okay I know they sucked way back in 97 and so forth for adding anythign even a new harddrive because the way they had them all set up.. but now from the outside at least they seem a little better..

and they are so cheap for everyting monitor and all any other tekie nerds nkow much about the newer compaqs?? I usually build my own systems os I don't keep up with dell, compaq, gateway etc..

 

to the best of my knowledge they still suck for the very same reason...propriatory parts and configurations.

 

My girlfriend bought a new Compaq about a year ago. They have improved in quality just slightly - otherwise it has been a tremendous piece of junk. I've owned and built many many computers and here is my take on the different brands:

Alienware: awesome, worth every penny. This is one brand where you know what parts they are using consistently and that they are using high quality parts. Top notch performers.

Dell: pretty good. what few problems I've had with my parents were handily addressed by the service reps - Dell even paid to have the PC shipped back and forth for the one time that we could not fix it. performance is very solid and build quality is very good.

Hewlett-Packard: good. my current workhorse. overall good and solid construction, decent performance. i had to redo the operating system and OEM software twice within the first two weeks but after that it was smooth sailing. upgrading is a breeze, and OEM parts are of good quality. never once had a hardware problem.

Gateway: mediocre / crap. I work on my friend's and my brother's Gateways all the time. Poor build quality all over the place, shoddy OEM parts, lack of consistency on vendors. Example - motherboards not seated properly or at all from factory, shipped without video card, "whatever part is cheapest" mentality (Maxtor hard drives one week, next week Brand X hard drives). Never the same computer twice and always having problems. Compatibility issues. Comparably slower to other brands. Overrated.

Compaq: Crap. Fussy compatibility with anything non-Compaq. Aggravating internal construction making upgrades more of a hassle than needed. Cheap OEM parts at best, cost cutting is number 1. Lousy monitors and video cards. Rampant hardware failure. Operating system never seems to work as it should. Slower than similarly equipped competitors.

Sony: Overpriced, overrated. Nothing particularly wrong with them, nothing to love about them either - especially not the price.

IBM: Yes they are now out of the personal computer market, but for the record I must say that the last few IBMs I owned were remarkably sturdy and dependable machines. A true shame they were forced out.

Apple: Highly underappreciated. Excellent hardware and build quality, regardless of price. Performance is consistent and overall excellent. Its just a damn shame they aren't the dominant OS.

 

(at least you didnt say Packard Bell .... )


You taken the words right out of my mouth


I used to own a apple - I had a "68040" 66 mhz machine and that thing impressed me ! I had it back when apple had it's "own" internet provider "E-World" . I had that apple for 5 years... and I sold it back in '98.... It didnt have a harddrive, floppy drive, the case was in very bad condition, and it sold for $350.... the resale value on apples were incredible....

For the Compaqs, I had one back in '97, it was a 200mhz...I wanted to add a couple of things but I couldnt ... the mother board was propriatory.... They improved over the years .... Its now a little easier to add an extra component ....


Earl

 

I've always been a big advocate of Dell, they seem to me to be the best mainstream PC manufacturer. The prices aren't THE cheapest, but you get what you pay for. Dell's service and support seriously kicks ***, especially for the size of the company.

I've had mixed feelings with Gateway. I've known too many people that had nothing but problems with their gateway machines, but I have known a few people with no problems at all. One situation was a friend's family bought a Gateway, they weren't very computer literate. Anyways, they bought a USB scanner for the computer from walmart or whatever, and they couldn't get it to work. So they called gateway support up, and the support techs told them it doesn't work because it's not a gateway product. First of all, that's total bullshit because USB is USB, it SHOULD work on anything that supports USB 1.1. Even if not, how queer is that you could only buy products from the manufacturer in the PC world? Ahhhh... Gateway will never get my money.

One of the best things you can do is establish a good relationship with a local pc builder. I build my own PCs and bought my parts through the company that my job buys their equipment from. I got a little bit of a discount (which really isn't that important to me), but the owner of the place is probably one of the nicest guys around. When I assembled all my parts my mobo went dead, so I took it back and in two days I had a brand new motherboard, working perfectly. A few weeks later I was worried about my processor running too hot, so he gave me a new heatsink for free, in return for my old one. That's defiantely the right way to do business, I was really impressed.

 

There's absolutely NO REASON to do something stupid like buy a Compaq Seriously...they are garbage. Dell computers are incredibly cheap right now....how does a P4 2.4ghz with 15" LCD for $599 sound?!?! Check out www.bensbargains.net or www.fatwallet.com for the latest Dell deals. Any computer you get is going to have problems (i.e. Microsoft!!!), but I think Dell's are among the more reliable. Personally, I have a Dell laptop that I've abused in many different ways, and its performed beautifully.

