Why is Dell so "ewww"?

which one you order

 

Latitude D630 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.20GHz) 4M L2 Cache, 800MHz Dual Core, 120GB 7200rpm, NVS 135m, 6 cell, ship date - 7/9

 

Good choice my friend.

 

I'm gonna try this on it at some point. For real. I bought the accidental warranty.

("I accidentally drop kicked my Dell. What do you mean its not an accident. I have Tourettes") :laugh:

 

No,

If you want to be flawless...


"My nephew was over and he spilled his orange juice all over the notebook, and then he ran it over with his Fisher Price bike on accident".

 

making this topic in the Dell forum = lol

 

The 2 laptops in my sig cost $1481: $1069 for a refurbished M65, which had chassis damage and was replaced with a newly built M65, and $412 for the off-lease X300 from Dell Financial Services, which looks practically unused. The few times I spoke to Support, it was better than expected. I also owned an e1705 for a few months before selling it and getting the M65; it was big and ugly, true, but it worked just fine and was well constructed. I've never owned a Dell desktop.

In other words, if you know what you want, Dell's as good an option as any other computer company, and better than several. But I guess if I wanted something for gaming, or a really stylish notebook that matches my shoes, I might look elsewhere.

 

I just don't understand your point with BMW riders and Starbucks.

/Sips a Mocha my son just brought from the Starbucks two blocks from the house

 

I can't believe how much people depend on gaming!!! its ridiculous.
I give that dell is FAR from being the best brand for gamers, but quite frankly I NEVER considered a notebook to be a device for suitable gaming. Desktops are now 'the gamers tool'. Fools out there are trying to make notebooks gaming monsters when that is far from being their principal use.

Dell Latitude series are great notebooks. Perfectly priced and perfectly suited, with a very good build quality. It does EXACTLY what a ntoebook is meant to do, and it does it extremely well, also AS WELL or at times better then other brand notebooks which are much more expensive.
I have used Acer, IBM (lenovo), compaq and Dell notebooks. Quite frankly except for the all the perk about keyboard flex (its just something u get used to, it doesnt change the machines efficiency) and sturdiness (only fools need fall-proof, spill-proof notebooks, damn if u can,t take care of the friggin system don't buy one!) Dell is the best notebook you can get. Best bang for your buck, and far better then hp and lenovo equivalent systems which are FAR overpriced.

 

or "My daughter and her buddies accidentally went out to a shooting range and loaded it into a skeet launcher and proceeded to shoot it out of the air with a 12-gauge shotgun. Oops"

 

I prefer Dell laptops because Dell does not include extra crap customers do not want. Apple and ASUS are the worst at including extra crap I do not want. Dell does not force you to buy ridiculous 2.2-2.4 GHz processors that only a small percentage of laptops customers need (Apple). Nor does Dell assume everyone wants a finger print reader, mouse, laptop bag and extra battery (ASUS). If I wanted that extra crap, I can buy it cheaper from other sources like www.ebags.com and Best Buy. Dell's prices are cheap because they only include what I want. Why should I pay for features I do not want and I will never use?

 

Guess you're right, HJT. I always like to have Norton, AOL, various toolbars, ISP promotions, etc, etc, etc, installed on my machines. There's nothing I like better than having to install a clean copy of Windows on a brand new laptop.

 

Well, I frequently laugh at all my Mac-buying friends, especially when they send them back for repairs.

I like Dell because through them, I got the most bang for buck possible. In my experience, the have top notch tech support, excellent prices, excellent build quality (esp. for a plastic machine) and excellent performance. With my Dell purchases, I just can't help but recommend them to friends and family.

Plus, when I say that I could crack my 6400 over someone's head, and it would still work perfectly afterwards, people believe me. It's built like a tank.

 

I agree that Dells are usually built very well, Lysander, but disagree that Dell " . . . does not include extra crap customers do not want." There are dozens (at least) of threads here and at other sites asking for info on how to get rid of Dell's pre-installed junk, how to reformat in order to rid new machines of bloatware, and so on. I also understand that having that "stuff" installed brings in a lot of ad dollars for Dell and helps keep the costs of new machines down. Guess the unthinking poke at Apple and Asus seemed out of touch with reality and irked me a bit.

Most buyers consider the "extras" on their Macs as bonuses which add to the appeal of their machines. Haven't heard of a Mac owner trying to reinstall the OS to be rid of bloatware junk. Am not sure I remember Asus owners complaining of bloatware, either.

