[TrixieUNCW]

Hello, I need to make a decision within the next week on weather to get Dells or Mac's for my home office? I'd love to mix and match, but i need one platform. Thanks.

[Niubi]

I'd say get a Dell...It doesn't do you any favours in this world to go against established thinking...join the wintel crowd, and then any mac user you come accross in the future you can look at them like they're from the dark ages!!!

Plus you'll have WinXP to play with soon... a lot more money to spend on better things then a big sheety lump of candy flavoured plastic crap that looiks like it's for kids and retards

Get a Dell, and never look back..

I will email you my premium rate number in case you ever need any technical assistance, I'm in your area quite frequently.

[JGZ1]

Dell? You got to be kidding. Did you ever notice that Dell and Crap are both 4 letters? Coincidence? Actually in all seriousness I am on my 3rd Mac at home and my 4th Dell at work. Each Dell has had awful problems. Seems they are really good at sacrificing quality to get their price down. Both desktops had all sorts of flaky problems and both laptops are worse. I have had the monitor and CPU replaced once and the motherboard twice in about 18 months. I have run 95 and Nt4.0 (currently running 4.0 sp6) and I am not sure where all of these vaunted stability of NT comes from. In addition to the h/w problems and general flakiness our support group has had to rebuild 3 times (in addition to the h/w stuff). This is with only running the 'approved' apps.

The Macs on the other hand are subject to extreme tinkering. I have problems but not nearly as many and am able to fix them myself everytime. I have not had OS X crash (unlike NT 4.0) and rarely does OS9 crash. Normally I reboot on weekends to go OS9-.X and back. During the week my Mac is on 24/7. No problems.

Obviously I am a Mac fan but I have way too much Wintel experience. I say go for the Mac.

I would love to say I opt for the Macs, but you and me have to face reality: the PC's are cheaper. The external PC stuff is cheaper. The PC software is cheaper. I wish it was vice versa.

Get the Dell's: www.dell.com

[Jerjerrod]

I have both a Dell 866 pentium 3 and a PowerMac G4 QS 733 on my desk. 10.1 on the PowerMac and XP on the Dell. The Dell spends most of the day turned off, except when I need to sync my Palm (boy will I be happy when that comes to OS X). For *everything* else, I use my Mac, and I use it running 10.

To me, it's a question of creature comfort. Would I rather spend my day going through the motions in XP, or actually taking pleasure in using my computer and doing my work on my Mac? All of my vital work is either done in Office v.X, BBEdit, or by ssh'ing into other machines. All the tools I need are there.

Sure, the PC was cheaper, and it gets the job done too, but it's like working in the boiler room sitting on a milk crate instead of a swanky corner office with a cushy leather chair. Which one makes you more productive?

[Spliffdaddy]

for the office?

Dell.

for your own personal use, get whatever you're comfortable with.

[moss514]

If allyou are going to do is play on the internet and do some word processing, then get the dell. If you would like to do those two things plus an @$$-load of PRODUCTIVE stuff, get a Mac and don't look back. PeeCee's are nothing but a headache. If you enjoy being bombarded with viruses and constant crashes get a dell. If you'd like to enjoy computing without any real fear of viruses and crashes get a Mac.

[Scotttheking]

Definitely get a Mac.

As a system administrator for a department of the University of Arizona, I can tell you to get a Mac.

If you want specific reasons, just let me know, and I'll give you a list.

--Scott

[Scotttheking]

Oh, this is going to the lounge.

[new newton]

I've got some Dell experiences to relate.

I ordered 25 for our school labs (we're PC-based). They randomly (about 10% of the time) 'pause' on start-up, just sitting there for about 20 minutes before they finish. This is completely random, and affects them all. Dell has no answers for me. I've talked to several of their service people. One had the bright idea to ask me if I was near a nuclear power plant, because some systems they'd shipped to one had the same problem. That's troubling on a lot of levels.

Speaking of talking to their award winning tech support... it takes me an average of 20-30 minutes to get a human body on the phone. Half the time they send me back to the beginning of the phone tree after telling me that they're passing me to the next level of support. The other half of the time they say they don't have an answers, and that it's obviously my fault.

We've got next business day warranties on them. Had a monitor go dead on one. I hauled it back to the shop, and made the call to Dell. When I (finally) got a tech on the phone, he asked me what was on the screen. I told him it was dead. He asked again. I explained in great detail that it no longer worked. He said he needed to know before authorizing the exchange. I told him it was all black. That seemed to satisfy him.

