Sony or Dell - Christmas?

[drs72]

Hi, recently I have overcome Apple brainwashing and realized that there was little reason for me to actually buy a Macbook as I am in high school and don't need to spend every last cent i have on a computer that I might have some compatibility trouble with. So I have narrowed the choice down to a 1,000 dollar dell or a 1,000 dollar sony (at least 500 dollars less than the apple after software considering i already have the software for the pc's and don't need to change the configuration very much). So simply, should I get the Dell or Sony and why? (And if you want to chip in your two cents about apple too your more than welcome). (PS...the dell is xps m1330) thanx to everyone :)

[PrntRhd]

What do you plan use the laptop for? What applications are you going to run?
How much battery life do you need?
What model Sony are you comparing that Dell to?

Both companies have "baggage" to cause one pause in purchasing stuff from them:

SonyBMG had the rootkit issue where PCs were damaged, and tried denying responsibility until several state attorney generals filed charges. Sony produced defective lithium batteries that caused overheating and fires.

Dell outsourced their "consumer" support to third world countries but gives business accounts domestic support. Dell MyWay software is reputed to phone home, but they deny it is spyware.

[drs72]

Basically, I plan to use it for school work and leisure/fun. I will be using the Internet for myspace among other things and willl mainly download windows live messenger, microsoft office home and student 2007, mcaffee - 3 years, itunes (for my ipod). I'll upload pictures, etc. Stuff like that. No gaming, no photoshop. My old Toshiba had 1and 1/2 hours battery life and I would like an improvement (it died due to a faulty screen). And I am undecided about which Sony to compare it to. Any model 1,000 dollars and under. Which company has cooler design? Which has less problems with their computers? Which comes with some really cool features?

[azzey]

Well, I'm not exactly up to date with the very newest laptops, but I have a Dell XPS M1330 that I bought last September, and I have had absolutely zero problems with it.

I was quite concerned when I bought it that I would have problems with it (considering Dell's reputation at the time) but it had absolutely exceeded my expectations in every direction. The beauty with Dell machines is that you can customize them to whatever your specific needs and budget are. For example, I value gaming and performance, so I got a dedicated video card, 2GB of RAM, and a faster hard drive. I also payed $2000 for it.

I have also had experience with Dell customer support. About a month ago I ordered a backpack, mouse, and flash drive from them. The mouse and flash drive came fine in one box, but the second box contained a 350GB external hard drive. I called, and they immediately sent out the backpack and let me keep the hard drive. No complaints here.

Maybe somebody else can talk about their Sony experience?

Cheers.