 

The bloatware on Dell's varies from region to region. In Australia, the only bloat the supply is the standard Windows, and the customers choice of McAfee or Norton antivirus. So the jab may have been reasonable, as in my experience, Dell's come with little to no bloatware. (I saved $70 by saying I didn't want antivirus software on my machine at all.)

 

If that's so, I agree with you. Those of you in Australia are very lucky. lol
However, as I'm sure you've noticed, there are many folks not quite so fortunate.

Not too long ago, Hard OCP posted an article on an XPS 400. There was so much pre-installed bloat and junk, those gents were unable to install some of their games, let alone actually play them. Tried to find a link to the article, but since the site's change of format, looks like the article is no longer available. Described the problem better than I've seen anywhere else.

 

Apple also includes worthless software like: iLife '06, Front Row, Photo Booth, OmniOutliner, iWork '06 30-day trial, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 30-day Test Drive, Aperture Trial, FileMaker Pro 30-day trial and Safari. Why do I want 30 day trial software? Why do I want photo software when I do not own a camera?

 

I think he means stuff that costs money that you don't want to buy, like accessories or faster hardware.
Anyway, Dell's Latitude and XPS lines already include very little extra software, and on the Inspiron line they now let you opt out of most of it.
As far as the accessories that Asus throws in, I think it's a nice touch, actually. As far as Apple is concerned, I think it's lame that you have to spend $2000 for crazy specs if all you really want is a laptop with a 15" screen.

iLife, FrontRow, etc. aren't crapware, though the 30-day trials arguably are. I think most people appreciate the multimedia tools that aren't the free trials. And Safari... I mean, no OS comes without a web browser now.

Edit: From what I've heard, iWeb may be crapware, but the rest of iLife is cool.

 

I give up. Why?

Just bought a new MBP about two weeks ago. My machine did not have any 30 day test drive offers installed - especially not MS Office! I've never even heard of OmniOutliner. My MacPro, MB and two old PowerBooks also came sans nearly all the programs you mention.

Also, FYI, I, like many others, enjoy iPhoto and iTunes (which did come on the above machines). I do have a camera, and enjoy being able to quickly edit pictures with iPhoto.

Guess you should stay away from Macs and stick to Dells; reformat and reinstall away - have a great time doing so.

 

I consider all extra software I have to uninstall crapware. According to my definition, iLife and Front Row are crapware.

EDIT: According to the Apple store website, all of those applications come with a MacBook Pro.

EDIT EDIT: Software I am interested in: Firefox, Thunderbird, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point and Zone Alarm (Windows only).

 

According to the Apple store's MacBook Pro page, under "Included Software", "Applications" tab, the MBP comes with:
* • iLife '06 suite for creating photo projects, making movies, designing DVDs, building websites, and composing music
* • Front Row
* • Photo Booth
* • OmniOutliner
* • iWork '06 30-day trial
* • Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 30-day Test Drive
* • Aperture Trial
* • FileMaker Pro 30-day trial

If you're missing any of these, bmwrob, maybe they forgot to put it on your machine or something.

I'm kind of wondering what OmniOutliner is too now.

 

I got the last generation machine to replace a problematic MB. OmniOutliner, and the 30 day trials must be for the latest models. As I said, until tonight, I'd never before even heard of OmniOutliner.

BTW, HJT, wth is your problem anyway? Frankly, who cares what you think of iLife, FrontRow, or whatever may be your personal definition of crapware. If you don't like Macs, don't buy one.



Edit: Well, I have to admit being wrong. Office Test Drive and OmniOutliner were listed in "Applications" and I hadn't noticed them. They are both now gone from my machine - just dragged their icons into the trash.

 

If you have not noticed, all laptops (other than bare bone models) have crapware. MacBook Pros are good laptops, but I do not agree with Apple's software selection.

 

Honestly, I don't really care about bloatware, as long as they give you the OS installation disc. If it helps keep the price down... load it up!

 

It does keep the prices down on some brands - not sure what to make of the situation with Mac - but I dislike it. Fortunately, with Macs, uninstalling is as simple as dragging an app's icon to the trash. Having crap installed, though, is galling. Damn, I can't believe I never noticed an MS app on my machine!

/prepares to do a swan dive off the GG Bridge lol

 

I don't see how Apple's any different... I assume MS pays Apple to put the trial on the Mac. And for the programs that are trials of Apple programs... well, instead of getting payment to put the trial software on there, they get sales of the software. Same principle though.

I do wish it was this easy in Windows. I don't think it's hard at all in Windows -- but it's not that simple. While I have no problem uninstalling software in Windows, real novices might have trouble finding where to do it.

