OK...so really, are Dell laptops good or not?

Answer 1

Dell Laptop Explodes in Flames



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http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/dell-laptop-explodes-in-flames-182257.php


At a conference in Japan, a Dell laptop suddenly exploded into flames, and lucky for its owner the fiery blast occurred while the PC was sitting on a table and not in his lap. An onlooker reported that the notebook continued to burn, producing several more explosions over the course of about five minutes.

The model of the offending Dell notebook wasn't mentioned, but since it was of the Windows persuasion, we can now boast that we are unbiased in our reports of fiery laptops, both Mac and PC. It's only a matter of time before something like this happens on an airplane. – Charlie White
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Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference

INQ reader's amazing snaps


By INQUIRER newsdesk: Wednesday 21 June 2006, 13:22

AN INQUIRER READER attending a conference in Japan was sat just feet away from a laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.
Gaston, our astonished reader reports: "The damn thing was on fire and produced several explosions for more than five minutes".

Should you witness such an event, his advice is, "Don't try anything courageous/stupid, stay away, away, away!"

"For the record, this is a Dell machine," notes Gaston. "It is only a matter of time until such an incident breaks out on a plane," he suggests.

Our witness managed to catch all the action in these amazing pictures.

"Fire extinguishers leave a mess on your suit and belongings; pack your stuff (if you can) and leave, leave, leave!" he advises.

We don't have any further details of the model of the computer in question. In light of the evidence, however, we'd suggest you avoid actually using a laptop on your lap. Ouch.


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Dell recalls a million faulty AC adaptors

Notebooks - now where have we seen this before?


By INQUIRER staff: Friday 08 October 2004, 14:47

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Dell notebook adaptor fault: Not many killed

Man gets box and letter four months later


By INQUIRER staff: Friday 04 February 2005, 19:16

WE WROTE in early October about the recall of 990,000 faulty Dell AC adaptors, but don't worry folks, there appears to be no hurry to get new ones.
One of our readers, earlier this week, had a letter from Dell complete with a cardboard box asking him to send the adaptor back for a replacement.

We suppose that the four months it took for the letter and box to go out just goes to prove that people were erring on the side of caution.

In our earlier report we said that seven incidents were involved, but in early October no-one had been injured.

We hope and trust that the situation remains unchanged. It is what we marketing types call a "just in time" product recall. Or should that be "just in case"? µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=21100



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Answer 2

I'm looking for a laptop now too. I have found that Dells are expensive. They are not as expensive as Sony or IBM. My current laptop is a Toshiba. It was resonably priced and it has held up very well. My sister also has a Toshiba and her's has held up very well too. I only want to new laptop because my current Toshiba is very heavy at over 8 lbs (I got it to replace my desktop, not to be really mobile). According to Consumer Reports in 2005 Sony had the fewest repairs. They were followed by IBM and Toshiba as the top 3 brands with the fewest repaired. The brands from 4-8 in reairs were: Apple, HP, Dell, Compaq, and Gateway. Dell is toward the bottom of the list in quality. I have had several friends who have had issues with their Dells. I used to have a HP for work and the motherboard went bad on it three times. I think that I'm going to get a lightweight Toshiba Tecra or Satellite U205.

Answer 3

Dell is the kind of company that can only be good to their consumers who want the cheapest computer that can do the basics, and admittedly, they do the basics well. But if you want any kind of performance or flexibility, never buy a dell. Dell is unbelievably overpriced for anything mid to high range ( look at the XPS series...) I'd go with something like ABS Computer Technologies (http://www.abs.com) They have excellent service ( I own an ABS PC) and are not really over priced.

Answer 4

I am the systems admin for a small company, we buy exclusively from dell and their laptops are generally pretty good (we get the latitute series which is a business model) and do not have any major issues with them. Make sure if you do get one to get the 3 year warranty with the complete care, because if you do they don't care if you drop it from a 10 story building or throw it into a swimming pool they will fix or replace it for free.

when we do have an issue with a laptop they can usually get a service tech out to replace the bad part within a day or two.

Answer 5

I have a Dell that is sitting on my lap that I've used almost every day for 3 years and have never had a problem with it! I would buy nothing but a Dell!

Answer 6

I love my Dell, but it also depends on what features you have with the laptop. I mean does it have a DVD burner or what kinds of processor its holds. I have a Pentium process. I think they're much better than a Celeron Processor. Just look at the hardware on the computer and go from there. Good Luck!

Answer 7

I don't have a dell laptop I have a HP, but dell makes good laptops. My desk top is a dell and it works great.

Answer 8

They have been falling in quality in the last several years.

Post sales support has also become shoddy since moving to Insia. A dell spoekwoman actually piblicly apologized last week for their diminishing quality.
If you are buying pick up a Lenovo Thinkpad (IBM technology). If youa re rich buy a Sony laptop, rugged and powerful (although I find them pricey)

Answer 9

Apples are supposedly better, they are not targeted by hackers. They soon will be due to popularity increase. I would get the dell, at least 512 MB of RAM maybe 1 GB if its not too expensive. The hard drive space is up to you. Check your current hard drive for the total amount of space and space that is free. You can determine how big you should go with that. Send me the specs before you order and ill let you knwo if it will be ok.

Answer 10

Dells are good for privite use,But they use intel processers which makes them slow i would reccomend finding a computer with an AMD processer there cheaper AND on amd 1.00 ghz is like 2.0 ghz on an intel.you might want to find a dell with an amd processer or get another brand Like acer,aleinware,etc