PC hardware forum: Need an alternative to Dell for our small business

But I can't tell with it's new owners.

However the costs were higher.

-> Today's problems are worse with more pests. Dell and others seem ill equipped to handle such. In fact, I think it proper that they are not conversant about pest issues. That's something for the anti-pest companies to handle.

You don't see a generalist for your heart condition.

Bob

As a built my own system person with only AMD CPUs and using only top of the line memory, I was very impressed with this companys product line. I also liked all the OS options available.

If I was going to start a company building my own I would go the same direction they did.

My only negative is that their website isn't the greatest.

Buy the way any major company will likely not give you the kind of info you need to make a wise purchase. This is because they use whatever hardware they can get the cheapest and are hiding the fact that they do.

This is why the first thing they ask for is the Serial Number and not the model number. They have to look it up before they know what you have on your system.

The reason all the major PC companies have tech support that is going down hill is that with hardware changes happening all the time, they can't keep up with it. They have to give canned answers coming from a database.

20 gateways instead?

as for laptops-hp/compaq are okay. but ibm the best.

servers- since its small-business, you could get any server, so whichever is cheap and dependable.

Being in a larg corporation that heavily uses DELL I would only have to think they must have sent the support overseas with the home users for small companies. We have always had incredible service and continue to do so on a daily basis. So If you are going to a different route hardware wise I would have to agree with a few people on Monarch Computers. As far as laptops go Toshiba Tecra, Sony VIAO but reimage the machie to get the crud SONY loads on the off it. So make sure you have a corp License for the reimage. Servers IBM still makes a good server BOX as does HP. Even tiger direct has a few really good clone servers. Another thought on PC's is if you are doing high end graphics work Alienware makes a hell of a machine. It really depends on your budget and what your company is doing for me to give you the best answers. The guy that said IBM laptops are the best is out of his mind. I have worked for 10 companies over the last 30 years and have had nothing but crappy luck with the Support and the quality of the machines that IBM/LENOVA builds. The Hard drives were constantly dying and over various problems with the machines not surviving X-ray machines at airports etc....

Hi,

I spent about 5 years of my life devoted exclusively to Apple Mac and Unix internal software development for a small company back in mid-80's. The Apple development was just fun and exciting and new. The Unix was, too, but just not as "cool" as Apple.

Now, for the past 6 years I've been doing Java/Web development for my small business using Dell systems. I've even recommended Dell systems to my clients. While some of their support has gone down the tubes, I find that I'm able to cut through most of their support-people and get the needed answer, software, or warranty fix - usually at low or no-cost to me.

Apple for your business? You may have a solution there. Sure, they're a bit "exclusive" and a bit "overpriced" but in most studies that I've seen and from my own personal experience, "using" Apple day-in and day-out was always a pleasure. Just my $0.02

Good luck!

Rob
rob@baseclasstech.com

I guess it boils down to what you and your employees are most comfortable with. Whatever you discide make sure they are BUSINESS class machines. Unfortunately the odds are when you buy this many computers; chances are that you will have problems with at least one. It would be a good idea to factor in the local tech and make sure he/she is available in case of emergency. After all you have a business to run and mailing a computer to Canada because the local tech doesn't have the parts/and or knowledge is not an option. Remember power surges happen!! Someone WILL spill coffee on a keyboard, knock over a monitor or forget that magnets are bad.

For phone support I have had few issues with Dell as long I call before 4:00, after that you might as well troubleshoot the problem yourself. If you call Apple support you actually do get someone in the states and I have received consistently good service. Apple is expensive, but you get what you pay for and I have never had any issues with them. HP support has been a mixed bag so far they are 1 for 4, one good agent, 2 ok ones and one bad.

Lastly, I would look into online support options. A good company will have a detailed description of common problems with easy to follow solutions. Just get your most inexperienced employee to find online support. If they can find it you have a good web site which should help you discide on a company.

point and that of the others that limit the subject to hardware.

The main problems nowadays are viri, spyware, malware, etc, none of which fit the concept of support by any of the hardware vendors.

The offshore support is usually terrible, but not much that one can do about it.

The one recco for Monarch Computers is excellent IF you get the problem down to a hardware issue.

You need a sharp IT guy, or one that comes to forums such as this to solve their malware problems.

Got a lot of good people here for that, AND they work for nothing but Thank You's.

