computer choices?

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April 29th, 2002, 09:49 AM
gpint

computer choices?

I am currently looking at purchasing 80 new computers. I have a budget of $60,000, which gives me $750/tower. This is w/o monitor and must include shipping. I have found some machines that I like and would like to hear your opinions on computer brand. The specs are all very similar on all machines, I would just like to hear your thoughts on Dell, Gateway, and Micron. Which would you recommend? If you have had any past experiences with them good or bad please let me know.

Thanks for your time, and your continued support. This has to be the best site on the web.
April 29th, 2002, 10:04 AM
Darren Wilson

Dell's use proprietory PSU's & Motherboards so if one goes down unless you buy direct replacements from Dell, you would need to change both.

Gateway, have been under some financial pressures for a while now (closed all outlets in Europe last year), so I would be a little wary especially with the amount of systems that you are buying.

Micron, I have had no experience in dealing with, so I cannot comment.
April 29th, 2002, 10:08 AM
NooNoo

If you are going to buy a brand name computer, look at their website for drivers and ease of navigation ... gateway as a rule provide very poor support.

Dell website is very very much better and with the service tag (printed on every machine) you can get quick and easy access to all the drivers. The only problem with Dell is that they make there power supplies and mainboards incompatible with anything other than Dell.

Compaq is a mixed bag... poor driver support in many cases, and again you have to make sure any upgrading is compaq approved.

Micron I have had no experience with.
April 29th, 2002, 10:24 AM
kato

something to consider would be to check the local shops around your area and see if anyone is interested in bidding on your project providing you with PCs that meet your specs and provide on-site service.

It never hurts to put some money back into the community.

local shops like to bid on company and school projects, because the people using the pcs will see their badge on the pcs so it's free advertising too. Here at work we buy compaqs (yuk) but when the lusers need a computer for home, what company do you think pops in their head first?
April 29th, 2002, 11:21 AM
MacGyver

I'd recommend HP, but they take forever to ship. We have to order computers a month before employees arrive to make sure the employee actually has something to do work with!
April 29th, 2002, 12:09 PM
gpint

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MacGyver:
I'd recommend HP, but they take forever to ship. We have to order computers a month before employees arrive to make sure the employee actually has something to do work with!<hr /></blockquote>I have had good luck with BRIO's in the past, but last summer I ordered 75 pavilions and have had nothing but problems. Last year we were in a big budget crunch and decided to go with refurbished machines, so I bought 75 refurdished HP pavilions for about $275 each. So for about 25% of those have been repaired (most at our expense). Bad power supplies and harddrives are the most common problem. The ones that died within the first 90 days they did repair, but nothing after that(they only repaired 8 machines out of the 20 or so that died. I told HP that with the 25% failure rate that I experienced I would not buy another HP computer unless something was done to resolve the issues. They didnt seem to care, so I am not going to purchase any more HP computers. (I purchase a minimum of 60 new computers a year)
April 29th, 2002, 12:15 PM
Outcoded

Damn me for saying this but....

Dell. Reliable, good warranty, most use standard format PSU's and mobo's, especcially the one's for corporate use.
April 29th, 2002, 12:25 PM
Darren Wilson

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Outcoded:
, most use standard format PSU's and mobo's, especcially the one's for corporate use.<hr /></blockquote>Dell themselves admit that they don't!! They LOOK the same and use the same connectors, but the pinouts on the PSU (& motherboard) are totally different to the general ATX standard.
April 29th, 2002, 12:34 PM
ilovetheusers

My company has been using Compaq's for some time and I can comment that they are garbage and are very slow for the power they are supposed to have and they use all proprietary garbage in them.

From the Gateways I have seen from my friends and the stories I see up here I'd nix that idea.

Right now my Company is getting PC's from Dell and they are awesome. I think they are Optiplex gx50's (I think) with a 15" monitor and the OS is 2000 and we pay $575 american for each one (we are geting a really, really good deal though). They are sweet and everyone that gets them loves them. They all have a 1ghz CPU and 128mb of RAM and a 20gb HDD but graphics and sound are shared. Anyway - my users are clamoring to get them.
<a href="http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/products/model_optix_2_optix_gx50.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/products/model_optix_2_optix_gx50.htm</a>
April 29th, 2002, 12:38 PM
ilovetheusers

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Outcoded:
, most use standard format PSU's and mobo's, especcially the one's for corporate use.<hr /></blockquote>Dell themselves admit that they don't!! They LOOK the same and use the same connectors, but the pinouts on the PSU (& motherboard) are totally different to the general ATX standard.<hr /></blockquote>The dels we have a sweet. they do have intigrated sound (yamaha) and video (nvidia I was told) but the person working on a word .doc or the person working on power point don't need a bangin' multimedia experience. For home use I would recomend something else, but having seen these little things and how well they work for a corp. environment, I'd say this was exactily what the guy wants.
April 29th, 2002, 12:42 PM
MacGyver

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by gpint:
I have had good luck with BRIO's in the past, but last summer I ordered 75 pavilions and have had nothing but problems.<hr /></blockquote>I should have been more specific. The Vectra, Brio, and Kayak lines from HP are excellent. We use all of these in our company without any issues or problems. (Well, one dead hard drive in a Brio after two years of 24/7 service but HD's do die)

