Dell vs Toshiba

[Mark Snowdon]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

I have to say that everyone that I know personally who has bought dell over the last 18months has had problems with the kit or the service.

it may be a minute proportion of their sales - but its a big proportion of the people I know.

The last laptop I bough t from dell had a cracked case on delivery that took 2 weeks to sort (sort of - they replaced part of the case - but it was never right the case gapped open at the hinge), had the cd fail, that took ages to get the muppet on tech sup to accept it was broken. I know of many cases of HD failure.

[RobAnt]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

hummm - my experience of Dell kit (laptop or no) has always been fairly good. I must have seen and installed 60 or so of them, and yes one or two have had problems, but on the whole they tend to be very well designed especially.

[Tongariro]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

I use DELL and have always found them really reliable. Technical support lines are hopeless, but when you do get through they have always replaced or fixed the problem.

Having said that, send me the spec you want and I will quote either Tosh or Compaq if you like.

[eek]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

Nowadays Dells are as reliable as anyone else and have larger screen resolutions than virtually anyone else, but they do seem to weigh more than others.

Depending on your price range I have to admit to liking the high resolutions Omnibooks and Evo N600s. Depends on how much you want to pay and how long until you plan to replace it tho (I usually find a laptop only lasts me 18 months or so).

[sayuk]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

I've got a Compaq EVO N600, and love it! No problems in over 6 months, and it is quick and light. It's not as spec'd up as many others, but the expansion is there if you want it. Personally I have no use for Bluetooth, WiFi, blah blah blah. I just use a laptop on the other end of a crossover cable and that's it. Works fine.

The Dells seem to be a bit chunkier than others, and definitely feel heavier. They are NOT built very well, and seem to be very flimsy. Especially the lid. I've used a Latitude C600, and it was dreadful, along with crap drivers for Sound and Power Management. I won't be buying one anytime soon, unless I hear they have completely revamped their range. The reason they are doing so well is cos they are CHEAP. Nothing more.

[Karl1]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

Having lost the hard drive on the laptop last week I cannot recommend Dell any more. The software is pre installed and the recovery disks for windows are pants.

BTY the hard drive was a fujitsu.

Draw your own conclusion but Dell wanted £275 +VAT for a replacement drive that I managed to get elsewhere for 69.99.

[ghopson]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

Got a Dell Latitude - lots of problems over the last 12 months, including battery not charging, screen dimming, screen pulsing every second, noisy harddrive. I have given up on it and have sent it back. I found Toshibas in the past to be heavy, but I guess they have gotten more lightweight since.

I also have an Apple Titanium Powerbook for the last 15 months, and have not had a single problem with it (running MacOSX). This is now my primary laptop, and I wouldn't use anything else now. No good for win32 development, but that's not me. But if you are doing Java, the Powerbook is another option.

You only get a one button mouse tho :-)

[Budgie]

Re: Dell vs Toshiba or (Fujitsu Siemens?)

Bought a Tosh Satellite 214 a few months ago based on the good review it got in PCPRO - and I'm very pleased with it, especially in the graphics and multimedia abilities..

[JoeTheCarioca]

Re: Dell v Toshiba..

I have owned nothing but IBM Thinkpads since 1994. I have had no problems and good support when needed.

On the other hand, I am seriously considering an Apple Ti-Book. I do graphics and am favorably impressed with the company. In the USA, a consumer website considers Apple as a good computer company; most of the others, including Dell, have bad ratings for service.

You may also check that Register.co.uk story about how Microsoft may barge onto your system unwelcome and unannounced and install updates to your OS. I oppose this.

You can always get Virtual PC from Connectix if you have to do 'Windoze'.

[Sysman]

Apple iBook

If you do, seriously consider going with OS 9 rather than OS X.

I bought an iBook because I wanted to avoid MS' intrusive policies, but I am less than impressed with the reliability of OS X. Put it this way - I don't trust my data to be safe until I have pushed it onto a different (non-Mac) system.