ATTN: ALL Dell computer users

Hello all,

I normally peruse the Asus forums, but I thought I could extend request to you all. I'm an industrial design student at the University of Houston and my class has entered the Dell ReGeneration International design competition:

http://www.dell.com/designregeneration

I'm in the research phase and have been looking at brand identity. I would like to know how Dell owners perceive the Dell brand and their experiences.

So if I could kindly ask you:

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
4) How long have you owned your computer?
5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
7) What are 2 things you dislike about your computer and why? (ex: "i wish the colors were more vibrant"..."i don't like the keyboard because the keys feel cheap)


*any pictures of your computer would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks for listening, all
Arvin

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
In my home I currently have a dell vostro 1500, dell inspiron 1505, and a dell dimension 8XXX (i dont remember). I have also owned a latitude x300 in the past and an inspiron 8200 i believe. I also worked in a dell house for 4 years (company that solely buys dell computers)

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
I choose them initially from a few bad experences with HP and gave dell a shot and never looked back. I have had nothing but good experiences with them in home and at work.

3 Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
I got the vostro (replacing my x300 ultraportable) because i wanted a bigger screen at a cheap price. At the time no other laptop could compete at the price point.

2) How long have you owned your computer?
This computer since August, but i have owned dells since 2002.

3) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
Price, performance, support/warranty.

4) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
I usually sell them after a few years and use the money to buy a new Dell.

Hope this helps

 

I'll give you my input man.

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? Dell XPS M1530

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
Because I've used them for years and they have always been very reliable and solid.

3 Why did you chose that specific model of Dell?
For a few reasons. I use Photoshop CS3, AutoCAD 2008 and several other demanding apps. I also do quite a bit of gaming, so I needed a rig that could do it all.

2) How long have you owned your computer?
Since December 18th.

3) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
Basically just different elements of the hardware. 2.2ghz Dual Core is quite fast, NVIDIA 8600GT runs any game I want to play as well as any other machine I've ever used and the 3GB of memory insures that I can do quite a few things at once with no noticeable performance decrease.

4) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life?
Keep it in case someone could use the parts later. I have many friends with older PC's so it's quite possible that they might need something that I have.

 

Ah, VERY much appreciated, fellas!

I will keep you all updated as the project progresses this semester - this should be interesting.

 

I find this answer especially interesting because in terms of sustainability, this is spot on. Dell has pushed for and stands by standardization of computer components. I've never heard this answer before, but it certainly puts a spin on long-life design.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own?
DELL E1505

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
cheap loaner. A spare for friends that are around.

3 Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
Cheap and relatively OK config

2) How long have you owned your computer?
9mo

3) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
cheap, takes abuse, cheap?

4) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
gave it to my nephew

 

1)In my possession are a Dimension XPS R400, R450, Latitude C400, C600, D830, Inspiron 500m

2) My dad started buying Dell back in the late nineties. I got some systems second hand after he switched machines. I never had any major problems with those units so when I selected my own computers I had no reason not to choose Dell.

3) In general, Latitudes are of a bit better quality than Inspirons of the same generation. For my current machine I thought this was especially true; I think the D620/D820 chassis are far superior to the E1405/E1505 chassis. Much nicer looking too.

4) Half a year for my current laptop. The Dimension XPS units have been in the family for nearly ten years.

5) Nice performance boost relative to my 500m. Superior construction and appearance to the E1x05 line. Good price for a business laptop.

6) Dimension XPS desktops (with a few minor upgrades) ran as servers for a number of years, C400 was my secondary machine while the 500m was my main machine. 500m is my secondary machine while the D830 is my main machine.

I like to collect things so I just hang on to the Dells I don't use. They all still work which is pretty impressive, specially for the units from the nineties.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)

Desktop: Dimension 8400
Laptop: Inspiron 1420

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?

Good experiences, good specs at good price

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)

1520 was too large, and the 1420 was just right. Had the features I wanted such as dedicated graphics and discounts.

4) How long have you owned your computer?

4 months

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?

Price erformance ratio means I have no buyer's remorse
Very overclockable graphics card
I have the only green laptop in the building

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)

I've only owned two Dell computers and both are currently in use. Overall, I've had nothing but good experiences. Slight build quality and LCD issues with my laptop. Previous computers I owned were sent to electronics recycling facilities.

 

This is more what I manage at home than I actually own; I have used each system for considerable amounts of time though.

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)

• Dell Latitude D600
• Dell Dimension 4550
• Dell Dimension 3000
• Dell OptiPlex GX110 (2)
• Dell PowerEdge 860

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?

