if not DELL, then what?
 

I have a friend here at work who has had one hell of a time trying to buy a computer from DELL. He has one DELL already, and is happy with it, but on this second purchase, they fucked it all up, sent the wrong computer, and three months later, he just got credited for the monitor. they have yet to credit him for the computer. he's pretty sure they're fucking with him because he keeps calling and bugging them for his refund.

he needs a computer, but I don't know what else to reccomend.

who else makes as good a box for as cheap with decent cust service.

ps. he hates gateway, too.

I would suggest building one, if he's at all technically savvy. It's really not all that hard. Failing that, my only suggestion would be to buy a "business-class" machine from say, HP. The Evos, while not top of the line, are certainly good machines for a good price. I suggest business class for a couple reasons:

1. They're usually built with more thoroughly tested parts. As a business machine, the people in charge of that sort of thing are very intolerant of strange problems that should have been found in testing the machine.

2. Support. I actually know the guys who provide support, used to work in that department. And aside from the Server team, these guys (and gals) were the best HP had to offer.

Even if he doesn't go HP, I would suggest something from the business line from another company, because I imagine it's much the same way throughout the industry.

he's not......at all.

how do you go about buying a "business class" computer.

Go to your favorite web site (Dell, IBM, etc.) and click on the link that says "solutions for small business" or something like that.

Having said that, I'm very happy with the build-your-own scenario.

oh. duh.

does anyone here do this on the side? ....build computers, that is.

LJ, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to find that if you did some reading, *you* could build a computer quite handily. I imagine that if you get component advice here to make sure its compatible, and post anytime you have a question, it should work out nicely.

Only for fun & amusement... if I charged money for it I'd be obligated to answer questions about it!

yeah, but then the little bastard would be up my ass every time it broke. :D

That's very true. Suggest the business PC thing. I can't imagine you want to subject your friends here to that either. :p

i was thinking if someone anonymous built it, he'd only callif it really fucked up

i work with the guy......

Nah, if you were the source, he's gonna call you, even if you didn't build it. Better to buy something with an all-encompassing warranty. IBM makes a good business PC too, but they run a bit more.

Yeah, I'd go with what perth said. But just remember, 1) they ALL suck when it comes to customer service/support. They can't not suck, they've made too many cuts. 2) Any of them can turn out a lemon once in a while. So while I can't blame your friend for being pissed off at Dell and not wanting to give them any more business, the fact is if he did get another computer from them it'd probably work out fine. And there's no guarantee (though the probabilities are against it) that a machine from IBM, Gateway, HP, etc. etc. wouldn't be a clunker either.

It's really a question of who sucks the *least*. And of the big ones today, I would say that's IBM, and I personally think HP is somewhere at either 2 or 3, remembering that I mean *business* support, not home user. As I said, I know these guys, I'm biased. But I also know they're well-trained and have access to very good resources.

HP

I've been real happy with the EMachines I've used. Also when they and Gateway merged, the EMachines management took over.

Cost effective.