MAC / PC questions

[Guest Lester Weevils]

For a long time I built all my PC desktops and did not have unusual amounts of service issues. I used to build them because I could get exactly what I wanted and theoretically save a few dollars.

The last Windows 7 machine, a quad-core HP with 8 GB ram and dual WD 1 TB drives was about as cheap to order compared to ordering the parts + Windows 7 ultimate and making it myself. So there was no apparent benefit in bothering to build one.

[Guest UberDuper]

Yeah I don't encourage people to build their own machines anymore. I don't discourage it either. I just find that it's worth the maybe $50 premium to get someone to build and test the hardware before you get it. Unless you have some special need that can't be met by one of the hundreds of system builders out there.

I've assembled well over 1k PCs in my life.. so that might taint my opinion.

[Guest WyattEarp]

but dells are absolute garbage as well so that argument is invalid.

Dells are not absolute garbage. I've had 6 of them and they've all been great with the exception of 1.

Dell Insprion 1100 - This one survived being thrown into a bathtub full of water by a crazy ex-girlfriend while the laptop was powered on. I pulled it out of the tub, set it on a chair on it's side and let it drain and turned a box fan on high in front of it for 3 days. Three days later I hit the power button and it turned on and had no issues. A few years later the power cord shorted out due to a kink and an exposed wire from being so worn out and fried the whole thing.

3 Dell Latitude D610's - bought and sold them all (on craigslist), they all worked great for me.

Dell Inspiron 1545 - this one went through hell. Left it on top of my mustang one day while working on it and drove off it with it still sitting on top, it fell off into a ditch, cracked the screen, killed the hard drive, and busted the case up pretty good. Dell shot me a good deal on repairing it, replaced the hard drive, fixed the screen and replaced the case for $200. Ended up giving it to my mom, and she's currently using it still and it works just fine (Vista occassionally causes problems which can be a pain)

Dell Latitude E610 (currently have and this thing is a tank!) - This bad boy has Windows 7 Ultimate, 250GB HD, 512MB Video Chip, Fingerprint scanner to prevent unauthorized access in the event of theft or losing it, webcam, 4 GB Memory, Wireless Internet, multiple USB ports, HDMI to connect it to my big screen. The salesman I bought from, threw in a free upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate, gave me 3 years of home repair service for the cost of 1 year, threw in a 2nd 7 hour extended battery free of charge, and gave me free shipping, plus allowed me to use a coupon code I had online for $429 off (i think it was like 29% off or something). Total for everything would have been like $1900 + tax + shipping, I got it for $1398 out the door, and I had it within 3 days of ordering.

99% of Dell problems are either software related or user error (i.e. a person not knowing how to properly setup their laptop and use it). I had a few issues with the Inspiron 1545 I gave my mom, but it was always Vista related. That OS is a piece of crap. Windows 7 is badass and I have yet to have any issues with it.

That said, I won't ever buy another Dell computer from their Consumer side. Their consumer based stuff isn't that great, and every time you call the Consumer side Customer Service, you get some Pakistani with a thick accent you can't understand and you get bounced around from department to department, and stuck on hold all the time.

I bought this Latitude E610 from the Small Business side of Dell and I've been extremely happy with it and have had no issues, it's rugged, built like a tank, and when I call customer service for Small Business, I get to speak to someone I can understand. You just get a better overall product, customer service and experience from the Small Business side.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Perhaps one of the most annoying things about buying a Dell, HP, Compaq or Gateway or whatever, is having to remove all the bloatware and specialized help and diagnostic programs and free virus programs I don't want, before starting in on installing the stuff I do want.

But it is probably quicker to remove the bloatware than to install winders + device drivers from scratch.

It would be nice not to have to prune a new computer of useless carp, brand new out of the box, before you can start seriously using it.

I guess some people like all the carp or the big companies surely wouldn't be suicidal enough to install that carp if they KNOW the customers despise it?

Edited July 15, 2011 by Lester Weevils

[Guest WyattEarp]

Perhaps one of the most annoying things about buying a Dell, HP, Compaq or Gateway or whatever, is having to remove all the bloatware and specialized help and diagnostic programs and free virus programs I don't want, before starting in on installing the stuff I do want.

But it is probably quicker to remove the bloatware than to install winders + device drivers from scratch.

It would be nice not to have to prune a new computer of useless carp, brand new out of the box, before you can start seriously using it.

I guess some people like all the carp or the big companies surely wouldn't be suicidal enough to install that carp if they KNOW the customers despise it?

ain't that the truth! one of the reasons I like Dell over HP, Compaq, and Gateway. Dell's OS Disk is separate from their drivers and bloatware discs. HP, Gateway and Compaq have made it to where you have to install all the discs in succession and you can't change options, or software (at least in my past experience).

removing the bloatware doesn't always completely uninstall it, when I get a new laptop, I just format it and reinstall the OS and the drivers, takes about an hour to do it, then another 45 minutes of configuring it to my liking. Then about another couple hours to install all my software.

[Jonnin]

The last PC we bought (from best buy) had an actual virus (trojan) installed on it in the preloaded junkware. It was there the first time I booted, and I had not yet plugged it into the internet nor put in any disks or anything. Amusing, but annoying too.

Getting that stuff out is a black art. I boot it in safe mode, then delete everything I can find that is known junkware and run a couple of registry cleaners to repair the damage. The uninstallers do not work on half of this junk and they are slow when they do work, a del/s *.* is pretty darn quick. Running ccleaner and msconfig will find most of the auto-start bloat so you can get rid of those entries and locate what is on the computer. Its usually an iterative process because even doing this you will miss some of the junk and when it starts running you determine what it is and where, then go kill it. On the darn near impossible side is recovering the hidden partitions they stuck on your hard drive, without reloading that is quite tricky and sometimes just not possible.

All in all its probably best to just wipe the drive and start from scratch, but loot the trashed install for drivers BEFORE you do that to save a lot of time and hassle.

I can usually kill the junkware faster than a reload, in under 1/2 an hour. But I almost always have some wasted disk space for dlls and other pieces that were missed in the cleanup, minor enough but it can be a few meg of wasted space.

Edited July 15, 2011 by Jonnin

[Guest mustangdave]

My son...got me a nice HP pavillion DM4 laptop...nicely set up for 1/2 price...Yeh...I know there is junkware on it...expected it too...this is the first laptop that was USED and abused I've gotten...my son has custom built our desk top systems. The HP being what it is has WIN7 on it...and the HP specific software isn't that bad...at least the ones I've activated...but yeh I tend to KILL whatever I don't want on the system...and life goes on

[bajabuc]

My magic box is old..I found it out behind a local business...in the rain...it had been there for weeks. No HD and the tecknogeek had pulled a few fast ones with jumpers before he tossed it. It had 5 puffed and leaking "caps". How about that...it's my best computer.

[Guest UberDuper]

My magic box is old..I found it out behind a local business...in the rain...it had been there for weeks. No HD and the tecknogeek had pulled a few fast ones with jumpers before he tossed it. It had 5 puffed and leaking "caps". How about that...it's my best computer.

Hard core, man.

[ted]

get a Mac you want go back