how do the brands stack up?

[monster528]

i suppose this is more of an opinion.

i was just wondering how the different computer brands stack up to each other in terms of reliability. just take each of them as an all-in-one type of computer and see how they stack up ya know.

right now im using an acer and ive had it for about 3 years and its maybe 5 years old since it was made. or something along that line.

my sisters have both had gateway computers and those lasted about 2 years before they completely got destroyed. personal opinion is: gateway hardware is terrible.

my friend had a dell computer which lasted him about 2 or 3 years, broke down completely trying to upgrade the computer. personal opinion: dell isnt any better.

i mean ive had my acer for about 4 years or so, and its still running very smooth and ive had no problems once i formatted the hard drive.

i understand that brand names are just a bunch of parts from companies with a logo, but i gotta admit some companies do their computers wrong.

of course i understand there are many types around so what do you guys think?

if you want to put them in a list and say why next to them that would be the quickest way i suppose, if you have had experience with multiple types

 

[Mellon Head]

In my personal experience, and my own humble opinion:

Laptops I would buy: ACER and Toshiba - both brands seem to be solid and reliable.

Laptops I would not buy: HP, Dell - too many horror stories heard, and my company has had to replace a number of HP and Dell lappies that have just broken for no reason.

As for desktops, I might consider an ACER, but prefer a self build. You get more bang for the buck that way.

As for buying a brand name desktop...

HP - poor build quality, failure prone, locked BIOS. As an example, I have an HP test machine in my lab for running various testing programs. In the past year, the following items have failed on that machine:

- Motherboard graphics - had to put in discrete card
- All front USB ports (at the motherboard connector - these were never used)
- DVD burner
- Front card bay reader
- One RAM stick
- One serial port
- Front audio connector at the motherboard - rear still works
- Rear exhaust fan

Maybe I just got a lemon, but this is only from day to day operation, 24/7 in an air conditioned environment. The IBM ThinkCentre that sits beside it is still chugging away. Dunno...

Gateway - Some fellow employees purchased some on a volume buy through work. A number of hardware problems were seen, but Gateway was good in taking care of them right away. That was a few years ago, but if the customer service is still the same, and the price was good. Who knows?

Dell - Well, read some of the Dell hardware comments on this forum.

 

[pparks1]

Personal experience:

My wife had an Acer laptop that lasted 18 months. We had a problem with the keyboard crapping out and a problem with the display. What I didn't like was no phone support (had to email and wait) and having to send the laptop across the country to get it fixed.

My wife currently owns an HP laptop and my dad is now on his second HP laptop and they have been reliable. No problems with either of them. Wife's HP is now about 18 months old.

I've had Dell laptops and desktops myself in the best and they have been solid. I know everybody likes to crap on Dell. But honestly with working with thousands of Dell desktops at work and multiple Dell desktops at home...my experience has been solid. With my home computers, I had a video card fan go bad (Nvidia 6800)...which dell replaced with an ATI Radeon X800XT (massive upgrade for free there). I also had a power supply die and i got a replacement shipped for about $30 that went right it and was silent. Those boxes are both over 6 years old and going strong.

So, with building and using computers now for 25+ years...if I wasn't going to build myself...I would (and have) purchased Dell.

 

[Petey7]

From what I've heard, Toshiba is a great brand for laptops.

Personally, I have only owned Dells, as have many family members. This laptop I have has had some hardware problems, but we've never had one with a desktop.

I'd never buy a HP. My dad actually works at a HP production plant. All the servers are IBM, as are many of the older computers. Any new ones are lenova (they bought part of IBM), so that should tell what HP thinks of their own computers.

 

[CarlTR6]

@pparks1 - Is Dell still proprietary as it was in late 80's and early 90's? I decided not to purchase a Dell for that reason back then and went with a custom build. I have avoided Dell since then.

 

[Kirsch]

Personal Experience:

Only owned one brand of Laptop and that is Toshiba. Never had any problems with them! Only reason I got a new one was because it was becoming outdated (lasted that long )

Desktops :

Well... my parents bought our first desktop when I was like 6 and it was a Compaq Presario (mid-1990's), then they have stuck with HP. Never had a problem with those either. I built my machine my Junior year in High School and have just been upgrading it ever since.

