<p>Dell is by far my favorite company. </p>
<p>Basically, you get what you pay for with any company, so like someone else has said, if you buy one of their $500 computers it will run fairly well with basics...but will suck for anything other than the basics. </p>
<p>If you actually spend the money to get what you need, though, they have excellent computers (and nice discounts). I've had nothing but great experiences with their costumer service, as well.</p>
<p>Dell 1505 got a very good review in PC world. We have one and have no problems to report. HP Pavilion and Asus also did well in the review.<br>
Dell does load a lot of useless software - I recommend taking a few minutes to get rid of the bloat and performance should improve.</p>
<p>PC world gets a lot of advertising dollars from dell...I generally ignore published reviews. I either find someone who has the machine, or get an overview of the company from someone who's owned and purchased a lot of computers. No IT person has ever told me to buy a dell system. IBM, yes. Compaq, yes. Sony, yes. Dell? never. </p>
<p>You get what you pay for. that $1800 lenovo will be infinitely better than that $700 dell.</p>
<p>Hmmm - a friend's company (over 250 employees) has all Dells and he reports only good things. I have had four Dells and have never had a problem. And you don't have to get the bare bones models that are heavily marketed. They have powerful (and pricey) computers. I also look at consumer reviews and they are positive on Dell (except for some blips on customer service). It seems to me that Dells are fine but perhaps too "common" or not cool enough for the IT folks. But most of us are not IT folks...</p>
<p>i did a quick benchmark of my HP laptop CPU compared to some others out there.</p>
<p>it scored a 3065 using a 2xTurion64 ML-50</p>
<p>in comparsion the Pentium M which is still around is around 1246</p>
<p>the chips in the Asus motherboard are around 3595</p>
<p>the intel core due (t2500) that some of you guys have scores 3122</p>
<p>prob useless info but benchmarks amuse me</p>
<p>Small business dells are much different. They are available on company contracts, are built of completely different materials, and since they aren't massively discounted to make the buyer feel like they're getting a deal, they are better built. They're far more expensive than consumer models, but joe schmoe can't get one (compaq will sell a small business system to anyone). </p>
<p>I can't justify paying $2000 for a consumer dell when the comparable apple/sony/lenovo will be built and supported far better. I prefer to speak to people who speak english when I call tech support on the rare occasions I need it- something dell will famously never offer. Sony tech support isn't great, but the machines are built super tough, so it's not usually the machine that needs help. Apple is probably the best- their extended warranty is comprehensive and you can take the system to any apple store for an immediate consultation.</p>
<p>Actually, PSU and many other schools push small-business dells (latitudes) to students for reduced prices. Yes, they are better built. But the fully-loaded 1505 with upgrades is also a good deal (we paid 1500 with a coupon). We scanned the techie sites and the benchmarks and comparisons to other laptops are good. Regarding tech support, I have had my share of frustrations (including a women who said "sorry for your incontinence" on a chat line). But recently, i called for help for my out-of-warranty desktop and the guy stayed with me and helped me with my problem at no charge - which turned out to be more of a stupid user error. I was impressed. Compaq (many years ago) would automatically ask me for my credit card #.
In any case, I think Dell's reputation has suffered due to customer service issues as well as their mass marketing of low-end computers. But I think they offer good deals on the high end - and recent reviews are backing this. And maybe they're trying harder on cs based on my last experience...</p>
<ol>
<li>Apple/Lenovo</li>
<li>Toshiba/Asus/Sony
..
..</li>
<li>Dell/Hp/Gateway/etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>As for the Core 2 Duo (aka merom): it is not much faster than Yonah (Core Duo). Unless you are doing serious video/audio encoding, it isn't worth the wait. You should start seeing notebooks with these processors by the end of this month(August), beginning of next at the latest.</p>
<p>I got a Dell Inspiron E1505 with the works (cause I have to run complicated programs for engineering). I ended up saving nearly $700, got a free printer, got a second battery, and have an awesome warranty. </p>
<p>My mom works at a computer company and knows more about computers than I ever care to know...and she sure doesn't seem have a problem with Dell. We've had Compaq, Gateway, Toshiba, and IBM brand computers in the past, but all we buy now are higher-end Dells. </p>
<p>Like I said before...you get what you pay for. My Dell cost over $2,100 before the discounts. Their top computers cost more than that, so why do so many people insist that Dell only has $700 bargan computers?</p>
<p>Anybody who is saying an Apple is better than an Asus is an Idiot because Asus makes the majority of Apple products. Including all macbooks and all Ipods.</p>
<p>Just because you have never heard of Asus, doesn’t make them bad, isint it true that enthusiasts truly know what’s good and the average consumer buys the crap products. High end audio, high end cars it’s the same all around. Asus is a Major company. Take a look that for every computer on this planet 1 of every 3 of them has a motherboard made by Asus. That is a Monster number and it shows the quality of there product.</p>
<p>Apple makes a very aesthetically appearing unit, though there support is horrible and the units tend to break rather easily. They have no customer service, it is 100% written rule with them. Which is fine, but I like for a company to do the right thing even if it makes them take a loss. Apple is the only company ive ever seen do this.</p>
<p>Dell seems to be a Favorite now, but there systems are honestly crap, sure they used to be good, but they are only alive due to reputation now. I see a lot of dells at work (I work at Circuit city as a PC tech), about 3/5 of the computers I fix are faulty dells. The term (Dell= don’t ever last long) holds very true, if you were to ask me. The support is horrible as you will only talk to Mr. India. The quality of there systems is also quite poor, very weak systems made with very cheap components.</p>
