[mrguyorama]

That's way cheaper than it used to be. I wonder if that means their computers are just less likely to fall apart.

I have a 2012 Dell Inspiron sitting next to me as a server. It was a pretty good machine, though never my daily driver. Main complaint is that replacing anything (in my case the hard drive) requires removing everything out of the plastic shell, there is no drive bay door like on my similar vintage HP.

Meanwhile the next year's group got about 10 Dell inspiron laptops of the new 2013ish redesign, and I've never seen a lower quality laptop. Each and every one needed to be completely replaced at least once. Screws were just falling out of the case because the build quality was so bad.

For reference, the warranty on these laptops was so good (at about a 200-300 dollar price tag) that the Dell representatives told us the day before it expired we should throw our computers down a flight of stairs to get new ones

[want2know]

Dell computers are very easy to open. Desktops even don't need screws. Laptops might have some screws but that's about it.

That is also how they keep repair costs low.

I always think they are better designed than Apple computers and today they even look nice.

[chronogram]

I’m not familiar with Inspiron devices. I am however surprised that you could get such a level of warranty for those. I thought they were the cheaper ones. I haven’t had to use my Latitude’s warranty yet just like I never had to use my ThinkPad’s warranty throughout its 8 year life, so that should definitely help reduce warranty costs.

[mrguyorama]

At the time these devices were purchased, they were not necessarily cheaper. They were well over $2000