It was a) competitively priced b) Sleek styling (Midnight grey > Beige back when we bought our first Dell)

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)

• Latitude D600 - used business laptop, proven, sturdy, cheap (now)
• Dimension 4550 - a basic machine for schoolwork and a crappy video card for older games (ie MechWarrior 4, etc.)
• Dimension 3000 - Dad needed a basic machine for internet and email. At $300 it was pretty good.
• OptiPlex GX110: End of life'd by my school; I took them and one is now functioning as a backup machine and another is functioning as a print server
• PowerEdge 860 - cheapest 1U rackmount server on the market. Competitively priced, dual GbE, network control via IPMI.

4) How long have you owned your computer?

• Latitude D600 - 1 month
• Dimension 4550 - 5 years
• Dimension 3000 - 4 years
• OptiPlex GX110 - 4 months
• PowerEdge 860 - 8 months

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?

1. Reliable
2. Durable
3. Powerful (This really only applies to the server because it has a Xeon 3060 inside)

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)

I never really end-of-life things.

 

My Review has pics of my XPS.

1. XPS M1530 Notebook
2. Mainly because of their aftersales support and configuration options.
3. It was within my budget (£850) and I've just always liked the snazzy XPS range. It'll be used for web browsing/movie viewing and later in the year studying back at college (I'm 32! )
4. I received my XPS on the 8th Jan, so just under two weeks now.
5. Lightness, Robust Design, Solid enough to hit people with.
6. This is my first dell.

 

1. Dell Vostro 1500
2. Because of the great price for the specs
3. Because it was cheap and had 8600gt.
4. About two months
5. Rugged, Good specs, solid enough to kill people with.
6. my first dell

 

I really don't know if this will help you, but I'll answer them anyway...

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
Dell Vostro 1500

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
It's not that I chose my laptop because of brand, but Dell is sort of an already established brand in the industry, so... yeah.

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
I got this Vostro because it's one of the cheapest laptops with the 8600M GT, a powerful mid-range graphics card, at the time. Also, it was the #1 most popular laptop here in NBR for quite some time.

4) How long have you owned your computer?
Around a month and a half [1 month and 2 weeks].

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
- really cheap.
- fully featured. It's not the fastest laptop but it performs pretty well on pretty much whatever tasks I throw at it.
- feels really solid and sturdy.

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
This question isn't applicable [yet, hopefully it still won't be for a looong time].

EDIT: forgot to post my pics... here you go:

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
Desktop - Dimension E520

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
Price, quality, warranty, reputation.

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
Nice price / performance point

4) How long have you owned your computer?
1 year

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
Dependability, design, warranty

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
Handed it down to one of the kids for re-use.

 

So if I could kindly ask you:

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
-Dell Inspiron 6000D

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
-Price and value for the money

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
-Same as previously stated. At the time it was smaller the the 9300 and seems better than the Inspiron 630m in the old gray casing.

4) How long have you owned your computer?
-Just over two years.

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
-I'm going to list four here, I can't chose three.
-High resolution screen.
-Reliability.
-Battery life (I got 4+ on the 6cell and 5+ on the 9cell when both batteryes were new. Now both batteries are worn out and don't last very long. Need to get new ones.)
-Yes I'm going to say it and this is one of the old white bumper clad Dells. Build Quality. My Inspiron 6000 withstood the ultimate test, time.

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
-I gave it the rest of my family who now use it as their primary computer. I regret doing that because they take much less care of it than I did. Also I'll be honest with you, I am not terribly fond of my Asus which has dissapointed me in it build quality.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
Latitude D820

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
Simple design, better looking compared to the Inspiron's design back then

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
for school, wanted a strong lasting laptop with decent performance

4) How long have you owned your computer?
nearly 2 years since may 2006

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
resists tough careless knocks at times, looks worn on the outside but still performs well. has not had any major failures that required fixing other than a key dropping off the keyboard which got replaced promptly.

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620) XPS m1530
2) Why did you choose the Dell brand? Good experience with family dell systems. Availability of XPS m1530
3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer) I use alot of high performance applications including Photoshop, AutoCAD, and 3d modeling software. Thinner and lighter than other 15" laptops
4) How long have you owned your computer? 2 weeks
5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer? Solid performance, lightweight, thin
6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises) Old Dell Latitude desktop, outdated, became a bookend....

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? 600M
2) Why did you choose the Dell brand? Dell financing options.
3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? Smaller, most advances and feature-filled laptop in the day.
4) How long have you owned your computer? 4.5 years.
5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer? Still relatively thin, gigabit ethernet, silent (thanks to cool centrino M)
6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? I will retire this 600m when i get my m1330 next week (hopefully) and I will be giving it to my dad, as it is still running great!

