# Dell



## Punk

Hey, I'm having a discussion with a friend about Dell, their way of making money etc. Like the fact that you can only put Dell things inside...


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## voyagerfan99

Please explain with "The fact you can only put Dell things inside...."


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## Troncoso

voyagerfan99 said:


> Please explain with "The fact you can only put Dell things inside...."



Agreed. I can fit any compatible Memory or Hard drive in my Alienware.
Their way of making money is putting out products with all these warranties and protection plans and then not honoring them.

What better way to make money then to say "Hey, I'll protect you", get handed money, then when someone punches that person in the face you say "sorry, can't help". It's like free money.


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## voyagerfan99

Troncoso said:


> What better way to make money then to say "Hey, I'll protect you", get handed money, then when someone punches that person in the face you say "sorry, can't help". It's like free money.



I think you're confusing Dell with HP. I've never had an issue with Dell warranty service.


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## Troncoso

voyagerfan99 said:


> I think you're confusing Dell with HP. I've never had an issue with Dell warranty service.



Well, I've never had an issue with HP or their customer service/warranties. I suppose each experience is different.

But, with Dell, I would call and call, and they would keep saying they'll "process the request" and after 2 months of no results, I contacted the BBB, and suddenly I have a technician at my door less than a week later.


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## Punk

Dell computers are customed to the point that if you want to upgrade your system you need to buy Dell parts.


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## Troncoso

Punk said:


> Dell computers are customed to the point that if you want to upgrade your system you need to buy Dell parts.



That's not true. Like I said before, you can get third party memory or hard drives as long as they are the proper specifications.

Besides those, you can't really upgrade anything else. You can only replace them if they get faulty. Every motherboard manufacturer isn't going to make their own version of the same motherboard for a single laptop. There is no business there, so only the laptop manufacturer will have them available.


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## FuryRosewood

What are you guys talking about... I stuffed a hitachi harddrive and a chaintech 8600GT years back into a Inspiron desktop...you guys are getting on your soapbox, stop it. Years Later i put windows 7 on that machine when something managed to corrupt both the OS and bios, locking it up, and it WORKED FINE.


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## voyagerfan99

FuryRosewood said:


> What are you guys talking about... I stuffed a hitachi harddrive and a chaintech 8600GT years back into a Inspiron desktop...you guys are getting on your soapbox, stop it. Years Later i put windows 7 on that machine when something managed to corrupt both the OS and bios, locking it up, and it WORKED FINE.



^This

Just because it's a Dell doesn't mean you can't put whatever hardware you want (With the exception of processors) into it.


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## FuryRosewood

Which would go for any motherboard...its all about cpu support...


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## Troncoso

FuryRosewood said:


> What are you guys talking about... I stuffed a hitachi harddrive and a chaintech 8600GT years back into a Inspiron desktop...you guys are getting on your soapbox, stop it. Years Later i put windows 7 on that machine when something managed to corrupt both the OS and bios, locking it up, and it WORKED FINE.



.....guys? Only one person made that claim...

Edit: Love that the person that "didn't care" cared enough to vote.


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## Punk

My mistake then, must have changed...


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## voyagerfan99

Dell was like that maybe about 18 years ago (as well as other manufacturers) but that hasn't been the case for quite some time (Last 10 years maybe)


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## pwlljakob

I HATE dells, i have had 5 before and they all died within 3 months of owning them

dontbuydell.exe kills them slowly


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## Geoff

Dell does use proprietary components for motherboards, power supplies, cooling, etc.


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## voyagerfan99

FORDSVTPARTS said:


> I HATE dells, i have had 5 before and they all died within 3 months of owning them
> 
> dontbuydell.exe kills them slowly



And what were they? Inspiron's and Dimension's? Latitude, Precision, and OptiPlex are the way to go with Dell.


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## TrainTrackHack

I bought a Dell laptop (Studio 17) and I'm satisfied with it overall, it's even got two hard drive bays (I was like yay when I found out) but for some reason Dell uses some kind of special, proprietary SATA adapter so I can't actually throw in an extra drive (I was like SCREW YOU when I found out), which is a real shame because I really wanted to have 2 HDDs so I could have both Windows and Linux not interfering with each other. I don't care about that so much any more but right now I want to get a small SSD for cheap but obviously I'd need a HD for storage to go with it... but I can't.


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## wolfeking

hackapelite said:


> I bought a Dell laptop (Studio 17) and I'm satisfied with it overall, it's even got two hard drive bays (I was like yay when I found out) but for some reason Dell uses some kind of special, proprietary SATA adapter so I can't actually throw in an extra drive (I was like SCREW YOU when I found out), which is a real shame because I really wanted to have 2 HDDs so I could have both Windows and Linux not interfering with each other. I don't care about that so much any more but right now I want to get a small SSD for cheap but obviously I'd need a HD for storage to go with it... but I can't.


I think that varies from line to line. I am on a Latitude D630 (in need of a CPU upgrade), and it is strait SATA, no adapter needed. 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Studio...ultDomain_0&hash=item256a861271#ht_500wt_1361 this is what you need. I think it goes SATA on the HDD end and the other end to the motherboard.


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## Perkomate

dell rocks hardcore. Never had a problem with them. Their Optiplex series of PCs is killer. Same with the Inspiron laptops.


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## voyagerfan99

hackapelite said:


> I bought a Dell laptop (Studio 17) and I'm satisfied with it overall, it's even got two hard drive bays (I was like yay when I found out) but for some reason Dell uses some kind of special, proprietary SATA adapter so I can't actually throw in an extra drive (I was like SCREW YOU when I found out), which is a real shame because I really wanted to have 2 HDDs so I could have both Windows and Linux not interfering with each other. I don't care about that so much any more but right now I want to get a small SSD for cheap but obviously I'd need a HD for storage to go with it... but I can't.



That's what eBay is for: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Studio...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item4aace0b022

The caddy itself though is ridiculously priced.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2nd-Hard-dr...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item2ea5eb44cb



wolfeking said:


> I think that varies from line to line. I am on a Latitude D630 (in need of a CPU upgrade), and it is strait SATA, no adapter needed.
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Studio...ultDomain_0&hash=item256a861271#ht_500wt_1361 this is what you need. I think it goes SATA on the HDD end and the other end to the motherboard.



Yeah D630 drives just pop right in. It's easier for IT specialists not having to deal with adapters and caddys.


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## wolfeking

This whole laptop is a IT dream. everything is easy to get to, and for the most part no surprises. 

Next project: bluetooth adapter.


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## voyagerfan99

Much better than those NC and NX series HP puts out. You have to rip those whole things apart just to replace a wireless card.


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## Troncoso

hackapelite said:


> I bought a Dell laptop (Studio 17) and I'm satisfied with it overall, it's even got two hard drive bays (I was like yay when I found out) but for some reason Dell uses some kind of special, proprietary SATA adapter so I can't actually throw in an extra drive (I was like SCREW YOU when I found out), which is a real shame because I really wanted to have 2 HDDs so I could have both Windows and Linux not interfering with each other. I don't care about that so much any more but right now I want to get a small SSD for cheap but obviously I'd need a HD for storage to go with it... but I can't.



Hmmm. That's strange. Both the cage and the adapter are there for the second hard drive bay.


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## pwlljakob

voyagerfan99 said:


> And what were they? Inspiron's and Dimension's? Latitude, Precision, and OptiPlex are the way to go with Dell.



1 Inspiron
2 Dimension's
1 OptiPlex GX260
1 Poweredge 400SC


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## BOB$$$

*PC system failures*

I have had Systemmax's, Dell's & Acers with time-bomb-like failures that take effect after 3 years or so if you fail to subscribe to their maintenance service.

The Systemax had a corrupt sound service routine, the Acer Extensa had a corrupt wireless routine, and the Dell Inspiron has a corrupt BIOS that won't allow a Dos Boot.

The Dell gave out a message that the hard drive had failed but it works fine on my network in an EZ-Dock.

Does this sound familiar to anyone ?


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## NyxCharon

Hate them. Never a good experience with one. I've had to fix way to many to ever consider buying one.


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## spynoodle

I'm personally of the opinion that as far as cheap computers go, Dell is one of the better brands. I have a Dell Latitude D410, which is about 6 years old. I had to replace the hard drive last year, but in terms of build quality, it's still a nice laptop. I wouldn't say that Dell is one of the best brands, but I wouldn't say that they're one of the worst either.


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## voyagerfan99

spynoodle said:


> I'm personally of the opinion that as far as cheap computers go, Dell is one of the better brands. I have a Dell Latitude D410, which is about 6 years old. I had to replace the hard drive last year, but in terms of build quality, it's still a nice laptop. I wouldn't say that Dell is one of the best brands, but I wouldn't say that they're one of the worst either.



Commercial grades are. I accidentally dropped a refurb D531 off the shelf (it slipped off) and it fell a good 5ft smack onto the floor. Not a single ding on it.


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## spynoodle

voyagerfan99 said:


> Commercial grades are. I accidentally dropped a refurb D531 off the shelf (it slipped off) and it fell a good 5ft smack onto the floor. Not a single ding on it.


That's one thing that I've always felt safe about with my D410. Seeing that "strikezone" thing thing under the hard drive makes me feel a little less worried about my slippery fingers.


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## wolfeking

my D630 has that. What does it do?


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## voyagerfan99

wolfeking said:


> my D630 has that. What does it do?



From the Dell site:


> With Dell's Strike Zone hard drive protection system, your data can be safe from the bumps and bangs that come from the rigors of travel. The Strike Zone shock absorber helps prevent damage to your hard drive and your essential business data, so you can hit the road with confidence.


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## wolfeking

ok. So it's like a padded room for the hard drive, basically.


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## strollin

At home we have 2 yr old and 5 yr old Dell Dimension desktops that have never given us any problem.  We also have 4 yr old and 3 yr old Inspiron laptops that have likewise never had any problems.  At work, I have a 1 yr old Dell Latitude laptop that is also trouble free.  Can't say I have any complaints with the Dell products I've used.


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