Best pre-built PC manufacturer?

[notfred]

My father sent me an email saying he wants to buy a new PC, and would like my recommendation. I don't want to be his support for the thing, so I'm going to suggest that he buy something pre-built from someone with a warranty and tech support and all that.

Who makes the best PCs in this market? Dell makes inexpensive stuff, but it never seems to be all that well-built, and their support blows. I'm far more concerned with quality and reliability than I am with speed. He's upgrading from something like a 700mhz Celeron, so pretty much anything new will be a huge performance boost.

Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Someone else?

 

[Slugbait]

This "market"? Like, the average person's dad? Dell. Besides, they brought much of their support back on shore earlier this year, so perhaps their support has improved as of late.

My mom just had a nightmare with HP last month, she sent it back. Sony does bling, and they charge for it, too...but I don't really trust them much any more. AFAIK, IBM got out of the PC business a couple of years ago, but they still make some decent road-warrior machines.

Otherwise...

Alienware is owned by Dell, but is still basically the same ol' Alienware. Falcon Northwest is also pretty good.

 

[notfred]

Yeah, by "market" I guess I meant "pre-assembled PCs for non-gamers".

 

[Operandi]

Puget Custom Computers

 

[Larcher]

Maingear has some of the best tech support and build quality in the market. If you are willing to pay a little more I would say Maingear is the right choice.

 

[thuganomics]

Alienware computers are mainly for gaming, but i dont know about their support.
(Gaming comps = fast comps)

 

[alpha88]

Maingear is good, if you value support. The guy that builds your computer handles your tech support.

 

[fzkl]

Mac mini perhaps?

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Dell, HP or eMachines--whichever has the best deal. I wouldn't trust anything else.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou
Dell, HP or eMachines--whichever has the best deal. I wouldn't trust anything else.

Hah, "trust" and "eMachines" in the same sentence.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Hah, "trust" and "eMachines" in the same sentence.

Sure, why not?

 

[fightcancer]

I'm surprised so many recommend name-brand crap. For example, Dell's lifetime customer satisfaction rating is 4.37 out of 10!
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Dell

HP is rated 4.12.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Hewlett_Packard

These companies build overpriced junk, and they're profitable for one reason: advertising.

If you want to ask a few thousand people at the same time which prebuilt PC to buy, head on over ResellerRatings.com and look through the companies. Such a search will lead you to companies like NewEgg.com with ratings like 9.7. On that site you'll find bargains like this which has a 5 out of 5 rating from 85% of the buyers.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102669

I'm sure you can find better deals, but you get the point.

BTW, my gf bought a Dell a couple years ago. We call it the "ghetto laptop". It's a constant headache. If you have some time, go to RR.com and read the horror stories people post about Dell and HP. Pretty funny.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: Operandi

Hah, "trust" and "eMachines" in the same sentence.

Sure, why not?

Because eMachines are junk, thats why.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: Operandi

Hah, "trust" and "eMachines" in the same sentence.

Sure, why not?

Because eMachines are junk, thats why.

last 3 I opened up had MSI mobos in them ..

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: Operandi

Hah, "trust" and "eMachines" in the same sentence.

Sure, why not?

Because eMachines are junk, thats why.

last 3 I opened up had MSI mobos in them ..

MSI...rofl...hahaaaa

 

[zainali]

does he want a desktop?

get a iMac and install windows on it. i would recommend at least the 20 inch and maybe even the 24 inch. amazon.com should be the cheapest.

will be perfect for your dad.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Because eMachines are junk, thats why.

eMachines seems to have gotten a bad reputation early on, but since a 2004 buyout they're just the budget line of Gateway computers (I think). Gateway may not offer the best customer support, but I'm sure it's better than some mom-and-pop whitebox vendor. And eMachines deals are often too good to pass up, if you need a pre-built machine.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: fightcancer
I'm surprised so many recommend name-brand crap. For example, Dell's lifetime customer satisfaction rating is 4.37 out of 10!
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Dell

HP is rated 4.12.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Hewlett_Packard

These companies build overpriced junk, and they're profitable for one reason: advertising.

