Dell customer support

Not to worry - Gateway (or their successor) will
certainly be around much longer than I will be.

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
.. .
Yeah, perhaps true. Of course, the warranty is probably longer than the
life of the vendor......


"EdH" wrote in message
...
"HH" wrote in message
.. .
I couldn't find a cheaper price than what I got on my 4550 about 4
months
ago on the small biz side:

Easy to beat Dell on notebooks though. My latest was a
Gateway and the price/specs blow Dell out of the waer.

"Tom Scales" wrote:
No, it was $589 at Dell. Didn't you read the post?
Hmm, $1200 at Costco
$589 at Dell.

Hope you don't make all your purchasing decisions that way. Might
wanna read the specs first.


"Steve" wrote in message
.. .
"HH" wrote:
I couldn't find a cheaper price than what I got on my 4550 about 4 months
ago on the small biz side:
P4 2.53 GHz
533MHz bus
512MB PC2700
CD-ROM
60GB, 7,200 HD
64MB nVidia GeForce 4
10/100 NIC
4 USB 2.0
$589.
No local vendors could beat it, nor could HP, Compaq, Micron, Gateway.

Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.


Marcio Watanabe wrote:
No, it can't as there is a big difference. Low cost open source
solutions are really low cost compared to Microsoft's. Lower cost PC
makers are not much lower cost than Dell if any. In fact, when Dell
has promotions, it's hard to buy a PC cheaper even if you build it
yourself, so you won't save any money by going to no-brand PC makers.

Dunno about that, can save a few hundred bucks over Dell on desktop
specs like these:

P4
2.2 GHz
512MB RAM
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW
120G hard drive
64MB nVidia GeForce4
5 USB 2
3 firewire
S video, digital audio
Flash memory card readers
10/100 NIC
3.5" floppy
56K modem
18.1" LCD monitor

In article in
misc.consumers, EdH wrote:
"HH" wrote in message
. ..
I couldn't find a cheaper price than what I got on my 4550 about 4 months
ago on the small biz side:

Easy to beat Dell on notebooks though. My latest was a
Gateway and the price/specs blow Dell out of the waer.

Yes, but to be fair you need to add a few hundred bucks for the
"Gateway support hassle factor". :-)

I bought a full Gateway system once. Never again.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"You find yourself amusing, Blackadder."
"I try not to fly in the face of public opinion."

Stan Brown wrote:
Yes, but to be fair you need to add a few hundred bucks for the
"Gateway support hassle factor". :-)
I bought a full Gateway system once. Never again.

OTOH, I've had Gateway desktops for 15 years, never needed support.
YMMV.

Ok, I checked out a similar Dell and the Medion system from Costco. I will
admit that the Medion system from Costco is cheaper.

Here is what I did on a Dell and what I came up with
Dimension 4600 with 2.4Ghz with 533 FSB
512MB DDR PC2700 (single stick)
17 in UltraSharp Digital Flat Panel (Dell was not offering an 18)
64MB DDR Nvidia GeForce4MX with TV Out
120GB Ultra ATA/100 HD 7200RPM
3.5 floppy
XP Home Edition
10/100NIC
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
16X DVD ROM Drive
4x DVD+RW/+R drive with CDRW
MS Works Suite with Money 2003
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 Digital Card with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability
Altec Lansing ADA215 speakers

Dell grand total equipped as above $1554. Approx $250 more than Medion
system.


Here are the noticeable differences between the systems
The Medion is P4 @ 2.2Ghz with 400FSB. Dell is P4 @ 2.4Ghz with 533FSB.
(Dell better)
Both have 512MB PC2700 RAM, however Dell has Dual Channel DDR. Medion
has no free mem slots, Dell has 2 free (Dell better)
Medion is DVD-R and Dell is DVD+RW (you decide which you like)
Medion is 18LCD and Dell is 17LCD. (Medion is bigger, but Dell specs on
monitor likely better. The 17Dell is a Samsung and is very highly rated.
Specs not provided by Medion ( I think Dell is better)
Medion has onboard AC97 Sound card). Dell has Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Digital (Dell better)
Medion has 5 USB2.0 ports. Dell has 8 USB2.0 ports (Dell Better)
Medion has 0 serial ATA controllers. Dell has 2. (Dell better)
Medion has 3 firewire port. Dell has 0. (Medion better)
Medion has MediaCard readers. Dell has none. (Medion better)
Dell chassis nearly silent, not sure on Medion (not able to determine
who is better)
Medion has speakers built into monitor. Dell has external harmon kardon
speakrs (Dell better)
Medion--Haven't heard of them, but they are german equivalent of
e-machines. Dell--Been around a long time, strong business base,
tech-support likely around awhile (Dell Better).


