<p>My last PC was a Dell. </p>
<p>I will never own another one. Or PC, for that matter.</p>
<p>I bought the computer with a 90 days, same as cash credit card. Paid for one month with a check, the next with a bill payment online. Couldn’t understand why they didn’t take my payment off the next month’s invoice…turns out that even though I had a cancelled check endorsed by Dell, the customer service department couldn’t figure out where the payment was applied. Instead of them nicely taking the charge off my bill which was paid in full, I dealt with customer service representatives for hours on end for the next 8 months. I got threatening emails from Dell each month, too. It didn’t ruin my credit, because I was on top of it - but it wasn’t until a strongly worded letter written to Michael Dell did this problem get resolved. </p>
<p>I bought the extended warranty, which was helpful. At about day 91, my backlight went out in my flat screen monitor. Supposedly, a Dell flat screen monitor…that’s what they charged me for. Found out they substituted another manufacturer’s monitor as their product, but wouldn’t honor the warranty. I had to put up my credit card for collateral to get a new monitor. </p>
<p>Hard drive failure within 1 year - no Carbonite backup system available, then, either - so all that data was lost. </p>
<p>2nd Hard drive failure about 15 months later. Yup, lost all the data. Again. I had a backup drive, so I was able to get the data back with a bit of effort. </p>
<p>Every time I had to call a Customer service agent for tech support, it was an exercise in frustration. Yes, I have tried that. Yes, I have plugged in my machine. Yes, I know how to turn the machine on. We would walk through these endless repetitive steps to get nowhere.</p>
<p>At least if I have a problem with APPLE I go to their store, they have a look-see and I am either on my way, or leave it with a genius for a couple of days. Way better. I don’t usually want to strangle someone after these in-person encounters. ;)</p>
<p>All computers have planned obsolescence built in. I prefer to deal with Apple. At least</p>