 

1) Vostro 1500
2) Because it was customizable to my tastes (flexibility is the word), had a reasonable price and has an overall good quality
3) Right combination of processing power, cooling, battery life, graphics card (because I wanted to install Linux), memory size.
4) Since August, 2007
5) It's cool (no heat), it's cool (nice design, professional look), it's got all the power I need (and more).
6) N/A
Addendum:
7) In my country I had to pay the Microsoft Tax and could not even choos the M$ OS I wanted; there is a headphone noise; the 9 cells battery sticks out and I can't find a backpack of my liking capable to carry it with the battery in.

Why didn't you ask about what we don't like?

 

haha, I actually just made an addendum - you read my mind.

 

This is great feedback, guys - Keep it rolling!

By the way, I added a "what don't you like about your dell?" as #7

 

1) Inspiron 1520
2) Was the cheapest I could find with the spec I wanted
3) Very good specs, good GPU, Good price
4) Since Christmas
5) Brilliant performance considering the price, Lovely keyboard, lovely screen
6) Havn't been there yet, but will probably just pass it onto the parents lol.
7) It can get quite hot, its fairly heavy.

 

1) Laptop Inspiron 1520 - jet Black.
2) Dell's laptops have the highest value -- I shopped around for a month.
3) I chose the Inspiron 1520 because of free upgrades (160GB HDD, 2GB RAM), cheapest route to getting a 8600GT, and 300$ off coupon. The Inspiron 1720 is too big, 1420 doesn't have an 8600GT and the 8400GS's cooling sucks. XPS was too expensive at the time (no 1530). Vostro line was more expensive because of all my coupons.
4) 5 months
5) a. Mag Alloy Case
b. battery lfie is long
c. nice out of box linux compatability....mainly because dell is so popular and most distros support it.

6) no retireds yet ... may recycle, donate, server duty...

7) 1. the silver paint scratches off soooo easily -- in my bag - the corner paint comes off, and in other places the paint has come off when I sent the laptop in for repairs

an idea is to use a COLORED plastic.

2. Grainy Screen, Audio bleeping (CPU interference)

3. its big....thick.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own?

Dell XPS M133O

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?

I have owned and recommended Dell for many years.

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell?

I wanted a fully-functional highly-capable laptop in as portable a machine as possible.

4) How long have you owned your computer?

About 5 months.

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?

Its size, its weight and its performance.

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life?

I give it to a family member, as it still functions.

Addendum**
7) What are 2 things you dislike about your computer and why? (ex: "i wish the colors were more vibrant"..."i don't like the keyboard because the keys feel cheap)

I wish the laptop had gigabit ethernet and I wish the headphone jacks were on the side, rather than in front.

 

1) Inspiron 1705 & XPS M1530
2) Good cost vs performance, good support
3) XPS: thinner and cooler looking.
4) 1705: 1 yr, M1530 1 week
5) XPS: thinner, cool looking, high performance.
6) I buy at least 1 laptop a year, usually 2, sometimes 3. They all go on ebay after I get a new one. check for my 1705, soon.
7) The screen is a little grainy. The keyboard feels funny. The touchpad feels funny. the speakers are horrible. The top doesn't latch closed. It's too deep. the headphone jack is in the front.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own? (ex: Dell latitude D620)
-Dell Inspiron 6400

2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
-Dell is a very well know and respected brand in the industry.

3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell? (ex: I got the xps because it had dedicated graphics and I'm a gamer)
-Price, portablity, and power.

4) How long have you owned your computer?
-One year and 5 months.

5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
-The Media Buttons on the front.
-The Screen...Amazing.
-Quality. For a "Consumer Model" it's held up VERY well.

6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life? (hardships/concerns/praises)
-Still on my first Dell computer.

7) What are 2 things you dislike about your computer and why? (ex: "i wish the colors were more vibrant"..."i don't like the keyboard because the keys feel cheap
-I wish it could be smaller.
-Aesthetics...it's a bit bland overall.

 

1) What dell model (desktop or laptop) do you own?
XPS M1530
2) Why did you choose the Dell brand?
Always used Dell
3) Why did you chose that specific model of Dell?
Got more bang for the buck compared to other models
4) How long have you owned your computer?
Less than 3 weeks
5) what are your 3 favorite things/features about your dell computer?
Metal casing, thinner than older versions, no latch!!
6) If you have retired a dell computer from use, what did you do with it when it reached the end of it's life?
Used it as a backup
7) What are 2 things you dislike about your computer and why?
Touchpad gets jumpy after re-opening lid, power connector comes out too easily