Dells used to be pretty good, actually. I still have a Dell Dimension FXS from 1996 (Pentium I (113MHz) 64MB RAM, 2.0Gb HD, 1.5GB HD). Originally came with Win 95. I'm still using it for back-up, running Slackware 9.0, and it still works quite well. Up until about 2000, you couldn't do much better than a Dell.
However, Mike Dell has obviously spent too many years as Bill Gates' bitch, since His Gatesness' business philosophy has rubbed off: spend a few years making a solid product, develop a reputation for quality, then trade on it for all it's worth as you ass-fuck your once-loyal customers. Dell had one of the best customer help services; now it's all out-sourced to Third World sub-contractors. Dell once had a solid system; now they
actually equip these things with CD readers that auot-destruct if you dare to run a non-M$ op-sys on them. (It used to be just WinModems in Dells, and even then, they would just not work, not self-destruct). It used to be that you could trust a Dell representative; today, deal with one of these snakes and be prepared to count your fingers afterwards.
Pre-2000, I'd've said: "Get a Dell, Dude!" easily. These past three years? No F-in-way!
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Live Free or Die: Linux
"There: now you'll never have to look at those dirty Windows anymore"
--Daffy Duck
[ November 06, 2003: Message edited by: jtpenrod ]