Looking to buy a Dell Laptop (Need Advise)

**Kevy5150** · 10.01.06, 11:56 AM

I am on the verge of buying a Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop, however, I hear a lot of bad things about Dell and hear a lot of good things.

Any advise?

**ZORBA5150** · 10.01.06, 12:50 PM

I'm on my second Dell laptop. The first I had for almost 5 years-which is almost unheard of for a laptop. I've had my present one - Inspiron 6000 for a year now, and I love it. works great. No complaints.

**FORD** · 10.01.06, 01:03 PM

1) Cheap components

2) Exploding batteries that have caught on fire.

3) Michael Dell is a close personal friend of George Bush Jr, and would use your money to contribute to the policies destroying this country.

If none of the above bothers you, then buy one. If it does, look around a little. Laptop prices are starting to come down.

**saxman_28712** · 10.01.06, 01:17 PM

If your looking to get a new laptop, I would recommend a Gateway. I had a Dell, wasn't very happy with it. The Gateway I just bought is quite nice, no complaints

**crazyjbn** · 10.01.06, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by saxman_28712

If your looking to get a new laptop, I would recommend a Gateway. I had a Dell, wasn't very happy with it. The Gateway I just bought is quite nice, no complaints

i have had 2 gateway computer..
the first was ok but overpriced

the second was made of crap and constantly had hastles..

my brother on the other hand has always bought dell and always got better pricing and better quality...

so i decided to buy a dell lap top...

and so far it rocks...

i will never buy gateway again but will def buy dell !!

**vistadelrey** · 10.01.06, 01:40 PM

the machines are basically all the same. sometimes they have problems and sometimes they don't. Essentially what you are paying for is the entity that helps you when something does happen. I suggest lenovo/IBM. You'll pay a couple hundred dollars more but you'll get a three year warranty. something went out in my machine and they fixed it in three days. No question just here you go.

Dell is cheap in my opinion. I've had two myself and it took hours and hours to get thru when I had a similar problem. you get what you pay for.

I hear hp is up there in service as well.

**Brian Gibson** · 10.02.06, 05:15 AM

I have had two Dells now, work and personal. Very good.

And if anything goes wrong, I've heard they're support and service is really good (in Australia that is... not sure whether they use a central call centre)

Our whole company had been using them for years. 100+ users.

**ZeoBandit** · 10.02.06, 06:16 AM

I've been using Dell Latitude laptops for 6 years. I've never had any issues with it at all. I love it!

Oh, and Ford, that exploding battery thing is with Sony batteries that impacts a lot of manufacturers, not just Dell.

**MikeL** · 10.02.06, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by ZORBA5150

I've had my present one - Inspiron 6000 for a year now, and I love it. works great. No complaints.

I've got an Inspiron 6000. I was sucked in by the low, low price and the thought that I wouldn't have to use it much. I don't use it at all. Why? The ergonomics are absolute shit. It's bulky, heavy, has angles in all the wrong places, and is way too much case for way too little computer.

Dell is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the major computer makers. Cheap parts, cheap labor (each Dell that I've bought for myself in the past three years has had assembly problems. In the laptop it was that the memory wasn't properly seated), and cheap support ("Hello, my name is Rahgib, but you may call me... Chad!").

Spend a little more, and get an Leveno (IBM) or one of HP's business lines.

The very best thing you can do for yourself prior to spending the money is to go to a store and spend some time with a lot of different laptops. You'll find out how the keyboards feel (There's wide, wide variety here. Some are horrid.), how bulky a given machine is, how hot they run (important for your hands/lap!), and how the different screens actually look.

Think really hard about screen size. That's what generally determines the bulk and weight of a laptop. After years of buying the largest screens I could afford, I now buy the smallest laptops I can afford. My shoulder thanks me, and I can use the laptop in more places. I can't imagine getting a 17-inch screen unless I was doing client demos of some sort. The smaller screens have high enough resolutions to do almost anything a person needs to. The larger the screen, the more likely you are to have hinge problems, too. Hinges are the weakest spot on many designs, and the larger the screen the more wear and tear on the hinges.

