Need a new 'puter, any ideas please,,,

"Dell"??

Dell what?

Buy one or stay away from 'em?

My son's girlfriend is a Canadian that's worked in the USA and reckons they have a terrible rep over there. So, what's the drum here in "Oz"?

Bilbo

Err thats not Farmer in the D### is it, I would look at the HP and Toshiba and yes Dell is also a good brand

Yes.... D E L L
Link: Site Link

Check out the 3rd notebook down.

Compare the specifications with any local computer shop system available here and Dell can better it, at a lower price.
I have just bought an Inspiron 6400 with 'all the fruit' and printer, after doing the relevant 'homework' required.

The Dell phone service is terrific to date and system 'upgrades' are readilly available.

Firstly I don't work for Dell nor do I hold shares in the company.
I have two Dell Laptops.
The first is a Inspirion 8200 which I have had for about four years.
This computer has done about 50,000 km's of travel on everything from the Simpson Desert to the Anne Beadell Hwy, The Vic High Country, Tasmania (You get the picture) over the worst corrugations and dust you have seen.
The machine was running mobile mapping (Ozi Explorer and Discover Oz at the same time via Franson GPS Gate) and music through the cars stereo constantly whilst sitting in a Mobile Desk mount.
This means the machine is turned on and runs all day whilst we are driving not put away and taken out only when needed like some do.
It also is used for uploading digital pics etc.
Its also done all my business work Accounting, email etc.

The bottom line is its been superb, never missed a beat and been invaluable to my needs. The kids now also use it for gaming and network parties at their mates places.

Dell's warranty is brilliant and all machines are built to order so you are getting todays technology and components not stuff built 6 months ago with outdated processors etc, An important issue to ensure your machine is as up to date as possible.
If you compare Dell to other brands you will almost always find that the others are behind the game in processor speeds etc offered as they don't build on a just in time basis and hold stock of whatever components they need for months before they are sold.
Thats a reflection of the fact that Dell is the largest manufacturer and seller of computers in the world.

I have now bought another Dell Inspirion 9400 17" wide screen six months ago
and its also a fantastic machine. This one is used for my business work and has not been off road as yet as the 8200 is still going strong for this use.

I also owned a Dell Desk top years ago and it never gave me any issues bar a tape drive problem and I rang them up and the guy was in my office the next day replacing it, excellent service.

Other brands are OK like Toshiba etc but as I said they are machines made months ago and held in stock by the manufacturer/distributor and the retailer until sold.
Dell make to order and my latest laptop was delivered from Malaysia 8 days after I ordered it.

The Dell range is very large and you can have them built to suit you exactly by adding or subtracting components to suit.
They also offer a 3 year on site warranty.

Next time your in a bank or a government office take a look at who's equipment is sitting on the desks, In my experience its mostly Dell.

Have a good look at the web site to get all the info.

Gee, John that is pretty hard for mission critical puter. I have a little Dell C400 with a 12.1" screen that has been long distances too. Suffered airline handling too as well as corriegations. Like the next one to be a bit more powerful and also tablet style one. The C400 has an external drive enclosure for CD but it's all overtaken by USB connections anyway.

Dell Inspirion 9140, get two, one for me, I cant get mine till March

Sorry, no results were found for "9140"

"Inspiron 9400
Multimedia Powerhouse
A generous 17" wide screen for multimedia applications in a notebook packed with productivity and performance
Intel® Core™ Solo or Core™ Duo Processor
Genuine Windows® XP operating systems
17" W\XGA+ or 17" UltraSharp WUXGA display with TrueLife™
512MB Memory.

Priced from A$2,299 (Price Inc. Free Delivery)
Price valid to : 28/12/2006 "

Above is the only Dell Inspiron starting with the number 9***

Thats the one I would get, sorry about the 40 oops

Bonz,
what configuration are you getting ???

Mine was built and delivered only 9 days after I had specified what parts I wanted built into it!

With the Intel Core™ Duo Processor and 2,000Mb Ram it absolutely flies.....

Core duo and 2 gig ram (maybe 1 gig) 240gig hdd

Thats about it, not bad for a mapping pc

bonz,
$3,200 is a nice mapping computer.... as shown at the Dell web site with the specs nominated by you above '9400 Inspiron' however with only 1 x gb Ram and 200gb hard-drive and no picture capable printer lincluded, lol

Link: Site Link

I think the screen is too big on the 9400 may have to go smaller

Bonz, I like the idea of plenty of horsepower and a 14" screen being big enough. After that I guess you guys and poor eyesight want huge widescreen TVs. I just wear my glasses as the screen is just beyond my fingers on a laptop....

