i bought a laptop for school last year so i could take it to school. i have had nothing but problems with it. first, i got the blue screen of death. it was a software problem and not a hardware problem...so dell said they couldnt do anything for me but all i had to do was format the harddrive and reload vista...this was about 4 months after purchase.

NOW!!!! my computer wont even start. i cannot even get to the "DELL" bios screen. it just sits there and fades in these colored lines until it turns completely white. apparently this is a COMMON PROBLEM with my model. WTF???!!!! thats bull. my dell desktop has only had the hard drive die once in the 7 years that i have owned. it slightly less powerful as my laptop and yet it is 3x as fast.

so now i gotta call dell again.

 

so vista sucks i hear?

 

I've been on my inspiron since christmas...no problems with it at all

 

lol well your current problem is definitely hardware failure. i maintain PCs/laptops for my job right now and from what you describe, FUBAR

 

Vista = Microsoft's attempt at a MAC = incompatible with everything = you don't want it

Dell = the most annoying and time-consuming people to talk to on the phone EVER

Try checking out www.d-a-l.com
I completely fixed our home desktop with the help of these guys. They know their stuff, just give a couple days after posting for a mod to reply.
Best of luck...

 

this is why i rock the macbook pro, i had hp's all my life before and now hate them after using the mac for a year

 

My parents have a Dell desktop and it sucks. It's actually in the shop right now being fixed. I have an HP laptop and am happy with it. Never used a Mac enough to be impressed with them, but if I ever decide to get another laptop I will defiently look into them.

 

Ive had my cheapo Dell for 6 years now...not one single problem...ever.

Vista is your problem, not the computer...Vista blowz. almost everyone I know that runs it has had problems.

 

PEBKAC!

*snickers*

 

haven't had a problem with dell or vista..

 

got off the phone before i could get a shipping confirmation number to ship out my computer (had to go to work). but we came to the conclusion that either my motherboard is fried, my video card had a melt down, or my LCD screen is broken. i have a case number and i will call again tomorrow to ship it out.

now dell is going to take my computer, melt it down, and rebuild it from its scraps and ship it back to me in about 6 months (being sarcastic, but it takes forever for dell to do stuff)

i kinda wished i got a mac book pro...i have yet to talk to anyone that has had a problem with them and the new os.

also, vista is extremely slow unless you ahve a desktop with 4 gb of ram and 3.0+ghz of processing. it just blows, but i dont wanna get rid of it cause of directx 10. i play games and xp doesnt support Dx10

 

bummer dude, hopefully they get it back to you soon. I have been rocking my dell desktop for 4+ years now with Xp and the thing rocks, it's pretty fast and only had a major problem this last year, and since then I have been backing up to an external hard drive so I don't loose all my crap again.
3.4ghz single core with hyper threading, 3gb of ram, and 128mb video card(only thing really holding my system back).

 

yea, my desktop is a Dimension 8300 with 2.8gzh single core Pentium 4 w/ HT, 4 gigs ram, 128 mb video card that i need to upgrade so i can use my wide screen monitor (i use it for my laptop while i am at school and use it on my desktop while im off.)

o and to contribute to the mayhem, i need a new Head unit in the mustang cause my current one is starting to fail (the source button closes the face, the close button turns down the volume button, the "-" volume button turns up the volume, the "+" volume button doesnt do anything, forward changes the source, the backward changes the sound (bass, trebble, etc))...and i need to complete my exhaust cause the guy i take it to says he wont pass it with dumps but doesnt care about no cats? lol. AND, i need a retune on my custom tune cause i only average 13mpg driving like a grandma mixed highway/city....

 

I dunno. I'm on a laptop with Vista it runs pretty quick.

I've got a Core2 Duo and 4 gigs of ram on a 250 gig HD..

I play some games..

The graphics card in this thing is shitty though..integrated peice of crap..

The next comp I'll buy will be built by myself and will def be a desktop.

 

As far as my Dell desktop goes, E510. I've had only 2 real problems with the actual computer. First, my 19" flatscreen died. (white screen of death). Dell sent my a new one in 3 days. Shipped the broke one back. No Problem. Then my DVD started acting stupid. My DVD RW was working ok. We had to haggle a bit over the phone with the customer support, cause I no understandy what the fcky you be talk abouty, They wanted my to try reformatting my hardrive. LOL, Not gonna happen. I got too much **** on here to try to save, They finally got the message and sent out a tech nerd with a new DVD rom. he was in and out in 10 mins. Everything working great now. My only complaint is tech support can't speak FKING ENGLISH, LOL, They were still nice though even when my wife or me wasn't.

Not sure how their laptop service is though..

 

I had to have the mother board replaced on my Inspiron soon after getting it because something was wrong with the sound input. Havent really had any problems other then that. But I probably wont buy another Dell after this.

 

i have a Core 2 Duo (2.2 ghz, fastest one available at the time), 2 gigs of ram, a 120 gig hard drive, and an Invidia 128mb graphics card. i have next to nothing on my 120 ghg HD. i dont know why it takes so long for it to boot and run period. i keep all of my files on a 500 gig external. Even that is backed up on another 500 gig external that i keep in my closet.

it ran pretty cool (55 degrees C) for a compact laptop.

I may upgrade the RAM after this fiasco is over. i have heard vista home basic only sees 3 gigs even though there may be 4 gigs in

 

That's true unless you have SP1. As far as everything taking forever, it's because vista runs everything under the sun at once. All the laptops we sell (circuit city) have so much stuff they run all the time that you don't need, it's not even funny. They have a touch screen function running...you probably don't have a touch screen. Best thing I can tell you to do to is go through your registry and running programs and clean them out. You can make it run about 25-40% faster by turning off unneeded things.

I hate vista.

 

No, not just if you have SP1. you have to have 64 bit edition, 32 bits can only recognize 3.5 gigs of ram. I have XP pro 64bit, running 4 gigs of ram.

 

well...i hand it to dell for their Tech Support. i was on and off the phone in an hour. took so long cause i had some minor discrepancies in my information that needed to be resolved (current phone number, ordered through my company and not me). but they should send a tech out with a new motherboard and new video card tomorrow or monday!!!!

and nofire, you will need to tell me which programs i dont need at start up. i tried that once and i crashed my computer. lol.

 

I had a problem with my dell's motherboard when if irst got it, kep freezing up ring 0.

anyways, they sent out a tech, he swapped my motherboard, and i havent had a problem since.