a way that makes it difficult to upgrade hardware. I had to do some fancy "modding" just to put an extra HD in my friend's Dell case.
If you know little about computers and prefer to be "taken care of" then go ahead and waste your money on a Dell. But when you know, you avoid them.