 

Because their gaming rigs, if you want a gaming laptop, is like at least $600 dollars more, minimum, than buying, say, a SAGER, with an even bigger hd or better graphics card. If I didn't have my EPP "discount"..it would cost me nearly $1,000 dollars more to get their gaming line, when I could get another brand with EVEN BETTER parts.

 

Now that I think about it some more, if they put enough bloatware on the laptop, do you think I could get the laptop for free? As long as they give me the OS install disc, I'm good, right?

 

Your machine will be nothing but bloatware, probably even in the BIOS; the best option so your next OS installation wouldn't get infected would be to buy a new hard drive. Even with the current amount of bloatware installed, Dell gets a check for every laptop for about $75. This info is based off of my friend who is a manager at one of Dell's kiosks.


PS: In case someone freaks out, the first sentence was a joke.

 

Hey,

In the past i used to buy compaqs and averix. A dell is like a toyota camry, dumb comparison from someone in the forum. Any who, the only complaint(s) i have is the battery quality. The battery designed for D620 or D630 is not too great, they don't last long enough. I'm not talking about battery running time but battery life. The 6 cell battery usually average 6 to 8 months. The 9 cell is somewhere 5-6 months. After this time frame the battery life is less than 1.5 or 2 hours. Go and read the reviews on dell batteries. They're not too nice.

To get the most out of your budget i highly recommend when you customize your notebook, for the battery section, you choose 2 batteries instead of 1. Because battery sold on dell.com individually is pretty expensive for D620 and D630. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU CUSTOMIZE WITH 2 BATTERIES. Below i have outlined the price for each battery including tax.

- A 6 cell costs $149.42, a 9 cell costs $170.92, and a 6 cell media bay battery costs $138.67.

- Dell options are during customization, and the savings if you have chosen wisely (7 options available for latitude)

1: 6 cell primary battery - price is included
2: 9 cell primary battery - add $29. You saved $141.92.
3: Two 6 cell primary batteries - add $69. You saved $229.84.
4: 6 cell primary and 9 cell additional. - add $99. You saved $221.34.
5: Two 9 cell primary batteries - add $128. You saved $213.84.
6: 6 cell prime & 6 cell media bay battery. - add $119. You saved $169.09.
7: 9 cell primary and 6 cell media bay battery. - add $148. You saved $161.59.

If your curious i chose option 4. I think option 5 is the most dumb choice. Any comments?

 

I have heard about this battery issue, and it's a shame. I hope they will fix it soon (assuming they haven't done so already). I think it's just the Latitudes. (My Inspiron battery has been fine.) I don't know how common this battery problem is... whether it's all the batteries on those models, or just some, or what. In any case, I did find this page about it, where this guy got a replacement on his warranty. So I would also consider going that route.

From the page:

"If the BIOS/Quickset health gauges are showing the battery as failed even though it’s less than a year old, Dell will replace it under warranty. According to the phone rep that I spoke to, a battery is considered to have failed when operating at less than 50% of its rated capacity."​

 

There is one particular person always knocking my Dell.
And i mean every chance he gets.

I always defend my Dell.

PHP:

 

I prefer Dell because over here in India, they offer the best value, maximum customizability and most importantly, a 1 day at home service on all their laptops

If something conks out on your Compaq or Acer or even IBM/Lenovo, you need to take it down to their service center, then wait fror an eternity (maybe a week, maybe a month ...who knows?) for it to be fixed and come back....

With a Dell, all you need to bear is wait for the 30 mins it takes for their phone rep to read out the script that he/she needs to , and once you are thru, the rep would send someone over the next day to fix the machine

I had a minor humming noise issue (on AC) on my XPS 1210...Had it been say a HP/Compaq, i would grin & bear it
Since it was a dell, I got it fixed the next day (Service guy came over home and replaced the mobo)

(and no, it's not coz it was a XPS, a friend who bought the cheapest Inspiron on the Dell site called em up for a sticky keyboard issue..they sent a service rep over to replace the keyboard...funny (rather sad) thing is the sticky keyboard was sticky coz of some debris stuck under the keyboard)

 

Dell Latitudes are one of the best laptops made.

 

I love that someone chose the first option.

Anyways, really there are very few reasons to buy a dell. Their Inspirons usually aren't greatly cheaper than HP's, especially if you get an APP discount, their Latitude's aren't as sturdy as Thinkpads (in my opinion), and their XPS line is usually overpriced compared to an Asus or a Sager. Their are exceptions, of course. Just recently the e1501 had by far the best price for a dual-core budget notebook with actual graphics. And I always like the XPS M1210, being smaller than the SZ and more powerful than the Asus W7j. And their new M1330 should be pretty much best in class. But the vast majority of their models have just been poor compared to the competition for the last few years, and they've had very few best-in-class notebooks in any category.

