Is it worth buyng from Dell???

[HellBoy]

m8 with budget of £1100, you can get better results if you build it yourself

you said you doing 3d stuff, I would suggest getting dual monitors and since you are texturing, you'll also be better off with a tablet and I'm sure you can get all that with that budget. but I dunno how that would work with payment plan.
thats if you don't already have em

[vlad74]

Thanks for the qiuch reply HellBoy. Actually I always biuld my PC's myself - British Computer Fair(Tottenham Court Road) :). And I bought my Wacom 1.5 years ago:)
My problem is that I dont have the cash and the only way is the payment plan.
Thank you again.

[FunkyCowie]

I hate Dell with a passion... I have had 1 Desktop, and a PDA from them... support is next to useless. If you can build a somewhat delicate 20 piece puzzle for ages 12 and up then I would definately go the route of building your own computer its really easy and you don`t have to go through someone in India (nothing against people from india, nice people, have a couple of friends who are indian, but even they have had trouble with indian call centers) to get support, cause most parts manufactures and suppliers won`t have call centers located elsewhere...

EDIT: Oh nuts you already replied... oh well... I`d just save up and get components you really need first.

[Xevious]

Dell's fiancing company is kinda funny. I know a lot of people with good credit who did not qualify for financing through Dell.

Question: Has there ever been a topic about financing help in buying a new computer here at CGtalk?

[mummey]

http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=23

Its there for a reason...

[vlad74]

Thanks very much for the replys guys.
mummey - good point. Sorry.

To the MODS - could you please move the thread to the Technical and Hardware forum, please.

[bblackbourn]

I don't know about Dell's arrangement in the UK, but I've bought my last two Dell workstations from the "refurbished" section of their website here in the US (I think it's called "Dell outlet" now).

The inventory changes constantly & you can't customise, but I kept checking it often & ended up with exactly what I wanted - about 30% cheaper (same warranty etc).

Don't know about the finance options though....

Good luck!

Brad

[tciny]

I only had a notebook from DELL but it was awful. Came with a broken motherboard, shortly after that the hard drive fried, then the USB ports seized working and as of now there, again, seems to be something funky about the hd because windows keeps corrupting its own system files constantly.
This was actually the reason I then got myself a PowerMac and I have to say it's the best choices I made in a long time. The thing just works smoooooothly :) (and OSX is really neat too)

[alanmac]

You could try EuroPc they do Dell refurbs if you want Dell, and offer finance, but its high APR.

www.europc.co.uk

Can't you get a loan? If you're credit worthy for Dell you surely must be for the banks.

Alan

[WesComan]

For what it's worth I have had no problems with Dell. I've personally had 2 machines from them, the most recent I bought a year ago and they've worked absolutely fine, they just tend to start falling over after about 3 years. Also, all of the work stations and the render farm at work are Dell and again, there doesn't seem to be any major problems. About the support, I've heard that the Buisness tech support is MUCH better (and UK based) than the Home User level, it might be worth looking into that if you're using the machine for your full time job.

[Dias]

I don't know how about USA, but here in EUR Dell's laptor are simply the best because of technical support. It's simply works: with normal warranty they ensure to repair your product in 6 days (and it's true, personal exp).

[PanzerMKZ]

what about BOXX?



Panzer

[3DDave]

That's not a bad price for those specs. My work just payed $2300 for a similiar HP but with a P4 3.6.

[lrf]

I normally build my own systems, but I did not want to spend the cash upfront on all of the specialized parts. So I purchased a really New stripped down dell 5100c slim body desktop, I ordered it with a Pentium D Processor 830 with dual core 3ghz, FB 800 ,256 ddr2 sdram, and 80GB ATA HD and winxp home. I didn't need all the extra bells and whistles that are offered on most packages.
I replaced the ram with my own 4GB of high quality ddr2 sdram at a much cheaper price than Dell offers(quality is key).
All in all, the machine is quiet and runs like a race horse, I have a mac G5,and a custom PC workstation and the Dell is the faster at rendering and handling multiple applications (Lightwave and XSI, video capture, no crashing)
The whole deal from dell cost just around $1200. It would have cost much more buying the components elsewhere.
If you know computers and building workstations you can make any machine work for you, well ....maybe not a Gateway. Anyway its been a high quality investment.

[tciny]

I don't know how about USA, but here in EUR Dell's laptor are simply the best because of technical support. It's simply works: with normal warranty they ensure to repair your product in 6 days (and it's true, personal exp).
I live in Europe and it took them a week to pick up my broken notebook and two weeks to return it to me. So I wouldn't say thats a general fact.

Also, for a friend of mine, who also has a DELL notebook, the issues came shortly after the one year warranty ran out.

