Computer purchase help. Dell Vs HP

[AzDropTop]

Howdy. I'm in need of a Desktop. Media biased, photo, some video, tv tuner. Not a gamer, but wouldn't mind having a decent Video card in case.

Built up a Dell 420 with 750 HD, 4gb ram, 24 inch monitor, q6600 processor for just under 2k

Or an HP Pavilion Elite m9280f Intel Desktop PC. 1T HD, 4gb ram, 22 monitor, q9300 processor. Has a few more goodies then the Dell, but they are close. About 50 bucks difference.

I'm open to suggestions and would like to stay at or below 2k with at least a 22" monitor.

 

[crew_dawg16]

Dell tech support is god awful, I'd go with the HP. Also, Dell tends to have WAY too much proprietary stuff in their machines. Or you could build your own machine for way cheaper. :shrug:

 

[DoomsDay]

Neither, build one, if you can't find a buddy to do it for you man. I was going to buy one and saved a TON just ordering the parts and gonna put it together myself.....

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit DSP OEM DVD (M17-7412) 1 $109.99 $109.99
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) (O261-7054) 1 $64.99 $64.99
Philips SPD2513BD Super-Allwrite Retail DVD Burner - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 48x24x CD-R/RW, Black, SATA (P129-1010) 1 $29.99 $29.99
Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB Hard Drive - 7200, 8MB, SATA-300, OEM (TSD-160AAJS) 1 $49.99 $49.99
Thermaltake / RSI / Socket 775 / Aluminum / CPU Cooling Fan (T925-1204) 1 $19.99 $19.99
ZeroTherm ZT-100 AA Grade Thermal Grease (M333-ZT100) 1 $5.99 $5.99
Ultra nForce 680i LT SLI Socket 775 Barebone Kit - Pre-Assembled, Ultra Grid ATX Mid-Tower Case, Clear Side, Ultra XVS-Series 700-Watt Power Supply (ULT40099) 1 $199.99 $199.99
XFX GeForce 8800 GT Video Card - Zalman Edition, 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV (P450-8842) 1 $179.99 $179.99

Total for all Items:
$660.92
Item List

CPU INTEL|C2D E8400 3G 775 45N R - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$194.99)
(Shipped from Edison, NJ)

The total was like 850 shipped. Now you would just need a monitor/keyboard ect. But you could just reuse the keyboard/mouse you have. Just depends on what you want but honestly building a good computer seems to be the way to go. I shopped around alot but wasnt that impressed with what i saw for the money.

 

[thomas91169]

Dell tech support is god awful, I'd go with the HP. Also, Dell tends to have WAY too much proprietary stuff in their machines. Or you could build your own machine for way cheaper. :shrug:

holy shit, im like 180* backwards.

IMO HP has the worst shitload of garbage software that they pile into their machines. Ive never had an issue with Dell support, i got the run around for a bit but it was better speaking to some punjab prince in kerplakistan.

 

[PDubs]

Dell has started to move away from proprietary components and such. However, tech support will not be your friend. If you can build and fix on your own, get a Dell.

 

[OZ Dude]

They had to spell Dell as D E L L cause C R A P was already taken...

The last 6 notebooks we've had at work have all been HP and they've kicked azz.

Every Dell I've ever seen someone with has had problems, including one desktop that you had to lift the front of up about 1" and then drop it. That's how you had to start the machine (saw it with my own eyes)...

Just my $0.02

Oz

 

[NO-BlkLightning2K]

Dell tech support is god awful, I'd go with the HP. Also, Dell tends to have WAY too much proprietary stuff in their machines. Or you could build your own machine for way cheaper. :shrug:

hahaha, call hp's support line; you will be directed to a customer service center that is based in india. hell, it took about ten minutes for the guy to tell me to go to the control panel. outsourcing for the loss.

 

[427Windsorman]

HP makes a better PC / Laptop than Dell, but both of them have terrible customer support. My last day employed with HP was May 31st, and the biggest reason I left was because HP does not seem to care about improving the customer support experience.

