Why Dell? WHY?

[Foxbat]

Apparently Dell has decided to abandon its established model lines, and have adapted a mobile phone model that at this point, just sounds like they’re aping Apple.

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Dell XPS is dead — Dell just rebranded its entire PC lineup

Classic Dell brands like XPS and Inspiron are getting new names

www.tomsguide.com

 

[dishdude]

Getting rid of the XPS name is dumb, dumb, dumb.

 

[navychop]

Having power supplies with the same connectors but different pinout inputs / outputs is DUMB.

 

[dishdude]

Having power supplies with the same connectors but different pinout inputs / outputs is DUMB.

Dell used the same connector and pinout for ages before switching to USB-C. So nice finally having everything rechargeable on the same standardized connector!

 

[harshness]

Apparently Dell has decided to abandon its established model lines, and have adapted a mobile phone model that at this point, just sounds like they’re aping Apple.

Dell is struggling with their commitment to Intel CPUs (as Intel struggled with reliability issues with 13th and 14th-generation chips). In combination with Microsoft's Windows 11 malfeasance, life hasn't been entirely sunny since Spring 2024 when the stock price topped out at $160 (it closed under $115 on Friday).

 

[arlo]

Dell schmell. I like them. I fix them. One thing that cheesed me at work. A server blade puked one day. Bad PSU.
Ended up snipping the mobo connector from the Dell psu, splicing it to a robust ATX supply. And it lived like that for eternity.
Did the same for at least two other desktop pc's. Proprietary form factors suck. And all of that Dell crap-ware they and others slap in. Sheesh! How many times has a customer come to me with "I got a new Dell. Can you wipe all of that Dell junk, please?". Including that space hog recovery partition they so uncannily hide in plain sight.

Windows? Don't get me started. I'm busy trying to get Entware working on a router. A <shudder> Linux router.
When's the last time a Windows person sat typing line after line and installing dependencies and adding scripts and this and that and this and that? Just to get a simple program running. And THEN. Where the heck is the program after the Advil is depleted? I rest my case, Your Honor.
-sh rxvx | grep --io -bing -bow -bing ./ THIS! lol

 

[Foxbat]

Dell schmell. I like them. I fix them. One thing that cheesed me at work. A server blade puked one day. Bad PSU.

I had purchased a refurbished Dell Precision tower back in my Folding days. Didn’t realize that Dell had used a proprietary PS (non-ATX) connection when I had to replace the Power Supply after a couple of years. Fortunately, we had a couple of Precision towers at work that had been decommissioned, so I could replace it on the cheap.

HP is my PC of preference. The collection of DEC and Compaq engineers over the years have produced some great desktops. When I left, the desktops being deployed were the Elite 800 Desktops in the ESFF (I was more the server guy, so I’m not sure the exact designation). I remember that they were easy to get into to upgrade the storage and RAM.

I went through a Dell server phase with the 2600-series. Those were well-built and lasted forever. The 2800-series on the other hand, were cheap. They flexed and the diagnostic screen would lose pixels or just totally go out. I switched to the HP ProLiant D and M servers after that and never looked back.

 

[navychop]

The best PC is -no- PC.

 

[FTA4PA]

IMHO, the best PC is one you build yourself. Only components that you want and no bloated software. Just my two cents!

 

[harshness]

The best PC is -no- PC.

That's like saying that the best hunting dog is no hunting dog.

You should carefully define what a "PC" is. I would also present some decisively better alternatives before making such a statement.

I could easily accept an argument that there is no great off-the-shelf PC and possibly even mail-ordered custom PCs.

Back in the day (2017), one of my employer's departments decided that they knew better and would go out and buy a Dell server and workstations for CAD on their own (I had used CDW in the past to acquire HP and Lenovo hardware).

As it came from Dell, the server OS would need to be installed by myself because Dell didn't offer the configuration they wanted (Windows Server 2018 on a 1TB SSD with a 4TB HDD RAID as long-term storage). How does that come to pass?

The workstations came with mobile Quadro M4000 graphics adapters plugged into their secondary m.2 slots.

When Windows 11 appears 57 months later, the workstations don't qualify to install it.

The buyers didn't know what they were getting but were choosing almost entirely on the Dell name.

The server is still running but the workstations have all fallen by the wayside. I may try to install Linux on one of the workstations but I'd probably replace the m.2 display adapter with a more modern display card.