Yesterday I received my latest machine : a Dell 8300 (P4 3000 MHz) dimension desktop with a 17" LCD monitor. I still love my iMac, but need something to do the dirty work of windows-only apps, certain type of programming, etc. (Very like when you still love your wife but need to get a maid to do the cleaning...;-)
I am sorry to say that I was totally un-prepared to see the drop in DELL quality from what I remembered. everything I touch is thin, light, cheap plastic. the CD/DVD drives' plastic-covers seem just stuck-on, and even the keyboard is flaky. I am pretty sure the Apple iMac has spoiled me, for I noticed stuff that I might not have earlier : the USB keys on the front are very ill-positioned, and worst (for me with two hyper-active toddlers at home) is that the most visible and accessible point on the machine is the power switch : so visible and standing-out that I clicked it a couple of times absent mindedly. I might have to hide that first thing. no wonder Dell is still making a profit : it's cost-cutting is showing prominently.
Reminded me of a story a friend told me about how a donut maker managed to keep the cost of his donuts the same for years and not suffer a loss : he made the hole bigger! Dell's hole-in-the-donut is real big by now. I am seriously thinking of selling my Dell shares.
The thing is, for all the 'Dell is cheap', if I had not bought refurbished, it would have been the same cost as my iMac, and all the specs match exactly (other than the MHz of course, but we know how that goes); or maybe the Dell is even less, as i don't know yet how well their software like 'pro-DVD' etc works.
of course, there is a big difference: the 8300 is fully configurable/upgradeable. which is why i bought it, but thats in the future.
Makes me appreciate my iMac all that more. nothing flaky there, and a thing of beauty.
Of course, this being the 'ugly maid', I am going to hide the CPU under the desk and beyond reach, only the screen and keyboard/mouse visible.
I am sorry to say that I was totally un-prepared to see the drop in DELL quality from what I remembered. everything I touch is thin, light, cheap plastic. the CD/DVD drives' plastic-covers seem just stuck-on, and even the keyboard is flaky. I am pretty sure the Apple iMac has spoiled me, for I noticed stuff that I might not have earlier : the USB keys on the front are very ill-positioned, and worst (for me with two hyper-active toddlers at home) is that the most visible and accessible point on the machine is the power switch : so visible and standing-out that I clicked it a couple of times absent mindedly. I might have to hide that first thing. no wonder Dell is still making a profit : it's cost-cutting is showing prominently.
Reminded me of a story a friend told me about how a donut maker managed to keep the cost of his donuts the same for years and not suffer a loss : he made the hole bigger! Dell's hole-in-the-donut is real big by now. I am seriously thinking of selling my Dell shares.
The thing is, for all the 'Dell is cheap', if I had not bought refurbished, it would have been the same cost as my iMac, and all the specs match exactly (other than the MHz of course, but we know how that goes); or maybe the Dell is even less, as i don't know yet how well their software like 'pro-DVD' etc works.
of course, there is a big difference: the 8300 is fully configurable/upgradeable. which is why i bought it, but thats in the future.
Makes me appreciate my iMac all that more. nothing flaky there, and a thing of beauty.
Of course, this being the 'ugly maid', I am going to hide the CPU under the desk and beyond reach, only the screen and keyboard/mouse visible.