Went from a 15" screen in my first Dell lappy to the 17" wide screen and its a major difference.
Get the 17" if the dollars are not the issue, you won't regret it.

Just remember bigger is always better. ;-))

with a 15.4" screen with SXGA+ TFT truelife display with 1680 x 1050 pixels you can see the individual hairs on a head, it's the highest pixel rating I could find when I was doing my 'homework'
In real life the typing is heaps smaller on the screen, but it's still readable and the pictures and movies are really 'lifelike'
My suggestion is to use it as a TV also for about $140 extra for the plug-in.
The clarity is the best I've seen on any computer screen.

For comparison check out the number of pixels on various models of opposition notebooks or even TV's, they just don't and can't compare relative to price.

Hi Arkay - I didn't mean to imply that ACER were not good, rather that the two brands have simliar names (particularly when pronounced), and I was referring to the other name. Acer also have a good reputation.....Keith

Dell.
paid $2220 on line... check out the specifications and retail :-)

Link: Site Link

sure you can buy "cheaper"
but not with the same speed, unreal screen clarity or memory capacity!!!

I've taken a picture of a Brahman bull at 30 Mtrs and blown the picture up and you can see individual hairs & veins on it's ears - that's clarity of screen.

hehe.....your session cookie page for the dell website is not a valid site link :-)

Andrew

works for me... but it' a Dell

Link: Site Link

Mainey

They are not working for me either

PeterD

Peter
it still works for me (again) but I have reset with-out the link, out in the open.
You will have to "copy/paste" it this time.

Site Link

it takes you direct to the relevant 6400 notebook web page!

Hi Bilbo

Centrino processors are stripped down Pentiums. They are missing the bits that make Pentiums better for graphics (mapping.) My choice is AMD twin core 64 bit processors - you will need something like that if you get caught for installing Vista.

PeterD

Maybe we've just been lucky, but the puter I use here at home every day (except when we're away camping), is a 2+ year old Dell Inspiron 510m laptop and we've never had any issues with it at all. It gets turned on in the morning and stays on all day (connected to ADSL all day), until it goes off around 10 or 11 pm.

I don't take it away in the 4x4; it's just a home unit......I origianlly had grand visions of hooking it up to an etrex I bought and having all that moving map stuff. However, I couldn't get my old fat head around all the technology and software. I sold the etrex and vowed to look into again some day, when all you have to do is plug the laptop into the a GPS mouse (or similar) and the bloody puter screen will automatically populate with a map showing you where you are. In my ideal world, this would require no input from me, other than to turn it on, and I could hit a "ZOOM" button (in or out) to show me where I was, anywhere in Australia (overall view of the continent)....zooming in to show me right down to the street I was parked in, or the sand dune I was crossing!

So, I guess it'll be many years (if ever) before I venture into this techno-age stuff again....hahahahaha

"some day, when all you have to do is plug the laptop into the a GPS mouse (or similar) and the bloody puter screen will automatically populate with a map showing you where you are. "

Hi Roachie,

All this is possible right now.

It's easy to set up a laptop to automatically run the mapping program when it turns on, and the mouse GPS will feed it the co-ordinates and your position will be centred on the map.

sorry, but "many years" has shrunk to "next year" for your next exploits :-)

Thanks for that.....I thought someone would come back with a comment such as what you have said........

However, to me the problem comes when you say: "It's easy to set up a laptop". It's those 2 little words "set up" that always seem to buggar me up. .......and as for that word "easy";.......... well, what can I say? .......I've long ago learnt that words like "easy" or "user-friendly" don't belong in the same sentence as "computer" or "laptop". I know, I know, I know; I'm a dinosaur (at the tender age of 51) who just can't get this chit straight in my head.

Before I do anything else about on-screen mapping, it'll have to be a case of either going on line (or into a computer shop) and ticking the boxes of the system I require (which will include the aforementioned ability for me to simply turn the computer on as soon as I get it out of the box and immediately see where I am in this wonderful country). I am simply not interested in (or capable of) loading various compact discs in a certain special order and trying to make Ozi-bloody-explorer "talk" to Raster-bloody-maps or whatever they call it (they are just 2 terms that were doing my head in a year or so ago when I finally gave up).

