I'm looking to purchase a new PC next week, and as I've been out of the game literally since I quit EQ almost, I feel completely like I'm stabbing in the dark.

While this will primarily be a machine for me to do work on (writing work, so just word processor and internet) I would like to try and get back in to VERY casual gaming and perhaps start playing a few high end games again (not necessary online, though I might give Shards a go) such as the Total War series. So either way, I'm looking for an all-rounder system.

Anyway, Dell was recommended to me, and I think I've made a choice, but since then the few people I've spoken to have put me off it - citing extremely bad Dell experiences. Anyone had similar negative encounters? And how well do their machines run?

This is the one I'm thinking of purchasing:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/minicat/new/upsell/inspiron-580-D005810?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

- Any thoughts? Cheers!

edit: I'm looking to stay around the £500 mark, though if you think there's a great offer above that, then no prob.

I've had a couple of Dell machines, and our work contract is with Dell. They're not bad if you're bent on buying a prebuilt box. My laptop had significant issues, and I had to play tag for a while with Dell support, but they did take care of the issue...and that does happen with tech.

One thing I figured out with Dell was to price similar machines through as many different parts of the website as possible. Their prices are erratic, to say the least. Try home machines, business, special offers, etc.

They're all about the same these days. You may want to consider a SSD.

I'm an Apple die-hard fan, so you should take what I say with a grain of salt, but Apple systems run OS X which is certified UNIX (technology banks and financial industry use), security is excellent (user runs at user-level and switches to superuser level with password, meaning you can't install a virus without typing in your password), has excellent support for Microsoft Office and Adobe applications, beautiful system architecture employing true object-orientation and the much acclaimed Cocoa libraries, and most importantly of all, consistent user-interface guidelines (unless you're using an Adobe app, which is an exception to the rule).

The only time I use Windows is through Terminal Services to access some legacy applications. SAP financial data is available via web interface. National Instruments LabVIEW is available for Mac.

Literally five minutes after sitting down with my sister's MacBook I ran into a "pinwheel of death", just from trying to drag and drop something. Other than being able to move the mouse, no part of the computer appeared to respond. I was not impressed.

My mac crashes all the fucking time, especially when I'm on a deadline. Sure, I do a lot more intensive stuff with the mac than the PC, and its very anecdotal, but it happens none the less. Also, macs generally cost like $500 more than a comparable PC. I would get the dell.

Dell hardware is fine. With the volume they do, it's tough to avoid there being some anecdotal horror stories floating around. If you want something at that price point, the volume and related issues are necessary evils.

The i3 on that one is probably the most limiting factor. Even for casual stuff, I'd move up to one of the options with an i5.

Thanks chaps - I think that's a yes for Dell then!

Cheers for the help!

There's nothing particularly wrong with dell, as long as it's exactly what you want. The problem comes if you ever decide to upgrade. The parts they use tend to not physically fit other manufacturers standard sized parts inside (which can suck if you just want to upgrade your video card), and they tend to have the minimum power supply necessary to power what you buy, so, for instance, you may need to pick up a powered usb hub if you have a lot of USB devices.

Oh, and their customer service blows. On the other hand, the only mail order company I've found with good tech support is fujitsu, so that's more of just the way it is when you go mail order.

Oh, and their customer service blows.

Order from their small business department instead of consumer, and you get great support.

Actually, their customer service has done a 180 in the past 5 years and has gotten pretty good, comparatively.

We have always bought Dells... We've had no major issues. They have all lasted about 5 years each before finally crapping out. If you want to have upgrade-ability you'll have to buy the XPS or higher systems... They are all fully upgradeable.

Wahoo - this should be here in the next week or so. I eventually went a bit over the top, as you do.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Desktops/studio-xps-8100/pd.aspx?refid=studio-xps-8100&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

- Second one from left, £729. Decent 1gig card, great ram, nice processor, should be perfect. Also threw one of these in:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/inspiron-1012/pd.aspx?refid=inspiron-1012&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&~ck=mn

- The New Mini 10 for 299, with HD screen. Anyone have any experience with Dell mini's? It would be mainly for work/research while on the go.

It's like christmas, haven't purchashed anything computer related since I played EQ 6 years ago!

The PC is here, the PC is here, and I have to go to work today!! BOLLOCKS! Should have planned a day off... crap!

Well, may have to come 'down with something' tomorrow, at least.
No Netbook yet, hopefully that should come in a few days. I'll let you folks who are interested, know how I get on. I bought Dragon Age: Origins in anticipation, I know it's old now but I've not played anything for about 2 years!!

How's that Dell Treating you?

Dell knowingly shipped 12 million faulty computers (http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/06/suit-alleges-that-dell-shipped-12-million-faulty-computers.ars)

Absolutely brilliant - runs like a dream!

Though I'll keep my eye on it, incase it self-combusts :P

Just mark this date on your calendar 2 years and 8 months from now to back up your data and check if the bum capacitor is leaking. Tape all the warranty information to the side of the box. Apparently they fail right before the warranty runs out, so call them immediately when the capacitor fails so you don't miss the warranty date.

I've been reading about this issue lately (http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/cka74/dell_knowingly_ships_12m_faulty_computers_and/). Doesn't really seem to be Dell-specific. Those caps seem to be pervasive in lots of mfgs' boards.

For what it's worth, one of my clients is still running an office full of OptiPlex 170L machines (circa 2002) with literally 0 failures. It's a goddamn Christmas miracle in there. So, it goes both ways.

runs like a dream!


...I used to read word up magazine!

PAGING SAMANUSUKE

For what it's worth, one of my clients is still running an office full of OptiPlex 170L machines (circa 2002) with literally 0 failures. It's a goddamn Christmas miracle in there. So, it goes both ways.

Lucky him, haha. At my college (where I used to work for IT), there was an entire lab's worth of Dell machines that all came down with a bad case of "I'm dead now because my capacitors blew" within a one month span. It was pretty absurd. Luckily, none of them caught fire. Though it probably would have saved us the trouble of waiting for the others to die.

What I love is where the law firm representing Dell had their batch of computers exhibit the problem and when they called for service, they, too, had issues.