sam- i’m chiller now. darn, i didn’t realize i typed so much b4 until i saw it posted… heheh
i said it once ill keep saying it to the day i die namebrand pcs suck, no matter what os they run, they limit your upgradeablity and you will run into hardware compatibility problems most of the times, i purchased a 17"laptop a few weeks ago tis a HP i was going to purchase the toshiba but they ran out :-\ so i ended up with the HP i ahve no complaints so far, first thing i did was format it and customize it to my liking :beam:
As for building your own laptop you can do it check it out here
http://www.desknote.net/ or do a searh in pricewathc for desknotes you can customize em the way you want :beam:
*Originally posted by redGolgi *
**yes!!! a man after my own heart. every new puter i get gets formatted, clean winstalls, and then i tweak the crap outta windblows. **
I also have a 2nd (very minimal w/o internet yet) W2k on my 2nd HD, just in case I screw something up, I can still get to my work files, and not spend any time on getting back up…
I also do incrimental backups every nite to another HD, in another machine…
I’d say I was paranoid, but I do this out of experience… my own system’s failures over the years…
Rev
I’ve been using Dell’s for the past 7 years, and they rock. Their tech support was better before they outsourced it (they temp. closed their offshore places I think), but their forums are great for quick fixes.
EDIT: I too format my comp immediately after I receive it. I don’t prefer the outdated drivers and unnecessary applications that come bundled with it.
:}
*Originally posted by lostinbeta *
I don’t own a Dell, but I know people who do, and my high school used them for all their computer courses (except animation, where they used iMacs), so from experience using them, and from friends having them, I hear Dell is a pretty good company over all.
My school uses MDG’s - and they all suck like a toothless three-year-old. Sadly, the school board signed a deal with them to get “lower prices” but what actually happens is MDG jacks up the prices and then sells us loads of crap. $1,300 approx computers that could (and most likely were) made from parts straight out of the garbage. Not only that, but then the school goes and screws them over with their “student OS” or whatever the hell they want to call it (program is called usernet, and it works over top of windows) which installs filters that escentially drop the usability of the computer to zero. (the I.T. guy from my old school admits that it’s the dumbest thing the schools could have done to the computers)
Well, I thought that MDG was just taking advantage of their monopoly over the school - but as it turns out, when my dad went to get a quote on a new computer (because his is something like 6 years old and he is finally admitting that he needs to upgrade it - it’s a pentium 2, 233mhz: painful) they did the samething to him and gave him an excruciatingly high price for a computer only marginably better than what he had.
I have a micron pc, and ive had no problems with it at all…
But i think the key to getting a good computer from Dell, Gateway, Micron and others like them, is to customize your machine and upgrade it before purchasing it… If you “go for the deal” and get the advertised “On Sale” Base Model, you usually end up getting obsolete components, and the least bottom of the barrel bargains as bonus gifts…
You get what you pay for…
dell seems to be a pretty good company from what i hear…plus dells always seem so darn quiet…they must have a really good ventilation system that lets them only use one or two system fans. me, i have the case, processor, and power supply fan plus six smaller fans on my hdd’s 
i’ll trade a little extra noise for a few more years of computer life.
-teet
Yes, I can give Dell that, their designs are pretty good and they actually use physics when designing the computer, they don’t just shove fans everywhere.
Dell is great… But they use Maxtor hard Drives… Which pretty much blow and have a 50% fail ratio…
Other than that… They are pretty good machines…
I agree with tech support… But Red… The next time… STARt yelling from the begining, then… after a little bit… Calm down… apologize… then ask them to do it again… Something about the ladies in india, that when you yell at them first, then calm down… they listen to you and do everything you want them to
Maxtor hard Drives are really bad. Come to think about it, I had my computer come brand new to my door step with a faulty Maxtor HD. We sent it back and got it fixed. The next month, it blew again. We had to send it back for a second time!!!
This caused alot of aggravation and having to do essays by hand. 