I tried to be totally fair with my pics on who is better in each above
category. I am sure some may disagree, but all-in-all I think I was fair
and reasonable. The Medion does offer firewire and the media card reader
feature, but these can each be purchased for about $30 for the Dell. On the
other hand, the onboard sound, the lack of memory slots, the slower
processor and front side bus and the slower RAM might be a little more
difficult to deal with down the road (and certainly more expensive to change
out to meet the Dell specs).

Therefore, if it were money coming out of my pocket, I would pay the extra
$250 and get the Dell
--faster processor
--faster front-side-bus
--faster memory that can be expanded
--better spearkers
--very likely a far superior monitor.
--a potential for tech support a year down the road (even if it is bad)
--a guaranteed quiet case.

Just my $5.00 addition. Take it for whatever it is worth








"Steve" wrote in message
...
Marcio Watanabe wrote:
Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.


http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...ubid=3782 &hi
erid=3783&prdid=10031979&log=

Yeah, you're right, the Dell has both a faster processor and faster FSB.

And it's cheaper.

Tom
"Steve" wrote in message
...
"Tom Scales" wrote:
No, it was $589 at Dell. Didn't you read the post?
Hmm, $1200 at Costco
$589 at Dell.

Hope you don't make all your purchasing decisions that way. Might
wanna read the specs first.


"Steve" wrote in message
.. .
"HH" wrote:
I couldn't find a cheaper price than what I got on my 4550 about 4
months
ago on the small biz side:
P4 2.53 GHz
533MHz bus
512MB PC2700
CD-ROM
60GB, 7,200 HD
64MB nVidia GeForce 4
10/100 NIC
4 USB 2.0
$589.
No local vendors could beat it, nor could HP, Compaq, Micron, Gateway.

Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.


Marcio Watanabe wrote:
No, it can't as there is a big difference. Low cost open source
solutions are really low cost compared to Microsoft's. Lower cost
PC
makers are not much lower cost than Dell if any. In fact, when
Dell
has promotions, it's hard to buy a PC cheaper even if you build it
yourself, so you won't save any money by going to no-brand PC
makers.

Dunno about that, can save a few hundred bucks over Dell on desktop
specs like these:

P4
2.2 GHz
512MB RAM
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW
120G hard drive
64MB nVidia GeForce4
5 USB 2
3 firewire
S video, digital audio
Flash memory card readers
10/100 NIC
3.5" floppy
56K modem
18.1" LCD monitor

Interesting, I checked out the 4600 and came up with $1,917 for
equivalent system (pretty much per your specs below). Could be partly
because the Medion has DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drives.


"Patrick L. Parks" wrote:
Ok, I checked out a similar Dell and the Medion system from Costco. I will
admit that the Medion system from Costco is cheaper.

Here is what I did on a Dell and what I came up with
Dimension 4600 with 2.4Ghz with 533 FSB
512MB DDR PC2700 (single stick)
17 in UltraSharp Digital Flat Panel (Dell was not offering an 18)
64MB DDR Nvidia GeForce4MX with TV Out
120GB Ultra ATA/100 HD 7200RPM
3.5 floppy
XP Home Edition
10/100NIC
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
16X DVD ROM Drive
4x DVD+RW/+R drive with CDRW
MS Works Suite with Money 2003
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 Digital Card with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability
Altec Lansing ADA215 speakers

Dell grand total equipped as above $1554. Approx $250 more than Medion
system.


Here are the noticeable differences between the systems
The Medion is P4 @ 2.2Ghz with 400FSB. Dell is P4 @ 2.4Ghz with 533FSB.
(Dell better)
Both have 512MB PC2700 RAM, however Dell has Dual Channel DDR. Medion
has no free mem slots, Dell has 2 free (Dell better)
Medion is DVD-R and Dell is DVD+RW (you decide which you like)
Medion is 18LCD and Dell is 17LCD. (Medion is bigger, but Dell specs on
monitor likely better. The 17Dell is a Samsung and is very highly rated.
Specs not provided by Medion ( I think Dell is better)
Medion has onboard AC97 Sound card). Dell has Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Digital (Dell better)
Medion has 5 USB2.0 ports. Dell has 8 USB2.0 ports (Dell Better)
Medion has 0 serial ATA controllers. Dell has 2. (Dell better)
Medion has 3 firewire port. Dell has 0. (Medion better)
Medion has MediaCard readers. Dell has none. (Medion better)
Dell chassis nearly silent, not sure on Medion (not able to determine
who is better)
Medion has speakers built into monitor. Dell has external harmon kardon
speakrs (Dell better)
Medion--Haven't heard of them, but they are german equivalent of
e-machines. Dell--Been around a long time, strong business base,
tech-support likely around awhile (Dell Better).


I tried to be totally fair with my pics on who is better in each above
category. I am sure some may disagree, but all-in-all I think I was fair
and reasonable. The Medion does offer firewire and the media card reader
feature, but these can each be purchased for about $30 for the Dell. On the
other hand, the onboard sound, the lack of memory slots, the slower
processor and front side bus and the slower RAM might be a little more
difficult to deal with down the road (and certainly more expensive to change
out to meet the Dell specs).

