You'll get a much quicker response using the on-line chat feature. Of course, if your only computer is inoperative, this isn't really a viable option

I find the split between the Dell camp and IBM/Lenovo camp quite amusing. My employer standardised on Dell globally (~80k employees) for laptops and desktops. Some executives, including the CEO, have Thinkpads. The IT group uses only Sun and HP for servers.

My D610 is horrible. Parts failing, falling off, keyboard has died multiple times, and now the pointer is dying. The D600 had a design flaw in the cooling system as well.

My [personal] Thinkpad has been more or less bullet proof, and I thoroughly enjoy and recommend IBM's products. I've been working on a customer site that uses only IBM (7000+ Thinkpads/Thinkcenters, 2000+ IBM servers). Their failure rate compared to our failure rate is quite interesting to compare.... Dell is much worse, and almost all our Dells had the explodey-battery-syndrome, with a much smaller set of their IBMs having it.

It has been my observation over the years that those who have purchased their computer from the Dell Outlet have been sorry. Those who have purchased a 'New' machine from Dell have not had near the amount of problems. Word of advise, do not buy something that has already been identified with a problem. The problems never goes away...

I've had a different experience.

One of my client's supplied us with thinkpads and IBM desktops several years ago, as their software was only IBM compatible. The thinkpads had a higher failure rate for us than any of our other computers. Like I have said, in my opinion, Sony makes the best laptops.

I also recently switched the marketing and design department from PC's to Macs (you can imagine they were thrilled with that... server issues had prevented me from doing it before). Truly, I think for personal use, those macs are just so easy to use. Its too bad that business software works best n PCs.

My company is a Dell shop... for now; switching to Lenovo Thinkpads at the next refresh. The last Stinkpad that I had was a POS, so I'm not enthused. My current Dell had a power supply problem around 1-year old, and the mousepad and mouse is junk. I think I have to live with this one for two more years, then maybe the Thinkpads will be better...

I want my Toshiba back!

Not a whole lot of experience, but I have liked my 5 year old home Vaio very much.

I have been a customer, supplier and competed against IBM. In every case, I came to hate them with all my heart and soul. As mad as I am at Dell, they will never achieve top of the list of companies I hate.

well, they usually ship sooner than the estimated date.

After a half hour waiting on the phone to talk to someone, that's what I was told. No specific early ship date was promised and today was the day I expected to receive it based on my misunderstanding when I placed the order.

I still hate Dell.

While this particular situation is unfortunate, me, I shudder when people start talking about buying something OTHER than Dell. From a software and support angle I've found (as an IT managment type) that Dell is far and beyond the least headache to own.

I personally have owned Dells for the past six years as my primary personal machines and cannot be happier.

Steve

India outsourcing at Dell for sure. My contact guy was "Abishek". Usually it doesn't take as long as they say. I ordered a Dell on Thursday and it was already shipped in 3-4 days. it arrived a few days before it was due to.

I just met this guy who is in the legal department of a big IT sales company. They seel complete systems and networks. It has happened that they have been told to buy Dell computers for some company.

Here's the kicker. If you open your Dell and take it apart you have killed your warranty. This is REGARDLESS if you have called Dell technical support and they HAVE TOLD YOU to open it and you have followed their instructions. It does not matter. The warranty is dead and you can't claim against it.

/E

The toshiba I had gave me skin rash on my face. As soon as I got rid of it my skin stopped flaking and itching.

/E

Umm... do you see what's wrong here? Some of us would give a company grief for 2 hard drive, keyboard, video card, heatsink/fan assembly, and palm rest/bezel failures in only 5 years.

Through two Toshibas in the last 5 years (that I beat the crap out of), I've had ZERO components fail and never filed a warranty claim. I did have one screen hinge break (but remain functional) after a 4 foot drop onto a tile floor.

Even if I'm lucky and you're unlucky, that's a pretty stark contrast in failure rate. I don't care how fast these things get repaired-- not breaking in the first place is the most important thing.

If what you're saying that their web support is best for finding updated drivers for any given platform, even older platforms, etc, I agree. They are way better than most other "manufacturers" in that respect.

-David

Uh, to be fair, the keyboard and video card was due to "Pepsi Syndrome." Dell didn't ask, and I didn't tell.

The hard drives in question were Hitachis, among the mosty highly regarded 2.5" drives. One failed, I'm sure, because I used it regularly on the Downeaster, the train that runs between POR and BON. It's probably the roughest stretch of railroad track in the country, and the Downeaster's suspension sucks. Dell was still the vendor, however, but I'm reluctant to place the blame squarely in their lap (although I accepted the warranty replacement without qualms). The fact that they replaced the drives with higher capacity models was a nice bonus, given that I was considering replacing them anyway.

The heatsink/fan and 2nd hard drive were most likely a result of a design flaw in the Dell 5150 (there's currently a class action suit concerning premature failures of this laptop due to heat). For 2 years, though, other than than feeling somewhat warm to the touch, I really had no problems with it. With the new heatsink/fan assembly, it never gets past lukewarm.

Finally, the cracked bezel was a minor cosmetic issue; the cracks were tiny, and one needed to examine the laptop closely to see them. I only had it replaced because the Dell CSR asked me if there were any blemishes or scratches on the case that could be eliminated with replacement trim. I took him up on the offer.

Your laptops may have operated flawlessly for some time . . . mine had (very) brief periods of downtime, but when they were back up again, they were better than what I'd bought in the first place.

I guess I'm unconvinced that you got the better deal. I've heard less than flattering stories about Toshiba's customer service; had you actually experienced a problem, my guess is that you wouldn't be expressing such a high regard for them.