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General discussion

Advice on upgrading to a new pc

Mar 9, 2004 9:30AM PST

Hi, i intend to retire my old Packard Bell PC & thinking hard on buying a Dell PC but as they are not all that popular in Australia & you can only buy them direct i was hoping some of you guys could offer some advice on Dell PCs & their reliability ??


thanks john.

Discussion is locked

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Re:Advice on upgrading to a new pc
Mar 9, 2004 10:10AM PST

John,

Good to hear from our Aussie friends! I do not own a Dell but they are well thought of in the U.S. My son and brother have Dells and both are happy and trouble free. Like any other piece of equipment there can be failures and I am sure you will receive posts from others that are negative. Some says build your own system. The choice is yours and depending on your situation and preferences only you can decide. Dell has a good name here and is widely used being the top direct to consumer PC.

Best wishes,

Happy

Glenn

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Re:Advice on upgrading to a new pc
Mar 9, 2004 10:17AM PST

As Dell is an OEM dealer, they use substandard and proprietary parts (particularly the power supplies in Dell's). Then they charge you an arm and leg to talk to someone you can barely understand (and vise versa I'm sure) in India if you need support. While the free international phone call has a certain appeal, I've personally found that building your own computer and selecting quality parts from the start, drastically cuts down on problems and even the price tag to boot.

My advice would be to hit some hardware review sites like Tom's Hardware, Anandtech, etc. Read up on things, which motherboards offer the best set of features, performance, stability, etc. Which AMD CPU is best for the job (unless you like paying more for less with Intel), that sort of thing. Then either buy all the parts and slap them together yourself, or find some place that will do that for you for a small fee. It'll take longer, be more work, but it's worth it. You usually save 10-15% off the top price wise, and have fewer headaches related to crap hardware.

Don't be like a million other people who think that because Dell let's you pick which speed CPU you want and if you want 256MB or 512MB of RAM that you're getting a custom PC. It's a load of crap, and they should be pegged for false advertising if you ask me. It's like saying that because you opted for a different color and stereo in your new car, that you're getting a custom car. Rise above it, and be an intelligent consumer.