Pavillions are the low end of the spectrum and I definitely would not recommend Pavillions to anyone (corporate, consumer or otherwise)
April 29th, 2002, 12:42 PM
Darren Wilson

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ilovetheusers:
<hr /></blockquote>The dels we have a sweet. they do have intigrated sound (yamaha) and video (nvidia I was told) but the person working on a word .doc or the person working on power point don't need a bangin' multimedia experience. For home use I would recomend something else, but having seen these little things and how well they work for a corp. environment, I'd say this was exactily what the guy wants.[/QUOTE]

I agree but if anything does go wrong, with Dell you will need to get replacement parts from them or change both PSU & Motherboard. I have no qualm that Dell are indeed probably the best choice for a corporate environment, I was just pointing out something that people should be aware of.
April 29th, 2002, 01:00 PM
gpint

These are all going to be used as lab machines or teacher machines in a K-12 school district. We just accepted a new Master Technology Plan that states we replace at least 2 labs(30 computer each) every year. I have been leaning towards dell and micron. Both have a 3year onsite waranty. We are also planning on purchasing a couple extra machines to have on the shelf incase one goes down, that way we can just swap out machines and take our time with the repair if needed. I am looking for at least a P4 1.6, as these labs, acourding to the plan will not be replaced for another 6 years.
April 29th, 2002, 02:20 PM
Hippie_Tech

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by gpint:
I am looking for at least a P4 1.6, as these labs, acourding to the plan will not be replaced for another 6 years.<hr /></blockquote>Accckkk!! 6 YEARS!!! I was going to suggest the Dells as well, but I don't think anything should be kept for 6 years. 4 years possibly, but 6? Ouch. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
April 29th, 2002, 02:26 PM
morguth

i hear all sorts of horror stories for all brands - go with the best warranty...you'll need it <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

ps - any phone support is horrid, but since i work at a gateway country store, and i've seen what people claim phone support have told them, i would have to agree with noonoo, gateway phone support is the worst out there...well, maybe not as bad as aol, but it is bad...
April 29th, 2002, 02:40 PM
gpint

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Hippie_Tech:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by gpint:
I am looking for at least a P4 1.6, as these labs, acourding to the plan will not be replaced for another 6 years.<hr /></blockquote>Accckkk!! 6 YEARS!!! I was going to suggest the Dells as well, but I don't think anything should be kept for 6 years. 4 years possibly, but 6? Ouch. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <hr /></blockquote>I agree 6 years really does suck, but that is the way the budget is right now. I currently have 6 labs with amd k6233's or lower. Replacing 2 labs a year means those machines are going to have to make it a couple more years.
April 29th, 2002, 03:59 PM
flyboy747

We get all Dells at our school. We've had great service from them. For instance, just the other day, a Dell monitor went out (still under warranty), we called Dell that afternoon (about 4:15) or so and the replacement monitor was here the next day by noon. That's pretty fast service. As far as I know, we haven't had very much trouble with Dells at all. Seem to be decent machines and we've had great service from them.
April 29th, 2002, 06:12 PM
ilovetheusers

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
I agree but if anything does go wrong, with Dell you will need to get replacement parts from them or change both PSU & Motherboard. I have no qualm that Dell are indeed probably the best choice for a corporate environment, I was just pointing out something that people should be aware of.<hr /></blockquote>Never doubted you for a minute man and I have heard that dealing with dell and swapping parts is sometimes a little rough, but that's hearsay.

As for the 6 years. My god, hell are they thinking????? In 6 years, any relevant software will be looking at 64-128ghz processors and the difference between 1 and 1.6 ghz will be virtually nil. My company is running into this issue right now. We have 133-200 mhz machines that are actually below the stats for running our virus scanner and even though the 200 is a full 50% more powerful than a 133, it still moves at the exact same speed which is pathetic. Anyway, good luck bud.
April 30th, 2002, 05:32 PM
winntuser

I have been consulting for small to medium sized businesses for 10 years. I can offer you this advice. It is best for you to purchase your equipment as parts. Finding a quality motherboard suited to you business's needs. Particularly I use Intel boards an 850, or 845 depending on budget concerns.... HDDS given what your looking for..you can easily order depending on the program image (ghosted).. but the ability to purchase the parts lets you control what's in there and also allows you to "STOCK" spare in times of crisis. But everything you are asking for in a "WHITE BOX" is easily obtainable for less than $750 a piece, and higher quality than what you would get from DELL (proprietary), GATEWAY (proprietary as well with models), or PCMICRON.... my advice to you about PC Micron... JUNK....
May 1st, 2002, 06:31 AM
Kenny P.

Dell, definately.

Having worked at 10 contracts in the last 3 years, Dell gives the least amount of problems and when there are, they are the fastest to get parts from.

Minimized downtime = lower TCO = higher ROI.

