why are Dells so cheap?

[Steve.jd]

I have a Dell laptop and a Dell desktop.

Desktop:  Superb machine.  I bought this thing almost two years ago, for under 1500, and spec-wise it is still a top notch machine.  I have had zero problems with her, every program I throw at it works fantastic and is lightning fast.  LCD display, gig of ram, 3.2ghz HT, 320 GB Raid HD, etc.  Basically the works at a bargain basement price, no complaints.  And this is considering I bought it when the Prescott was the architecture of choice; arguably the hottest, most poorly designed system ever.



Laptop:  Overpriced peice of trash.  Works like crap.  Becomes hot as a coal in about 10 minutes.  Battery lasts for about 30 mins if that.  Weights a ton.  One thing is that the thing is hard as rock, I've accidently dropped textbooks and on this thing and it doesn't even feel them.  Overall, though as far as PCs go, when it comes to laptops IBM makes hands down the best quality laptops when you account for weight, reliability, and design.  With student discounts you can get a solid T60 for under 1.5k.  I paid significantly more for my Dell laptop because I wanted top of the line, but shoddy designs made all my high end specs and components work like *&^% anyway.

Bottom Line:  Desktops, Dell is unbeatable.  Laptops, Dell sucks it up.

[krumanadi]

I have a Dell laptop and a Dell desktop.

Desktop:  Superb machine.  I bought this thing almost two years ago, for under 1500, and spec-wise it is still a top notch machine.  I have had zero problems with her, every program I throw at it works fantastic and is lightning fast.  LCD display, gig of ram, 3.2ghz HT, 320 GB Raid HD, etc.  Basically the works at a bargain basement price, no complaints.  And this is considering I bought it when the Prescott was the architecture of choice; arguably the hottest, most poorly designed system ever.



Laptop:  Overpriced peice of trash.  Works like crap.  Becomes hot as a coal in about 10 minutes.  Battery lasts for about 30 mins if that.  Weights a ton.  One thing is that the thing is hard as rock, I've accidently dropped textbooks and on this thing and it doesn't even feel them.  Overall, though as far as PCs go, when it comes to laptops IBM makes hands down the best quality laptops when you account for weight, reliability, and design.  With student discounts you can get a solid T60 for under 1.5k.  I paid significantly more for my Dell laptop because I wanted top of the line, but shoddy designs made all my high end specs and components work like *&^% anyway.

Bottom Line:  Desktops, Dell is unbeatable.  Laptops, Dell sucks it up.

Absolutely.

[Alamo]

I have a dell inspiron 6000 and someone spilled a whole glass of soda all over it...

It was jacked up for about 12 hours until it dried out. It is currently in working condition. Other than that, I have had no problems.

Wow!  That's a pretty nice recovery.

I'm using an IBM T42 right now (work laptop, unfortunately I'll have to give it back).  I'll probably go cheap and get a Dell (my school's tech staff will service Dells, so they say), but this is the third IBM I've had, and they've all been great, especially the 2 T-series models I've had.

[Steve.jd]

SteveJD and Harvey - are you saying this just because of your own experience or do you believe this to be a widely accepted opinion?

Obviously, my experience plays a role in this, and to be fair, that laptop was the first computer I bought independently so I did not do the best job.  However, I cannot think of a single person who was satisfied with their Dell laptop.

[krumanadi]

SteveJD and Harvey - are you saying this just because of your own experience or do you believe this to be a widely accepted opinion?

Widely accepted opinion.. Besides the fact that everyone I know who has ever had a dell laptop, has had theirs breakdown, I have also ready countless stories of the same..

Searcht the forums of www.notebookreview.com and you should get a good idea of what the quality of dells are.

[cesco]

I just searched that site for the 710M (the Dell I want and it sound like others are considering) and only 1 out of 33 reviews was negative.  And the one negative review was that it is too small - but noted the computer and Dell service is fine.

[as436]

hmm the z60t is kinda old (came out last year?) does anyone know if Lenovo plans to release anything new.. i want a state of the art laptop for the next 3 years

[krumanadi]

hmm the z60t is kinda old (came out last year?) does anyone know if Lenovo plans to release anything new.. i want a state of the art laptop for the next 3 years

They just released the Z61T/M which has the duo core chip.

It is expensive, and you can get great deals on the z60t because the 61 is out, which is what I did..

[as436]

whats the advantage of the Duo Core.. more battery life? Or is it just for games and 3D design?

[krumanadi]

whats the advantage of the Duo Core.. more battery life? Or is it just for games and 3D design?

Basically it is like having a second processor.  If you run a lot of programs that use multiple layers, they will run much quicker with a duo core.  For most basic programs, a duo core will not make much of a difference.  It's the type of thing that will be more important as time goes by, but not neccessary right now.

As for more battery life, I think it does, but I'm not sure.