Roachie,

That's the trouble with you young ones, you give in too easy. We aged dinosaurs are much more tenacious :)))))))))))))

Roachie, I thought you would be like the Yanks are in the freezer territory, leave it running 24 hours a day. Ensures you don't have too many startup worries ;-)

"Stay away from Dell"
I guess that statement would have absolutely nothing with the fact that you are in the business of selling computers????

Would be good form and morally decent forum etiquette to declare your personal interests before bagging another brand!!

Oops should read "absolutely nothing to do with the fact"

To quick on the send button for my own good!!!

Dear John,

Although I have been in the business for many years, I really don't bother selling PCs or laptops any more. For $50 or less margin on a $1500 PC/Laptop, I'd rather not sell them so I no longer do. The days of $500-$800 profit on a $3000 PC are long gone.

That means that I do not have to preface my opinion with your suggested preamble, because you have reached a wrong conclusion, a common ocurrence when someone goes off half cocked.

I actually don't mind Dell at all really. Some of my corporate customers love Dell 'cause they buy them cheap, and I love them 'cause they require so much warranty work. Corporates are often pretty stupid with their purchasing, because they never consider TCO, only IPP.

The warranty is covered by Dell of course, but I get paid for making all the phone calls, etc, meeting the Dell technician, and watching him replace a hard drive or whatever, then reloading all the OS and apps, etc.

Their service is truly amazing - one GX280 machine had a noisy CPU fan, dud cd combo, and faulty power supply. That's right, three faults in a 2 month old PC. I loved this one - I reported all 3 faults at the same time (55 minutes on the phone), and they sent 3 separate technicians at three different times, each with a single spare part. So I was eventually paid almost 6 hours labour for the fault. As I said, I don't mind Dell.

By comparison, a 3 year old Compaq NC1000 laptop developed a faulty screen - 15 minutes on the web reporting the fault, an email with a picture of the rubbishy display was attached to the problem file, Laptop collected by HP next morning, returned 2 days later with new motherboard, new screen, new screen surround to replace cracked one.

My time - a lousy 30 minutes.

But I still recommend HP even though I make less from them.

Dear Gerhardp1
Thats really great that you say "stay away from Dell" in one post then when your caught failing to declare your personal interest you change your tune to one of "I don't mind Dell at all really" they make me lots of money.

And for every bad news story on Dell's or any other brand you may like to bag I could come up with just as many good stories.
It does seem to me that on this thread there are more happy Dell users than unhappy computer salesmen.

I should add that I buy Dell's so aside from getting the latest components and building to my spec I don't have to put up with bull$hit computer salesmen who can't lie straight in bed.

Dear John,

Thank you for catching me for failing to ascribe to your personal moral code, whatever that is.

Problem is you can't read. Have a careful read of this -

Although I have been in the business for many years, I really don't bother selling PCs or laptops any more. For $50 or less margin on a $1500 PC/Laptop, I'd rather not sell them so I no longer do. The days of $500-$800 profit on a $3000 PC are long gone.

That means that I do not have to preface my opinion with your suggested preamble, because you have reached a wrong conclusion, a common ocurrence when someone goes off half cocked.

Go fire your blanks somewhere else and leave me alone. The post is about Bilbo asking opinions on what to buy, and I am offering my opinion.

So stop hijacking the post with your own stupid comments about me. This is not the first time you have done this either. You're a child.

Dear Gerhardp1

Yep I can read!!, Shall I do an archive search on your other posts that you have made about being in the computer industry for X years and selling X brands of machines???

Problem is I don't think you can read or you must think that people are stupid, probably the later as a typical example of a computer salesmen.

From your post below...
"I've been selling & supporting them, and Acer, and others for 16 years and this is news to me"

Correct Bilbo asked for personal opinions on what to buy, you did not offer a personal opinion you bagged a product that you can't sell in favor of one you can without declaring your interest in the business and now your caught you try and deflect the issue towards someone else.
Maybe we should start to refer to you as the BillS of computers???

Oh by the way call me what you wish, Better people than you have had a go with little effect.

Cheers

John B. Child

HP / Compaq has it's own special O/S ????

I've been selling & supporting them, and Acer, and others for 16 years and this is news to me.

All laptops have their own drivers for chipsets, etc to achieve things like maximum battery life. Never heard of an App which won't run on an HP. They have extensive support for their products, and will frequently correct issues with compatibility if you send a problem to them.