Therefore, if it were money coming out of my pocket, I would pay the extra
$250 and get the Dell
--faster processor
--faster front-side-bus
--faster memory that can be expanded
--better spearkers
--very likely a far superior monitor.
--a potential for tech support a year down the road (even if it is bad)
--a guaranteed quiet case.

Just my $5.00 addition. Take it for whatever it is worth








"Steve" wrote in message
.. .
Marcio Watanabe wrote:
Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.


http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...ubid=3782 &hi
erid=3783&prdid=10031979&log=

Steve wrote:
Interesting, I checked out the 4600 and came up with $1,917 for
equivalent system (pretty much per your specs below). Could be partly
because the Medion has DVD-ROM and DVD-RW drives.

BTW, I used the cheapest available software bundle in the Dell specs.


"Patrick L. Parks" wrote:
Ok, I checked out a similar Dell and the Medion system from Costco. I will
admit that the Medion system from Costco is cheaper.

Here is what I did on a Dell and what I came up with
Dimension 4600 with 2.4Ghz with 533 FSB
512MB DDR PC2700 (single stick)
17 in UltraSharp Digital Flat Panel (Dell was not offering an 18)
64MB DDR Nvidia GeForce4MX with TV Out
120GB Ultra ATA/100 HD 7200RPM
3.5 floppy
XP Home Edition
10/100NIC
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
16X DVD ROM Drive
4x DVD+RW/+R drive with CDRW
MS Works Suite with Money 2003
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 Digital Card with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability
Altec Lansing ADA215 speakers

Dell grand total equipped as above $1554. Approx $250 more than Medion
system.


Here are the noticeable differences between the systems
The Medion is P4 @ 2.2Ghz with 400FSB. Dell is P4 @ 2.4Ghz with 533FSB.
(Dell better)
Both have 512MB PC2700 RAM, however Dell has Dual Channel DDR. Medion
has no free mem slots, Dell has 2 free (Dell better)
Medion is DVD-R and Dell is DVD+RW (you decide which you like)
Medion is 18LCD and Dell is 17LCD. (Medion is bigger, but Dell specs on
monitor likely better. The 17Dell is a Samsung and is very highly rated.
Specs not provided by Medion ( I think Dell is better)
Medion has onboard AC97 Sound card). Dell has Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Digital (Dell better)
Medion has 5 USB2.0 ports. Dell has 8 USB2.0 ports (Dell Better)
Medion has 0 serial ATA controllers. Dell has 2. (Dell better)
Medion has 3 firewire port. Dell has 0. (Medion better)
Medion has MediaCard readers. Dell has none. (Medion better)
Dell chassis nearly silent, not sure on Medion (not able to determine
who is better)
Medion has speakers built into monitor. Dell has external harmon kardon
speakrs (Dell better)
Medion--Haven't heard of them, but they are german equivalent of
e-machines. Dell--Been around a long time, strong business base,
tech-support likely around awhile (Dell Better).


I tried to be totally fair with my pics on who is better in each above
category. I am sure some may disagree, but all-in-all I think I was fair
and reasonable. The Medion does offer firewire and the media card reader
feature, but these can each be purchased for about $30 for the Dell. On the
other hand, the onboard sound, the lack of memory slots, the slower
processor and front side bus and the slower RAM might be a little more
difficult to deal with down the road (and certainly more expensive to change
out to meet the Dell specs).

Therefore, if it were money coming out of my pocket, I would pay the extra
$250 and get the Dell
--faster processor
--faster front-side-bus
--faster memory that can be expanded
--better spearkers
--very likely a far superior monitor.
--a potential for tech support a year down the road (even if it is bad)
--a guaranteed quiet case.

Just my $5.00 addition. Take it for whatever it is worth








"Steve" wrote in message
. ..
Marcio Watanabe wrote:
Can get pretty much those specs plus DVD, DVD-RW, 120G HD, memory
readers, modem, floppy, 18.1" LCD, for about $1200-1300 at Costco.
Equivalent is about $1700-1800 at Dell.

$600 or 30% cheaper than Dell? Sorry but I'll have to ask you to
prove that. I only believe it when I see it. I'm going to Costco in
1 hour anyway and I'll remember to check that.


http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...ubid=3782 &hi
erid=3783&prdid=10031979&log=

"Tom Scales" wrote:
Yeah, you're right, the Dell has both a faster processor and faster FSB.
And it's cheaper.

Yes, well, remind me not to have you shop for me.

"Steve" wrote...

OTOH, I've had Gateway desktops for 15 years, never needed support.
YMMV.

I bought my first Gateway in about 1990, IIRC (386-33). I've needed tech
support or maintenance service about 5 times since then. When they charged me
$75 to tell me to reformat the HD, that was the last straw. I still have one,
but it is my last.