I'm a build it yourselfer, but my last laptop was a Gateway. Not exactly something I could open up and troubleshoot w/out some help. My calls to Gateway were answered in less than 5 mins (they told me they try to keep the hold time under 7 miins), they spoke fluent English, and didn't treat me like an idiot- I have to say being somewhat familiar with computers made it easier on them, but they stayed on the line long enough to troubleshoot everything, in my case, screen flicker. Turns out it was a bad battery, which was promptly replaced since it was still under warranty- I suspected this when I troubleshot the problem myself and the flicker went away when I took the battery out; still, they did everything to make sure it was in fact the battery. I have to say I was quite impressed with their service.

My new laptop is a Compaq- a company I never would have recommended before their merger with HP. Had to call them once; wait time about 20 mins. Service was friendly and thorough. My brother in law has an HP desktop, and he said their tech support was excellent. Both HP and Compaq provide tech support via "live chat" also. I tested it once just for the heck of it; I think I was talking to a bot, and arrived at the solution before whatever was on the other end. When I told the tech the solution, the response was "wow", lol. So, via my personal experience, I'd say Gateway or Compaq/HP. I bought the Compaq laptop cuz there were only 2 companies at the time that had 64 bit chips; Acer and Compaq. I'm not sorry I bought the Compaq, and the only reason I don't use the Gateway laptop anymore is because my daughter spilled soup into it, which isn't covered by my extended warranty. Good luck in your search.

As a former network admin., I had a fairly new Dell server that kept telling me it needed it's battery charged. After going through the charging process several times with no success, I opened the server up to see if the battery was even connected. There was NO battery.

So, I called Dell and explained the problem. They didn't believe me and treated me like I was an idiot. Finally, after allowing them to "walk me through" how to find the battery three times, they decided I was right.

Now the dilemna - they couldn't ship me a new battery because I had no "bad" battery to exchange (company policy, don't you know?!). Their solution? First they shipped me a bad battery, then when the new battery came, I had to ship back the bad one.....

I bought one OCmpaq and swore it would be my last. Bought an HP Pavilion in May and another 2 weeks ago. As with any brand, you can get a bad customer support person; I got one such in July (didn't understand HP warranty on a refurb. scanner) and another last Saturday (spoke but didn't understand English), but if the problem is severe, they step you up to senior support personnel who have been 100% in mye experience. Also, if you go to the business side of HP, there are monitors and so forth that you don't see on the consumer side.

In passing, I have 2 HP PCs, 2 digital cameras, 1 scanner and 3 printers, and if I had to buy again tomorrow I would call HP 1st.

Try not to buy from companies that outsource to other countries. The American people need to stand up and be heard.

Hi Printnmail,
Was following your question with interest and have a suggestion for you. I am not a proponent of doing advertising for anyone but a company called pugetsystems has an excellent reputation. In fact, they are in the process of building me a new system now.
They have certain workstations already configured but you can customize them any way you want. You can also build (not literally) a system from the ground up to your specifications.
In dealing with them, I have been more than satisfied. Check out the reviews for them to get an idea of what others are thinking and check out the site for yourself at:
www.pugetsystems.com.
You may find what you are looking for...
Have a good day.
drbooth

Printnmail,
I have received my new computer from PugetSystems and must tell you that I am impressed. They not only built it with the hardware/software I wanted, but also included all disks/docs/extra hardware, etc.. that were used to build this system.
I am reasonably sure that you have already pursured the avenue you wanted to go concerning your problem, but thought I would add on this comment to inform someone that might be interested. Again, I am not in the habit of advertising for anyone but like I stated...I am impressed with this system.
drb

I've used Dell, HP, and Gateway for a while now, but a great alternative is the old Micron PC company, now named MPC and can be found at http://www.buympc.com

During the 2005 Christmas holidays we mistakenly purchased two laptops for gifts thinking we'd get the same high quality customer service from Dell as always. That is when the nightmare began and has not yet ended. We are still waiting on credit for one of the computers that was inoperable and was returned. They have had it in "custody" for well over 30 days. We have documented about 25 hours of phone time with this pitiful excuse for a company. We have faxes, email trails, letters etc. We have exhausted every avenue they have. We have used the http://www.planetfeedback.com route (that did result in a returned phone call). It is to the point that we are going to write the BBB in Texas, the Texas Attorney General and whatever else it takes to make them stop using our credit to finance their miserable company.

We replaced the returned Dell with an HP. When we buy the next computer this year it will also be an HP. I cannot give Dell a thumbs up on anything. Our experience with Dell is extraordinarily negative. I hope others will spare themselves the nightmare we are going through.

H2E