OT ~ Dell or Compaq
 

Umm ... honestly I'd say neither. But I've heard better things from dell, actually. Thing is - don't you have to send them off to repair if they get damaged? Like to some far factory? Maybe that's just here in AUS.

I would say neither either but of those two choices, I'd probably say Dell.

Agreed.... but be warned, Dell's customer support is atrocious.

The only two types of computers I have ever had (3 laptops) were Dell and Compaq. Two Compaqs and 1 Dell. My first compaq was crap, my second compaq was even bigger crap. The first one, I bought it from Circuit City and within the first 30 days it malfunctioned, so I took it back and got a new one. I probably should have gotten a completely different computer, but I didn't. Within a year, my hard drive fried and I had to send it in to get a new one. The computer maybe lasted one additional year and the power supply inside broke and I didn't want to pay to get it fixed. The second one lasted less than a year before I had to get a new computer. I deleted every unneccessary program and all files thinking I had too much "stuff" on it, but even with nothing on it, it takes about 30 minutes to start up and about 10 minutes to do even the simplest task. I am going to delete the OS and try out Windows 7 on it. All it is good for now is a tester computer.

My current computer, a Dell, which I have had ALMOST a year is still doing great. No slowage. I had some bugs with it in the beginning and had to call customer care about 7 times to get them all resolved. I am not going to lie, their customer service is EXTREMELY aggravating. They are all in India and are very hard to understand. I bought it refurbished, so I got an amazing computer, top of the line, with everything I could possibly want for $850. Slightly more than my second computer, and slightly more than my first computer.

Go for the Dell and pray that nothing goes wrong with it so you don't have to deal with customer support. Then, if you do have to, chat with them online instead of on the phone to resolve your issues.

This is what I've heard, too.

Unless you plan on having an affair with somebody at Compaq, stay away. I have a Dell PC and lap top. I like them both. I wish Mac's were not so expensive.

Ditto. They're fantastic pieces of machinery.

I have had a Dell desktop and 3-in-1 printer for 4 years. Of course, nothing went wrong during the warranty. When I had problems a local whiz charged me $80 to clean off all the bugs and re-format everything. It has run beautifully for over a year since doing that. I would gladly pay $80. every 4 years to keep it up. Sadly the printer is toast and will be replaced this week-end.
We had HP desktops and laptops previously and they all gave us trouble.

The short answer is I would buy another Dell.

I've had two Compaq laptops. Absolute pieces of crap. Constant problems followed by weeks and weeks in the authorized repair place where everybody lied to me and fixed stuff long enough for me to get it home and out of their hair.

I've never had a problem with either my Dell laptop or desktop.

Neither. If you must go with a PC I'd say that HP is the better brand. I guess if forced to choose between the two I'd say Dell, but the customer service is awful!

Macs are well worth the expense. They don't crash like PCs when hit by a virus (there are few virus' for Macs to begin with) and the operating system is far superior than what Microsoft has put out. You get what you pay for.

If you go with a Dell, I'd suggest avoiding the models sold at Walmart because they are bottom of the line, and as others suggested the customer service has a bad reputation and is overseas. However, if you go to the Dell website and choose one of the business models, the customer service is based in America and is supposed to be much better. They currently have a Dell Vostro with monitor and good specs for 399. There's a Dell employee that (anonymously) blogs about the differences in customer service and deals between the home and business lines and it was kind of interesting.

i likes my dell when i had it...with that being said..i have now been converted to MAC. Yes they are a bit more pricey...but soooo much worth every penny

I bought my dell laptop off dells website 3 years ago in march. I like dell I have bought their desktops and never had a problem ever. I am really glad I bought the most expensive longest warranty here is what I have had replaced in 2.8 years:

3 LCD screens
4 motherboards
2 keyboards
1 touchpad set up
1 power supply
1 battery (this wasnt covered)

basically everything but the hard drive and the speakers and I can honestly say I have only dropped the laptop once and even then it was in a cushioned case.

After having numerous experiences with their customer service they bite crabs butt. I have only gotten 1 person that spoke fluent English and was within the United States, I hate their Indian crap customer service.

are you looking for laptops or desktops? i didn't love my Dell- but i'd pick it over Compaq any day. I saw so many of those pieces of crap returned to me when I worked for an office supply store. we used to have more in stock that were returned and broken then we'd have to sell. they were awful and i can't say enough bad things about them.
dell- well they're a little bit better but I have to agree with whoever said that if you're buying the low end one at walmart it's not really going to make much of a difference which one you get.