Dell is very backward in relation to quality. They buy cheap stuff, bundle it and then burn in the entire unit.. burn-in is from the '70's, quality has gone miles ahead of burn-in since then... companies like that always are money makers and they always sell cheap stuff that fails...
Dell is the "YUGO" of the personal pc market. Dell and Wal-Mart cater to a certain class of customers. I mean surely you all have seen local TV weathermen and anchors wearing suits from JC PENNY (sic), but Wally i imagine does not sell suits period. Surely Wally sells T-shirts with the sides cut off so rednecks can show the flab along with some NASCAR numbers tattooed all over their bod. Personally i have NOT watched local TV stations or local newspapers in over 20 years, outdated local fluff about murders and some fire. Did i mention Wally sells Dell's? :eek:
as a casual consumer... I noticed my dells seem to work well and more quickly than the equivalent computer from other companies. I like the idea they were the opposite of customized. The custom jobs or small company computers seem to have too many conflicts 7 or more years ago.
The point being most guys who do a custom build will pay attention to every component in the system because they force you to make a decision. Whether it be the power supply, the heatsink, the mobo, etc, etc.
computer manufactures go in cycles regarding quality. this year HP is good, but Dell sucks. in the next year or two it can be the other way around. by the time the problems reported and everybody is spitting on Dell, it may actually be safe to buy from Dell than HP because HP is about to get its share of crappy capacitors, etc. a good strategy is to always buy Dell since one can't really time the "quality curve". at least with Dell one usually saves a few bucks.
I think cell phones are different than PC's though. I think more than often cell phones are replaced due to the desire to get newer features (screen size, keypad, data, cam, etc..) than the physical life - functional obsolescence. (Both old models still worked when I decided to upgrade.) I changed my cell phone in about 1998, and then again in 2004. Then just a few months ago. Pretty long compared to industry average I guess. Unlike my nephew, who got an iphone (version 1?) only 2 years ago and now iphone 4.
Granted, but you enthusiast don't "pay attention" to every capacitor, resistor, or connection on your mobo. You trust the mobo will work until you know better.
"Cheap stuff"? Dell's components are "off the shelf" except for the mobo and PSU, keyboard, mouse. Dell isn't any crappier than HP in its budget machines.
If you want to overpay for an under-powered computer by all means buy a Dell. As for the guy/psycho on this board whose handle is reminiscent of a synonym for feces buried in an Egyptian tomb, disregard.