HP Vs Dell Questions ?

[Robert11]

Hello,

Will be getting a new home Desktop PC in the near future.
Typical home usage; nothing fancy.

Willing to go up to about $ 1,200

Have read many, many, rants and opinions on how poor Dell is these days re
quality, and also their service.

Frankly, pretty much the same kind of thing for HP.

I have never had an HP computer,.

I realize that since this is an HP Forum, all you folks probably went

thru the same kind of analysis (and agony) in trying to decide what

to purchase, and have decided on a HP system.

I would be most appreciative if you could tell me the main factors that decided you on HP ?

Performance is not the main criteria for me.

Reliability is.

I'm in my 70's now, and really don't want to have to play around with problems.

I just want it to work. I am hoping that there will be no major problems for the next 5 years

or so, if this is realistic.

So,

How is HP reliability on their Desktops these days ?

Any major differences between the different desktop series ?

How about their Service ?  Responsive, etc. ?

Of course, I realize that it is probably only the folks who have had real
problems that write these "will never buy again from..." posts. 

Folks that are thrilled and satisfied generally don't bother. 

So, impossible to know what percentage of
purchasers actually are (very) unhappy.

Comparing price for what they give you is a bit hard, as no two systems are
exactly the same.  It seems like HP possibly offers a bit more for the $.

But, I have to buy something.

Is there any general consensus of HP vs Dell quality (and service) ?

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

B.

[old_geekster]

Robert, I am a senior myself, 64 yoa.  So, I understand what you are saying.  I have owned two HP computers.  They have been great.  I have been helping on this forum since 2002.  So, I have helped a lot of people.  The ones who have the most problems are those who keep tweaking their computers or want to upgrade.  If you buy a computer and use it as it comes from the factory, with updates, I doubt that you will have any problems.  I have helped two family members buy HP computers in the last year, a laptop and a desktop.  They have been very pleased with the purchases.

Personally, I would buy HP.  The main reason? --- this forum.  We can help you solve your problems before they happen.  Come here and ask before making changes.  Also, don't automatically accept updates from HP Update.  They have been known to cause problems.  Read all of the data very carefully.  Again, ask if you aren't certain what to do.

For $1200 dollars, you can buy a barn-burner of a HP computer.  I suggest that you find the models that you like and give them to us so we can help you with the purchase.  If we know what you want to do with it, we can assure you don't spend money unnecessarily.  (HP may not like that, but you will be happier.  Word of mouth is the best salesperson.)  We are all volunteers on the forum.  Our only ties to HP is the fact that we own HP computers.  So, we have no dog in the fight, so to speak.   We'll be glad to help you.

Here is a link to HP Stores:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/desktops;HHOJSID=JjCMKK9bgThRQlr2rZLPSkQ1qZnsM4rZGhgWPVYvTfG4ntDDTymD!-262521591?jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/desktops

Unless you are a gamer, the section titled "Everyday Computing", under the heading "Desktops & All-In-One Computers, in the upper left hand corner, will be a good place to begin.

Check out the models and let us know if we can help you.

Message Edited by old_geekster on 10-05-2009 08:51 PM

[Robert11]

Hi,

Thanks so much for reply, and all the good info.

Really appreciate it.

Will keep you appraised how my search for "knowledge" on this goes.

Will undoubtedly wait until Nov. when Windows7 will be out.

Sure don't want to go thru upgrading from Vista to it.

Best regards, and thanks again,

Bob

[old_geekster]

Bob, you are welcome.  Glad to help.  I agree with your concerns about upgrading form Vista to Win 7.  This can be a nightmare.

[cmar6]

Hi HP Experts:

 I was all set to get my 4th Dell, when I read on the WSJ about Dell's delivery problems. I have a couple of questions about HP desktops.

  1) reliability of hardward?

  2) When hardware goes bad,  how has service been?

  3) I assume that delivery on new systems is pretty good vs. Dell. Any recommendation for an HP system for me to look at instead of the Dell system below I was considering?

