Why not buy Dell?

my suggestion is have a look and use a dell for half an hour and then let us know

Dell, Gateway, etc is good for users who is not too saby with PC. THey have fairly good supports and services. While their PC doesn't offer the best features, they do offer somewhat stability and their service compensate for the average user.

Other laptops such as Compal, Asus, etc are more gear towards to those who are a bit more sabby in PC and could handle their own support. These people tends to need more power and feature, such as stronger video, etc.

The whole sale thing, is a bit of a gimmick. I swear. Maybe you havent worked in retail much, but chances are if something is on sale for a "good" deal, there is some reason behind it.

If dell can afford to sell computers at 750$ off at certain times of the year it can only mean one of a few things... Somehow they got them ultra cheap, they want to move old inventory (older stuff), or its normally way overpriced.

Dell does have decent customer support but... didnt they just move like most of it to india?

If you can get a good deal (comparable parts ect) then i guess its worth going for, but I am not convinced they are the most well build laptops around. My friends dell seems somewhat cheap whenever I use it. For whatever reason.

Dells are okay - if I have a friend that absolutely won't pay over $900 for a laptop, that's where I send them (or Toshiba).

But they are definitely cheaper and not as well made. That said, they may last just as long if not longer than other laptops. So, if you have $1000, go for the Dells. If you have $1300, that will open up a lot more possibilities.

Here is one point.

Check out a comp you might be interested in. Inspirion 8600. On sale right now for 300$ off. (probably what happened is when the new intel processers came out they dropped their price, but calling it a SALE makes it look like they are giving you a good deal.)

So compare that to the CL-56 at Mwave.com

(i know one is widescreen and one isnt)

Both are pretty close to the same price, both are intel pentium M's. Both base 1.6ghz,

At an initial look you might see that the dell has more base ram (256 vs 128) but if you look at the upgrading options, if you want to switch to 512 ram, you are paying 100$ more, at mwave its only 50$ more. So why is dell charging 100$ for a 256mb stick?

Okay, now lets look at the HD. Dell you are getting a 40gb, and they dont even tell you what rpm it is. The prices are relatively close, but at least you know what your getting on the mwave (5400 rpm hd). It is worth noting that dell does give you the option of a 60 GB 7200 rpm drive at a Reasonable price.

Then the other thing to look at is the processor. Upgrading that is ALSO significantly more expensive, by about 100$. On top of that the computer is a lower resolution (wxga), so if you want higher resolution you get to pay more (like... 75-150$ more).

Anyway. The point is that even though its on sale for 300$ off... it isnt a particularly good deal.

Also, you may be inclined to look at their even cheaper notebooks, but those are all celeron m processors...

Anyway, I just think that unless you are buying dell because you want a new laptop for like 700$ or you want their tech support, its pretty hard to justify.

My wife has an 1150. Nice little laptop. She surfs the net and does a little MS Word stuff and dvd watching. She likes it. Not my cup of tea, but overall, a serviceable computer.

From what I've read it seems like Dell is the best option for people with budgets under $800 or so. Once you get above that you can get same or better quality for a lower price. But I have never bought a laptop so I may be completely wrong.

I have a Dell 600m and I just bought a Asus M6BNE. Although Dell builds decent notebooks(benchmark wise), the physical material quality is really poor. Compare to M6BNE, the 600m look just a plastic square box. Dell's heating problem is another issue to me. 600m is a 14" less than 6lbs notebook and it supposed to let you carry around and type on your laps, but to me, it's a pain to put on my laps. Dell designed this notebook so poor that the bottom part of the notebook actually is burning hot to put on laps. Another issuse with most of Dell notebook line up is that there're no good graphic chips. The XPS, 9200, and the new 6000 got decent graphic chips, but the price is much higher than other brand (unless you got some good coupon and discounts). For the same amound, people could go for sager or other brands. So to me, buy Dell only if you don't do much graphics and want cheap ones.

dells are like...ugh..i'll just leave it at that.

but a point that manchi brought up. for the price of an XPS you can get a Sager 9860, and i don't even need to wonder which one is faster of the 2.

dells are cheap and plastic-feeling. just like any old lappy.

and as always, again as pointed out above, althought the "base config" might look good, once you spec it your way...you will pay more @ Dell

Nine times out of ten when you see a really good deal from Dell, it's because they are trying to raise their bottom line at the end of a fiscal quarter. With that being said...

