Dell

Maybe.  Dell isn\’t as plagued as some of the other brands with quality and engineering problems.  Theirs is more a matter of overall cost and support.  It can be frustrating to many US based customers to deal withthe Indian support centers that aren\’t always staffed with technically knowledgable employees.

Most call centers use scripting software that they are reading step by step to get to possible answers.  Consider that anyone with sufficiaent knowledge will be working for themsleves, or in an IT center, not answering phones from funny speaking Americans that are easily frustrated when you try to help them.

Dell shares the same problem that all name brand computers have in that your warranty with is with them alone and is usually limited to one year or less (some as litle as 60 days).  Local built computers use components that have individual manufacturer warranties that range between 1, 3, and 5 years.  Go to Seagate with a hard drive that came in your Dell and they will politely point you back to Dell and giggle after you hang up.

Another shared problem is proprietary cases, motherboads, and power suplies.  Once upon a time everyone worked towards interoperability, and common hardware platforms.  These days all brands have at least some computers, usually the cheapest brands at the box stores, that have non standard power supplies, motherboards, and cases.  You need a replacement, it has to be a like model at usually 3 times the price of a standard part.