[rescue] comapq or dell??

[Sheldon T. Hall]

Steve Sandau writes ...

> At work, we may have the opportunity/request to buy some hardware to
> emulate another location's setup. ...

[snip]

> We're supposed to buy Dell stuff. I think Compaq is better if one is
> *forced* to buy non-server servers.
>
> Opinions? No religious fervor, just statements of reliablility, options,
> warrantees, etc..

If it's just a test rig, why pay the premium exacted by any of the "name
brands?"  I've had no worse luck with stuff built from "white box" parts
than I have with computers from Dell or Compaq.  The "white box" stuff is
much more likely to be standard in both form-factor and connections, and
thus more easily replaceable down the road.

If you really have to choose Dell or Compaq, I'd go for the latter.  I've
found Dell's tech support to be useless, while a support chap at Compaq sent
me a bunch of "internal" CDs and books for some "legacy" machines.

OTOH, I've never bought a new computer, and, while I have experience with
warranty returns on parts, I have no experience with either Dell or Compaq
warranty service.  The closest I've come to "buying new" is a couple of DEC
servers a client bought for a project 10 years ago.  I still have the
computers, they still run, and they've never needed any hardware support.

-Shel