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General discussion

Who makes the best desktops?

Apr 13, 2005 6:29AM PDT

Alright, guys...let's get this over with, "once and"...well, "for a while"...at least! Silly

In your opinion, pound for pound, apples to apples, and all that--who makes the best desktops in terms of performance, price, reliability, and support?

You can stump for any company which you believe fits the bill--yes, even tiny little makers most of us have probably never heard of before.

-JDM Wink

(*No laptops, please! I'm going to start a separate thread for that in the Notebooks Forum.)

Discussion is locked

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Perhaps based on PC Magazine's Service & Reliability
Apr 25, 2005 1:32PM PDT

Survey, which consistently rates Dell at or near the top for both desktops and notebooks? I'm on faculty at a university with over 10,000 employees, and we've outsourced our IT support (including a "refresh program that provides computers to thousands of desks each year) to a division of Schlumberger called Atos. Guess which company's computers they use in their refresh program? If you said "Dell," you win a kewpie doll. So yes, I think he *is* right, at least for now -- and he's been right for about 15 years now, consistently. Or do you think it's merely an accident that Dell has risen from an obscure garage-based company to having the largest market share in the world in a bit over 20 years? I just wish I'd bought more stock in the company back then -- it was also the single best stock investment in the decade of the 1990's...
-- Dave K.

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Cnet's forum, Cnet's rules.
Apr 25, 2005 1:42PM PDT

He's just passing through like you and I.

And most of the posts favoring the emachine seem to be posted by you or the initiator of the thread. Seems strange that you should have more than one vote.
You shouldn't take this so personally, unless perhaps, you're employed by a competitor.
Dell has been the leader in the industry for many years and with good reason. No one here, claims that they're perfect, but the last time I looked they're still outselling any other brand.
The consumer will ultimately decide your argument of who is best overall. Anything recorded in this forum is unlikely to have an impact on the end result.

Not a Dell employee.

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Hahaa, cool!
May 2, 2005 3:26AM PDT

I love your answer!

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You check it out Fantome
Apr 25, 2005 2:10PM PDT

Get your story straight before you critize others for not checking it out. I did and you are not correct.

Actually, Culture of One posted his thoughts, then asked for responses. here is Cultures Post:

"Emachines wins the "overall" category.
Apple wins the "best hardware" category.
Voodoo PC wins the "extreme gaming" category.
And Monarch wins "honorable mention".

Does that sound about right to you guys?"

Looks like Culture is ASKING folks if that sounded right. To which folks either agreeded or disagreed. THEN he posted LATER:

"Emachines
So, Emachines still comes out on top with the most votes for "best overall"...quality, price, service, etc."

Tell me how Culture can ask a question (which he did - "does that sound about right to you guys") and then you say folks only spoke up for Dell after he posted the results. But they did not - they spoke up after he asked a question, and before he posted the second post. tell me exactly how I am wrong and if I am I will apoloigize, but that is the order of the posts and responses.

So, you actually are wrong when you said folks spoke up only after he posted his results. It was actually before. Pelase check it out out before asking others to.

PS note I was the biggest critic of Culture and the way he did a survey, ignored Dell, and then posted the results anyway. BUT not of Culture, just the thread. BUT he did ask first, then we responded, then he posted the results. AND to his credit it is his thread and he did come back and say just that and why he excluded Dell. So once he explained it (which is all I asked) I was good to go with the dude. VUT trust me I have the facts on this, and you need to do the checking man

PS - culture my man - did you actually imagine your innocent little question would spawn this HUGE thread? I love it.

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Mr. Fantome
Apr 25, 2005 1:10PM PDT

I like using a emachine at home and a Dell at work, however you and some others are extremely rude when it comes to Dell computers.

Debra

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Just ignore him (Fantome)...
Apr 25, 2005 1:51PM PDT

I had a heck of a debate with Culture over the last few days, and at the end of it I still do not agree exactly with the way he ran his survey, but I also think I over thought it a bit. BUT I really like Culture's style - he and I (and others) went back and forth, but we kept it to the topic and did not make it personal (or tried not to). John is great, Culture is great - good dudes.

But Fantome is not the same. If you want to debate the point then debate the point. BUT all Fantome has done is sign up to insult folks. The moderator already has removed at least one of his posts, including one he sent to funkid7 (a member since Aug 2002) telling him to grow, up, get a cookie and F__ off. Then he posted one to John Robie (member since 2000 w/ over 3,377 posts - many ones where he trys to assist others) with the following "it's clear that you're just some jerk who can't stand it when people refuse to agree with you"...