[umbrellasky]

I live in Dorset, UK and recently bought a laptop from Dell, I haven't had any problems with it so far, it's been about 6 months now I think.

They were very polite over the phone.

That's all I can say really :)

[Flog]

Well I'd go to www.gotapex.com (http://www.gotapex.com/) and keep an eye on the coupon deals they have

I got a $2,400 dollar XPS system for 1,300 with a coupon. So they have specials.

It almost is not worth it anymore to build systems considering how low a price it came down. Yeah support can suck for some, just depends on who you get on the phone. In the UK you would actually have UK support and no outsourcers like US customers have to deal with.

I'd wait for the specials though. Keep an eye out and be patient.

Many people say to build. I tried to build my own system and priced one, guess what it is about the same price and at least with the XPS I got a 3 year onsite warranty.

Also I think almost all support from any company is sucking and if you build your own guess what, you'll have to go from one support to another instead of one place.

So it's up to you. I have had IBM and Dells, both work fine. When you really break it down, they all use the same parts anyways. Look inside any system and you'll see an IBM, Western Digital, etc hard drive. Processor's well you either got AMD or Intel. CDroms's well there is a ton of differant ones there too. So no biggie.

I think now you will get a better deal if you buy it, building is cool and about the same price but no full warranty on everything. Plus you have to do the work of building it to, instead of just opening the box.

But keep an eye out for deals.

I live in Europe and it took them a week to pick up my broken notebook and two weeks to return it to me. So I wouldn't say thats a general fact.

Also, for a friend of mine, who also has a DELL notebook, the issues came shortly after the one year warranty ran out.

Don't buy the cheapy return to depot type warranty. Have the onsite warranty where they come to your house and fix, usually the next day.

[X96]

have it built from a small local shop. AVOID big box stores like best buy or places like that.
Or you can build it yourself online. I'd just stay away from dell. Due to the fact that there isn't a consistant face that you can yell at when somthing breaks and they can usualy fix it in 2 to 3 days.

However if you build it yourself then you only have yourself to blame if somthing breaks.

My experance with dell is that when your system goes down you ither have to ship it back and wait a month with no computer. or they send someone out if your lucky enough to live within 30 miles of a dell distributer/service center and ( most people arent.) get it fixed that day if the tec is compitent and has everry part he'd need. Other wise he taked it in his van and dissapers for 2 weeks with your computer.

At my old job we bought 12 workstation dells for animation, 4 died and one of the above happened each of them.

[PanzerMKZ]

You ever look into the older dell's. Yea that was a Intel proc but that was Dell's custom motherboard. so was the PSU. So sometimes the big stuff is not all that good to purchase.



Panzer

[DevilHacker]

Look into an Gateway (http://www.gateway.com/) or Voodoo (http://www.voodoopc.com/default.aspx) system...
Please do not get an Dell (or alienware, since Dell just bought them out) their pc’s are un upgradeable and their support is horrible.
:thumbsup:

http://resource.voodoopc.com/images/default/galleria_images/product_images/500_omen_04.jpg

http://resource.voodoopc.com/images/default/galleria_images/product_images/500_omen_09.jpg

http://resource.voodoopc.com/images/default/galleria_images/product_images/500_omen_11.jpg

http://resource.voodoopc.com/images/default/galleria_images/product_images/500_Omen_Feb1.jpg

http://resource.voodoopc.com/images/default/galleria_images/product_images/500_omen_16.jpg

[switchblade327]

I will say this delicately as I can:

If you buy a PC from a big company, make sure that company's tech support and customer service is located in a country that speaks your native language *fluently* and is open 24 hours. It's worthless otherwise and without usable tech support or a warranty, you'd be smarter to build your own.

I've worked with Dell PC's in the office for years and none have impressed me with their reliablity. All of them needed work at some point. On the other hand, I have a 8 year old Gateway that still worked fine (though very, very slowly by today's standards!) when I donated it to charity.

These facts, combined with Dell's deceptive pricing scheme on their web site (You click on a $1200 PC and they instantly add hundreds worth of options that are *highly recommended*, rather then starting at a base configuration and building up like every honest manufacturer does).

Personally, I run homebuilt, frankenstein rigs and a Gateway laptop, which I've been very happy with. Their tech support is (i think) in Canada, is open 24 hours and the service I've had from them is top notch.

[KOKE]

WOw those Voodo things look like taken out of a tuned version of the space shuttle... :surprised

Wouldnt say no if the gave me one for free though :beer:

JK.

[GregHess]

Recently Hardocp has begun reviewing a variety of "big and small name" computer manufacturers. The interesting thing about their review process is they aren't going through PR routes, nor contacting the company. They are acting like consumers and purchasing the system without any connection between themselves and a "review".