Keep battery life in mind. If it says 3 hours on the specs, you'll get an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Look for something that claims to have more than four hours if you think you'll ever want to use it without being tied to the wall.

Don't forget to buy a case/bag/sleeve. Laptops aren't extremely durable in general. You'll want to protect it as best you can.

Along those lines, look into extended warranty/insurance options. If you plan to keep a laptop more than one year and you plan to use it on the go, these are worth considering. Of the past five laptops I've owned, three have needed service in some form or another. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do most work myself, but I've had power supplies (three or four), casings, a screen, and some incidental stuff replaced under warranty. It's not that the laptops weren't durable, they just got a lot of use. If you do decide to get a warranty or insurance policy, make sure you know what it does and doesn't cover. Some are worthless.

Lastly, consider getting a Mac. My new MacBook has OS X, Windows XP, and Fedora Linux installed. It does it all, and has what I consider to be unbeatable features for the price. The cost is more than the bargain basement laptops, but so is the utility.

This is just some advice from someone who's been there and done that, and largely paid for the experience. Advice is free, but experience... oh, that can be expensive!

**Kevy5150** · 10.02.06, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by MikeL

I've got an Inspiron 6000. I was sucked in by the low, low price and the thought that I wouldn't have to use it much. I don't use it at all. Why? The ergonomics are absolute shit. It's bulky, heavy, has angles in all the wrong places, and is way too much case for way too little computer.

Dell is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the major computer makers. Cheap parts, cheap labor (each Dell that I've bought for myself in the past three years has had assembly problems. In the laptop it was that the memory wasn't properly seated), and cheap support ("Hello, my name is Rahgib, but you may call me... Chad!").

Spend a little more, and get an Leveno (IBM) or one of HP's business lines.

The very best thing you can do for yourself prior to spending the money is to go to a store and spend some time with a lot of different laptops. You'll find out how the keyboards feel (There's wide, wide variety here. Some are horrid.), how bulky a given machine is, how hot they run (important for your hands/lap!), and how the different screens actually look.

Think really hard about screen size. That's what generally determines the bulk and weight of a laptop. After years of buying the largest screens I could afford, I now buy the smallest laptops I can afford. My shoulder thanks me, and I can use the laptop in more places. I can't imagine getting a 17-inch screen unless I was doing client demos of some sort. The smaller screens have high enough resolutions to do almost anything a person needs to. The larger the screen, the more likely you are to have hinge problems, too. Hinges are the weakest spot on many designs, and the larger the screen the more wear and tear on the hinges.

Keep battery life in mind. If it says 3 hours on the specs, you'll get an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Look for something that claims to have more than four hours if you think you'll ever want to use it without being tied to the wall.

Don't forget to buy a case/bag/sleeve. Laptops aren't extremely durable in general. You'll want to protect it as best you can.

Along those lines, look into extended warranty/insurance options. If you plan to keep a laptop more than one year and you plan to use it on the go, these are worth considering. Of the past five laptops I've owned, three have needed service in some form or another. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do most work myself, but I've had power supplies (three or four), casings, a screen, and some incidental stuff replaced under warranty. It's not that the laptops weren't durable, they just got a lot of use. If you do decide to get a warranty or insurance policy, make sure you know what it does and doesn't cover. Some are worthless.

Lastly, consider getting a Mac. My new MacBook has OS X, Windows XP, and Fedora Linux installed. It does it all, and has what I consider to be unbeatable features for the price. The cost is more than the bargain basement laptops, but so is the utility.

This is just some advice from someone who's been there and done that, and largely paid for the experience. Advice is free, but experience... oh, that can be expensive!

Now that is some helpful info. Thanks a lot.

I'm now turning my attention to Sony Vaio. I've read they are very reliable. A lot more reliable than a lot of other brands including HP.

Anyone had experience with Sony laptops?