When the replacement showed up (a week later, because they shipped it to the wrong address!) it was DOA!! They did get me a functioning display after another week. So much for next-business day. I've got quite a few spares around, so it's no big deal for me. If you're in a home office though... that might be something to consider.

I own 3 PowerMacs and one Dell P3. The P3 is finicky about RAM. I've had to reformat it twice because of unrecoverable errors. My Macs just work, and consequently they're what I use more often. You can have your own experiences, or you can benefit from mine. Up to you.

[seanyepez]

A more reasonable question: PC or Mac?

This forum will obviously say Mac. Then again, you might want to look at how cheap you can build yourself a custom PC for, and see if the Mac OS is worth a 200% premium. I pay it, and so do most of the users at this forum, but when you can get an Athlon XP 1800+ system complete with 512 megabytes of RAM and a 60-gigabyte, 7200-RPM hard drive for $600 plus another $200 for a 19-inch monitor, it's questionable how much the Mac OS is worth.

[Creation]

I used to use a Dell in high school. It wasn't that bad, had it problems (read: unstable as hell thanks to retards installing unnecessary software that ate 60% of the CPU on boot), but I'm not a big fan of pre-built computers from anywhere, so I'm biased.

If you're going to get the Dell, for god's sake eschew WinXP or WinMe for Windows 2000. It's a hell of a lot more stable and doesn't bug you to sign up for that godawful Passport. And it's faster/better for business environments. If you can't get anything but WinXP, then ask for the professional version. It's less finicky.

[IUJHJSDHE]

hahha stupit question. Get the Mac!!!

ignore Niubi he is being and idiot like ca$h only Niubi is sane unlike ca$h

My mom had a dell at work.
In it's 1 yeal life it was reformated 6 times! YES 6!! My old dell has been refomated 3 times! my brothers 1 time it its 3 month life!

It would be nuts to go with anything but the mac!!

[SillyMonk]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
<STRONG>A more reasonable question: PC or Mac?

This forum will obviously say Mac. Then again, you might want to look at how cheap you can build yourself a custom PC for, and see if the Mac OS is worth a 200% premium. I pay it, and so do most of the users at this forum, but when you can get an Athlon XP 1800+ system complete with 512 megabytes of RAM and a 60-gigabyte, 7200-RPM hard drive for $600 plus another $200 for a 19-inch monitor, it's questionable how much the Mac OS is worth.</STRONG>

I wonder why so many PC manufacturers are going out of business if it is so cheap to make such a system? I would think Dell or whomever could sell a few if $600 superboxes were as easy to deliver as you say. I've been on Dells site and there is nothing so cheap, so why don't people that claim to be able to make such great, cheap systems start a company and make a killing off of the poor competition?

The market talks, as they say.

[IUJHJSDHE]

Originally posted by Niubi:
<STRONG>I'd say get a Dell...It doesn't do you any favours in this world to go against established thinking...join the wintel crowd, and then any mac user you come accross in the future you can look at them like they're from the dark ages!!!

Plus you'll have WinXP to play with soon... a lot more money to spend on better things then a big sheety lump of candy flavoured plastic crap that looiks like it's for kids and retards

Get a Dell, and never look back..

I will email you my premium rate number in case you ever need any technical assistance, I'm in your area quite frequently. </STRONG>

WinXP is crap!
Dell is crap too!

You are saying color has everything to do with how good a computer is! LOL
And only the iMacs still have all the coloring. (That and Mac OS X but he does not have to use that)

:o

[grand illusion]

even thinking of mac's says that your subconscious is whispering to you. so the choice is yours, either go with your instincts or be like most other people and run with the lemmings...

[GK]

We have several Dells at work, and a few G4's. All the equipment is maintained by IT specialists. All PCs and Macs were bought within the last year, all high end models. To make a long story short. The Dells are a daily annoyance, freezes, chrahes, viruses, fatal errors. We run Win NT Pro and Win 2000, all as I said maintained professionally. We have problmes with looging to servers on the Dells. Did I mention the crashes and freezes ? The Macs do not need any maintanance, extremely stable. The people on the Macs are just more productive, those who use Dells have DAILY issues with their PCs, resulting in a loss of overall productivity. I am not an computer expert, the most important factor in my decision in buying a computer was stability and reliability, that's why I bought a Titanium G4. I have NO regrets whatsoever, in my experience the Mac platform is the better choice.

If you have more question, feel free to ask me.

BTW, I run Photoshop, Office, Internet Apps, DNA analysis programs, Internet database searches, 4D. All at an amazing speed.


