dell computers

[Jilly]

Hey there,

was wondering if some of you technology gurus could give me some insight on Dell computers. We are purchasing three new computers for the church offices to be networked together and as far as I know Dell seems to cater to small business more and seem to have the best computer for the money. Has anyone experienced something different?

Thanks for your help!

Jill

[irishjayhawk]

Originally Posted by Jilly

Hey there,

was wondering if some of you technology gurus could give me some insight on Dell computers. We are purchasing three new computers for the church offices to be networked together and as far as I know Dell seems to cater to small business more and seem to have the best computer for the money. Has anyone experienced something different?

Thanks for your help!

Jill

I had a Dell Inspirion 6000 for school which worked fine for a while. Of course, after experiencing other computers, I would stay away from Dell. But that's my feeling.

(I'm a Mac guy now)

[Jilly]

For some reason, we are all scared of Macs.

[kaplin42]

I work for a private school. Every year we do large dell orders.

For instance, this year we will be ordering 150 Dell Tablets, 200 Dell Laptops, and about 250 Dell desktops (quite literally just finished speccing out the desktops).

We go Dell for a few reasons.

1.) The machines aren't fantastic, but they aren's as bad as everyone says.

2.) The customability is excellent. You can get the hardware you want/need in most of the machines

3.) Customer service and tech support are top notch. Next Day Onsite repair is never a bad thing.

4.) Price is right.

All in all, you can really go wrong with dell for work machines. Simple, reliable, and the tech support is there if something does happen.

I would recomend them very much.

[kaplin42]

Originally Posted by Jilly

For some reason, we are all scared of Macs.

if you're running a mixed (windows/mac) enviroment, there is good reason for it.

Mac is not the most easily networked machines, especially if you have windows servers.

[irishjayhawk]

Originally Posted by Jilly

For some reason, we are all scared of Macs.

Shouldn't be. More user friendly than Windows and more robust. Especially with VISTA.

And that's another thing to consider. Vista absolutely blows. There's been too many companies upgrading and then having to downgrade. It's a pretty bad scenario.

Having said that, I don't know what kind of setup you are wanting or what the machines will be doing.

[kaplin42]

Originally Posted by irishjayhawk

Shouldn't be. More user friendly than Windows and more robust. Especially with VISTA.

And that's another thing to consider. Vista absolutely blows. There's been too many companies upgrading and then having to downgrade. It's a pretty bad scenario.

Having said that, I don't know what kind of setup you are wanting or what the machines will be doing.

Irish,

We have been cool in the past, so I'm not really trying to be mean or rude, but you're talking out your ass right now, and have not one clue about what you are saying.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by kaplin42

if you're running a mixed (windows/mac) enviroment, there is good reason for it.

Mac is not the most easily networked machines, especially if you have windows servers.

Come on now. That's not true at all. And the way jilly described it, it sounds like these 3 machines will be stand alones. Most churches don't have need servers. Which would make it much easier to network them together than Windows boxes would be. Even if they did use a server, it's just as easy to connect a Mac to it as it would be a PC.

Macs will be slightly more expensive though.... but don't fear the Mac. In a small environment like this, they will be much easier to use and network together. They're much more suited for folks who aren't as computer suave as well. Virus/spyware risk is much much less too. And if you happen to have users with special needs(visual/hearing disabilities), Macs are the best available option.

Let me know if you'd like additional Mac info....

[kaplin42]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Come on now. That's not true at all. And the way jilly described it, it sounds like these 3 machines will be stand alones. Most churches don't have need servers. Which would make it much easier to network them together than Windows boxes would be. Even if they did use a server, it's just as easy to connect a Mac to it as it would be a PC.

Macs will be slightly more expensive though.... but don't fear the Mac. In a small environment like this, they will be much easier to use and network together. They're much more suited for folks who aren't as computer suave as well. Virus/spyware risk is much much less too. And if you happen to have users with special needs(visual/hearing disabilities), Macs are the best available option.

Let me know if you'd like additional Mac info....

I was referring to an AD enviroment with the macs, in which case its entirely true. If its just the 3 machines, in a workgroup enviroment, then yeah, there is no differance really between mac and PC. I doubt mac networking is easier then PC, its not like either would be hard.

As far as user accessibility, Vista is wonderful with it, again, I don't know that mac is any better. Vista makes it incredibly easy to resize the font, or any other number of items that can help a "special needs" user.

Virus and spyware issue, yeah, you probably wont have as much to worry about on a mac. Which, don't take to mean that Macs have stronger security, it just means that no one designs viruses for macs or for safari due to market share.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Let me know if you'd like additional Mac info....