My Dell came with Seagate.
my dell is cool, dvd drive getting very noisy lately with burned cds (1 year old comp); thing that bothers me is they put PC 800 RDRAM in there, which is f**king expensive and almost nowhere to be found; last time i asked, the guy in the comp shop told me it’s outdated… seems a bit stupid…
but i like the inner layout, very clean and easy to change cards or HD, almost plug’n’play ; support has been ok so far (altho’ even here in France, when you call the hotline, you don’t get native speakers, i heard from a guy they outsourced their call-center to morroco/ africa coz it’s cheaper…well…)
I just reinstalled winxp, but without rebooting, thought i’d get the option to format my C drive but no, so installed anyway, got a nice new-looking windoze, but all the stuff in Program Files was still there, no more user switching possible etc, so i’ll see you all in a few days after a full format & 2nd re-install
courage, golgi…they’ll find your adress sooner or later 
see you all in 2k4 then… HAPPY NEW YEAR (we’ll get it 6 hours before )
Eyezberg, I replied to your topic, check there for a solution.
The insides of the Dell GX260 are a work of art.
I keep hearing this about maxtor, but I’ve never had a problem with them.
If money isn’t an option its Seagate or Western Digital for me.
*and for the record I would rather build my own machine; that’s what I’ve always done - but if I had to choose a pre-manufactured setup, it would be from Dell or HP.
Big corporations huh heres a story
In March, 1999 a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in New South Wales) received a bill for his as yet unused gas line stating that he owed $0.00.
He ignored it and threw it away. In April he received another bill and threw that one away too. The following month the gas company sent him a very nasty note stating they were going to cancel his gas line if he didn’t send them $0.00 by return mail.
He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error and they would take care of it. The following month he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome gas line figuring that if there was usage on the account it would put an end to this ridiculous predicament. However, when he went to use the gas, it had been cut off.
He called the gas company who apologised for the computer error once again and said that they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue. Assuming that having spoken to them the previous day the latest bill was yet another mistake and he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as good as their word and sort the problem out.
The next month he got a bill for $0.00 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account or the company would have to take steps to recover the debt.
Finally, giving in, he thought he would beat the company at their own game and mailed them a cheque for $0.00. The computer duly processed his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the gas company nothing at all.
A week later, the manager of the Mudgee branch of the Westpac Banking Corporation called our hapless friend and asked him what he was doing writing cheque for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank manager replied that the $0.00 cheque had caused their cheque processing software to fail.
The bank could therefore not process ANY cheques they had received from ANY of their customers that day because the cheque for $0.00 had caused the computer to crash.
The following month the man received a letter from the gas company claiming that his cheque has bounced and that he now owed them $0.00 and unless he sent a cheque by return mail they would be taking steps to recover the debt. The man then tried to file a debt harassment claim against the gas company. It took him nearly 2 hours to convince the clerks that he was not joking but convince them he did.
They subsequently provided statements which were considered substantive evidence of the aggravation and difficulties the man had been forced to endure during this debacle.
The matter was heard in the Magistrate’s Court in Mudgee and the outcome was this:
The gas company was ordered to:
-
Immediately rectify their computerised accounts system or show cause, within 10 days, why the matter should not be referred to a higher court for consideration under Company Law.
-
Pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by the man.
-
Pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by all the Westpac clients whose cheques had been bounced on the day our friend’s had been.
-
Pay the claimant’s court costs; and
-
Pay the claimant a total of $1,500 per month for the 5 month period March to July inclusive as compensation for the aggravation they had caused their client to suffer.
*Originally posted by reverendflash *
**The dell kid got fired because he got busted buying weed…
lameoid… you are rich, send someone else out to get your smoke…
Rev **
HA HA Right on!
But I own a dell and a thinkpad at my home office and I have two dells at my work office now and Dells are great machines. NO problems yet. I used to work at IBM and the Tech support guys there recommended them as the best bang for your buck and they are indeed built really well.
laslett popular story, fun tho eh?