Yes or no - a Dell laptop

Former Member

I have been looking out for a laptop for a while now.

I am not the most pc literate and don't know anything computers - know how to use them though.

Been told that one of these Dell laptops / notebooks for Tesco is the way to go - friend will get a staff discount.

Are Dells reliable? Good machines? Will get I get a few years out of it?

Is there a stand out model I should go for?

Former Member

Dells are alright. They've had their bad times just like other companies. But I would still personally, if I was to buy a new laptop, I'd go for an AMD one. Only because it's cheaper.

Former Member

Our work switched from Lenovo to Dell and a number of my friends have Dell personal systems but, personally, I haven't been very impressed. Lenovos hardly had any issues by comparison (although more expensive) and the Dell customer service has been pretty crummy as well.

Dell is pretty ubiquitous though, because they have been around a long time and their name is well known because of their TV ads etc.

Former Member

I own a dell inspiron 1501 which has proved crap so far. Luckily I bought the product cover with it and during last four years, literally everything has been replaced. I would not recommend to buy dell unless you buy the extended product warranty with it, which is brilliant.

Having said this if you do want to go ahead with buying a dell, here is a link where you can find some decent information about tesco selling dell laptops. Going through the thread might help you clarify your mind which one to buy. Coupled with your mate's staff discount, you can get a real bargain. Another good thing about dell is you can add product cover later on by calling dell directly even though you dont buy laptop from tesco or wherever.

hope that helps

Former Member

Dells are fine. More reliable than the Lenovo's mentioned earlier.



And personally, I would never buy an extended warranty. Just know that the law states that they have to replace parts with manufacturing defects for about 6 years whether the product is in warranty or not. Companies rely on people not knowing this, and then use it to sell them extended warranties that mainly cover the stuff they're legally entitled to anyway. Even for accidental damage, you can probably get someone else to insure it for much cheaper.

Anyway, both me and my flatmate have Dells and they both work fine. I'd buy one again, but Asus would be my first choice.

Former Member

Oh really? Does that 6 years include any extended warranty? So 6 year legal requirement, purchase a 2 year warranty, gives you 8 years or protection, or only 6?

Former Member

No, the law is separate from any warranty you buy. The law says you should expect products to be free of manufacturing faults for a "reasonable length of time" and 6 years is given as the example for electrical products.

Former Member

Ah right, guessed so. I might try getting my PC fixed now. Should have a year left from that 6 year rule.

Former Member

Yeah. The other issue though, is that after 6 months, it's up to you to prove that it was a manufacturing defect that caused the problem, and not your use. That would require you to get an engineer to look at it. I assume you can claim the price of that back from the retailer (not manufacturer, remember) if it turns out it was faulty, but you might want to check that one out too, because I'm not sure.

Skive

It depends Dell do not actually manafacture laptops, they just combine a slap on a processor, HDD and Dell badge. You need to find who the Original Design Manufacturer is before you can make a judgment.

Former Member

Well that includes almost every company. Though Dell do more than just that since acquiring Alienware and such.

Former Member

6 years rule is right but you might have to fight your case and argue a lot about it. I see extended warranty as a peace of mind guarantee. Your machine breaks down, you call them and their technician comes to resolves it. simples, no argument no legal statutes. I am not negating any other posters rather I am condoning to what they have said. It is a matter of personal choice really. As one can see from the graph of one of the posters, there is more or less same probability of breakdown for any manufacturer's machine. I would go for the cheapest option and would buy an extended cover for as long as realistically possible.

Skive

JavaKrypt wrote: »

Well that includes almost every company. Though Dell do more than just that since acquiring Alienware and such.

I used to work for Dell repairing monitors. They're made made by Sony, Panasonic, Samsung etc etc. All very different and all have a very different quality. Dells just a badge.

Former Member

That's still like most companies though. They buy the parts, design, but still have it made by another another seperate company for the production line.

Former Member

I don't know about laptops but I've got a HP desktop and the only problem I've had was when the dvd-drive stopped working. £15 later and it's fine.

Former Member

JavaKrypt wrote: »

That's still like most companies though. They buy the parts, design, but still have it made by another another seperate company for the production line.

Not most companies, all companies. Even Apple buy most of their components from other manufacturers. There's still a talent to knowing what'll work well together though. Two computers with the same specs on paper can be vastly different in speed. Good companies know when to buy quality parts and which areas you can save money on without affecting reliability.

Former Member

And some companies, particularly Dell and Packard Bell fill their machines up with shite. The first thing I had to do for both my mum and dad was wipe their "new" computers of all the demo software and other things the companies put on that affect performance and reliability.

A new computer should come with the operating system installed. Nothing more, nothing less. If they want you to have other software they should provide it on discs and let you decide.

Former Member

Well they make money from bloatware. I've always removed the OS and installed it fresh, same with any of my friends/famalies computers.

I was going to say all companies too, since every company does still buy at least 1 piece of hardware externally for their tech, but you get a few companies who only buy the basics and then work on their own, like Sony (for most of their range).

Former Member

I've got a Dell laptop that I brought from here that is very good

However, I if was buying a laptop today I would buy an Acer laptop from the 'Timeline' series.