Red_Liner740 said:
good luck when something breaks down on that Dell.
One word, Proprietary components.
Oh Power Supply blew? Wanna replace it? Sorry, DELL PS only, no third party will interface with it. Price? oh about 3 times a third party performance PS would cost you.
Motherboards done? Sorry, DELL ONLY! The tower/motherboards combo will only mate with each other...and again, u dont wanna know what the cost of replacement is.
basically what i call "system killers" The Motherboard/Power supply etc etc are proprietary, so if for whatever reason they fail, the cost of replacements would cost so much it would be better to yank out the video card (if it isnt built in), hard drives etc etc and start from scratch.
That's true. They do use proprietary components, and on those rare occasions when they fail, they usually do so within the warranty period. But speaking as someone who has built hundreds of computers from components, I can tell you that you're
ten times more likely to have trouble with a privately assembled system, than with a Dell or HP proprietary computer that has had extensive cross compatibility testing between all components, hours of burn in testing, and thousands of other computers
*built with the exact same limited set of proprietary components* so the manufacturer can identify and find a solution for any serious problems while it's in the warranty period.
If it does have hardware problems, they are likely to show up in the first year, while the warranty is still valid, and during that time the manufacturer has to take responsibility for the whole thing. When there's a situation where the motherboard manufacturer claims it's the video card's fault, and the video card manufacturer claims it's the motherboard's fault, it doesn't matter because Dell has to take responsibility for dealing with it.
If it fails in the first year, repair is free. If it fails after three years, you're probably not gonna buy the proprietary Dell-brand power supply anyway, because by then it will make more sense to buy a new, far more powerful, computer than to repair the old one.
Just so it's perfectly clear: I am not a huge Dell fan. They're OK, but I like HP a lot better than I like Dell. I like Dell better than Gateway or a lot of the other PC manufacturers, but HP makes better computers. You pay a little more for them, of course, but there comes a point where you just want the damn thing to work fast and reliably. HP knows how to do that, so it's worth paying them a few extra bucks. Most of us have better things to do with our time than troubleshoot hardware problems.
.. sorry.. ) a fresh install of windows will run cooler as it's got less overhead, a system that has been running for months/yeas with patches, extra software, anti-virus, systray stuff, all take their toll and a machine that is barely running will crap itself once loaded up a bit.. 
