Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

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I bought my first Dell (desktop) about three years ago and have been very satisfied with it. It has managed to keep up with my intense hardware and software requirements of it for all this time without any major failures. Even a minor failure (a fan error that came up every time I booted for several months) went away by itself when I cleaned the dust out of the computer while I had it open to install something. The case is very easy to open (no tools required). I'd definitely buy a Dell again.

I have purchased hundreds of Dell computers for myself and my customers over the years. I have been overall very happy with their products. I agree that you'll probably get much better service with their business service. I sometimes hear that people have problems with their consumer-level service, which I rarely use.

I have always bought Dell. I love the fact that I can customize to my liking. And, I have always had excellent experience with Dell support - perhaps because I'm from Canada (I don't know if the support here is different from the U.S). In actual fact I have really only owned 2 Dell PCs since 1995. My first lasted 10 years and I only gave it up because like you said it couldn't handle the OS updates anymore. The second one is still running like new and it is now 8 years old.
So, yes I would and often do recommend Dell to friends & family!

Dell makes perfectly competent machines from a value/productivity standpoint and I would (and have) personally recommend them for the 99% of the population that needs an appliance to do a job. Dell isn't huge by random chance, they provide the best compromise between hardware performance, durability, flexibility and support for the vast majority of users (i.e. those other than the gamer/hobbyist crowd). We've used their desktops, laptops, and servers in hot, dusty industrial environments for years and they stand up year in, year out. Even though I prefer to play around with my own builds, I still see the value in what they do. If I ran an IT department, Dell would be a top choice if only to make my life easier because there's so much less for the average user to screw up and if they do, recovery is simple. As Leo says, Dell machines usually become obsolete before they fail.

I've had 2 Dells, I will never forget my one hardware failure. The CD drive failed and I called and got a real Texan on the line. He knew what he was doing and bypassed the script, confirmed the problem. At the time (about 1999)I was novice on computers, he assured me in his down home way I could do it. Said he'd get a new CD drive sent to me and then I "just slap that sucker in there". He was right, it was easy and I appreciated the local flavor. I know they've changed since then, but my first exp with them was memorable.

I've had my dimension 8400 for a little over four years now and upgraded it a couple of times (added 2 500 gb drives and 2gb of ram).
The machine is still performing admirably.
Not needed support so far (touching wood) ;-)

I had a Dimension 2400 for 8 years. It came with an on-site warranty, and I had to use it, several times. While I had some problems with this budget PC, Dell always backed up their product with service.

In fact, a failure I had a month prior to the warranty's expiration was serviced then reappeared a month after expiration.

Dell extended me "service" by replacing the entire system, with the exception of my hard drives - and covered the shipping of the old PC's return. The replaced PC went on to operate fine until the motherboard died. I was able to use the hard drives, RAM, PSU, and CD burner in other machines. I gave away the case & motherboard on FreeCycle.

I am also a big supporter of Dell's and HP's outlet offerings. The sites might not be easy to search, but their bargains and value make them my top choice when shopping for business systems. Plus, they often give full factory warranties on these refurbished/open-box PCs and laptops, and offer extended warranties, too.

I've had my Dell Dimension 2400 4 years, no problems with it "Mechanically that is." Since it is my first computer I had some "Learning" problems, But wit the help from Dell support and my ISP got them solved quickly.
I've upgraded it from 512Mb to 2.0 Gb. and replaced the Graphics card, Flash card, or what ever its called, in order to better play games.

I do not recommend any brand, I prefer to offer my clients a few possiblities and let them choose!
Dell in general provides as good as or better products and support then their competitors.
But, I have a couple of problems with them. Their multi-level pricing approach can be a real pain. It can be difficult to determine whether the best price for a laptop is received as a consumer, small business, student, or enterprise customer.
My second complaint is Dell now expects the consumer to troubleshoot technical problems and perform technical work many consumers have no knowledge of. Leo refers to re-installing the operating system on the hard disk drive. Dell had always provided pre-imaged hard drives in the past.

I feel fortunate that my Dell Laptop was bought in the USA. I am based in the UK. The UK support have never acknowledged hardware failure until I have reformatted 3 times. I have learned to use USA support. They can't send me replacement parts, but with their help I get better support from the UK. Another advantage of USA support is that it is available 24/7. UK support is only available during UK office hours on weekdays and Saturday mornings, and the phone is continually engaged. As both support operations appear to be outsourced to India, this makes me feel particularly unloved by Dell.

My work partner has several Dells and gets good service but he is based in the USA. Until I learned to contact Dell USA myself he had to intervene on my behalf in order to get the UK to acknowledge that hardware does fail.

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