Kenny P.
Visualize Whirled Peas
May 1st, 2002, 07:13 AM
BaconDog

I see that alot of people rag on compaq but we have a few hundred of them here and to be honest, I can't remember the last time we had an RMA and these systems are used 24/7. We also have alot of Dells, they seem to be well built, but we haven't had them long enough for me to form an opinion yet.
One person recommended looking for a local shop, I agree on that. You can get a quality box for 1/2 the price of a name brand, and the parts are not proprietary...and...like he mentioned...your putting $$$ back into your community by supporting your local techs :)
May 1st, 2002, 07:39 AM
savagegerbil

Dell, all the way dell! Pros: easy to upgrade, everything is screwless, great architecture for speed, they never break (been reparing computers for around 7 yrs and only have seen 2), Cheap, great warrenty, quick response, etc Cons: The green thing that holds the agp/pci cards down sometimes doesnt stay put. The company I work for is changing over to dell and I have one at home. Given your options, GO WITH DELL!
May 1st, 2002, 10:13 AM
morguth

<blockquote>quote:<hr />GATEWAY (proprietary as well with models)<hr /></blockquote>the only proprietary model i can think of is the profile series...what other ones are there?
May 1st, 2002, 10:17 AM
SoJo

I've worked with all the major players as well as clones. The best luck I've had so far with regards to reliably, TOC(Total Cost of Ownership)and Support has been from Dell. :D

Both the Optiplex and Dimension Series are both good products, I prefer the Dimension since you can swap out some of the cards. The three year next day on-site support is worth the extra $99.00.

If you plan buying all 80 systems at once, you maybe able to work into the deal of having them load your standard image for you. Get a hold of one of the business reps and work it out.

Good Luck.
May 1st, 2002, 10:59 AM
InsaneTech

Personally i hate all brand name machines. In almost every case the machines are propriatary to there manufacture, Dell, HP, Compaq being the worst of them in that sence. Support wise..... don't buy Dell thats for sure, we had a customer who's warrenty was voided by customer neglect (even the customer agreed it was his fault) but his mobo, cpu, modem died due to a surge over his phone line. BUT Dell wouldnt even sell him replacement components they wanted him to buy a new computer (and not just a new tower, new monitor, keyboard.... the whole shabang)
We've had other issues with them as well, recently there support has just gotten bad. But i',m sure everyone has a horror story or 5 about somebody's tech support. Personally i'd see if there was a local computer store that could build em for ya. I dont know what specs your looking for but just a tower, our store could build a tower (without using low cost low quallity components) for around $650.... so see if someone local could build em for ya... that is if your local computers stores have reputible support :)
May 1st, 2002, 11:44 AM
Bigdog632

in my opinion i say go for the custom built PC from a private builder type the brand name PCs like to overstuff the Hard Drive with their "utilities" and make a lot of worthless programs to sit around making your experience poor.

They can also build to suit which would save you from getting the not needed and rather expensive parts that the brand name puters have whether you want them or not
May 1st, 2002, 01:11 PM
Fubar

Let me tell you about our experience with Dell computers. We decided on Dell because of their 'good name' and reputation for support.

1. Dell PCs are easy to work on. No need for tools till you start fooling with cards.

2. Dell mobos have a limited number of slots in many cases.

3. Ordering off of Dell's website has been the experience from Hell! We ended up with three customer numbers, multiple CSR's and no computers in some cases. I finally raised so much Hell that I now have a dedicated rep but have not had to purchase any PCs in quite a while.

4. Support has been pretty good. We have our users talk to Dell techies and they have by-and-large good things to say.

5. Some of the Dell's we have purchased have had a weird problem. We have two printers on our field systems which requires two cards, the onboard and an add-on. On some systems, not all, we have the case of where if the user powers down the PC they must physically detatch the printer on the add-on card to get the PC to come back up. We have been around-and-around with Dell about this. We have used all sorts of cards. We have applied patches out the wazoo to no avail. Everyone says its the other guys stuff! We have "solved" the problem by putting an A-B switch on the printer so it can be taken offline so the PC will powerup. We have also spoken to many 'experts' that have been unable to solve this problem.

The other PC mfgs I don't know about. I will say that 20 years experience tells me that you are not going to get what you think you were promised. You probably won't go "dead wrong" with any of the mfgs you are considering. One of the most positive aspects of buying all your PC's at once is that they *might* be configured the same.

Good luck! Like the knight said in "Indiana Jones and the last Crusade" - "Choose wisely!"
May 1st, 2002, 04:03 PM
Tommo

I fix both Dell and Gateway on Warranty contract andDell come out on top. They both get you jumping through hoops to diagnose the fault over the phone(cheaper than sending an eng) but once the call is raised, it stays open till fixed and it doesn't matter how many parts are used. Dell will discount on volume orders or throw in the 'bells and whistles' to sweeten the deal

Can't go wrong with Dell.
May 1st, 2002, 05:28 PM
gpint

I do like the idea of building our own, but I dont think administration will go for it. Local shops is another great idea, there is one that we buy lots of parts from and are really happy with. The only problem here again is administration, 4 years ago we purchased 400 machines from a local place called university computers. We got alot of machine for the money, but they were cheaply built. Shortly after the purchace they went out of business and we were stuck without any kind of waranty. I'm sure that wouldnt happen again, but it is hard to convince that to the administrative staff.

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