  Dell Studio XPS 8000

 Intel Core i7-860 processor(8MB Cache, 2.80GHz)

8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz-4x2GB
nVidia GeForce GTS240 1024MB GDDR3
Serial ATA II RAID 1 With Dual 640GB Hard Drives
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (BD-ROM; DVD/CD Burner) and DVD+/-RW
Roxio 10.3, Easy CD & DVD
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Dell Network Card 1525
Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition 950-7447
4 Year Limited Warranty

                                             Thanks, CMa

[titewadd]

Can anyone recommend to me what computer/features to buy? I'd like a desktop workstations to be paried with an Eizo monitor. Windows 7, Outlook and Office 2007, but the main usage will be photo editing using Photoshop Cs4, and other image manipulation files. Gaming not expected, but fast read, write and editing action on 25+ MB RAW images which can generate files up to 300MB or larger during editing.

Want rapid response time. How much Ram do I need? What processor do you recommend, and what video card. I will have a high end monitor and want speed so I suspect I need a high-end video card but nothing about them. Can you help with model and features specs that might be good for $2500 to $3000K or less if I can get good performance? I'm leaning toward a business model for the 3 year warranty and tech support...

Thanks! 

[trouttard]

DON'T BUY AN HP COMPUTER...  They are charging me to fix a problem they admit is there fault...  My Pav. fan stopped working properly and fried my WIFI, the recall expired Nov. 2009 so now they are charging me to fix their problem...  HORRIBLE SERVICE THANKS HP...

PS my monitor stopped working last week, it's just black... 

[shameless]

if i had it do over again, i'd go with a lesser know company, they don't have the issues that hp or dell has, like puget systems. costs more, but you get more! do some googling til you find what you want/need.

[titewadd]

Thanks for your advice. I did more searching and found Puget Systems near Seattle. They help you spec out what you need, custom build it, thoroughly test it, execute burn-in cycles, and ship it to you very well packaged. Their customer service team is very capable and responsive. This is absolutely the way to go if you're buying something more than off the shelf at Best Buy.

[Robin-RN]

I'd still have to reccommend checking out HP, for several reasons.

After having had Compaq computers for approximately 15 years, I was talked into a Dell Laptop because of a company discount I receive.  At first, it looked like a good decision.  When I had committed my self into the Dell Purchase, l realized that the model my discount had made look amazingly cheep was not the final price I would pay.  To get all the neat features the display computers have (whether in the showroom or online), you have to make lots of modifications.  It was like computer ala carte.   My wonderfully inexpensive computer ended up costing more than I just paid for an HP special --3 computers (a mini, a laptop, and a desktop).  The HP (without extra warranties)  was around $1200.  And all 3 computers had enough software to at least get us started.  The Dell laptop with cost more (and didn't have bluetooth, or a video camera, and lots more) was purchased only 3 years ago. 

From my experience (which includes a lot of disappointed colleagues who also purchased Dells), they (Dell) sink a lot of money into advertisement that attempts to show how user friendly a company they are and what a bargain their computers are -- because of everthing each base model includes, couldn't be farther from the truth.  After making this purchase and then going out and trying to price out the same deal we got from HP (and my husband and I went to several types of outlets and also online), we found that we couldn't even purchase a smaller laptop with comparable features and come close to the price that we paid for 3 great computers.

I don't want to forget to mention that the darn thing crashed 4  times (and I didn't even have anything to do with it).  Each time it was related to either Dell tuneup software that had corrupted files or software they reccommended that wasn't the best choice for my model.  Somehow, they always found exceptions to my warranties!  I actually found that I spent less taking my laptop to a reputable repair person in my area that trying to use my warranties.  Our repairman tried collecting on repaires he judged as warranty work and even he couldn't get them to agree on even the smallest amount!

Starting all over with a new computer is always a hassle -  even if you've had the same brand for years, because there are always upgrades in software, new processors and operating systems that have to be learned all over.  For me, it turned out to be very ironic that HP bought out Compaq.  I can't deny that this fact did make the HP choice even a bit more appealing and I wasn't disappointed at all.  Sure, every new piece of equipment has it's start up gliches, but there is a big difference in the quality of all three computers.  Even my husband, whose not big into computers, noticed the difference.  I can honestly say that I will never go back to Dell.  It will be HP here on out.