crappy products

[weq92f]

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I've been using dell laptops forever...always the latest business model latitude each time I got a new one. This, until this last time where I went with a consumer level inspiron 16 2in1 laptop/tablet. It was a gift because the giver thought my solid Dell latitude e6540 was getting long in the tooth, so I went with it.

It's not out of warranty until June of this year (1 year warranty) but it's already proven to be a POS disposable appliance that isn't meant to last a single year.

o touchpad mouse is a joke it's so useless...in fact, it causes loss of data because it will just click on whatever it chooses while you move the mouse around or while the mouse pointer jumps around. This is a common problem with these machines. Dell will replace the mouse pad under warranty but problem just happens again.

o keyboard: certain keys stubbornly refuse to work occasionally requiring repeated hammering the key before it starts working again. Dell support would not touch this without being able to reliably reproduce it.

o complex 2in1 style hinges are glued to the display panel...glued. This glue is a common failure point often breaking the LCD or OLED panel when they come unglued. Not covered under warranty.

o The chassis of this machine is very bendy, flexy, stretchy feeling. There is no way the internal components can last long if it isn't handled with extreme care.

One of the hinges broke/came unglued and broke my LCD/OLED display panel rendering the touch-screen functionality useless (had to disable the touch-screen as the crack in the glass caused it to malfunction badly).

Dell support says hinges and any damage caused by them are not covered under warranty and referred me to the sales group to schedule $$repair$$.

I'm walking around today in Best Buy just curious to see and feel what they had to offer. The Samsungs seemed solid, as did asus and a couple others. They actually had the same dell as mine ( the junk one ) on display along with a few other dell machines and right there on their display counter was a dell with a broken/unglued hinge. See below...it's just screaming DON'T BUY ME.

I repaired my hinge with some careful disassembly, sand paper and epoxy but the broken screen is expensive...not really in the cards this time around unfortunately as I got real used to the touch screen functionality.

EDIT: Tried three different times to correct the sideways image. OMG. 1) used windows file explorer to "rotate left" then "rotate right" 2) used windows image viewer to save it in the right position and finally 3) tried another usually reliable method. None of these worked!!!

-klb

[truckster]

Most of my computers have been Army computers and they like Dell, but they tend not to have all the bells and whistles. I'm currently using a Windows Surface Pro, also issued by the Army. The image it shipped with is kind of wonky, but I like the functionality and the processing speed is pretty good.

[Rickysnickers]

Flipped

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Flipped

I don't know if it is my desktop PC, or my monitor but this picture looks exactly the same as the picture in the first post to me.... Sideways.

[Palf70Step]

I am not a fan of laptops, and even more i have never been happy with any dell products. I guess having to deal with all their proprietary crap all those years doing it for the government. I have had a lot of good results with HP products. Servers, desktops and laptops over the years. My 2 winders 11 machines are hp laptops. One thing i look at is always get at least an i5 processor, preferrrably i7 and at least 16 gig of ram.

[LS short box]

I've had good luck with a Lenovo laptop. It's the only brand our local computer shop guys will sell. I've had mine for 6 years with zero issues. Was about $600 six years ago.

[special-K]

x2 on Lenovo. My son has one so when I needed a laptop that's what I got. My complaint is why don't all laptops have the magnetic cord connector, like Apple. I had to replace my last laptop simply because the jack got broken in the computer. Thois second Lenovo has one with a right angle and is a bit better, but I had to have that replaced which inclued to entire top with keyboard, a $300 repair.

[toms68cst]

We were sick of replacing our crappy consumer-grade laptops every two to three years. We finally sprung for a Dell Latitude 5590 with win 10 Pro. It was the same laptop my company provided me as a workhorse laptop. It's been 3 years and no problems so far- except for a power cord which was a $15 fix.

Just seems like the professional grade laptops don't have all the useless gimmicks the consumer grade laptops do.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

I don't know if it is my desktop PC, or my monitor but this picture looks exactly the same as the picture in the first post to me.... Sideways.

Odd. Mine shows it to be correct orientation...... shrugs

[Micmac]

I’ve always used Mac products.My current laptop is a MacBook Pro I used in all my business and personal applications the last 8 years with NO issues other than needing a new power cord.

[MJN]

historically all we've had at work was HP laptops, in the last year or two IT began providing Dell laptops. From what I've heard from some of my coworkers the Dell laptops have been nothing but problems, battery issues, keyboard issues, docking station issues, etc etc. They're going back to HP's. I've had the same HP workstation laptop for at least five years now with no issues and great battery life yet. I just ordered a refurbished twin to my work laptop for personal/home use- HP ZBook 15 G6 and its been great. Had to go refurb, couldn't justify new price for one of those for home use.
Previously I had a HP Envy laptop for home/personal use and hated it. Mouse touchpad and keyboard were junk and the battery wouldn't last more than an hour. The screen and hinges were very flimsy too.

[sakustoms]

Works buys me a Macbook Pro 16" and I have no issues. Actually I'm about to get it replace with I guess the latest and greatest Macbook Pro 16". We get new laptops every 4 years here. I also have 2 monitors on my desk in my office. I take the laptop home every night but almost never use it. I rarely use the internet at home and if I do it's on my phone.

[weq92f]

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The Apple hardware is very well done I will agree...the OS is Linux based too...another plus, unfortunately for me, it's just not been something I've gotten into using.

Once I used an HP business laptop for a while on a side project. It felt solid but other HP consumer level laptops I've handled were definitely far less robust.

I had access to an MSI laptop for a while and found it a fantastic machine. Not quite as pricy as Apple but close and I'd say it had a similar build quality.

