Thinking of a Dell Inspiron 9400 via dell.ca. Has anyone had good/bad experiences? Quality, support, bloatware?

Essentially I want this for some college courses in the IT field as well as general use. Thinking of the Core 2 Duo processor, 2gb RAM, all the rest so it will be reasonably future-proof. Seems expensive until I think what I paid for my 12.5 mhz Dell AT around 1991.

I like the ability to customize the configuration unlike other companies.

Would appreciate any advice on Dell laptops.

just do like I do with every single Dell Computer that I've ever bought before., usually I just taken out of the box and start uninstalling software. After about six or seven reboots and uninstalling 10 or 12 programs you can usually get down to a pretty virgin installation

That, and nonsense like proprietary BIOS and hardware, is why I haven't bought a name brand PC in years, my last 3 or so have been no-name from a reputable local supplier. Excellent vendor support on upgrades and no bloatware. They also don't force me to buy a new Operating System every time I buy a system, when I already have a perfectly good one.

the problem I have with the local vendors is that they are usually 20 to 30% higher than I can buy them from Dell.

It sounds like you have a nice PC setup. The only thing I don't like about the Inspiron 9400 is it doesn't have the pointing stick in the keyboard. I have a Latitude D820 that I love, with a Centrino Duo.

As far as the Bloatware, I just always get the XP CD when I order, as soon as it gets out of the box the XP cd goes in and I reformat the drive and install XP, no bloatware at all, and I get the most updated drivers.

This is my 5th Dell laptop, and by far the best one I have had. Be sure to get the best screen possible.

Brian

when I ordered my Dell PC it usually comes with a disk but I thought that if you put the disk in it reinstalled all of the spamware and bloatware again

If you just put in the Dell Genuine Windows XP re-installation CD (green CD with XP Pro SP2), you will miss the bloatware. I download all the drivers from Dell's website and save them to a USB key. You might get some bloatware if you install items from Dell's programs and drivers disk after you do XP. Keep in mind if you do this, you will potentially have to re-install any additional software that you really need like MS office or extra CD burning software, etc.

The disadvantage as mentioned is that with any branded computer or laptop that you will have to likely deal with proprietary software, hardware, etc. Obviously, that means you have to deal with the manufacturer for your upgrades, updates, etc.

Aside from that, my old Inspiron 8100 works fine. I wasn't terrribly happy with tech support the few times I called them because they (at the time, not sure if it's still like that), outsourced it to some place in India and I had a major problem understanding what they're saying with their heavy East Indian accent.

Thanks for your your comments. I hear you on the outsourced tech support, but my main concern is that tech support from the majors tends to be, in my experience, someone who reads from script and once your problem goes beyond those parameters, is completely unable to help you. Aside from getting an RMA, most of what you get from tech support is available on a FAQ somewhere.

Is Inspiron considered a home user line, SOHO, business line, or what?

Most of my Dell tech support has been hardware problems, and I have to say I am pretty satisfied with them. I have never called Dell for software support, so I have no idea how good or bad they might be with it.

I got a Dell D620 a couple of months ago. Since it came from their business line of products there was no extraneous crap (AOL, etc.) installed on it. I've been quite pleased. A friend recently ordered one of the consumer-oriented laptops and I spent quite a while cleaning it of all sorts of stuff. AOL, Earthlink, Trial copies of stuff, etc. Blech!

i have had constant problems with the bluetooth and even got a replacement chip. Still no go! Will probably go with an HP next time.

This is probably the most predictable post ever, but, since you mentioned you want to use this for training in the IT field, I cant resist...

Have you considered an Intel Mac? The reason I mention this is that you get 3 platforms in one this way, including OS X, Unix, and Windows. You could also put some flavor of Linux on it, and there's X11 (I know nothing about it though).

Windows IT guys are a dime a dozen, but if you have knowledge of other platforms in addition to Windows, you will be far more marketable -- plus you'll have a significantly richer knowledge base.

As an independent software consultant, my fianc� keeps a lab with an assortment of machines. This allows him to keep up his knowledge on all of these platforms and also allows him to troubleshoot issues on his own systems instead of his clients'. He works with IBM products, and the assortment in his lab happens to be more extensive than what IBM keeps on-site. All of this makes him more marketable to the client. They often have legacy systems of many sizes, shapes and colors. When others might say, "I don't know anything about that," he can say, "yes, I'm familiar with it. In fact, I have one in my lab." That really impresses them. Similarly, if you're asked about your experience with Unix in an interview, you can say that, in addition to your various Microsoft certifications, your primary machine runs BSD (Unix), and you are quite familiar with it.

Anyway, just something to consider.

Not sure & in fact I wonder, if anyone else has had this experience with Dells. But I�m on my third Dell now, have it for about 2 � years & just like it�s predecessors after the same time frame it�s starting to act up.

It gets hung, freezes, has become very slow when dealing with multiple tasks, has given me the blue screen once or twice, requiring a shut down & reboot.

When I start it up, the HD lights keeps flicking away for ages, preventing me from opening a program. In fact sometimes I need to force it to shutdown & reboot, in order to get anything started.

I�ve noticed this sort of behaviour on my past Dells, always after about 2 years or so. In the past I used always just give up & buy a new one. But this time I�m wondering is there something written into the code, so that the computer degrades over time, prompting the user to buy a new model, thereby keeping Dell�s sales up.

Or am I just being way too cynical here ??

There�s a mate of mine who says he�d never buy a Dell, for just that reason & is promoting HP. But the cynic in me, makes me think that all manufacturers are the same. If their products were really robust & lasted for ages, well then they�d eventually see a sharp decline in sales.

I have an Apple Performa, which I got in 1996, is very old & creaky, which I use it for a Claris Draw, a really nifty wee CAD package, that I�ve never managed to find a replacement for. But that old soldier still boots up today the same as it did when new, has never hung or caused any problems whatsoever.

But yet all my new Dells have lasted only 2 or 2 � years !!!!

Food for thought I think �������.

Are you doing an OS reinstall when you notice these problems? Machines don't degrade, but the OS most certainly will. If you use your machine daily it's almost something you need to do every 4-6 months.