[astral]

[url="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32550"]http://www.theinquir.../?article=32550[/url]

A laptop burst into flame at a conference in Japan.
It was a Dell. Go figure.

That could bring a whole new meaning to "a burning sensation in your crotch" if it lit up on your lap.

[weasel]

Laptops these days have so many heat issues it's not funny...look at the recent brouhaha (Brouhaha? Ha ha ha ha...) surrounding the MacBooks.

[Dr Lancer-X]

WW: With the keys melting and stuff? Yeah, it's pretty bad.

[burstroc]

i like the keyboards on the new macbooks a lot.

[CJA]

whats a "mac book"

[Spectere]

Batteries explode when they get hot. Big deal. Claiming that it happened simply because the said system was a Dell (despite them pretty much owning the PC market and being one of the more commonly spotted systems) is like saying that the FDIV bug is IBM's fault just because they might have used the chip in one of their systems.

That's like all of the anti-Microsoft talk going around. People are quick to blame Microsoft when their ATI/nVidia/3Com/Linksys/etc drivers cause a BSOD. I'm not against criticizing companies, but I can't stand when people blame companies for things that aren't their fault.

[weasel]

Yeah. For the record, Dell's systems are actually better than most people say they are (at least, the desktops are).

[hob nado]

Yeah - not like I want to add any oomph to this line of discussion because I know where that can go around here, but my system's a Dell, and it's been a great computer. My philosophy in general is that your system's performance is mostly just about how well you take care of it...

But - the fact that it was a Dell makes it funny.

ha ha ha dude you're getting a melt

[GetDizzy]

Hey, my Apple laptop broke in half! I guess thats not an explosion, but still. No company is safe.

[astral]

Yeah, screw me for making a joke.
BUT since you inquire

I am a PC services technician at Circuit City. I repair computers for a living. I see a disproportionate number of Dells, which I expected, since many more people have Dells than any other brand.

However what isn't right is that of the ones I see, most of the other brands suffer from user error, spyware, viruses, etc. A good eight out of ten Dells I see are hardware failures. Dying motherboards, exploding power supplies, screens shorting out, ethernet ports suddenly failing all operation. So it's a disproportionate number of hardware failures to user error in the long run of things.

So you'll have a hard time convincing me that most people own a Dell that isn't a cheap plastic toy. They do make some decent machines. But if 75% of their customers don't buy their decent machines, it's a moot point.

[CJA]

*shame*

[Spectere]

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 11:03 AM, said:

I am a PC services technician at Circuit City. I repair computers for a living. I see a disproportionate number of Dells, which I expected, since many more people have Dells than any other brand.

However what isn't right is that of the ones I see, most of the other brands suffer from user error, spyware, viruses, etc. A good eight out of ten Dells I see are hardware failures.

I help maintain six schools with a total of ~300 Dells. Out of the latest batch of Optiplex GX280s (a total of about 120 machines) we've had one flaky hard drive and a bad monitor, both of which were replaced very quickly. The GX240/260 systems that we have are just as reliable...we rarely have hardware issues with any of our systems.

At home, I've had a hell of a lot more problems with my old Compaq laptop (CD-RW drive failed soon after I got it, major heat issues, unresponsive keyboard) than I did with my Dell.

It's just like anything else, if you get the lowest end system on the market you're going to have problems with them, and that's what people do.

[astral]

People get marketed Dimension systems, they buy Dimension systems. Optiplex machines aren't even in the same class. As far as your Compaq laptop, there are retail brands that suck too, I'm just saying that Dell is just another corp that floods the market with miserable sweatshop products. For every single owner of an Optiplex there are 100 Dimension machines. For every owner of an NX business class Compaq/HP, there are 100 DV, V or R series consumer users. (And for the love of God stay away from V2000, I've watched a screen die five minutes after opening the box!) I assist in the maintenence of my high school as well, somewhere in the vicinity of 150 computers. We were previously on Dell machines, recently swapped out for IBMs due to a change in budgets and better reviews on IBM's part. Most of the machines we had from Dell ranged from about three to six years old, and not a one of them kept their original construction. But that's with any computer fleet, really, that sees a few hundred users.

And your experience with their customer service, you're being served from the mass purchase line. Of course they'll replace your machines fast and efficiently, they need the contract. They worked with me easily on the school's computers. I've dealt with trying to get a single machine repaired under warranty for a customer, and they wouldn't even discuss the matter without trying to make me say something that they could use to mark it accidental damage or some other fluke not covered by their insurance. HP/Compaq's customer service is in the same line, really. There aren't very many corps who have a good customer service division for home consumers, save maybe eMachines or Gateway, who offered a full replacement for broken machines on at least four occasions.