If you want to ask a few thousand people at the same time which prebuilt PC to buy, head on over ResellerRatings.com and look through the companies. Such a search will lead you to companies like NewEgg.com with ratings like 9.7. On that site you'll find bargains like this which has a 5 out of 5 rating from 85% of the buyers.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102669

I'm sure you can find better deals, but you get the point.

BTW, my gf bought a Dell a couple years ago. We call it the "ghetto laptop". It's a constant headache. If you have some time, go to RR.com and read the horror stories people post about Dell and HP. Pretty funny.

I don't think it's fair to compare Dell and HP to Newegg on sites like resellerratings; they're vastly different types of companies.

People love to hate the big guys. I'm sure there are lots of Dell horror stories, simply because home computers are headache-inducing products. But they've got the incredible economic advantage of scale, and I don't think smaller vendors like ABS can keep up with their prices or customer support.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Slugbait
This "market"? Like, the average person's dad? Dell. Besides, they brought much of their support back on shore earlier this year, so perhaps their support has improved as of late.

My mom just had a nightmare with HP last month, she sent it back. Sony does bling, and they charge for it, too...but I don't really trust them much any more. AFAIK, IBM got out of the PC business a couple of years ago, but they still make some decent road-warrior machines.

Otherwise...

Alienware is owned by Dell, but is still basically the same ol' Alienware. Falcon Northwest is also pretty good.

Dell brought some support back to the US for larger business customers, not consumers. And Lenovo bought IBM's PC business, so you can still buy their desktop PC's and ThinkPads and still under the IBM branding, and with US support for all customers.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: zainali
does he want a desktop?

get a iMac and install windows on it. i would recommend at least the 20 inch and maybe even the 24 inch. amazon.com should be the cheapest.

will be perfect for your dad.

I still don't understand the buy and MAC and buy a copy of windows mentality. Why buy over priced hardware to run windows on it?

 

[bamacre]

http://www.delloutlet.com

THE best way to buy a prebuilt, hands down. I'd look at an XPS 410, or an E521 if he's on a budget. If he's willing to pay a premium for ultra quality, the Precision 390 is top-notch, comes with standard 3yr warranty and xp pro.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
last 3 I opened up had MSI mobos in them ..

Aside from them being extremely low-end the only real problem I've encountered with them is their use of boarder line generic PSUs.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon
last 3 I opened up had MSI mobos in them ..

Aside from them being extremely low-end the only real problem I've encountered with them is their use of boarder line generic PSUs.

that I'll agree to

 

[fightcancer]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: fightcancer
I'm surprised so many recommend name-brand crap. For example, Dell's lifetime customer satisfaction rating is 4.37 out of 10!
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Dell

HP is rated 4.12.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Hewlett_Packard

These companies build overpriced junk, and they're profitable for one reason: advertising.

If you want to ask a few thousand people at the same time which prebuilt PC to buy, head on over ResellerRatings.com and look through the companies. Such a search will lead you to companies like NewEgg.com with ratings like 9.7. On that site you'll find bargains like this which has a 5 out of 5 rating from 85% of the buyers.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102669

I'm sure you can find better deals, but you get the point.

BTW, my gf bought a Dell a couple years ago. We call it the "ghetto laptop". It's a constant headache. If you have some time, go to RR.com and read the horror stories people post about Dell and HP. Pretty funny.

I don't think it's fair to compare Dell and HP to Newegg on sites like resellerratings; they're vastly different types of companies.

People love to hate the big guys. I'm sure there are lots of Dell horror stories, simply because home computers are headache-inducing products. But they've got the incredible economic advantage of scale, and I don't think smaller vendors like ABS can keep up with their prices or customer support.

Sure there's a trade off. So I think we're more or less in agreement.

The point is, if you want to see what a massive headache your Dell/eMachine/HP/Compaq/etc. will be, check out ResellerRatings.com. Then compare prices.

 

[Oyeve]

HP business models are reliable. Not their consumer crap.