What brand of pre-built non-gaming desktops don't suck?

Daedalus

Hey, a family member is wondering what kind of desktop to get for their small business and so they asked me, the family computer geek. Naturally, I build all my own desktops, and I'd gladly build one for them except I'm about to move several states away and so they can't afford for me to be their first line of support! So I need to advise them on what brand of desktop computer to get when I've been out of the market for years. Help me guys, you're my only hope.

This thing will need to be used only for your basic Office type tasks and will need a good service plan. No games will ever be played on it. Anyone know of any good deals right now?

PeregrineFalcon

Dude, get them a Dell.

Post your location (country) and I'll see if I can dig up the current deals.

Daedalus

US. Upstate New York, to be specific, not that that particularly matters.

1ddqd

Dell/HP/Gateway. Average PC with a warranty will last more than 3 years, for sure.

xzzy

I've always been happy with Dells. I bought one as a gaming rig ~5 years ago and it performed well. Granted this was before every video card needed a direct line to the power supply, but them's just details.

wunderbar

yea, if you're not looking for gaming pretty much any $600 PC will do you well.

Decius

In my experience with the computers the company I work for uses, Dells seem to have the highest failure rate and the weirdest design and engineering choices. Whenever someone has a Dell they want worked on, I shudder. Even their newer systems make me WTF a lot more then they should.

HP's business class hardware on the other hand I find is rock solid. Their cases and hardware are also well engineered and easy to work with. They are a little more pricey, but if she were to go with a base model dc7800 she would have a computer that would last a good long while. You'd also has last headaches working on it (which I'm sure will inevitably happen ) as it's just like working on any modern custom PC. This is one of the many reasons we decided to go HP only a few years ago, and only end up working of Dells with companies we've acquired or users that have wildcatted and bought their own hardware.

xzzy

I don't know about that. Like I said, I've had good luck with Dells.

Gateway, on the other hand, had non standard connectors at one point. The IDE interface had a custom wiring so you couldn't replace hard drives or cd-roms on your own.

Every Dell I've ever opened up had standard ATX and connectors inside it.

I suppose it depends on which model you buy, at which time frame, and which jackass engineer put the thing together. I'm not saying Dell is immune to jackassery, just that I never encountered it.

wunderbar

We run Dells at work, about 150 machines, haven't had a single failure in well over 8 months, which is a record. I've been really impressed with them, although we have good support with them, so if something breaks I dont' have to worry, and we don't upgrade our machines. Their PSU's are shit, but work for the system they're built for. 99% of our failures haven been PSU, although when they do go you can often convince support to replace the motherboard and ram too.

HarshLanguage

Dell Vostro 220 mini-tower is a good choice, and they've been running a deal on them since December where you can get the machine + a small LCD for $400. The details of the package seem to vary a little bit each week, some options go on sale and configurations change slightly. Because it's from the Dell Small Business site, you can remove the monitor in customization, saving $40 or so if you already have a monitor. The machine itself is nice and standard, the 300W power supply is plenty, and you can add some handy cheap options like a card reader. I added a $30 ATI HD4350 card (after-market, the Dell upgrades are expensive) just to avoid using the integrated graphics. It'll do all the basics very very nicely, and parts can be upgraded later. Note: You don't have to be a small business to buy from Dell Small Business.

There are Dell Inspirons that are basically the same machine, too, so you can search around for special offers and coupons in their Home business too.

Zeon

wunderbar wrote: »

We run Dells at work, about 150 machines, haven't had a single failure in well over 8 months, which is a record. I've been really impressed with them, although we have good support with them, so if something breaks I dont' have to worry, and we don't upgrade our machines. Their PSU's are shit, but work for the system they're built for. 99% of our failures haven been PSU, although when they do go you can often convince support to replace the motherboard and ram too.

Im with you. Where I work, its exclusively dells, and i cant remember the last time a machine died.

Akilae729

I exclusively run Dells in my Lab and we have some machines that are going on 5 or 6 years old that are still constantly on with no problems. Just my personal experience. If the machine doesn't need to do gaming, it will be a fine computer.

Dell also has amazing deals if you know where to look, and basic upgrades such as RAM and HDDs now are very simple.

Vater5B

1ddqd wrote: »

Dell/HP/Gateway. Average PC with a warranty will last more than 3 years, for sure.

I have had nothing but trouble with any Gateway my family is purchased. It is a darn good thing that my wife bought the three year warranty when she got her Gateway PC because we've had to send that thing back 4 times now for repairs. I've NEVER had those types of problems with any manufacturer.

Dell and HP have some awesome offerings on the cheap now for sure. Check them out.

Stormwatcher

anytime my mother and my sister need to buy a new work PC for their fashion company, I get them a Dell. Just bought the 3rd one yesterday. the other two have been working flawlessly for the last 3 years.

TK-42-1

we've been phasing out our custom builts for dells and so far theyve performed great. even with the frankenstien style programming we shove in there.

autono-wally, erotibot300

dells customer support (for my laptop, but still) has been simply amazing so far, they exchanged my system board with a new one because the old one was running hot and switching itself off very fast and without any hassle.
I have no idea about their cheap desktop PCs though