I think this my plastic inspiron with the broken screen and disabled touch screen was a 600 or 700 dollar machine. It's sad that for that money, the quality of the product is in the dirt.

-klb

[sakustoms]

Originally Posted by weq92f

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The Apple hardware is very well done I will agree...the OS is Linux based too...another plus, unfortunately for me, it's just not been something I've gotten into using.

Once I used an HP business laptop for a while on a side project. It felt solid but other HP consumer level laptops I've handled were definitely far less robust.

I had access to an MSI laptop for a while and found it a fantastic machine. Not quite as pricy as Apple but close and I'd say it had a similar build quality.

I think this my plastic inspiron with the broken screen and disabled touch screen was a 600 or 700 dollar machine. It's sad that for that money, the quality of the product is in the dirt.

-klb

I love my Macbook but honestly I would never buy one for the prices Apple wants. Luckily work pays for them.

i have a cheap HP stream laptop I bought from Amazon for $200. It has a 32g eMMC hard drive with 4g RAM. I only bought it to run HP Tuners and have yet to do that. It is an ok machine I guess for what I paid. Build quality seems ok.

[Stocker]

I admit to not knowing the first darn thing about computers. We have only owned desktops and currently have a Lenovo that we bought several years ago.
It seems to be a pretty good unit, no real problems other than operator error..... which I would have with any computer.

[CG]

Ive never owned a Dell but if you would have asked me I would have guessed they were a good product. Ive had HP and Acer with no real problems except abuse and age issues.

I recently purchased a MS Surface Laptop Studio and this thing is built like a tank. I think the case is all metal. It was pricey but I see they have dropped some, zero in stock though. My thoughts were maybe I can use this one till the (my) end. i7 32GB ram 1TB SSD GeForce RTX. Plus I have a couple of large external HD for extra storage.

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by MJN

historically all we've had at work was HP laptops, in the last year or two IT began providing Dell laptops. From what I've heard from some of my coworkers the Dell laptops have been nothing but problems, battery issues, keyboard issues, docking station issues, etc etc. They're going back to HP's. I've had the same HP workstation laptop for at least five years now with no issues and great battery life yet. I just ordered a refurbished twin to my work laptop for personal/home use- HP ZBook 15 G6 and its been great. Had to go refurb, couldn't justify new price for one of those for home use.
Previously I had a HP Envy laptop for home/personal use and hated it. Mouse touchpad and keyboard were junk and the battery wouldn't last more than an hour. The screen and hinges were very flimsy too.

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Dang that ZBook 15 G6 is a beast! Oh...and out of my price range.

-klb

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I used only Dell desktop for many years. First one lasted 5 years, the next 6-7. And then I went through two refurbished, and two new Dell over a 5 year span, junk. So I bought a Lenovo almost a year ago. So far so good.

[leegreen]

I do IT for a moderate size enterprise, 37 year in the industry now.
I've bought literally thousands of computers, many brands but predominantly Dell the last 20+ years. Optiplex desktops are solid, most last us 6+ years but get re-installed during that time. XPS is probably a better deal for consumers (and what I have at home, current one is at least 6 years old).

Desktop longevity has a lot to do with the software load and how functional it remains over time. A lot of useable hardware gets replaced when the OS & installed software becomes problematic and the effort plus uncertainty of a re-install exceeds the effort of buying new.

Laptop longevity has the same software issues plus a lot of wear and tear, do this long enough and you can predict how long a laptop will last based on who you give it to. A cheap laptop that works for your elderly relative to read email may not serve as well for someone that drags a laptop from place to place every day and relies on it all day. Of those power users some will trash a laptop in 2 years yet the same model lasts another user 4 years.

If you want to get a feel for the quality of a laptop you are considering, look at the relative cost of the 3 year extended warranty offered by the manufacturer: 10% of purchase price indicates they expect the hardware to be reliable. 25% of purchase price indicates they expect more trouble.

The low end consumer stuff is all junk, does not matter the brand. It can be useful junk and economical, but set your expectations lower. The $250 laptop 'deal' loss leader by the big box store might only last you a year and still be a good deal financially (but not for the environment).

HP? yuck but we all have our unreasonable prejudices. A Chevy vs Ford thing.
Apple? Its fine but they only sell mid-high end stuff and price accordingly.

[D.B]

I really like my Lenovo laptop. The company I work for uses Lenovo laptops and we have a fantastic IT department which uses Impact to fix any issues. I also have a Dell laptop for backup work at the house which I have had for approx 10 years. It works and has no issues. Main reason I like my Lenovo is due to our IT department. Any issues or questions and they will respond within minutes of notification.

[FleetsidePaul]

I dislike Hanes underwear. It starts out good but always ends up all crappy and stinky.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

I dislike Hanes underwear. It starts out good but always ends up all crappy and stinky.

The secret is, you have to wash them once in a while. At least once a year....

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

The secret is, you have to wash them once in a while. At least once a year....

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Too bad we don't have instant refresh/repair machines for laptops...They get crappy and start to stink, just toss them into the refresher (washing machine).

-klb

[Dead Parrot]

Dell laptops have worked well for me. First was a Vostro business model back when XP was still the current Windows install. Bought it because one of the sales pitches was "No Crapware". After a few years, swapped the spinning HD with a SSD. Still have the thing. The original battery still works.
Second was a XPS13 purchased from the Dell Outlet store with the aid of a 30% coupon. It was less then half the price of a new one. It is now about 6 or so years old.

Agree with the idea of avoiding the cheap 'consumer grade' bargain models of any brand. They are low cost for reasons that often show up a short time after purchase.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

The secret is, you have to wash them once in a while. At least once a year....

Wash them?