While it's wrong to make sweeping generalizations about any manufacturer, I'd venture to say it's worse to say they're better than their reputation because they have a couple things they don't manage to screw up

As far as numbers of machines, I'd say I see about 400 a month, uniques. That includes machines sold with installation/customization packages that I have to perform before they leave the store. (I'm fast as hell, huehueh, tool assisted. I've gotten the process down to 30 minutes on something that takes other people 2 to 3 hours.) The largest percentage of them Dells, but I don't think I could really give you any figures on it. I just know it's enough to warrant us having a logo plate off an old case labelled with a Casio labelmaker that says "DELL AUTHORIZED GRAVEYARD."

But I could stand here all day and harass manufacturers for their terrible machines. Specially the new ones from Sony. I don't know what the hell they were thinking

[astral]

Although, in this particular case, I would like to note that you DO in fact need to pay attention to recalls on batteries and power cables.

[Spectere]

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

People get marketed Dimension systems, they buy Dimension systems. Optiplex machines aren't even in the same class.

I know that they aren't in the same class, but that's not really an issue. If you get a better Dimension system you're going to get something as good as an Optiplex (as far as I can gather, the specs on the lower-end Optiplex/Latitude systems are close to that of the lower-mid-range Dimension/Inspiron systems). My laptop is an Inspiron and about the only feature that I'm "missing" is a hotswap bay (which, granted, is nice to have if the optical drive fails, but its absense is nothing to lose sleep over).

Again, it's just a matter of getting a mid-range system instead of a budget system. You might pay a bit more money, but it's actually going to last.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

As far as your Compaq laptop, there are retail brands that suck too, I'm just saying that Dell is just another corp that floods the market with miserable sweatshop products.

And here I am thinking that all of the companies make miserable sweatshop products.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

(And for the love of God stay away from V2000, I've watched a screen die five minutes after opening the box!)

I occasionally service personal systems at work (belonging to teachers, staff, etc) and I've dealt with a V2000. That thing is such a piece of junk...the wiring was so bad on it that every time the hard drive was accessed the speakers would fuzz up.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

We were previously on Dell machines, recently swapped out for IBMs due to a change in budgets and better reviews on IBM's part.

IBM

We used to use IBMs at my old workplace (my previous college). We ordered the systems with internal Zip drives built in. When the computers came in, we found out that they shipped the Zip drives seperately. WE HAD TO INSTALL ALMOST 100 ZIP DRIVES BY OURSELVES.

To make matters even more fun, IBM's PR reps adamantly blamed us, despite us having paperwork that proved them to be in the wrong.

Needless to say, they're now Dell customers.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

Most of the machines we had from Dell ranged from about three to six years old, and not a one of them kept their original construction. But that's with any computer fleet, really, that sees a few hundred users.

Our biggest problems with our Dells, now that I think about it, are with the NICs. That's about the only thing we've really needed to change on them, aside from the inevitable hard drive failure.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

I've dealt with trying to get a single machine repaired under warranty for a customer, and they wouldn't even discuss the matter without trying to make me say something that they could use to mark it accidental damage or some other fluke not covered by their insurance.

That's one of the reasons that I'm glad I purchased my laptop through the student purchase program (courtesy of my school). Aside from saving over $300 on this bad boy, I've gotten first-class customer support when I did have to contact them.

Basically, when I specced up my laptop, I forgot something that is vital to any geek who wants an extra 5GB to play with -- a recovery set. You know...GOODBYE, RECOVERY PARTITION. We won't miss ya!

Anyhoo, I realized my mistake soon after my system arrived, and opted to contact support to ask if I can pay the difference and get the recovery set. I even informed them that I was the one at fault.

I get a response early on the next business day. Much to my surprised, the rep apologized (for what, I don't know) and informed me that she had ordered a recovery set to be sent, free of charge, to my home...next day air. They did, in fact, arrive the following day.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

There aren't very many corps who have a good customer service division for home consumers, save maybe eMachines or Gateway, who offered a full replacement for broken machines on at least four occasions.

Wow, that is pretty good.

In my experience, Gateway has gone downhill somewhat in the last few years. I loved their E-4200 line, but some of the newer Gateways have just been junk. They might have changed in the past year, but that definitely marred my opinion of them.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 03:45 PM, said:

But I could stand here all day and harass manufacturers for their terrible machines. Specially the new ones from Sony. I don't know what the hell they were thinking

Sony's just turning into crap, period. At work, we have two bad Sony external DVD+-RW DL burners, several failing internal Sony DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives. At home, I have a Sony DVD+-RW drive that sometimes fails to recognize that a disc is in the drive, occasionally choked in mid-burn. I also have two PS2s...I'll give them about three years before they're toast, and I'm only giving them that long because they're V7s.

