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Would you recommend your pc?

Would you recommend your pc?

Old Jan 4th 2005, 10:57 pm
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Default Would you recommend your pc?

I'm about to by a pc for home and this seems like a very good place to ask the following:

Where did you get your pc from and would you recommend it?

Without getting into lots of technical 'my ram is bigger than yours' type arguments, I'm interested in overall value for money.

Dell seem to be about the best of the big boys, but I was wondering if anyone has found a smaller manufacturer who offers a better deal?

Dell's free delivery offer (worth $99) ends tomorrow so I'll be purchasing from them unless you can persuade me otherwise.

Thanks in advance
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Old Jan 4th 2005, 11:14 pm
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Word of caution I bought a Dell laptop in the uk last year, just out of guarrantee and its broke. May be better where you are getting repairs done. Dell offered online support but 3months later I am still waiting for a phone call. None of local shops repair Dell different parts to everyone else. excellent machine when it was working.
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Old Jan 4th 2005, 11:29 pm
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

If you know how, you can't beat building your own PC
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 1:00 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

There is no better PC than an Apple Mac, in my view.

There are NO viruses for the current Mac operating system (OS X) and no known spyware. My Mac has run without a crash for over 18 months now, and has only been rebooted once other than for software installs.

On Tuesday of next week Apple is expected to announce their cheapest ever Mac - a sub-$500 iMac that will come without a monitor but with a keyboard and a full suite of office software applications, games etc.

That's going to be a tough computer to beat when it comes to having a real trouble-free, top quality machine.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 2:13 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

We have this Mac:



We love Macs, (currently have four altogether) but, unfortunately, the only major complaint we have is with this particular model.

The screen went t!ts-up, which, apparently, is quite a common problem, even though we'd not had it for too long - probably about six months or so - and it's been taken in to be repaired. Still don't have it back well over three weeks later though we were told it shouldn't take more than a week.

Such a damn shame.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 2:47 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

For the average non super expert go for:
A dell a dell or a dell.......
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 2:59 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Its a very subjective question, like which car do you recommend! We don't know what you want to do with it or how much you are willing to spend, do you want it bundled with software or want to put your own software on.

We dont know whether you want a Porsche or a Volvo but can only afford a Volkswagon.

I swear by Sony Viao's, have never had an ounce of trouble with Toshiba's, Dell is the Skoda of the computer world, HP are good work horses but usually ugly and not very easy to use, you have already heard from the MAC fan club, IBM's are IBM's.

My advice is decide what you want to use it for, see how much you want to spend and then make a decision based on the performance you want for the price you can afford to pay!
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 3:42 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

I'm with Ray and DELL. My set up at home is Dell- had it 3 years and have had no trouble whatsoever. Hubby uses Dell for all his works computers too- always pleased with the service and very little trouble with the machines.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 4:22 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

And I'm with Dan725...if you have an ounce of technical knowledge under your skin, build your own...it's really not as difficult you would think, not in this age of plug'n'play, plus they tend to end up cheaper (Fry's for components) and if you buy quality parts, definitely more reliable.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 7:43 am
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Originally Posted by Chandler
I'm about to by a pc for home and this seems like a very good place to ask the following:

Where did you get your pc from and would you recommend it?

Without getting into lots of technical 'my ram is bigger than yours' type arguments, I'm interested in overall value for money.

Dell seem to be about the best of the big boys, but I was wondering if anyone has found a smaller manufacturer who offers a better deal?

Dell's free delivery offer (worth $99) ends tomorrow so I'll be purchasing from them unless you can persuade me otherwise.

Thanks in advance

We had a Dell pc, piece of shite, completely stopped working after 2 years, couldn't fix it, got an emachine now which is the more respected budget end of the pc spectrum, much much better and good value for money
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 10:07 am
  #11  
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Me and the Mrs have had the same Dell Desktop for about the last 3 years, and I've never had any trouble with it, and I've "customised" it a bit - updated memory, and dula-boot with Linux etc etc. So I've been very happy with it.

The OP mentions that the free delivery option ends tomorrow. Is houldn't worry too much about that, as Dell seems to always have some bonus going on. If it's not free delivery, then it's a free memory upgrade or free CD burner or something.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 10:21 am
  #12  
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

I agree the Dells are a good option and here in the UK are very cheap at the moment.