Folks need to take a lead from Culture and others (god, did I jsut say that smile...). I completely disagree with his thread and how he kept going back to emachines etc despite the Dell comments - not because I love Dell (review my posts, I have said time and time again I like the one experience I had with them, but do not know if they are any better or worse than others) but because of the way he asked for thoughts, then just kind of came to his own conclusion. BUT despite this he did not attack folks on a personal basis. Even of some comments back and forth between even he and I were heated on the subject BUT it stayed on the subject. Same with John and others.

Fantome joined today, put a bunch of posts out there to stir up a reaction, and is not even right on his facts anyway. I know I am going gainst my own advice to ignore him in posting this, but the best thing is ignore the guy, either on this thread or other ones he is on or even started. He posts these things just to get a rise from folks. just ignore it

Debra - you have an open invite to my poker table anytime along with culture, john and others that I mave already got to know over the 10 + days I joined.
Mature folks can seperate the person from the topic. Calling folks a jerk or telling them to ___ off is not that (in my opinion...)

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HP/Compaq
Apr 25, 2005 3:44PM PDT

The reliability is pretty good, and the service isn't bad, it just takes a long time. I connected to the Help and SUpport Center's chat with an online technician and it took forever for an answer, after every reply there would be a wait of about 10 minutes, but i appreciate their replys. I know that they are swamped and can't help everyone at the same time, so as long as they're not dissatisfactory and i haven't been sent a doa machine or with wrong specs, i have to admit this oem is pretty good. It's no wonder why so many people buy hps/compaqs.
Roger

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The Best Desktop
Apr 26, 2005 11:34PM PDT

CNet is the best!

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I prefer DELL if I was upgrading later
Apr 28, 2005 7:09PM PDT

I prefer to know that I can find information about my Dell computer, because I'm always upgrading. cases are easier to open but I hate the fronts

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Dell's
Apr 29, 2005 1:51PM PDT

aren't good in terms of upgradeability.

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Re: Upgradability
Apr 29, 2005 4:00PM PDT

Err....Damasta, not anymore. The Dell 8400 series and gamer XPS have good upgradability and are even in the new 6xx processor series with the Intel 64-bit support along with the new PCI-Express interface. Dell is also soon to introduce the new Intel dual processor, along with Alienware and Velocity Micro.

Even the Dell mid 4700 series in their lowest line can be upgradable to:
3.2 GHz
3.4 GHz
RAM all the way up to 4GB
Video Card to PCI-Express x16 Radeon X300SE or
a 256MB PCI-Express x16 nvidia GeForce 6800.
Hard Drive up to 250GB

Can also expect the 4700 series to soon get (upgraded) to the 64-bit (EM64T)support.

We all like the emachine T6212, and it has a PCI-Express x16 slot for a video card, with 3 regular PCI bus slots, but notice the motherboard does not have a PCI-Express x1 and/or x4 Bus interface like most other PCI-Express motherboards. So, even though nothing is out to put on them yet, it can be said the T6212 lacks upgradability for the future development of the PCI-Express Bus.

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(NT) All right john, i surrender
Apr 29, 2005 4:23PM PDT
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Pick PIck Pick
May 28, 2005 10:33AM PDT
Happy
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Who makes the best desktops?
Jan 21, 2012 4:45AM PST

I would have to say it would depend on what you actually want. If you are an apple fan or Windows. Do you want something cheap that would last a long time or a gaming machine. I am a windows fan myself.
I do know that everybody I know that are apple fans have always bought more upgraded machines before their old one broke. So I would say that apple machines last a long time based on my friends.
Since I like windows all my actual personal experience has been through windows. The longest lasting computer I ever had was a 600.00 Gateway. It lasted about 8 years before the graphics card finally died on me. Since it was so old and I couldn't play any new games on it I finally decided to buy another computer even though it was just a graphics card that actually died.
I think HP's put too much garbage software on their computers but they are inexpensive and last a good amount of time as well.
I would stay away from Dell since I believe they have gone downhill in the past few years when it comes to making good PC and customer support. I have also had issues with Sony's computers. Normally Sony adds a lot of bells and whistles but doesn't use quality hard drives or they are under powered when it comes to memory (not enough ram then your system crashes a lot). If I was to ever buy another Sony comuter I would upgrade the RAM immediately. It is sad since I will buy Sony everything else because it normally never breaks on me. I replace it with something new before hand and give my old stuff to my family which they are still using.
For gaming I know every gaming everyone will say Alienware but I do not agree. I think they are overpriced. For the gaming segment I would look at companies like ibuypower.com and cyberpowerpc.com. Both of those compaines make great gaming machines that cost about 200-300 dollars less than Alienware.
I know that doesn't really answer the question. So for my conclusion if you want a windows desktop that will last a long time and is cheap I would go with Gateway. If I want a gaming machine I would go with ibuypower or cyberpowerpc.These are just my opinion since everyone's experience is different. I hope this helps someone in the market for a new desktop.