[astral]

Gateway's new GT line of computers, particularly the 4016, 5056 and 5058s are nice. They're built weird but they perform well. 4016 has an Athlon 64, and the 5000s have X2s. They had the 835GM which was crap, but the 838GM was a significant improvement over the problems. They're merged with eMachines I believe, eMachines builds the low end, Gateway builds the high end. The only problem with the eMachines I've seen thus far are power supplies on celeron machines. They aren't holding up like they should. (Note this is on newer machines, stock from retailer.)

But yeah, most manufacturers are sweatshop using, personal right abusing absurdities of industry. Unfortunately they're a necessity when you don't have time to build 600 machines, you just need to use them

Sony burners have always been garbage for the past few years, actually, everything Sony is doing is going downhill. In the TV realm, Samsung overtook them this year with gusto. Their VAIO line is just a joke now. A poorly scripted joke I prefer Lite-On and NEC for burners, now.

[Koji]

DUR LETS DEBATE BUUUH
DUUUUUH DUUUUURRRR I AM TYPING GAAAAAAH BEWEEEEEEEHHHHDBQEUOFVLV

[astral]

Hey. Hey koji. Hey, yeah, you.

I live near you.

Don't make me come up there with a wrench, buddy.

[Zenith Nadir]

<crankgod> hey
<crankgod> let's all debate
<crankgod> buhh thank you arizona state
<crankgod> buhh let's be safer
<crankgod> dudhdhr
<crankgod> DDDDDDDDDURRHRR

[Spectere]

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 05:49 PM, said:

Gateway's new GT line of computers, particularly the 4016, 5056 and 5058s are nice. They're built weird but they perform well. 4016 has an Athlon 64, and the 5000s have X2s.

Hmm, sounds pretty nice for a pre-built system.

I have a newer, legacy-free Gateway desktop in my basement now, awaiting spyware/virus removal. Not sure what model it is, but it looks pretty clean, inside and out.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 05:49 PM, said:

The only problem with the eMachines I've seen thus far are power supplies on celeron machines. They aren't holding up like they should. (Note this is on newer machines, stock from retailer.)

Ugh...power supplies.

I've found that using cheap power supplies is like playing Russian roulette with your computer. Just pull the trigger whenever you're about to power it on.

astral, on Jun 22 2006, 05:49 PM, said:

Sony burners have always been garbage for the past few years, actually, everything Sony is doing is going downhill. In the TV realm, Samsung overtook them this year with gusto. Their VAIO line is just a joke now. A poorly scripted joke I prefer Lite-On and NEC for burners, now.

I was looking into Plextor for my next one, but Plextors are expennnnsiiiveee (worth it, from what I hear, but they're still not cheap)...

Pretty much the only reason I went with Sony when I bought the DVD burner is that my previous burner (a Sony 8x4x32 CD-RW burner) is quite possibly the best CD burner I've ever used. It was quick at loading/ejecting discs (something that I can't say about any of the newer Sonys) and it was always pretty snappy about reading them. Not to mention that IT STILL WORKS WELL.

My DVD burner, however, started showing signs of death after only owning it for about a year and a half.

Koji, on Jun 22 2006, 07:26 PM, said:

DUR LETS DEBATE BUUUH
DUUUUUH DUUUUURRRR I AM TYPING GAAAAAAH BEWEEEEEEEHHHHDBQEUOFVLV

I would flame you, Koji, but you're already too hot to touch.

[Xeirxes]

Yeah, we've probably already gotten past this, but Dells are pretty good machines. My only big gripe is the extra partition they come with. At work, when we sell Dells to people we usually wipe the partitions and just make a new one without all their crap.

I guess the biggest complaint I have with them otherwise is the fact that they come with equipment that needs drivers from their site alone.

[Spectere]

Xeirxes, on Jun 24 2006, 02:28 AM, said:

My only big gripe is the extra partition they come with.

The 32MB FAT partition? NO, don't get rid of that! That partition contains quite possibly the most comprehensive all-in-one hardware diagnostic/information package that I've seen in years.

If you're referring to the 5GB restore partition, yeah, by all means, wipe that out if you have the original media.

[Koji]

Burst: Call it a tribute. Besides anyone who doesn't know what I'm referencing obviously doesn't pay enough attention.