<p>HP & Compaq makes a truly great system if you were to ask me, I see them a lot in CC and set them up for folks a lot. I find there support to be very good, but its still India. In terms of retail stores Hp or Compaq cannot be beat.</p>
<p>Sony is a company who developed the aperture grille technology and that is there entire reputation. The quality of there products is decent. They rarely fail, which is a great selling point, they have very good quality control. The only problem with them is if they fail they are very hard to get fixed and the tech support tends to use a lot of loop holes and tries to refuse you service. A lot of the time they don’t have the parts and tell you that you are Sorry out of luck. They also come with a ton of software built in which sucks because they are slower at first.</p>
<p>IBM/Lenovo is the absolute best Notebook you can buy; there quality is the highest of high. They are built like tanks and looks very professional which is a plus. The IBM ThinkPad and think centre team is exactly the same before the Transition to lenovo as it is now. They are the same people and you will get the same support. Lenovo support is about the best you can get. You will talk to an American which is a plus. The service is great, they have plans such as in-site which they will have a tech to your location within 4 hours or 9 hours. They also have depot service in which the laptop is picked up and delivered to depot same day and then shipped out to you overnight that same day. The internal subsystem is also great for file recovery and such.</p>
<p>I would personally only buy an IBM/lenovo ThinkPad as a laptop because they are the best and I deserve nothing but. The quality is awesome and the service is even better. Nobody can dispute that there is a better and more reliable laptop than a ThinkPad. </p>
<p>But I love seeing people waste there money on piece of crap Computers, It gives me a Job.</p>
<p>Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>my asus laptop is being shipped to me :D</p>
<p>Asus is a good and reputable brand, just that they havent really been focusing on producing these mainstream laptops i would say. If you know more about laptops and computers and such, you would probably come across the name, since they make so much stuff (espacially motherboards).</p>
<p>fujitsu is a good brand i would say.</p>
<p>anyways... theres a whole lot of mixed opinions on dells.. i guess dells are very good if you look at what you get to how much you pay, they arent of the highest quality at all, but hey, if you only have that much cash, you are probably better off having a dell. e1505/6400 (same laptop but diff model names) are quite suitable for college students and such, nad have received quite a lot of great reviews. Unless you are a realyl high demanding users that knows a bit(or a lot) about computers, dell would do you fine i think.</p>
<p>but hey, if you money lying around, there are quite some great choices out there as well.</p>
<p>just my 2cent afterall though.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that the only computer companies to make anything they put in thier cases are Asus and IBM. So really the only thing that seperates the companies is thier cases, selection, and customer support</p>
<p>Apple</p>
<p>Everyone else</p>
<p>Dell</p>
<p>You missed out Acer, the 3rd largest laptop companies in the whole world....I have an Acer laptop, it is the best, nice quality and reliable. I would rank Acer highest, Toshiba last, I have many friends have Toshiba and which the hard drive fail in less than a year, Dell is OK, but sometimes there could be problem on the hardware.</p>
<p>Apple</p>
<p>Everyone else</p>
<p>Dell</p>
<p>BIG GAP</p>
<p>Acer</p>
<p>I had the worst experience possible with Acer. I have an acer laptop, and it's frustratingly slow, surprisingly undurable, and it crashed on me 9 TIMES IN THE THREE YEARS I HAD IT!!!! That's an average of 3 times per year. And the 9 times it crashed happened in the second and third year I had it. It's the worst computer I have ever had the displeasure of using. It seems like with Acer you either get a good product or a lemon. My recommendation: DO NOT GO WITH ACER. There's a reason leading retailers of electronics (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) don't carry Acers you know.</p>
<p>Don't listen, I have an Acer and it is more than 3 years and I have absolutely no problem, it is best in everything, 5.5 hr battery life, dedicated video card. And now my dad is also planning to get one for himself in CompUSA. Also you are totally wrong "futurenyustudent, retailer such as Circuit City, CompUSA, Staples and online store like New Egg and TigerDirect all carry Acer laptops, if you don't believe it I can show you the link. Plus Acer is really new to US that's why it is getting more retailer to sale them. In Europe Acer is #1 brand in sales, there has to be a reason why it is number one in Europe and the fastest growing computer company in US. So go with Acer it will not go wrong, and you will be satisfy. Many of my friends have Dell have some minor problems and Toshiba hard drive fail after one year. Apple is good but if you are not used to MAC then don't get it.
Rank:
Acer
HP
Dell
Lenovo
Sony
Toshina</p>
<p>Oh, come on, just because you had a positive experience with them doesn't mean I did. Having your computer crash the night before a term paper comes due is NOT, by ANY MEANS, a pleasant experience. I'm not going to comment on my experience with Toshiba or Dell because I haven't had any. Besides, my experiences with Acer are by NO MEANS atypical since 98% of the students at my school have problems with these stupid Acers. By the way, this is 300-400 or so incidents, so my review has some validity.</p>
<p>i have a toshiba laptop.. never had a single problem with it. it's perfect and about three years old. four of my close friends have dell laptops and all 4 of them have had to replace their hard drive after 1 year. my boyfriend has a dell laptop and hasn't had any problems yet, however he didn't get to the 1 year point yet so we'll see in a few months.</p>
<p>I just got the dell E1505 with the core duo about a month ago...and i like it a whole lot more than the viao that i just got rid of</p>
<p>Yea ive heard of acer...i actually looked at one at CompUSA before i ordered my dell....they looked like quality laptops but i really dont know anyone who owns one</p>
<p>Ive never heard of Fujitsu though</p>
<p>Just because Asus makes motherboards doesn't mean they can make a good laptop.</p>
<p>Just throwing that out there, though I don't think the asus laptops are bad.</p>
<p>Asus makes the casing for the macbook, but they have nothing to do with the iPod, so that's misinformation.</p>