Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 48451	2004-08-23 10:14:00	Dell computers	xtraka (1984)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
264607	2004-09-09 21:24:00	dell=Bad purchase. truth.	metla (154)
264608	2004-09-09 21:44:00	My inlaws bought a Dell from the Warehouse and it does everything they want it to. They only use it for email, a bit of word processing and web surfing. No games, vid editing or mp3 encoding so it is more than powerful enough for their needs. It will never be upgraded, when it no longer serves its purpose it will be replaced. Of course if their computing requirements were a little more advanced I would have built them a machine specifically tailored to their needs. Mind you I hope they never have any trouble with it, I'd hate to have to try out the warranty service.	Sb0h (3744)
264609	2004-09-09 21:58:00	dell=Bad purchase. truth. I can't agree Metla. It's horses for courses. Let's put it in terms of cars. A $500 Skoda is a bad purchase if you're a travelling salesman. A $50,000 Holden wagon is good purchase if you are a travelling salesman. A $500 Skoda is a great purchase for only going to the dairy and a $50,000 Holden wagon is a bad purchase for only ever going to the dairy. I think Dells are as good as any other home PC on the market and if you want to call the Warehouse Dell models the 'Skoda of Dell' that's fine because there will be people out there who only ever want their Warehouse Dell 'to go to the dairy' if you get my point. (And now that I've used 'Holden' as an example all you petrol heads will debate Holden vs Ford I guess. I don't give a stuff. I ride a motorbike.)	oggy (1250)
264610	2004-09-09 22:13:00	Skoda=Bad purchase. Truth. Weigh up the pros and cons and the reality will present itself. Is there a single reason to recommend a Dell? One that isn’t based on ignorance and easily countered would be a bonus.	metla (154)
264611	2004-09-09 22:24:00	I don't usually weigh into these issues but: I know of many happy Dell users . What they bought was entirely appropriate for what they wanted, and was good value . metla sees the discontented side of the market only, as do forums like this . The fact is however that the vast majority of Dell users do not contact metla or post on this forum, as their PC is entirely suited to their needs . So we only see a non-representative section of the market . Do not judge the entire market satisfaction on that . If Dell (or HP or Packard Bell et al) were so bad, why do they hold such a market share? I have 3 HP's in the fleet here, they have been the most reliable PC's I have ever owned . (I own or have owned 14 PC's) They equal or beat the custom built ones . But I bought with the knowledge of what I wanted to use the PC for, and that is where the issue lies I believe, not with the PC brand itself but with the available information of the PC capabilities .	godfather (25)
264612	2004-09-09 22:30:00	And beware of comparisons: from an article at www.manchesteronline.co.uk THE Skoda, the butt of motoring jokes a few years ago, has now accelerated almost to the top of the car customer satisfaction table, it was revealed today. Only Lexus was more popular than Skoda - now owned by Germany's Volkswagen - in the survey of 23,000 car owners compiled by research company JD Power and Associates.	godfather (25)
264613	2004-09-09 22:31:00	Godfather,Your post says nothing. Nothing at all. I'm amazed. Truely. You guage it on market share?....Thousands watch Shortland street,that doesn't make it quality programing,The fastest selling album in history was by N'Sync,that doesn't make them better then the Beatles,No matter what the fans think.Popularity is a poor yardstick to measure by,and something i would attribute to the ignorant,which your not so....meh.	metla (154)
264614	2004-09-09 22:52:00	Thank you Vince. What is the processor a Celeron or Pentium?? And what speed is it? You said that it has 32MB of recovery software on a separate partition does it come with an OEM winXP disk?? I have an old Celeron 433 (Gateway) and it is still working fine but I want an up grade that doesn't cost the earth (and then the kids can have this one) I like to re-format this machine every year or so and that is why having a Windows complete product disk is important to me. Maybe I wont have the need to reformat with a newer one ???? Not meaning to open a can of worms..... Megan	Meg_h_nz (6065)
264615	2004-09-09 23:08:00	> You guage it on market share?....Thousands watch > Shortland street,that doesn't make it quality > programing,The fastest selling album in history was > by N'Sync,that doesn't make them better then the > Beatles,No matter what the fans think.Popularity is a > poor yardstick to measure by,and something i would > attribute to the ignorant,which your not so....meh. I was talking more about reliability actually. And suitability for the task for which it was purchased. Provided the information was available for the purchaser. Popularity is subjective. The Shortland Street fans think its good, you and I tend to differ. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder in that case. You don't even get to learn about the thousands of reliable Dell's et al, for which there are as many happy and contented owners. Some of them are related to me. If my Granny wanted a PC for email and home use, I would recommend a cheap brand name, with recovery CDs. Easy to restore to new format by anyone and it would do all she ever wanted. She would be unlikely to want to play Doom. Of course being very dead, she is unlikely to need a PC so its a representative situation. If my nephew wanted a PC to play games, I would tell him to get a life, not a PC. But if he still wanted a PC, I would recommend a custom built gaming PC.	godfather (25)
264616	2004-09-09 23:17:00	>Godfather,Your post says nothing . >Nothing at all . >I'm amazed . >Truely . Actually Godfather's post did say something . Metla, you've got an aversion to Dells, which you've expressed lots of times and your reasons - given a certain set of criteria for what makes a good PC - are valid . But what Godfather was pointing out is that even with those reasons there is another set of criteria that people use against which Dells stack up well . In truth Metla, I think you have less of a problem with Dells than you do with the type of buyer who comes to the conclusion that Dells are a good buy . And in that respect, we're talking about two different types of consumer . On one hand the one who takes the time to find out about the product they are buying - not just the brand but the pros and cons of the type of product - and then compares what's on offer and makes an informed buying decision . Typically, they'll evaluate "value for money" on criteria other than just the price tag . They may well end up spending more than the bargain basement price because they regonise that quality of manufacture, components, design etc can effect true value for money . This applies not just to PCs but to cars, consumer electronics, you name it . That's the kind of consumer, I suspect, that you respect Metla . But they are only a small portion of consumers . Many, if not the majority of consumers make much less informed buying decisions . They make rash purchases, based soley on a price tag or a sexy feature being promoted, or even something as dodgy as the advice of the pimply youth trying to sell it to them . There's no point hating such consumers, I'm sure we all have friends and relatives who come into this category . But for many of them a Dell/HP style of consumer PC is actually a good buy . They don't care about the ins and outs of what's inside . They just want to do a few key things and not have it break down on them . If Dell, HP and others can deliver on that then they're performing a decent function . And even if you query the quality of components going into such very cheap PCs, if the vendor handles warranty repairs/replacements efficiently, what's the worry? My criteria for evaluting whether such PCs are a good buy would be based heavily on how good and prompt the service and support is, and if they fail on that there's valid ground for stearing clear . But for everyone with tale of service disasters from a Dell or HP, there's plenty more satisfied customers . You can't just treat everyone as the same, and insist that quality will always be the paramount factor in their buying decisions . Otherwise I'd be driving a different car .	Biggles (121)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11