GK

[nana2]

Originally posted by SillyMonk:
<STRONG>

I wonder why so many PC manufacturers are going out of business if it is so cheap to make such a system? I would think Dell or whomever could sell a few if $600 superboxes were as easy to deliver as you say. I've been on Dells site and there is nothing so cheap, so why don't people that claim to be able to make such great, cheap systems start a company and make a killing off of the poor competition?

The market talks, as they say.</STRONG>

Well for one thing Dell only sell Intel CPU's, which are overpriced compared to the AMD Duron/AthlonXP. Also when you build a computer yourself, you don't have any support/warranty cost overheads, or shipping costs, or phone support etc. Labour and shipping costs etc. The warranty is between the retailer of the parts and yourself.

[SillyMonk]

Originally posted by nana2:
<STRONG>

Well for one thing Dell only sell Intel CPU's, which are overpriced compared to the AMD Duron/AthlonXP. Also when you build a computer yourself, you don't have any support/warranty cost overheads, or shipping costs, or phone support etc. Labour and shipping costs etc. The warranty is between the retailer of the parts and yourself.</STRONG>

Thanks for the reply.

You are talking about a Do It Yourself kit. The other poster said: "you can get a system..." so I'm not sure you can assume they meant a DIY box.
Dell has free shipping, I know I just used it when I bought a computer for a charity. They charge for their warranty, so presumably you could opt out. You still pay for warranty on parts when you build it yourself.

But anyway, the knowledge needed to successfully put together such a system and maintain it costs money. I can earn more money doing what I do than I could save by learning to build a computer. That DIY sceneario only makes sense if you have more time than money or you have already invested $$ in obtaining that knowledge.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally posted by SillyMonk:

I wonder why so many PC manufacturers are going out of business if it is so cheap to make such a system? I would think Dell or whomever could sell a few if $600 superboxes were as easy to deliver as you say.

Dell's very smart to keep capitalizing on their name brand recognition. Can't fault them for that. Why sell at realistic prices when people flock to you tp spend way too much, based on the fact that they recognize a stencil you had someone slap on a case you stuff someone else's components into? (For that matter, why should Apple do anything else but the same?)

For other box makers besides Dell, Crateitaway, Compcrap, etc. it's a pretty cutthroat business where you have to cut pricing to the bone to compete. There actually are plenty of people selling systems at more realistic prices.

Should you ever want a snapshot of what the market prices for things REALLY are, and how rediculously low things really can be had for, a good place to start is a site like http://www.pricewatch.com. Check out under Windows systems where the prices start.

why don't people that claim to be able to make such great, cheap systems start a company and make a killing off of the poor competition?

Humm good idea actually. Sucks that the competition isn't really so poor though. I noticed a while ago that people I work with, clients, etc. were coming to me for computer buying advice, so I'd send them off to some catalog place or other. Then of course I'd be the one to call for the tech support or problem. So a couple years ago a light bulb finally went off, so I dove in, learned all I could about how to put systems together myself from the over-abundance of cheap parts (rediculously easy) and then rather than refering people to someone else and letting someone else make a sale, I refer MYSELF. I can build a system for a whole hell of a lot cheaper than Dell, sell it for a whole hell of a lot less, and actually give people exactly what they want. Nope, no way it'd ever be my main occupation, but it's a fun sideline and I can't complain. Since I'm doing all these people's 'tech support' anyway, I may as well make something off the machine or perif. sale to begin with.

[smacintush]

From nana2:

Also when you build a computer yourself�

I get SOOOOO sick and tired of people talking about building their own boxes. The average user does not want to build their own, nor should they have to.

If you are asking what to get, you obviously aren't interested in a DIY system. If you are using these in a home office you more than likely aren't going to have a person on staff to maintain/troubleshoot the things, correct? Troubleshooting a Mac is MUUUUCH simpler and less necessary on Macs, period. There is no real reason to get a PC for the home office.

[SillyMonk]

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
<STRONG>
Humm good idea actually. Sucks that the competition isn't really so poor though. I noticed a while ago that people I work with, clients, etc. were coming to me for computer buying advice, so I'd send them off to some catalog place or other. Then of course I'd be the one to call for the tech support or problem. So a couple years ago a light bulb finally went off, so I dove in, learned all I could about how to put systems together myself from the over-abundance of cheap parts (rediculously easy) and then rather than refering people to someone else and letting someone else make a sale, I refer MYSELF. I can build a system for a whole hell of a lot cheaper than Dell, sell it for a whole hell of a lot less, and actually give people exactly what they want. Nope, no way it'd ever be my main occupation, but it's a fun sideline and I can't complain. Since I'm doing all these people's 'tech support' anyway, I may as well make something off the machine or perif. sale to begin with.</STRONG>

If you see an opportunity and don't take it, you have only yourself to blame. Go make your first million! That's how Dell got started....

