Dell PCs

Hey I was wondering if Dell PCs are worth their prices. I was checking out the XPS 710 and it looked amazing, but is it worth the price? BIGKILLA

In my experience, dell are by far superior to all the other computer retailers.  ie, emachine, gateway, hp, and the like.  You may be able to save a few bucks building it yourself, or not, depends on shipping rates and whatnot.  Thier customer support has rather high reviews also.

In my experience, dell are by far superior to all the other computer retailers.  ie, emachine, gateway, hp, and the like.  You may be able to save a few bucks building it yourself, or not, depends on shipping rates and whatnot.  Thier customer support has rather high reviews also.

harless

Dell is pretty good, also check out Gateway's offerings.

Gateway offers more for the money if you're interested in gaming, since you can choose to get an 8800GTS 320MB. Dell's mid-range card offering is the 8600GTS, which is pretty underwhelming considering its price. 

Building your first pc is a rather daunting experience for most people.  especially someone without experience with electronic devices.  I mean putting thermal paste on a heatsink and attatching it to a cpu would make a person nervous who's never even seen what they look like.

I would advise against learning how to build your first pc, with expensive parts.  I'd find one from a garage sale or something.  Tear it apart, and "build it" yourself.

Mainly because first there is finding parts, that work together, mobo, cpu, ram, psu.  while not difficult to builders, seems impossible to a first timer.  Then hooking stuff up, wiring is challenging for them.  god forbid the ram or something doesn't work, he's got to trouble shoot it.  Install the os.  Then bios update, chipset drivers, all other drivers.  I would strongly urge you not to build your first pc with expensive parts.

If you really want to build it yourself, check with a local pc shop.  I run a small shop myself, so i speak with some knowledge.  They may "teach/help" you build the pc, for a fee of course.  Or ask your friends, alot of the people i teach about computers are pointed in my direction by people i know.  Who of course, had no idea I knew anything about computers.

these are some good tutorials

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/computer-build-1-video.htm

http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=12472

if you don't feel like building or don't feel comfterable doing so then spend a little under you budget and get all the parts you need to build a computer from either www.newegg.com if you live in the USA and if you live in canada www.tigerdirect.com then you can go to a electronics store and pay a fee to have someone build if for you if you look around you should find a resonable price and its way cheaper then going pre built

Having built my first pc a couple of months ago i would advise you to build one yourself, but ONLY if you have any experience with computers. In other words, ask yourself these questions: have i ever entered bios and know what it is? and have I ever opened up my pc case and removed/inserted hardware? 

if the answer to both questions is yes, then you can build a very good pc for a $1000 and you can definitely save some money (and as a perk get quality parts unlike those that dell offers).

If both answers are no and you aren't familiar with your pc at all, then i'd suggest either buying it from a company like dell or simply ordering the parts and having someone else build it for you (local shop maybe?)

Well, I'd be willing to build a computer but I wouldn't know where to begin. If you guys/girls would be willing to help me out on things that you think I should get for it, it would be greatly appreciated. I really want to keep the price under $1000 but if it goes over a little I'm not too worried. Also, if all goes well I'd post some pictures of how it turns out and everything. Thanks in advanceBIGKILLA

Building your own PC is so simple and you'll have a massive understanding of PCs once your done. There are quite a few guides that you can find by searching on google and I would recommend buying a book so you have something at hand to refer to while building. 

22% failure rate. ROFL.

Dell's PCs nowadays are fairly upgradeable, the power supplies they use are ATX-form but the motherboard and case are still BTX-form. 

i've bought around 10-11 Dell computers(desktop and laptops) over the past 5 years for me and for various other people, the only problem I've had so far is that battery recall.

when dell have a deal going on, its no more expensive than buying the parts and building it yourself. 

just recently a X2 4000+, 1gb DDR2-667, 80gb HD, dvd burner, 19 inch widescreen monitor, for 450 with free shipping.  thats pretty much how much it would cost to build one with parts from the egg+OS cost.

What do you guys think about this pc? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8297149&st=gateway&lp=1&type=product&cp=2&id=1173577698464BIGKILLA

That looks like a good investment. Probably a little hard to sort out with the TV tuner and all but if you can get it how you like it that looks like a great computer. 

Here's another one that looked really nice http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8295506&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat103700050049&id=1173577987191

Which one of those do you guys think is the better buy for gaming right now and for the future. 

[QUOTE="BIGKILLA"]Hey I was wondering if Dell PCs are worth their prices. I was checking out the XPS 710 and it looked amazing, but is it worth the price? DirkVDV01

i just ordered a laptop from Dell, Inspiron 9400 and here's the specs.  Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz 4MB cache, Window Vistas, 2 GB, 256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7900GS, 120 GB hard drive, and Next Gen Wireless N card, got it for $1900 with tax, 400 bucks off with deal from Telus with free mouse, and webcam waddya think?Gizmo_kicks_ass

dude, i just orderd one almost exactly like that. it came in yesterday, its great

even though my system is a little dated by the current standards, i have not had any problems with my system. my video card did go out on me at one time, but Dell sent over a tech to replace it, no charge for the service call or video card, it was still under their 3 year warranty.

My Rig: Dell Dimension XPS Gen 2: P4 3.0ghz w/800mhz/ht technology, 1024 mb @400mhz memory, ATI 128 mb 9800 pro graphics card, 19"Acer widescreenwjgia

Dude, that the exact same PC I had before I got the one in my sig. Actually, it is still my "daily driver" where I have all my email, web and productivity software. My 710 only has games on it for now. That Gen2 is a BEAST - it has been uber reliable. I upgraded the video card shortly after I got it with a X800XT and just a month or two ago to a X1950Pro AGP with a 22" Viewsonic LCD at 1650x1050, and it runs BF2 like a dream. Mine is over 3 years old and keeps on ticking... :D

Hey I was wondering if Dell PCs are worth their prices. I was checking out the XPS 710 and it looked amazing, but is it worth the price? BIGKILLA

Building it yourself is cheaper and better, but if you aren't going to build it yourself then Dell Pcs are fine for their price.Drizzt13

I'm sorry but that's a myth that should die down already.

Now i don't know about the US dell prices but the UK dell prices,when compared to building your own is still cheaper.

I plan to buy a dell 9200 with a 8800gtx later this year

I don't know if you're still set on ordering a perbuilt, but here are some parts that I selected for my friend whose looking to build a new computer this summer:

8800GTS;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122022 - $285

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Windsor 2.6Ghz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103030 - $156

ECS AMD 690GM-M2 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135049 - $65

G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231063 - $65 each

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012 - $200

APEVIA X-PLEASURE-BK Black Aluminum Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144128 - $130

SILVERSTONE SST-ST60F ATX 600W Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817163112 - $105

LG Black IDE Super-Multi DVD Burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136108 - $29

TOTAL = $1035

He pretty much wanted the best stuff he could get on a $2000 budget, but he also intends to get a new monitor and a sound system for it. And being that I don't know much intel processors, I decided to stick with AMD when suggesting parts.