Building your own is a good way of learning but in my experience not for the novice user. It's all OK until you get a problem then you can end up with a system that don't work and it can be very difficult to troubleshoot the problems.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 12:17 pm
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Originally Posted by dbj1000
There is no better PC than an Apple Mac, in my view.

There are NO viruses for the current Mac operating system (OS X) and no known spyware. My Mac has run without a crash for over 18 months now, and has only been rebooted once other than for software installs.

On Tuesday of next week Apple is expected to announce their cheapest ever Mac - a sub-$500 iMac that will come without a monitor but with a keyboard and a full suite of office software applications, games etc.

That's going to be a tough computer to beat when it comes to having a real trouble-free, top quality machine.
As an average home user I wouldnt suggest a Mac. Macs are only here because Bill Gates has to satisfy competition requirements so each year pumps cash into them. OSx is a good OS, however, for home users it isnt familar and does not have the support of apps compared to a MS platform. As for viruses.. umm, macs have them to, but the user base is so much smaller it often isnt worth the bother to code viruses for them http://www.maclink.co.uk/mac-anti-virus.html

Dell are a good cheap option, but you can feel where they saved money. I bought about 200 D series laptops, and about 80 SX based desktops last year from them. It all depends on what you want, Sony make stylish PCs, HP/Compaq make solid reliable PCs, Dell make cheap as chips PCs which offer the best bang for your buck.

You best bet is to configure a dell and post it here, we can then help make sure you have the best price/performance components selected.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 12:44 pm
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

Originally Posted by mikeythemikey
As an average home user I wouldnt suggest a Mac. Macs are only here because Bill Gates has to satisfy competition requirements so each year pumps cash into them. OSx is a good OS, however, for home users it isnt familar and does not have the support of apps compared to a MS platform. As for viruses.. umm, macs have them to, but the user base is so much smaller it often isnt worth the bother to code viruses for them http://www.maclink.co.uk/mac-anti-virus.html
It's all very well being a PC user who prefers PCs to Macs, but at least get your facts about Macs right.

Microsoft did invest $150M in Apple... in 1997. At the time Apple was in financial trouble and you may be right that Gates did it to avoid another antitrust case. However, that was 7 years ago. Today Apple is growing faster than any other computer company on earth.

Yes OS X is good. The line about not having the support of apps is weak. The general quality of software for the Mac makes a convert out of almost anyone who uses Apple's iLife suite of applications such as iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie. I know that on a PC you have a choice of 75 software titles for each application you may need to do, but most users would swap them all for ONE with the quality and ease-of-use of an iTunes, for example.

And as for Viruses... having companies try to sell suckers an anti-virus package doesn't mean that there are viruses - it means there are plenty of suckers. There is no known virus loose in the wild for Mac OS X - all those virus definitions that Norton protect Mac users from are Microsoft Macro Viruses which live through the poor security of MS Office on both Macs and PCs. The only real argument for having anti-virus on a Mac is to stop you forwarding infected documents on to your poor virus-riddled PC using friends.

Virus writers can't be bothered to code for the Mac platform? Good! As a user, I don't care WHY there are no Mac viruses. I just care that there aren't any.

With a Mac I now have 100% interoperability with the Windows world in terms of documents. I have no fear of a PC riddled with hidden spyware (70%+ of PCs have one or more spyware package hidden on them - isn't that the official figure right now?). I have no fear of having to rebuild my digital life when it's eaten by today's latest PC virus. Finally, I have the easiest to use, best designed computer on the market.

So I'll live with Apple's 5% market share, its "lack" of software titles and it's "unfamiliar" interface. By all means buy a Dell, but remember that there are other options out there that just could be better in some ways.
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Old Jan 5th 2005, 12:49 pm
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Default Re: Would you recommend your pc?

What worries me is if I have a problem, It's not like you can take a Dell to the nearest store to get it fixed as they dont have any (Check that service agreement to see how it will be fixed, in home or sending it out. How long can you afford to be without it?). I like to take something back if it does not work, I've had them over the phone get me taking the back off to check whats wrong before. I can build a PC myself, I can also change brakes and oil but I dont do that either, leave it to someone that can fix it for you is better in the long run than saving a few bucks.

I have two desktops and one notebook, for buying a desktop make sure where ever you get it buy the latest motherboard as you are buying crap otherwise. All the other bits are add ons and can be upgraded later, thats where you should save money on a PC buy. My power desktop is HP and I have no complaints.
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