 

[AzDropTop]

I knew the svt members would come through. Thanks for the input all! I'm not real comfortable building my own, but I'll ask around and see what I can come up with. I've had a Dell in the past and it was a good experience over all. Never had an HP.

 

[ff500]

Go to sites like couponmountain.com or do a search for online coupons, I'm thinking of getting a new laptop and dell has a 25% off xps coupon and I saw that hp had a 25% off coupon, there are coupons for desktops as well.

 

[txyaloo]

You're going to get about the same level of support with Dell and HP. Both of their normal consumer support is based in India, Malaysia, Philippines, etc. I would highly suggest upgrading to Gold support if you purchase a Dell so you have support in the US. Unfortunately, you have to know how to work the Indian support reps to get what you want.

As far as build quality, they should be about the same between a Dell and HP. Both use many of the same components and buy their parts from the same suppliers in China. Many of Dell's designs use Intel reference boards that have been tweaked for Dell, and both use some propriety parts (like power supply connectors). I'd make my choice based on which one offers the best price. No point paying more for basically the same computer.

I'd take a Dell over an HP, not due to quality, but because I know how to work their support system to get what parts/service I may need.

 

[Matts00GT]

Build it yourself or go to cyberpowerinc.com and have them build one. No BS software added and it may be cheaper.

If not, I'd go HP.

 

[aeolian_mode]

built one, you get everything you want and at the same time learn alot about computers :rolling:

 

[matab14]

DELL....XPS at that....on my second XPS System and have had 0 issures out there support. If you go with the XPS all the support is from America as well....They have always done me well when I needed help or something fixed....

 

[1993R]

I have always built mine and it's the best way to go. I did recently buy a HP laptop and 3 days before the warranty expired it crashed. HP replaced it ONLY after I discovered on line that they had shipped 1000's of laptops with defective motherboards. The local Best Buy manager went to bat for me over this issue. Next laptop will be Alienware or a MAC.

 

[Fenah]

I bought a Dell, its not bad but meh., but never again will I buy a dell, only build my own, could have saved a lot of money.

so I agree with building your own, it would be an experience to build a computer IMO.

 

[txyaloo]

I have always built mine and it's the best way to go. I did recently buy a HP laptop and 3 days before the warranty expired it crashed. HP replaced it ONLY after I discovered on line that they had shipped 1000's of laptops with defective motherboards. The local Best Buy manager went to bat for me over this issue. Next laptop will be Alienware or a MAC.

You know Dell = Alienware, right?

As for the people saying build it - some people actually want and use the extended warranty. It's worth it for them. I'll build my own system, but I recommend to my parents and coworkers that aren't too computer savy to buy something with a warranty.

 

[speedofsound]

Neither, build one.

+1

edit: I'll add that my Latitude C840 laptop is going on 6yrs with only a fan/HD replacement. 1.6GHz, 32mb vidram, 1GB ram. Obviously its crap for gaming today, but it still runs strong for everything else.

 

[TwinTurbo4vGT]

neither. Have me build it for you. Hell for 2000$ you can have the best gaming computer ever! For 2K i built

ASUS M2N32 SLI DELUXE board
AMD Athlon X2 6400+ Black Edition
2 EVGA Nvidia Geforce 9800 GX2 Video Cards
8GB of DDR2 PC8000 ram
2 500GB hard drives
A VERY nice watrercooling kit (customised by me)
and a very nice case

let me know. :beer:

 

[AzDropTop]

Next question:


Is Vista still a nightmare?

neither. Have me build it for you. Hell for 2000$ you can have the best gaming computer ever! For 2K i built

ASUS M2N32 SLI DELUXE board
AMD Athlon X2 6400+ Black Edition
2 EVGA Nvidia Geforce 9800 GX2 Video Cards
8GB of DDR2 PC8000 ram
2 500GB hard drives
A VERY nice watrercooling kit (customised by me)
and a very nice case

let me know. :beer: