"Caveat Emptor" -- Which PC manufacturer can we trust to honour their product range?

[J85K]

I am in a quandary!

I have over the past few years been supporting products from the HP group of companies. The Hewlett Packard name was well respected in the past and as a result, I was comfortable in purchasing HP. Three of my machines have in my opinion, died prematurely; and indications are that they are related to manufacturers' design defects in some of the hardware components.

I have NOT found HP to be particularly forthcoming, and my comments were referred to a "Customer's Escalation Team". This was to prove to be little more than a corporate "SHOVE-OFF"!!!

I am advised that the 'Dell' attitude is just about the same.

I would appreciate some comments on current manufacturers that are likely to honour their products. I need to replace two laptops and possibly a desktop / all-in-one machine.

Any particular opinion on the 'ASUS' brand?

[KF7ORO]

I like Asus stuff. I've had a couple of their laptops. They seem to use more "standard" parts inside unlike HP and Dell. I think that's a plus because I like running Linux and there's a better chance of getting everything working. For laptops, it's hard to beat Lenovo. Fujitsu is another brand with a good reputation you might consider.

We use a lot of HP and Dell stuff at work though and haven't really noticed any serious problems.

[AF6LJ]

Dell is actually reasonably good, but you must stay away from the cheap stuff.

My former roommate was given an Asus laptop the all aluminum one for a birthday present from her husband and she loves it.

[KA7O]

I've found HP and Dell both to be strong on customer support - so long as you are within the warranty period and abide their terms.

At work, we've seen an occasional hard drive crap out and more than a few power supplies. Each and every time, they've shipped new parts - no problem.

On the consumer side, sadly, the cost and margins have been driven so low, there's no real reason to go above and beyond the obligatory minimums.

[WA9SVD]

I've found HP and Dell both to be strong on customer support - so long as you are within the warranty period and abide their terms.

At work, we've seen an occasional hard drive crap out and more than a few power supplies. Each and every time, they've shipped new parts - no problem.

On the consumer side, sadly, the cost and margins have been driven so low, there's no real reason to go above and beyond the obligatory minimums.

Many of the H-P, Dell, Gateway, Compaq and other "big name" computers use "integrated" motherboards to save $, but that results in video and audio all on the MoBo. If one function fails, there's often little or no way to return the system to function. (Obviously, MOST, if not all functions have to be contained on the MoBo of a laptop.)
A custom made desktop will often outperform the name brands, even if a bit more pricey. I've had friends with e-Machine and H-P, Gateway and Dell, experience catastrophic failure after only 2-3 years. (I inherited a high-end Lenovo desktop because The GEEK Squids and F**'s couldn't diagnose a memory module failure that scrambled the Windows Vista bootup. The owner was told the system was toast. $30 of memory and the box was up and running with Win 7 Pro.)
I still have an AMD K6-2 box that still functions fine (Win 98) that I keep for the e-mail backup it has, and for some scanning software that doesn't work with XP. I built THAT machine in 1998.

As for laptops, IBM THinkPads have always seemed pretty "bullet-proof." Lenovo was building the machines for IBM well before it was spun off from IBM. I'd seriously consider Lenovo for the laptop requirements; Toshiba seems to make pretty reliable laptops as well.

[AB2T]

Dunno. Main computer here is now a used six year old Dell Pentium D tower. I run xubuntu, so I don't require the latest processor.

Dell desktops are excellent, but I've found that for some reason I've snapped through three Dell laptop keyboards in the space of five years. All incidences happened within warranty, but it's turned me off to Dell for that product. Interestingly, the only laptop I've had that's lasted more than two years is an ancient Toshiba Celeron (2003) which I use to check email and do some light web browsing. Given my luck with laptops, I only buy used now.

Dell's warranty service is very good. They'll stand behind the product, even if the product isn't always the most sturdy. This might be handy if you're buying a number of computers for a business and are willing to trade up right after the warranty's up.

73, Jordan

[J85K]

Thanks for your all of your inputs.

I note that two individuals have had pleasant experiences with ASUS, I find that company does NOT respond to 'Live Chat' initiations. That will be a no-no if I have a problem.
Lenovo however did respond promptly, but do NOT offer any Windows Ultimate equipped machines and only a couple with Windows Professional OS.

I read between the lines that the 'business' line of laptops are more likely to survive failure, but are not as feature rich as desktop replacement machines, as are the 'home/home office' product line.

I'll check the Toshiba line tomorrow.

A Google search on survival rates indicates an average life span rate of two to four years, which was quite a surprise. It negates against buying at the top end of the price spectrum. I probably got three years out of my HP DV7 laptop. I did enjoy using it, but it cost me $500.00 a year for the privilege.

Thanks and 73,

K

[WA9SVD]

Thanks for your all of your inputs.

I note that two individuals have had pleasant experiences with ASUS, I find that company does NOT respond to 'Live Chat' initiations. That will be a no-no if I have a problem.
Lenovo however did respond promptly, but do NOT offer any Windows Ultimate equipped machines and only a couple with Windows Professional OS.

I read between the lines that the 'business' line of laptops are more likely to survive failure, but are not as feature rich as desktop replacement machines, as are the 'home/home office' product line.

I'll check the Toshiba line tomorrow.

A Google search on survival rates indicates an average life span rate of two to four years, which was quite a surprise. It negates against buying at the top end of the price spectrum. I probably got three years out of my HP DV7 laptop. I did enjoy using it, but it cost me $500.00 a year for the privilege.

Thanks and 73,

K

Is there a reason you need Windows "Ultimate" version and Windows "Pro" won't do? You can often specify an"upgrade" from most manufacturers.

[K6ABZ]

If you're using this for business, I'd suggest getting computers that have extended support agreements available, then upgrading your computers every 3-4 years when the agreements expire.

[NN5AA]

Have an 8-year-old Compag laptop, 7-year-old Dell laptop, a 3-year-old Toshiba Satellite & a brand new Toshiba Satellite. The 2 oldsters run with Win XP Pro, dualboot with Scientific Linux on the Dell, Win 7 Pro-64 on the 2 Satellites.


Only issue has been with a dvd drive on the older Toshiba failing just after warranty expired. Purchased an outboard unit for $ 30, all are still fully functional and cosmetically clean. If I had to pick one of those brands, I would go with the Toshiba. 17" screen and on-board numeric keypad were key buying points, everything really works well and I get about 6 hours of battery life when running off the grid.