 

[NoN]

The first laptop i owned was a Compaq Presario that had last 5 years. the main probs was battery (100% dead by now) and Display holders (hinges) that wouldn't anymore hold. Its still running with Windows XP SP3 fully updated.

The second was an HP that had last three years, the battery is weak but still hold 50 minutes powered. The main prob now is that the hdd had some bad sectors and i'm not sure even if its stable now, how many time it will last. It's still running with Windows XP SP3 fully updated.

The third one is an Acer (my actual) and i don't expect more than three years for it, build mid-september 2009.

 

[Lordbob75]

In my experience...
Don't buy a pre-built desktop, period.
I have worked with ones from Dell, Compaq, HP, etc and the components inside are the cheapest money can buy, and the cooling is non-existent. They are simply VERY low quality.
Build your own desktop...

Laptops, MSI has been solid for me, as has Acer.

~Lordbob

 

[Mellon Head]

Don't buy a pre-built desktop, period.

Winner for best comment in thread.

 

[karlsnooks]

Laptops -- Toshiba

Desktop -- roll your own using an ASUS motherboard.

 

[Lordbob75]

Don't buy a pre-built desktop, period.

Winner for best comment in thread.

:roflmao:

Thanks.

~Lordbob

 

[monster528]

yea i do agree with that, building your own is the best way to go, theres no doubt about that, but i was still wondering how you guys thought they stack up, just for general knowledge.

just out of curiosity where do you build ur own? what site do you use to buy the parts? or do you scout around all different sites to find what your looking for for the price you want

 

[Lordbob75]

yea i do agree with that, building your own is the best way to go, theres no doubt about that, but i was still wondering how you guys thought they stack up, just for general knowledge.

just out of curiosity where do you build ur own? what site do you use to buy the parts? or do you scout around all different sites to find what your looking for for the price you want

I buy mine off NewEgg or my local Fry's Electronics (depending on price).

~Lordbob

 

[pparks1]

In my experience...
Don't buy a pre-built desktop, period.
I have worked with ones from Dell, Compaq, HP, etc and the components inside are the cheapest money can buy, and the cooling is non-existent. They are simply VERY low quality.
Build your own desktop...

I guess that would depend upon what you buy. On the Dell's that i purchased, the CPU's were Intel, the hard drives were Seagates, the optical drives were Lite-on's, the video cards were Nvidia or ATI chipset controlled and the sound cards were genuine sound blaster's. <-- Not all that different from what I would put together if I built myself. As far as cooling goes....keep in mind we are technical fanatics who believe that we need tons and tons of cooling and we often push our PC's to the limits. These small form factor Dells for instance, get used almost 24x7 in business environments and run for years and rarely fail due to a heat issue. I think the cooling is more than sufficient for a stock box that you won't overclock. Plus, these companies offer warranties...and I doubt they would short the system on proper cooling and then end up paying tons in warranty repair work.

just out of curiosity where do you build ur own? what site do you use to buy the parts? or do you scout around all different sites to find what your looking for for the price you want

For me, it's usually 1 site and 1 site only if I am buying multiple parts. For me, that site is Newegg and buy buying all from 1 place...I get it all at the same time and often save on shipping. If it's a 1 off part, I might order from someplace other than NewEgg if they have a much better price.

I'd never buy a HP. My dad actually works at a HP production plant. All the servers are IBM, as are many of the older computers. Any new ones are lenova (they bought part of IBM), so that should tell what HP thinks of their own computers.

Ummm....I would disagree about HP servers. The ProLiant line that they got from Compaq during the merger are very solid and highly reputable servers. No matter what data center I have been in has had quite a number of HP DL360, DL380, etc in the racks. I've been using and purchasing HP servers for 10+ years and they are great. In fact, it's only recent that I actually took ownership of 4 Dell R710 servers and have found them fantastic. Great price, great performance, good build quality and very low heat output...which in a fully populated rack is a big deal. And working with Dell support on servers has been very easy and they are quick to replace part and make sure that I am satisfied....much more willing to do what I want right up from than HP.

The second was an HP that had last three years, the battery is weak but still hold 50 minutes powered.

3+ years on the same battery is quite good. These are really rated for about 1 year and begin to dwindle quite a bit between 1 year and 2 year. i've always recommended replacing laptop batteries every 2 years if you travel and rely on portability.