I would NEVER buy a system from Dell Home. The computers come with a one year warranty (by default) and tech support / customer service is based in India. Small Business on the other hand provides three year warranties and support is based here in the US. Not to mention On-Site serivce. The major drawbacks to Dells are that the major components are propriatary. That gives you only so much headroom for upgrading. But I guess on a notebook that is not as much of an issue.

I have seen issues with the screens, hd failures, and/or batteries on the only 3 dells laptops I have know of. So I would stay away from Dell, their quality is 2nd most important to quantity, and plus they have like 5 companies making anyone part on any laptop.

I have had excellent experience with the service and support of Dell, and don't regret buying from them a bit.

But I also have to point out, that they are a bit behind the technology curve, and usually do not offer the best performance on CPU or graphics. If one buys for scientific apps or gaming, Dell is not a good choice at all.

I've said this once, I'll say it again and yes, you can quote me;
"Everyone I know who purchased a Dell did so because they didn't know any better. Everyone who I know that purchased something other than a Dell did so because they used to own one."

Dells are great for the first year or so. Then funky things start happening, like the plastic cases they come with start breaking. The optical drives start making noises. The power supplies (notoriously) go bad. Or one of a thousand things that happens to many pc's rarely will happen to a dell. And then there are the people who swear by them and think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sadly the reality is that Dell makes so many pc's, laptops and servers that the number of bad products they put out inevitably goes up. That's not to say that all of the stuff they put out is bad... but a larger number of them are because they simply produce more than anyone else.

If you support ethical business standards and anti-corruption efforts you better stay far away from the likes of Dell

I bought a laptop from Dell, but then decided to return it since the LCD was defective. They did not make me to pay anything at all. I got all my money back, including the initial s/h fee.

In terms of service turn-around, they are quick. I'd say most of the time within 5 days you would get your laptop back, with no shipping fees.

When Dell hits the big coupons and you're not too picky on quality they're fine.

The laptop I have costed me only $750, and Dell gave people a free upgrade on their processor (probably because they ran out of a batch.)

Don't get me wrong, I think their tech support are made up of computer illiterates, and I don't buy Dells thinking about how great their tech support is.

They may not be the best, but they're certainly not the worst.

As you can see below, I have a Delll. Originally, I odered and receievd an I85K with a big-block P-4, 512 Ram, etc. After 2 mobos, a video card, ac adapter and something else, I suggested a new machine and Dell agreed in less than 30 seconds. (I should mention that Dell sent a tech to my houseto do all the above repairs within 36 hours of notifying them).

So, while tracking the status of the new machine, I noticed they were sending a n I86K, described below, which was far and above more loeaded than the I85K, save for the P-4, which, at the time, was my preference. Got the new machine quickly and haven't had any problems since.

Today, though, if I were purchasing a new lappy, I would seriously consider the cl56. From its reviews it seems much more well built and should perform signiificantly better. While Dell's service, for me, has been top-notch and I don't have any big complaints about the machine, I do feel it is not constructed as well as it could be.

Mwave has a great steal on the cl56 right now...

I've owned 3 pcs, 2 desktops and a lappy and two of them were Dells. I have never had problems with them, I've had to call tech support a couple of times on wifi issue I was having and honestly their indian tech support team is not the best but they are not that bad. Eventually you will get your issue across and you will get it fixed.
Word to the wise, if u decide to go the Dell route (which I personally think is not a bad decision at all) first decide on what it is you want to buy (spec. wise) and then hit the outlet store first.
9 times out of ten you will find what you're looking for or something very similar (less ram/more ram than u need ...etc.) but the price will be that much better and they carry the same exact warranty as a 'brand new' Dell.
Also, pay the extra $69 to upgrade their standard warranty from 'send by mail' to 'at home'.
That way, if something goes wrong and they need to replace a part, they come to your house, instead of you shipping and waiting for the turnaround.
To me thats worth the $69.
And if u weren't aware, Dell have their own forums as well, and thats what I trolled for 2-3 weeks b4 making each of my Dell purchases.
Just decide on a specific model and then go thru the forum (and search it too) to see if their are any chronic issues/problem areas with the model u want. If its all good go for it (assuming u don't find a better deal w/ a different vendor).
Good luck