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While I love the simplicity of ordering from Dell, I generally have been unhappy with their products. I'm looking to get a new PC in the next 3-6 months and am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for an alternative to Dell? Looking for a reliable, reasonably powerful PC at a decent price. Is Dell my best bet?
HP is getting better and they are the most comparable to Dell.
I bought Dell myself so far and I might do it again in early 2010 (or as soon as W7 is out). But I read several good reviews of HP systems. Check pcmag
I like my Lenovo Y430. It was around $700 came with a 320 GB hard drive, a decent video card that has HDMI out and 4 GB of RAM. I wish I would have spent some extra money on a video card upgrade though because it is not good enough for a lot of games.
Another thing you need to consider besides the PC itself is bloatware, crap that mfg's install on the PC, trials and such. Sony is the worst, HP and Lenovo aren't far behind, believe it or not Dell's are one of the cleaner brands.
Another thing you need to consider besides the PC itself is bloatware, crap that mfg's install on the PC, trials and such. Sony is the worst, HP and Lenovo aren't far behind, believe it or not Dell's are one of the cleaner brands.
That's why I recommend Dells for people who want a mass produced PC. Hardware is a commodity at a given price point and everything's made by the same factories in China so it comes down to other issues like the amount of crapware preinstalled and whether or not you get an actual OS DVD instead of just a restore partition.
I have a house full of Dell's, some such as my server has been running 24/7/365 for about 6 years now. Do I like everything about them, no, but when measured as bang for the buck combined with reliability my next will very likely also be a Dell.
I used to build my own systems, but for the hassle and cost compared to Dells just doesn't wash anymore. Yea I had the exact PS I wanted, etc., and it worked. Dell's come out of the box and work, and does it really matter what PS is in it, as long as it works?
Dell, HP, etc., are working hard to turn out the best they can, at the cheapest they can for a given set of specifications. That competition provides us choices when looking for the most bang for the buck.
Dell is not your best bet by a long shot. We use HP laptops with good success - actually great success. Give them a try. The biggest negative (not with the machine) is that it comes with Vista. By now you should be able to get 7 (commercially) and if you are into a really solid OS then Linux. Your other alternative is a Mac which are far and away your best bet.
Dell is not your best bet by a long shot. We use HP laptops with good success - actually great success. Give them a try. The biggest negative (not with the machine) is that it comes with Vista. By now you should be able to get 7 (commercially) and if you are into a really solid OS then Linux. Your other alternative is a Mac which are far and away your best bet.
Windows 7 is not available until October 22. HP's business class is a great laptop, their consumer line is a bloatware infested mess.
I have owned two Dell computers (Dimension 4700 and C521 for the last three years). I have had no problems whatsoever, so now I'm waiting for my third Dell (XPS 9000) to be delivered in about a week. Look for their sales and then use AAA discount (6%...almost covers the sales tax).
As for laptops, I would probably go with HP (had one awhile back).
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