 

I agree that Latitudes are slightly less sturdy than Thinkpads. Thinkpads also have a better keyboard. But, I am not going to pay an extra $200 for a slightly sturdier case and better keyboard.

 

Maybe not, but Thinkpads aren't hugely expensive anymore, either. The Latitudes may be cheaper, but were past the days when you'd have to shell out at least 2k, bare minimum, to get a good thinkpad. I'm not saying that Dell's are bad, heck I own two Latitudes right now. I'm just saying they're usually (with some exceptions) neither the cheapest, nor the best in any one category.

 

I agree. I can buy a cheaper laptop or a better quality laptop, but Latitudes are a nice middle ground. In my opinion they are the best combination of price and quality. They are strong enough to last 3-4 years and still cost $150-$200 less than a similar Thinkpad.

 

Dells a piece of crap company. They offer nothing better than others and I don't know why they remain in business. The thinkpad T61 is such an awesome computer compared to the shatty D630. Look at all the praises/wonderful threads about the T61 by their owners and realize that nobody praises the D630. Why? Because Dell = doo doo.

T61 is so good that even after countless numbers of BSOD, bad quality control, huge shipping delays, crappy battery life, it still ranks supreme!

 

...and, T61s don't go on fire.

 

Yes, that does tend to hurt your reputation a bit...

 

my desktop is a dell...yea...it's very cheap. dell is so "ewww" simply because they make their notebooks out of cheap materials, everything is flimsy and subject to malfunctions, the service is HORRIBLE, and they look pretty dang ugly.

dells aren't even that affordable! dell and hp have their big-names to support them...it doesn't matter if their customer service sucks or their notebooks are made are poorly built, because they'll have droves of other customers to make up for their dissatisfied ones.

i called dell for some help with an error i was getting, and some random guy sitting in some small office in india (who couldn't possibly be named richard; trust me, i'm indian, i should know) pretty much removed my registry settings for me on my desktop. they had to send me a new optical drive in order for it to work...

 

Actually, that was a Sony battery design flaw. All laptops manufactures issued the same recall.

ASUS does not use cheap materials to make flimsy laptops that break within a year. ASUS does not make lids that crack and hinges that break.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=115388&highlight=A8Jm

 

Oh, so you're saying all computers were equally affected?

I think not.

Do a google image search for a flaming T61. Found one? I didn't think so. That's because Lenovo uses state of the art magnesium roll cages that are flame resistant. So even if your Lenovo is burning on the inside, you will never find out!

Cool, huh

 

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic? Why would magnesium (a highly flammable metal) prevent fires? Actually it is an Aluminum magnesium alloy and I am not sure if that is flammable. Aluminum is also flammable, but its flash point is extremely high. Aluminum or magnesium fires are neat to watch though. Take a guess what ingredients are used in sparklers?

 

While you're correct in that, technically, the aluminum-magnesium alloy can be combusted (as can every other metal-alloy ever made), it isn't relevant. Thinkpad's chassis are treated so as to be extremely flame-retardant, to the point where any fire on the inside of your machine hot enough to flash the metal roll-cage would have to be so energetic that it couldn't be caused by something like a battery exploding.

 

The problem with the Dell laptops was the batteries exploding. An aluminum magnesium case would not prevent the explosion. It might help shield it, but it would still destroy the laptop. Lenovo does not add anything to make Thinkpad cases flame retardant. I doubt an exploding battery could reach a high enough temperature to ignite either magnesium, aluminum or its alloy.

EDIT: I just contradicted myself. :laugh: I guess my original point is an exploding battery will destroy a laptop regardless how well it is made.

 

Wait... you're saying T61s are basically sparklers?

Like I said, if you're on a T61 and the battery explodes, you won't even notice. You'll be like

"Oh, what was that little bang? Why is there smoke billowing out the back of my T61?"

...

"Ah, who cares. It still runs just fine"

 

Yes, the battery exploding would break your laptop, but due to the fact that the magnesium roll-cage is surrounded by carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (which does have flame-retardent properties, by the way), the Thinkpad is far less likely to actually catch on fire/explode the way the dells did.

 

If the battery explodes, your laptop is destroyed regardless what it is made of. A high quality Thinkpad or Latitude might not go up in flames, but it is still toast. I am not sure how hot an exploding battery gets, but I doubt it gets hot enough to ignite the aluminum magnesium alloy case.