Why i hate Dell, the thread

[Rbstr]

Today i happend to get one of those nice Dell cataloges that say how good eveything is and show you thier computers and (try) to tell you waht their good for.

And i am appaled

These are the Specs of the Diminsoin XPS advertized as the "Ultimate PC" on page 14
(copied as directly as possible)

Intel Pentium 4 Processor
with HT technology ar 3.20ghz
with 800mhz Front Side Bus

Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition

512 Dual Channel
DDR SDRAM

80GB Hard Drive

17" (16.0" v.i.s., 25dp)
M782 Monitor

128MB NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Graphics Card

16x DVD-ROM Drive

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (D)
Sound Card

Speakers not included

one year waranites and so forth(noint impoitand unitl...)

And guess the price, a whoping $1799\

later in the Mag there is a section devoted to gaming(at very low FPS though)

with an XPS with teh same specs except for these things:

1GB of Dual channel ram
and a 120gb SATA drive

with the same 5200 of course
for $2599

yeah thats right a FX 5200 (not even a fking ultra at that) on the "Ultimate computer".

the only ting i have seen in this entire thing that is not plain stupid is the inspiron XPS, i gaming laptop it acctualy has good specs.

EDIT fliping though it again i found the page of XPS's an di will scan it and show you even worse things
http://www.planetsideimages.com/uploads/POS.JPG

notice teh $1600 has a 9800pro yet the $2500 has a FX5200 WTF is wrong here?

[Cyanide]

See, people are stupid. And you're not stupid - like Dell - you can exploit other people's stupidity to make a lot of money.

I still stand by the fact that if you don't build it yourself, you won't get a good gaming PC without paying out the ass for it.


BTW, Gateway's ad for their $500 PC that says "it's got a big screen (17 inches) for the kid's games" is far more decieving to stupid people than Dells "ultimate PC". I gaurentee gateway's PC has intel integrated graphics and not more than 256mb single channel RAM. That thing would barely play a game that's 2 years old, let alone something like Half-Life 2.

[dscytherulez]

Notice you also get a gig of ram, 5.1 speakers, 40gb bigger hard drive (80 to a 120) and an additional 80gb hard drive (raising it to 200gbs instead of just 80), a DVD burner instead of just a shitty DVD drive, Microsoft Office, and a 3 year warranty (over a 1 year)

Edit: Add those up on newegg and see what you come up with.

[Rbstr]

yes but its a gaming machine, not a File server

[Cyanide]

My friend just built a machine almost exactly like the $4000 dollar Dell, for under $2000.

[dscytherulez]

Indeed. It's easy to build a nice machine for under 2k. But people who can't look for the major manufacturer. And seeing as how dell is so big, they pay the extra price because they think theyll get the best of the best. Your paying for a name, just like alienware and falcon-northwest, but on a more "average consumer" basis.

[Ait'al]

179 Asus P4C800 E
360 1024 3200LL pro corsair 2x512
69 X spider case (I think it was)
54 Clear top 500 watt antec? PSU
24 Cheiften keyboardmouse combo color of your choice
160 Audigy 2 XS Platinum
430 ATI 9800XT
280 P4 3.2
66 Surfboard 5100 Cable modem. Its Ethernet and USB based.
250 250gig WesternDigital Caviar SE 2500JD(westerndigitals own site) retail
500 15-17" flat panel.

2372$

Yup. did i miss anything though? Well no operating system. Add 120 for the full home version. I know its not the exact components. Edit: Forgot the drives but 179 for one of those plextor ones. thats still 2700 compared to 3999.

You know if you got one computer savvy guy on the bench you could straighten the assholes out. :)

One of those dell magazines came in the mail some time ago and i tried to just begin to look at it and i felt ill. :sick: Edit: Actually same one i think. March 2004.

Look at page 31, very bottem. The heading "Graphically Speaking" The upgrades :eek: :sick: how high do laptop grahpic cards go? As high as the desktops ones right?

[SquirrelMan]

Indeed. It's easy to build a nice machine for under 2k.
Well, I have no computer know how at all, so my current goal is to net an Alienware. Those things are really good, right?

[Ait'al]

There seriosly overpriced.

And off topic but.. Has anyone ever bought stuff form EBgames. Has anyone ever had problems with them and there orders?

[Liquidtide]

Well, I have no computer know how at all, so my current goal is to net an Alienware. Those things are really good, right?

