[citation][nom]NuclearShadow[/nom]With more and more people becoming computer literate[/citation]
if people are getting more computer literate, why is the Apple user-base on the rise? heh
Anyways. Despite what you think of DELL, it offers highly customizable (compare them to any other OEM) computers in 1 neat little package. I am also not going to get into the discussion of their tech support. I've read dozens, if not hundreds both happy and angry responses about DELL and it seems like everyone is oblivious to one simple fact. If you are not experiencing an obvious hardware failure-related problem, it is nearly impossible to track down the real problem without having the actual system in front of you. It's difficult enough troubleshooting business machines, which have a very limited set of software installed on it. Now think of the typical end-user who has a dizzying amount of stuff installed. First of all, the user will never be able to provide all of the information a tech support person would need, so the tech guy has to start making guesses. 99% of all end users will call in and say 'stuff doesnt work' or 'system doesn't boot'
Great... there's like 40 different reasons why the OS wouldn't boot and 39 of them are caused by the user him/herself.
That's on the topic of tech support.
As for the competing companies, like ASUS, MSI, Sager, etc. I like their products, i really do. I tried getting an ASUS laptop. I had to spend a few days searching for a distributor that would allow me to customize a laptop. There were none in Canada. The ones I did find didn't inspire much confidence.
I *could* pick up a barebones laptop, pop components into it and go on. Only problem is that no computer shop will give you a 3+ year warranty on parts. Laptop components are more fragile than their desktop counterparts. Laptops are used on the road. Laptops are tossed around in the bags, cars, slid across tables, even dropped.
Laptop touchpads die from greasy fingers, harddrives die from abuse, the rest of components could malfunction from overheating (how many people put laptops on the bed or pillow, effectively blocking any air circulation under the laptop, where you have ram, wifi card, etc)
If your laptop touchpad dies 1.5 years after the purchase and you got the laptop from a store as a barebones kit, you have to hope that ASUS or MSI have some sort of an extended warranty and then find a way to get the laptop to them.
And finally. No matter how computer literate someone is, installing a CPU will be always beyond the reach of the majority of people out there. Either due to the lack of knowledge or lack of confidence ("what if i put this tiny thing wrong and it breaks?"). I deal with hundreds people in IT or software development industry and only a handful feel comfortable getting near the CPU.
The constantly-growing base of computer users comprises mainly of people who finally got comfortable with using their satellite/cable tv PVRs and microwaves and decided to start browsing "the internets"
Do you really think this vast group of people will go to some little shop and order some brand that theyve never seen? Be realistic.
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