 

[Lordbob75]

In my experience...
Don't buy a pre-built desktop, period.
I have worked with ones from Dell, Compaq, HP, etc and the components inside are the cheapest money can buy, and the cooling is non-existent. They are simply VERY low quality.
Build your own desktop...

I guess that would depend upon what you buy. On the Dell's that i purchased, the CPU's were Intel, the hard drives were Seagates, the optical drives were Lite-on's, the video cards were Nvidia or ATI chipset controlled and the sound cards were genuine sound blaster's. <-- Not all that different from what I would put together if I built myself. As far as cooling goes....keep in mind we are technical fanatics who believe that we need tons and tons of cooling and we often push our PC's to the limits. These small form factor Dells for instance, get used almost 24x7 in business environments and run for years and rarely fail due to a heat issue. I think the cooling is more than sufficient for a stock box that you won't overclock. Plus, these companies offer warranties...and I doubt they would short the system on proper cooling and then end up paying tons in warranty repair work.

Perhaps, but I would feel more comfortable if they put at LEAST 1 fan in for exhaust or something.

Their higher end PCs (such as gaming ones) tend to be better, but their bargain base models really suck.

~Lordbob

 

[pparks1]

Perhaps, but I would feel more comfortable if they put at LEAST 1 fan in for exhaust or something.

Their higher end PCs (such as gaming ones) tend to be better, but their bargain base models really suck.

~Lordbob

Again, that's your desire to have extra cooling. And apparently it's more cooling than in really needed. If the box actually needed extra cooling, they would put it in rather than paying for tons of warranty work. My Dell's that I've owned (Dimension 4550) and a (Dimension 8400) never have experienced any heat related issues....even with playing tons of games on the 8400.

Have you ever purchased any of these machines and experienced actual heat related problems?

 

[Lordbob75]

Perhaps, but I would feel more comfortable if they put at LEAST 1 fan in for exhaust or something.

Their higher end PCs (such as gaming ones) tend to be better, but their bargain base models really suck.

~Lordbob

Again, that's your desire to have extra cooling. And apparently it's more cooling than in really needed. If the box actually needed extra cooling, they would put it in rather than paying for tons of warranty work. My Dell's that I've owned (Dimension 4550) and a (Dimension 8400) never have experienced any heat related issues....even with playing tons of games on the 8400.

Have you ever purchased any of these machines and experienced actual heat related problems?

No, I have not had a heat problem with them (which says something for the components I suppose), but it still makes me nervous.

The average user does not clean out their PC, and I can only image how hot things get, which can't be good for the life of the components.

~Lordbob

 

[merkat106]

PC makers tend to bid out the components in their pcs, but most I've seen have been similar under the hood (they use either Intel or AMD cpus...). So, I rate by warranty and customer service. In terms of that, HP has been great (warranty & cs), but their hardware reliability seems inconsistent. I have 3 HPs, and only 1 hasn't ever had to be sent in under warranty - my oldest (5 yr/old laptop).

Custom builds are theway to go in terms of selecting good quality components...

 

[bobtran]

Its been my experience that you get what you pay for. Spend little, get little. This goes for Dell laptops too. I have had a couple of good Dell laptops and a couple of bad dell desktops....I have found that dell uses the cheapest parts compatible with the model you want and that is the problem if you are trying to save money.

My other choice for laptops is IBM.

As to desktops I prefer to build my own. I use TigerDirect.com and NewEgg.com for parts. If you don't want to build your own then I like Systemax and Alienware for pre-built.

I personally think dell makes some of the best servers I have ever worked with and would choose them over any other brand when building/configuring any databases that I would be responsible for.

 

[unifex]

@pparks1 - Is Dell still proprietary as it was in late 80's and early 90's? I decided not to purchase a Dell for that reason back then and went with a custom build. I have avoided Dell since then.

Not sure what you mean here, but in my limited experienced, I have always been buying Dell desktops and I have never had a problem. A few times I was trying to compare the price of a Dell with the price of all parts inside it and I was never able to match the price, thus my conclusion always was that building myself will require more money - and definitely more time. Personally I prefer to spend my time otherwise.

So, back on the subject - I am voting for Dell desktops and Vaio laptops.