Just Choose which one is the best

well me i rather build my own but as far as manufacturer goes id say dell

I agree with lost soul about building your own. If not, a generic ISA standard architecture box of almost any make is the better bet. Propriatary hardware is P.I.A. with their non-standard components, cases and and drivers. Not to mention the loads of crap that they install by default. Fixed internet connection on a customers new gateway today because PREINSTALLED norton AND mcaffee "trial" firewalls were duking it out. WTF is the point of that???

well me i rather build my own but as far as manufacturer goes id say dell

i would have to agree there, but i would still like to try the alienware just to see if i would like those.............

I'll throw in another vote for building your own (other).

You end up getting more of what you want, and usually at a lower price than you'd pay with a name brand.

As for laptops, I can say that my Compaq has been pretty good. Aside from a problem with the original hard drive, it's been rock solid otherwise.

Gotta be built on your own definately,. companies like Dell, HP and all the other major computer manufacturers sometimes markup machines up to 200% of the same price it would cost you to build it yourself. plus many major manufacturers don't give you "exactally" what you want or need.

-D-

Dell is the best of them but your better off building your own

nothing is better than choosing the right components and mounting them for yourself

Edited June 1, 200521 yr by SiMoNsAyS

Me. IMHO I think that I am the best computer builder, at least within about 10 meters of where i am sitting atm.

I voted other

However if I was voting for laptops I'd vote for Sony. My little TR3A is just the trick

heh alienware the best. dell is good but meh. but te best is the one you build yourself

heh alienware the best. dell is good but meh. but te best is the one you build yourself

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alienware the best?! have you seen the price tags on those machines? they are literally marked up 400%, you configure a system from alienware, it costs 7k (well the system i want cost's 7k canadian currency, without S&H), and for that price you could probably build 2 of the exact same thing and still have enough left for a half decent midrange system. your mainly paying for the 20minutes they spend testing your system to make sure it's rock solid and the overhyped case it comes in, you could test your system in about a day and if something is wrong RMA the faulty piece, alienware requires you to send the whole system out IIRC.

(whoops didnt see that you also put in a word for building your own, heh )

dell = no way. foreign sales support, tech support, customer support.

hp/compaq = no. i hate how they make everything small and restrict your upgrading options.

acer/toshiba = good for laptops.

emachines = hell no

sony/alienware = i've never tried, and i would like to, but these are pretty expensive.

i'm also going to agree with building your own. these manufacturers will not allow you to use amd processors. with the exception of alienware that i know of. intel is evil.

anyways, build your own stuff.

I also have to say build your own..

Because the few prebuild computers that I have messed with had old out dated parts ,,,,,, and the price tag was high....... The pre built companies where selling them as new an improved ..

What is really funny is the people that bought the pre built computers got mad at me when I told them they got took by the pre built computer company xyz. DELL was the company xyz that took people the most ,,,,,,,,

You need to have the ATA 133 hard drive speeds and at least 1 GB of RAM in order to get the ball rolling......... Most of the pre built companies only give you 256MB ram and a older slow hard drive,,,,,,,,, that makes for slow computing .....

The wind is blowing against you........ and the video cards are old out dated ones to..... so build it yourself it is not that hard today....... in the old days you had to set 50 jumpers and hope for the best..........

Edited July 29, 200521 yr by Coolsights2000

Other: me. If you build it yourself, you know it's done well and it gives you the ability to choose all your components and buy them at the lowest price.

Rolling your own system is by FAR the best solution. You can cherry-pick each component in terms quality, performance, and value. And since you've built it yourself, you obviously know how to work on the blasted thing. So, if a component dies, you still have the manufacturer's warranty for the component in question. Ship the dead part back and get a new one.

As far as the major players go, I for a long time would have said Dell. However, their support has thoroughly gone to the crapper. Blame offshoring, outsourcing, etc...take your pick. Whatever your poison, Dell's support has plummeted to be some of the worst I have experienced (and I have dealt with them all at one time or another). Their part quality has also suffered in specific areas. The hitachi hard drives they use in their laptops are the former IBM Deskstar/TravelStar line (yes, the dreaded "DeathStar" line). And yes, they still have major reliability issues. If you get two years out of one of these hard drives, consider yourself lucky! I've also noticed quality issues with their integrated network interfaces.

I definitely vote "Other", since building your own system beats all the other choices, any day of the week.

- Ravashaak (currently enduring strep throat)