[VRL]

Mac

[maxintosh]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, don't get Dells!!!!

Our school has sold its soul to Michael Dell, and let me tell you, WHAT A HEADACHE. At least two computers in the lab consistantly have "Do Not Use" signs on them, at least four won't print, at least one can't access the internet, at least one has the Blue Screen of Death.

The new "fast" Pentium III Dells in the library are the slowest peices of crap I have ever had the displeasure of using. Not only does the mouse freeze up when it's "thinking", I had Internet Explorer bomb on me TEN TIMES IN A ROW!!! I was ready to kick the stupid thing!

The Dell laptops they're using to drive the "SmartBoards" have that start-up pause problem. It takes them like 4 hours to boot up Windows 98. And then it crashes.

Even the new flat screen IBMs refuse to play nice on the wireless network, constantly crash with the Blue Screen of Death.

The only computer I haven't see cause any trouble in our school is a dusty, 3-year-old orange Rev. B iMac sitting in the corner. The only Mac on campus.

[Timo]

I use a Mac for my home office.

Even though my industry is heavily PC-dominated (OK, which industry isn't), I wanted the ease-of-use that I remembered Macs offered when I used them in college. So I got set up with a Powerbook.

For my shop it has offered great advantages. First, hooking up an extra monitor was no sweat. Just plug it in while the computer's sleeping. Second, wireless internet (since the my desk is nowhere near the cable jack) was no sweat -- the airport assistant (and the helpful people in these fora) got me up and going. Hooking up a printer was no sweat. Getting fonts to work was no sweat. Buying an extra harddrive and putting it into a case and hooking it up to the Mac was no sweat, because the firewire connection is so easy. So now back-ups are no sweat. Setting up my free fax software that came with computer, and faxing straight from my word processor is no sweat. It's cool. Sharing MSOffice files is also no sweat; they open on the Mac without a hitch.

There are a few disadvantages. The cost is on the higher side. And then many banks don't support internet services with a Mac. But I use Virtual PC for these few times, along with some CAD stuff. It works.

I got a Mac because I can troubleshoot it. I'm not sure about Windows machines.

Good luck. If you get a Mac and have questions, there are a lot of resources on the net, including some of these fora.

[EmAn]

Well my girlfriend has a Dell that's about 3 years old and it's still actually rnning pretty well and two other friends of mine of fairly new Dell's that aren't bad at all. Personally, I'd get a Mac if I were you, but if money matters then go for the Dell (never thought I'd say that)

[vega24]

Please don't buy a Dell. Compaq has some nice computers that use the new AMD Athlon XP processors and they are very reasonably price. You will get much better performance for your dollar with these than you will with any Intel P4 system. It's your choice though.

[ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: vega24 ]

[Niubi]

Originally posted by IUJHJSDHE:
<STRONG>hahha stupit question. Get the Mac!!!

ignore Niubi he is being and idiot like ca$h only Niubi is sane unlike ca$h

My mom had a dell at work.
In it's 1 yeal life it was reformated 6 times! YES 6!! My old dell has been refomated 3 times! my brothers 1 time it its 3 month life!

It would be nuts to go with anything but the mac!! </STRONG>

actually, dahling, I was having a sarcastic moment...go back...and R-E-A-D a little more carefully....noting the subtle nuances in writing style, and then apologise.

[juanvaldes]

Originally posted by Niubi:
<STRONG>

actually, dahling, I was having a sarcastic moment...go back...and R-E-A-D a little more carefully....noting the subtle nuances in writing style, and then apologise.</STRONG>

Looks like you need to work on your sarcasm if he didn't catch it.

[Niubi]

Originally posted by juanvaldes:
<STRONG>

Looks like you need to work on your sarcasm if he didn't catch it. </STRONG>

Well I don't cater for lowest common denominator.