What I did was buy a decent stock machine from www.pricewatch.com I got a good MoBo and HDD and Processor and case then I worked the other stuff I could include cheaper, like Video Card, RAM, Sound etc... I'm pretty happy with my rig.

~Tide

[dscytherulez]

Well, I have no computer know how at all, so my current goal is to net an Alienware. Those things are really good, right?

No they are seriously overpriced and the skimp you on everything. Try here: www.polywell.com

They have great systems at very good prices (your not paying for a name). That's where I got my comp because I didn't have the time to build one. You can customize everything on those computers and if you can get some help from people on what parts to get you can make a very nice, cheap computer.

[Phaelon]

I recommend nothing but dell for clients. In the business world, I find dell is the absolute best when it comes to replacement. The service tag is an ingenious way of finding information out pertaining exactly to a system. Support can be such a huge thing for clients when they are looking are 5 computers, or 5,000.

For Gaming I would never recommend a computer built by anyone other than yourself. For people on the side I still recommend Dell, but I make sure they take a look at other company's as well.

The thing that makes me pleased with Dell, is Support. I have seen thier support fail, and yet they are better than Compaq, and HP whom i have seen fail more than Dell for customers that need support for desktops. I still stick with Compaq and HP even though they made me buy thier Smart Start 5.5 cd to make my Proliant ML370 work for my home, GDamn them!

[dscytherulez]

Yeah, my non gaming comp is a dell. It was fairly cheap to because it was really good at the time and they had one of those "deals". It's still a fairly nice comp and I can even run PS on it. I threw in a 512mb ram stick (768mb total) and a Radeon 9000 Pro and it runs pretty good.

Edit: Dells are so quiet its not even funny. I love how quiet it is. You can't even tell if its running or not if it's under a desk or something.

[Electrofreak]

I built a system with an:
AMD 64 3200+
Shuttle AN50R mobo (its got AGP/PCI locks and can OC pretty damn well)
1.5 gig Kingston HyperX PC3200 RAM (BH-5 chips too!) Coming in about a week and a half
Hercules 3d Prophet Radeon 9800 Pro (with copper heat sinks on ALL chips on the board)
7200 RPM SATA Seagate Barracuda HD (looking to raid this with another in the future)
inside an Aspire SuperAlienX server rackmount case with a 500w PS, front audio USB & firewire, 6 fans controllable via 2 front knobs, and a backlit LCD display showing vid card and CPU temps.

I used my old computer's 17' monitor, and 52x CDRW.

Grand total? $1600.

SO much cheaper to build it yourself!

Also, until my new RAM comes, I'm using only 256 mb PC2100, from my old machine. I still get an Aquamark3 of 41,000, 3Dmark01SE of 18,000, and 3Dmark03 of 5900. As soon as my new RAM comes, those scores will be boosted even further, AND I'll be OCing my system to boot. Oh I can't wait! :D

[Rbstr]

Ait the newest and best Laptop card is the m9700 but its not the sam as a 9700 desktop card in any way but name.

[Cyanide]

Well, I have no computer know how at all, so my current goal is to net an Alienware. Those things are really good, right?
Well, you could take the time to learn how to build a computer. It's really easy. Most people think it's complicated but in actuality a monkey could do it. Most stuff only fits in one plug and it only fits in that plug one way (heck a lot of it's color coded now too). So it's pretty hard to screw stuff up.

If you'd still rather buy one, I would not go with alienware. Their systems are overpriced and over rated. If you're going to spend big bucks on a pre-built gamming system I'd go with Falcon-Northwest or Polywell.


Dells are so quiet its not even funny. I love how quiet it is. You can't even tell if its running or not if it's under a desk or something.

The reason they're so quiet is because they use low RPM fans and many of their models don't even have a CPU fan. They use the power supply fan to duct air away from the CPU. Major bad idea for a gamming machine.

[Zakaah]

I been waiting for a new gaming monster since god knows when but now my prayers are answed by dell :eek: shock horror. My dads work is giving him a computor and it is has a 2.6ghz intel processor and AGP 8x slot no GRFIX card suppliead and 256mb ram. Why am I w00ting, well I have an awfull lot of old PC parts. Soooo I am gonna put in my GFX 5600, 1024 ram and an Audigy 2 ZS Not quite Ultra Uber Gaming monster but more than enough to play the latest games at decent resoloutions :D.