Seriously considering buying a Dell XPS & would like to hear from Dell owners ( Vanity )

[sushiman]

For a variety of reasons I've given up on the switch to Apple and am now considering buying a Dell here in Japan . Never owned any Dell products . If one Google searches one can find a _______( fill in co. name of choice ) SUCKS blogs for every computer company in existence inc. Apple . : ) Need some good advice re: next purchase . I am not a techie nor am I a gamer . Use the computer for basic stuff . The XPS I'm thinking of getting would come with the Intel i5 2.66mhz 8MB ; 6 GB of RAM ; 500 HDD ; 21.5 monitor and NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 1024MB . Would you advise getting Dell Care for 3 years ? Any advice appreciated .

[Dallas]

I've owned 5 Dell XPS' over the last ten years. Four worked perfectly, and one did not. Last time I called tech support, it went straight to India. I couldn't understand a word he said.

I was waiting on Windows7 before I made my next purchase. I played with the W7 demo at the store, and it didn't wow me, so I bought my first MAC.

So far so good. The price of the iMac27 is a lot cheaper than a comparable Dell at this time when you figure in all the software that comes on a MAC.

[JoeProBono]

>My advise? Stay away from Dell

Yeah - and all the rest of them, for that matter:)

[sushiman]

Can never have enough info . Please weigh in .

[Jeff Head]

Thanks. It was organized at the time and did not require a “pre-cleaning”. It does not look quite so organized here 18 months later...but everyhting is still clearly visible. LOL!

[Jeff Head]

Very, very good sound. In fact...outstanding.

[sushiman]

More than a few from what I have read on Macrumors and Applesinsider , and the 21.5s also have been affected . Lots of QC problems , too , it seems , with many of their products . Dell would do in-home service in Japan on a desktop .

[Terpfen]

More than a few from what I have read on Macrumors and Applesinsider

MacRumours is unreliable; AppleInsider is only reporting that a few 27'' units are having trouble with Flash content.

Lots of QC problems , too , it seems , with many of their products .

Not really. The biggest QC problem Apple's had since the Intel/x86 transition was misapplication of thermal paste on some CPUs.

Dell would do in-home service in Japan on a desktop .

Excellent. Just beware that you're buying a Dell in the first place. They are no longer the quality leader, if they ever were.

[goat granny]

yes she is an beautiful to boot with 2 gorgeous daughters. They get their looks from their father not me...:O( Those pollacks always win...

[potlatch]

My desktop DELL is going on 7 years old and I have it filled with graphics and music. I paid a lot to begin with and did pay additional for the tech help [India I think].

Personally, I think Dell is outstanding and would get another from them.

[max americana]

Same here. I was so disgusted with HP laptops and I’ve had 2 of them, they failed miserably within one year.

[grame]

I bought a Dell three years ago. I like the ease with which you could select/put together the accessories you wanted. Now I'm probably on my 3 hard drive since then, but I would probably go back and buy another. As to the service, well I didn't raise the dr, lawyer and auto mechanic as planned, so I have 3 techies to care for my service. I guess that is my service plan, the fee was just paid back in their teen years.

[cabojoe]

Congratulations on the new PC!

[cabojoe]

"Only on a few 27'' units, and only with Flash content."

I've spent the last hour reading about users with the problems, and it's not just a few, and Flash seems to be a problem on more than just the 27" Apple hardware.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2208018&tstart=15

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=811900&page=11

There's more but it became boring. Even my phone can play Flash correctly.

[Terpfen]

I've spent the last hour reading about users with the problems, and it's not just a few, and Flash seems to be a problem on more than just the 27" Apple hardware.

Yes, it is a few. By definition, the Internet amplifies the level of complaints about a service, good, or product. Is it a major, widespread problem? Possible, but unlikely. Further, your first thread only mentions the 27'' model, and your second thread is also about the 27'' model. I see no mentions of the 24'' iMac suffering problems, nor past iMacs suffering problems.

As for Flash, Adobe's port of Flash to OS X is one of the worst codebases in use today. It desperately needs an optimized rewrite. Won't happen though. Speaking of cross-platform Flash...

Even my phone can play Flash correctly.

Then your phone is one of a very few select models. The iPhone, the Android platform, and the Blackberry all lack Flash. This will change when 10.1 comes out, but as we type, Flash does not run on 99.5% of the phones on the market. And a good thing, too: it'd suck battery life like a Democrat slush fund.

[cabojoe]

That Flash for OS X is at fault seems obvious from the way the users were talking. Phone is Android.

[Terpfen]

That Flash for OS X is at fault seems obvious from the way the users were talking.

Seems that way. Less the hardware, more the plugin. Could be a problem with the way Flash interacts with the new hardware. There'll be a fix at some point. Whether it's from Apple or from Adobe is up in the air. Probably Apple, since Adobe seems to have imprisoned anyone in the company who works on OS X.

Phone is Android.

I'm unaware of any Android phone with Flash support. That's not happening until Flash 10.1 next year. Flash Lite is available on the HTC Hero, but Flash and Flash Lite are different things, technologically speaking. Flash Lite will probably be eliminated with Flash 10.1's release.

[cabojoe]

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/articles/htchero.html

[Terpfen]

Yeah, it’s Flash Lite 3.1. Flash Lite != Flash. They both play SWF files, but that’s about it.

[sushiman]

“Only on a few 27’’ units, and only with Flash content.”
I’ve spent the last hour reading about users with the problems, and it’s not just a few, and Flash seems to be a problem on more than just the 27” Apple hardware.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2208018&tstart=15

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=811900&page=11

There’s more but it became boring. Even my phone can play Flash correctly.

THANK FOR POSTING . It bolsters what I wrote earlier . relatively widespread problem but not a word from Apple yet .

[puppypusher]

I have a Dell 1710 XPS and the computer,a Notebook PC is very good.The only Problem I have ever had with it was the Video System Card failed one evening.

The Video card was coverd under the Warranty and Dell repaired it without any charge to me.

I have had a number of notebook PC’s and the Dell XPS has been the Best.I would stay away from PC’s sold in retail shops like best buy,etc.Because the kids they have selling the damn things have NO Clue what their selling and they will sell you a junk PC at top dollar.

My Reccomendation if you want to find out what company makes a good PC look at PC Gamer Magazine.They will tell you what to get.

Also Try CNET.COM.

There is nothing worse than buying a computer you were told is a top of the line PC and then you bring it home and it turns out to be a dog.