Do you have an intel Mac with XP loaded?
I have a general question for ya, if you do.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Jilly

For some reason, we are all scared of Macs.

Its not that anyone is scared of Macs..

It is:

A: They are outrageously expensive for what you get..

B: The majority of software makers do not make software for them, or you have to get a third party/MS app to run it..

C: They are not as upgradeable as PC's..

--------------

One reason why I believe you will never see Macs as mainstream is because the company and their fanboys do not want it.. Cost will have to go down on the machines and the company will lose profit per unit.. Also if Macs were mainstream hackers would go after them with viruses and worms and totally kill the image of Mac.. Also owning a Mac would not be trendy for the gay coffee shop crowd if everyone else owned one..

[kaplin42]

Originally Posted by Valiant

Its not that anyone is scared of Macs..

It is:

A: They are outrageously expensive for what you get..

B: The majority of software makers do not make software for them, or you have to get a third party/MS app to run it..

C: They are not as upgradeable as PC's..

--------------

One reason why I believe you will never see Macs as mainstream is because the company and their fanboys do not want it.. Cost will have to go down on the machines and the company will lose profit per unit.. Also if Macs were mainstream hackers would go after them with viruses and worms and totally kill the image of Mac.. Also owning a Mac would not be trendy for the gay coffee shop crowd if everyone else owned one..

There could be tons more added, but this is not a mac vs PC thread. I know I instigated it, but Jilly just wanted to know about dells. So I will leave it at that.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by kaplin42

I was referring to an AD enviroment with the macs, in which case its entirely true. If its just the 3 machines, in a workgroup enviroment, then yeah, there is no differance really between mac and PC. I doubt mac networking is easier then PC, its not like either would be hard.

As far as user accessibility, Vista is wonderful with it, again, I don't know that mac is any better. Vista makes it incredibly easy to resize the font, or any other number of items that can help a "special needs" user.

Virus and spyware issue, yeah, you probably wont have as much to worry about on a mac. Which, don't take to mean that Macs have stronger security, it just means that no one designs viruses for macs or for safari due to market share.

Why would a church use an AD server? And besides, I manage several hundred Macs that authenticate solely to AD, and I can tell you that it's not difficult to implement.

And if you take 3 out of the box Vista machines, and I have 3 out of the box OS X machines, I assure you that networking the Macs will be easier.

And yes, Vista does well with user accessibility. Don't take this as a bashing of Windows or Vista. I use both, and I like both. But OS X will still be hands down better for special needs situations. The built in options it has for this type of thing rival some of the better 3rd party software you'd buy for PCs.

I'm not saying that Mac would be better for jilly's situation. I just wanted to give her another option. Depending on what they're wanting to do with the machines, 3 Dell boxes might be much better for her situation. I just wanted to give her that info so she didn't have a fear of Mac without justification. I hate to see people afraid of some form of technology simply because they don't know any better.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Valiant

Its not that anyone is scared of Macs..

It is:

A: They are outrageously expensive for what you get..

B: The majority of software makers do not make software for them, or you have to get a third party/MS app to run it..

C: They are not as upgradeable as PC's..

--------------

One reason why I believe you will never see Macs as mainstream is because the company and their fanboys do not want it.. Cost will have to go down on the machines and the company will lose profit per unit.. Also if Macs were mainstream hackers would go after them with viruses and worms and totally kill the image of Mac.. Also owning a Mac would not be trendy for the gay coffee shop crowd if everyone else owned one..

Thanks for contributing the generic rehashed stereotypical misinformation on Macs. It is incorrect, but this isn't the place for the debate.

[kaplin42]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Why would a church use an AD server? And besides, I manage several hundred Macs that authenticate solely to AD, and I can tell you that it's not difficult to implement.

And if you take 3 out of the box Vista machines, and I have 3 out of the box OS X machines, I assure you that networking the Macs will be easier.

And yes, Vista does well with user accessibility. Don't take this as a bashing of Windows or Vista. I use both, and I like both. But OS X will still be hands down better for special needs situations. The built in options it has for this type of thing rival some of the better 3rd party software you'd buy for PCs.

I'm not saying that Mac would be better for jilly's situation. I just wanted to give her another option. Depending on what they're wanting to do with the machines, 3 Dell boxes might be much better for her situation. I just wanted to give her that info so she didn't have a fear of Mac without justification. I hate to see people afraid of some form of technology simply because they don't know any better.

I don't agree with everything you said, but the over all point I will agree with. If its a small enviroment, you could do just as well going mac as you could PC.

I am curious to know why you think out of the box, connecting 3 macs is far easier then 3 vista machines though. And this is genuine curiousity.