Acers have their own stuff just like HP, Toshiba, ASUS, etc, etc.

Also, all laptops use parts that you can't buy anywhere other than from their distribution chain. None of my suppliers sell Acer motherboards, for example, so I can't onsell them even if I wanted to.

The only spare you can buy from the local shop is a non-genuine A/C adapter or a carry bag.

Hi Gerhardp1, If you don't know about the unique differences in the operating system of HP / Compac it's probably because you have not had to delve into those areas, which is good as it means you have not had problems in those areas. One of the features that is unique is where and how information is stored on the hard drive, if you use certain recovery programming tools that work ok with other so-called "IBM compatible" systems you will find that they just don't work on HP/Compac systems. As long as your system is working ok you will never need to delve into this area so it will never bother you. Just do regular back-ups (as we all should !) and incase of a hard drive problem, get a new hd, re-load your O/S and restore data from your back-up, don't try and use programming tools to unscramble the disc as you will be wasteing your time. I am not saying that they are not good computers, just that I would prefer to use another brand.

You have seen nothing of people being hard on machines until you seen our reps - we gave up on laptops and tablets and went with toughbooks.

10000% better and no returns per week compared to 4+ with laptops and 8+ a week with HP Tablets.

I'd believe it mate, but they also weigh a tonne which is why it was never considered it.
The Coke rep package (case + laptop) = 1.8kg's. Looks very similar to a compendium.
The Coke reps rest the laptop on one arm (special case designed for this), and punch in orders with the other.

Truckster, Ivan,

What are "toughbooks"???

Bilbo

Truckster could give you a better idea about how they perform as he uses them.
In simple terms though, they are a laptop/notebook with a very strong protective casing.
Here is an example of one: Site Link
They come with all the stuff normal laptops offer too.

The good thing about them is that you can really throw them around, they are very durable, and even the hard drive is spring mounted to reduce shock. I've seen one thrown at a wall at a decent speed, driven over by a car and it survived.

The bad thing is that they are heavy, but that really depends on your circumstances and preference.
For example, I dont want a laptop that weighs more than 2kg's, cause I carry my laptop around with me all the time for work.

They are a good little machine, and I'd have one any day over a laptop, but they aint cheap... tryin to get one out of work, but the keyboards are small, and bleep me. I'd have to have a USB one to plug in.

some come with SD Card readers standard.

Yep true but easy to answer in each case..................
Toyota, Engel, Safari, Duel (Thats a more complex answer) Oh! and Dell!!!! ;-)

3 out of 5 is not too bad....better luck next-time ;-)

Andrew

PS. Your current notebook isn't "really" old; I still have my first notebook - an Acer 25MHz 486 without a math co-processor, a 40MB hard drive and monocrome display - and whilst we're on the subject I also have my first "luggable": an Olivetti 8MHz 8086 PC with amber (monocrome) 7" screen and floppy drive - 640K RAM too! And we'll not even mention the Sinclair ZX81 (with (unreliable) cassette tape storage) upon which I learned to write Z80 machine code in 1979 :)

Mike Harding

you really must do a spring-clean one day :-)

Andrew

Oh!

Tell me about it!!!

Mike Harding :)

I must now fess up to still having my first computer - a TRS80 pocket. One line display and a massive 1024 Bytes of ram. I even have the printer option - 20 character wide dot matrix!

I managed to cram an astro navigation program into it for reducing star sights.

It is in the shed behind a lot of other junk that should be stored at the tip.

Cheers

Pete

They all have 24hr warranty if you pay for it.. We have it with IBM at work, had it with DULL at Southcorp.

I had an acer computer once...

then I see u want laptop.

We use Stinkpads at work.

the only thing with laptops - WARRANTY - LOTS OF IT... we have a Thinkpad at work that needs new motherboard $800 (desktop board is $200), so its not worth fixing the laptop as its out of warranty...

Dell, IBM, Sharp, HP etc are all about the same, with some models being great, some sucking bum. but the best bet is to go sit infront of a few at stores, and see what features you like, what is in your price range, and what things you need/dont need.

steer clear of Acer

Hope you mean Toughbook, not Tablet, eg HP tablets?

as a demo that sold us on the Toughbooks, the rep threw one on the ground..picked it up and proceeded with the demo for 2 hours.. We signed before the 2 hours were up.

Sorry about the misleading reply, you have it in one truckster, the toughbook, we do a lot of work with Cockies who have them in their self steer tractors etc. Nice units.