&lt;pretty bloody obvious wasn't it???&gt;&lt;a nice healthy dollop of sarcasm, with typically borrish stupid comments against iMac's candy coloured cases, finishing up with a...call me on my �1 a minute phone line for technical support, plus the fact that I ain't usually to be found touting the fine achievements of the Dell corp, may lead you to think...hmmm.....this guy is probably taking the piss!&gt;

&lt;sigh&gt;

&lt;why have I started writing inside html tags&gt; &lt;eh?&gt;&lt;/eh?&gt;

[Niubi]

plus the fact this person is trolling...and at the end of the day, basically, when you get right to it, in the cold hard light of day, when all is said and done, honestly...who gives a ****? whats the ****ing point of people starting insults..calling me an idiot....actually **** it...what do I care what some yankee retard swab wannabee muthe****a thinks?

&lt;ARF!&gt;

[John B. Smith]

I bought a Dell, and then a Mac
It was like Hell, and then Back

I'm now an arteest AND a poet

[Niubi]

Originally posted by John B. Smith:
<STRONG>I bought a Dell, and then a Mac
It was like Hell, and then Back

I'm now an arteest AND a poet </STRONG>

Your my b!tch
I own your a$$
now I'm off
To smoke some grass

[Jerjerrod]

Originally posted by new newton:
<STRONG>I've got some Dell experiences to relate.

I ordered 25 for our school labs (we're PC-based). They randomly (about 10% of the time) 'pause' on start-up, just sitting there for about 20 minutes before they finish. This is completely random, and affects them all.
</STRONG>

DUDE!!! You too?!? I thought this was just a quirk of my machine.

As soon as I got this machine, brand new out of the box, it had issues. Within 3 months I had reformatted it and installed Win 2000 (for which I regret shelling out the damn $300, I should have just pirated the damn thing) and that's when I started getting the pausing. Usually my pausing was anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes.

The sad fact is that my Dell machine, whether it's the fault of Microsoft's crappy coding or Dell's crappy engineering, is semi-reliable at best, and that level of reliability can only be maintained with regular backing up and reformatting. I do this about every two months or so when it gets lots of use. However, ever since I got my Quicksilver 733, I've been using it less and less, so I've only recently formatted it to install XP and swap drives around.

I hate to be the stereotypical PC-basher, but this Dell has been one headache after another because of both the OS and the hardware.

If you're going to go with a PC, I'd still have to recommend Dell, though. When I bought mine, they offered far, far more customization options than any other major PC maker. Sigh... they're just the least of a great many evils I suppose.

The moral of the story is, of course, just use a Mac and don't put yourself through the torture of the world of trying to maintain a complete office solution from fourteen million different companies.

Oh, and I live nowhere near a nuclear plant.

[Scotttheking]

AHHHH, my boss is buying a dell to be our server.
This sucks.

[Creation]

So far the complaints against Dell have been from people buying workstations or desktop PCs.

I used to work at a government agency that used a Dell server. Ran perfectly stable the whole time I worked there (four months).

[Niubi]

Originally posted by TrixieUNCW:
<STRONG>Hello, I need to make a decision within the next week on weather to get Dells or Mac's for my home office? I'd love to mix and match, but i need one platform. Thanks.</STRONG>

How does a retard like you who cannot spell "whether" get a home office from? eh? Go away you trolling pile of sh!t

[MikeM32]

Actually I picked-up on Niubi's sarcasm right away. I actually know a guy who makes a living as a PC tech and he told me once that he usually recommends PC's to people he doesn't like. Hey it's his "bread and butter".

Mike

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally posted by SillyMonk:
<STRONG>

If you see an opportunity and don't take it, you have only yourself to blame. Go make your first million! That's how Dell got started.... </STRONG>

Well, I'll never make a million at it. Just a hobby for me. I've sold only 15 complete systems this year, about twice as many system upgrades, and an assortment of harddrives, CD burners, etc. I do it more because I enjoy computers and it's a kick. I'm also fortunate enough to know a lot of professional people who need computer systems and who recommend me-- if I had to advertise the more traditional ways I'd get killed at it.

But I would recommend hardware resale to anyone with more time and effort on their hands than I'm willing to spend at it. All one needs to do to start is get a reseller's licence, strike up the best possible deals with a good supplier- which takes a bit of savvy- I personally lucked into a sweet price on IBM harddrives from a rep here in Southern California. Everything else I'm scrambling for suppliers without any inside track like everyone else. I get IBM harddrives cheap and the amount of them I have to buy to get my best price isn't too bad, but I have to move them quicker than I truly have time for, so I really haven't taken full advantage of my deal, nor do I plan to.

Anyway, just a decent business idea for anyone into such things.

[NeoMac]

The answer is simple:

Buy whichever system you feel that you are the most productive at using.

If you are productive with both then flip a coin ... and cheat until the Mac wins.