This has resulted in some fantastic information about how some of these companies actually function on a consumer level instead of the normal special treatment some reviewers get when trying to review a product.

Here's a link to their new reviews.
http://consumer.hardocp.com/reviews.html?cat=MjUsRGVza3RvcCBDb21wdXRlcnMsaGNvbnN1bWVy

And in my last few years of dealing with dells...avoid the desktops at all cost. If you are forced to buy one, at least buy a business optiplex, or a workstation model. The difference in quality between the el cheapo desktop models and the other classes is worth noting. Not to mention the default setup on the desktops leaves the computer completely non functional. If you ever get your hands on a dell desktop, wipe the drive and install a fresh OS before it finishes booting. Trust me, you'll save time over trying to clean it up.

From a system builders point of view, the areas where dell most cheaps out is generally the power supply. PSU spec's on the system are usually pretty close, and don't seem to allow much wiggle room, if any for new hardware. The cooling is usually pretty nicely done, with ducting, good ventillation, and large slow moving fans. Cooling can be improved by removing the cpu heatsink and reapplying some AS5 instead of the default goop they throw on there.

Some of the newer dell's no longer have "special" psu plugs...but as always, please double check PRIOR to plugging in a replacement psu that its not one of the models with its own magical dell only plug. Plugging a standard psu into a dell only psu connector will destroy the motherboard.

[vlad74]

Hi guys. I have no words to express my appreciation to all of you who replyed.
After so many replies my conclusion is not to buy straight from dell. It seems that I will have to wait and build it myself as I always do or I can buy refurbished from https://www.europc.co.uk/ . I dont know if they are realible or not.

Big thanks to:

FunkyCowie
Xevious
mummey
bblackbourn
tciny
alanmac
WesComan
Dias
PanzerMKZ
3DDave
lrf
enialadam
Flog
X96
PanzerMKZ
DevilHacker
switchblade327
KOKE
GregHess

[GregHess]

vlad,

Check out...

http://www.resellerratings.com

They may have your company listed.

[vlad74]

Thanks GregHess. Great link.

[mistafreeze]

dont even think about gateway, their nothing but problems, we got a bunch of their stations at work, they are constantly dying, (usually just need to reseat the parts inside to get them to work on desktops) but laptops the mobo's are frying or the sound is dying or nic failing constantly.

As far as wanting a payment plan, dont know how long your looking for but check out newegg.com they have a payment plan if you get approved.

[GregHess]

Instability in a computer is almost always caused by one of four things. (In this order).

1) Loose cables, card's, or dimms.
2) Memory Errors.
3) Insufficent power or inability to maintain consistent voltages
4) Overheating, or components running hotter then spec'd.

If the gateway's are giving you trouble...start by running a memtest.
http://www.memtest86.com (http://www.memtest86.com/)
(They even have a snazzy iso to make bootable cd's now!)

Run 2-3 passes. If you get errors, remove the dimm where the error occured, (ie if you have 4x256, and the error occurs at 900megs, its probably the last dimm) then rerun the test.

To diagnose power, unplug everything but the hd or try a spare psu. (I recommend FSP power supplies or PC Power and Cooling) [also verify the gateway isn't using a gateway only psu plug]

To diagnose heat related issues, download sisoft sandra, and run through the burn-in test, or just use the info sections to pull data from the system.
http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/

If its none of that, it usually just leaves hardware incompatibility, firmware issues, or actual hardware damage. (look for capacitors that look like /\ instead of --)

There really isn't a reason to have an unstable pc. It's usually just something that's simple causing the whole problem. (I'm not supporting gateway here, just suggesting some things to fix the problem)

[PanzerMKZ]

I have seen so many boards with bad caps that is the first thing I look at when I have an unstable machine.



Panzer

[jbw]

Hi guys. I have no words to express my appreciation to all of you who replyed.
After so many replies my conclusion is not to buy straight from dell. It seems that I will have to wait and build it myself as I always do or I can buy refurbished from https://www.europc.co.uk/ . I dont know if they are realible or not.


I've bought from Europc without any problems. I saved £2k over dell's list price by buying a precision 670 from them. I got a 1yrs warranty from Europc and never had to deal with dell directly so that made me a happy camper. I've since been back to europc for a couple of 2005FPW. I've not had a problem with any of their kit. Note that the precision 670 case lacks any form of air flow for the hard drive caddy in the front of the case. I've had to jam a 92mm case fan infront of the harddrives to keep them cool.
IMHO given the current performance benefits of dual core AMD it almost feels like a waste of money to buy a xeon based system, right?

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