 

I didn't mention Packard Bell (packard hell ) as they are kaput, gone, DOA. I did own a Packard Bell 486 way back and I can agree that those computers were wretched pieces of garbage. I opened it up and found that EVERYTHING was SOLDERED hard to the motherboard! You couldn't have upgraded that thing if you had even wanted to. Every part in that thing was third rate (mis matched ram too - how cool is that.)

 

What Nuke said. They still suck. Build your own....it's much better and it's all custom pick parts.

 

Well I've got one sitting here on my living room floor, pentium 4 1.8. I'm so glad it's not mine!!!! I'm setting it up for one of my customers. My company goes exclusively with Dell, we work with them to set up our software to work well with their computers. I love working on dells they are very upgrade and user friendly. I took one look inside this compaq and just started laughing. They still suck, 2 isa slots and no memory slots. The freeking case is like a full tower the mo board is a micro one. What a piece of crap. Hopefully it wont give me too much of a fit when I have to set it up. Their laptops seem nice, but you can't really upgrade a laptop hardly anyway.

 

I will now always stick with building my own. Although i do now own a ipaq. School made me buy it. wanted a laptop but noooo they wouldnt go for that. so now im stuck with this pda. but now that i have upgraded it with 256mb SD ram its working much better. plus running a avaya wireless pc card. thanks prairie inet for the card...lol. ahhh the perks for working for a wireless isp. soon i will have internet for IA and IL.

 

I agree with the compaq compatability stuff, it was nearly impossible to find RAM that was compatible with my old one. Currently I have a *gasp* E-Machines. Lots of features (DVD, CDRW, 80GB, 1.8 AMD athlon XP) for the price ($600) and so far, no issues. I haven't heard of any problems with them yet either. So far so good anyway.

 

I bought a compaq laptop.. reasons being that all laptops are proprietary.. they had the lightest model with all the features I wanted.. and they had one of the best wireless solutions available for under a grand..

However.. I wouldn't recommend them for desktops.. Dell all the way.. some people will recommend building your own.. and "back in the day" I would too..

But if you can get a good sales person on the phone.. or go through a company that buys a lot of dells.. you can pretty much order whatever you want.. and building the system yourself, you can't compete with dells buying power..

Also, at christmas, dell usually has some sweet "stock" type systems at great prices if one of the packages fits your needs..
Not to mention how simple and easy driver management is on a "brand name" machine..

 

Are you thinking of buying a machine Bryce?

If you want to buy a tier 1 machine, buy a Dell. No question. Where I work we buy over 300 machines a year, so I evaluate several different vendors every year. Dell has impressed me the most.

I build my own machines and price isn't my number one factor in my descsion. I want to hand pick each piece that goes into it. Obviously this is going to cost more, and you are going to have to deal with OEM warranties on all the parts. And if I run into problems I don't have a 1-800 number handy.

My big problem with tier 1 manufactures is that you are limited in what you can get in them. #1 you are stuck with a 'house brand' of motherboard. So if you are into seriously tweaking your system (ie Overclocking) you are out of luck. Often your choice of video card if going to be limited as well. And since the trend is onboard everything (sound and nic) you have your hands tied there as well. Sure most manufacturers allow you to disable all the onboard stuff, and add any other components you want. But you will be paying for it anyway. And in my experience if it has something onboard, you are better off using it.

Also the cases that (IBM, Dell, Compaq) use suck ***. Very clever designs, but sacrific things like cooling and expandability for asthetics (look at the i-lamp) and acoustics.

If you are a tweaker/gamer, spec your own machine through a system builder. If you aren't that into games and messing with your machine buy a Dell.

Do you have a family member who goes to the UofA? Students and staff get wicked deals. Let me know.

There ya go.

Jay

 

The motherboard part I'll agree with.. there is 0 flexibility on that.. however.. the slowest component in your computer is your hard drive.. overclocking won't help that much.. I personally prefer to go with an "alright" motherboard.. ie dell.. and put the extra money into ram (better caching, and less hard drive accesses), or faster hard drives.. I feel it's a larger gain for the buck..

Onboard video cards come on the lower end machines and most of the business machines.. I believe most (if not all) of the mid to high range dells come with seperate video cards..

And I forgot.. living in canada.. going with a big company could save you a lot of dough as well..

The main reason I bought a 'brand name' with my last desktop a few years ago.. was I wanted a 22 inch monitor.. they weren't available here yet.. I looked at ordering from the US, but after the exchange rate, customs, and shipping a 70+ pound monitor.. it ended up being a LOT cheaper to go with a brand name company from the US with offices in canada..

Really.. the key is to decide on your budget.. if the budget is small.. go with a dell christmas package.. if the budget is unlimited and you want the best system possible.. move to the US or Japan and buy it from there.. because we truely get hosed on electronics (availability, exchange rate, shipping, customs..)

 

I went over to alienware.com and OMG!! Those computers make me drool..... I've always wanted a decked out system and I think I've finally found it! The price isn't too bad either if there is a finance program. Without it then I say forget it! But they're drawing me to them with their powers....