Don't even consider buying a HP its not worth it.

To hell with both of them build your own.  I have been blinded by ignorance in the past and have spent too much on a Dell PC.  What i have learned from the last 3 years is how to build my own. 

Next time (probably in the spring of 09) I will start building my own from scratch.  I priced it out  and for a really, really good system im looking at about  $1600.  compared to my 3 yr old 2500$ Dell.  Dont be intimidated by the build your own PC.... there is so much info on the web that you can be walked through in no time......

Remember one thing.  www.Newegg.com = More money in your pocket.

Edit : Spelling

get a dell, my new $750 one can run MOST games at the highest graphic settings without any performance issues

Originally posted by rasgrix

get a dell, my new $750 one can run MOST games at the highest graphic settings without any performance issues

Aye, and newer Dells are moving away from the proprietory crap so they will be easier to upgrade when you need to.

Of course I always prefer to build my own with parts I get off of Newegg.  But if you want a pre built one from either Dell or HP definitely go with Dell.  They build nice computers. 

If you do not mind refurbished you might want to also check out their outlet here - www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/desktops  Sometimes some good deals can be found there.

I'm a long time HP fan, but have since moved away from HP due to poor service and cheap products.  While I don't have nearly as many dells at my office I've come to love them more than HP.

Dell usually has some nice online coupons you can find with a little web searching.  HP also, but they tend not to be anywhere as good.

Here is one I found with a quick search.  www.couponmountain.com/Dell-coupons-deals.html

These coupon sites can be a real pain in the ass to navigate, but as an end user you can save some big money if put a little effort in.

I never go with Dell , i work in the PC fixing biz and i will say a total of 80% of what we fix is Dells, now not all of them are the dells issues but the users or a software, but a good portion are on dells side, be it faulty hard drives, over heating or simple fans breaking, anyway never liked dell.

My vote is HP.

But for PC's build your own you will always make out better. Building a new one myself soon, cant wait. It will be my WAR PC.

Dells are only good for laptops. Why? Good support, decent specs, thats it.

For Desktop PC's, Dells are shite. Build your own, if you dont know what to buy, make a new thread with your location (EU/US/AUS) and your budget and people are more then likely to dig up a good spec for you. Also list anything in your current system you can reuse, such as harddrives, DVD drives, monitors, speaks, sound cards.

Originally posted by SamMc247
Ok. I am looking to buy a new rig for me as i am a casual gamer, but do not want to be lagging constantly during PvP or when switching Districts [called different things in different games]. I have looked to customize a pc @ HP and Dell bcuz i want a pc from one of the 2 companies. but it seems i can get alot better RAM and Video Card etc. @ HP for a lower price than a dell with not as good of mem and so forth. Am i just paying for the dell name [kind of like nike] or am i missing something? BTW any suggestions on buying a rig from one of theses two places? about $450.00-$500.00 budget. Thank you all for your help!!!!! Most Appreciated!

imo all prebuilts are junk. they use the cheapest components possible and charge a premium. also you don't

get a copy of the operating system anymore. then there's the fact that none of them really make a "gaming pc".  just build your own. trust me it's easy and you save money and get exactly what you want!

Originally posted by kryten

imo all prebuilts are junk. they use the cheapest components possible and charge a premium. also you don't

get a copy of the operating system anymore. then there's the fact that none of them really make a "gaming pc".  just build your own. trust me it's easy and you save money and get exactly what you want!

What he said. Many computerstores have a custom PC also where you can change the parts for better stuff if you want to. But it is not hard to build your own either.

My recomendations:

Motherboard: A-BIT (The japanese, not the cheap fatality cards), MSI

Processor: Intels Core2 3.0 ghz is very good priced.

Graphic card: Inno3D, Gainward, Sparkle or Club-3D. The Nvidia 9800 is just dropping in price a lot.

Memory: Kingston and Samsung makes the best but as long as you have warranty you are good. 4 GB

Harddrive: Seagate or western digital.

And usually this will still be cheaper than a dell. Also the A-bit cards have a easy to use clocking software including, the Core2duo don´t need any extra fan to be clocked up to 3,5ghz or so. Just be careful of ESD (electro static discharge) if you build it yourself. And yes, the stuff have instructions on how to do everything. Good luck :)

I got a HP laptop it's superb as for PC you should consider having a custom made don't go for DELL or HP fixed racks you will just have problems. I fix computers and mostly it's fixed big brand racks which has problems hardly.. DELL is defently a top on the list but then again it sells a lot so no wonder we get tons of them in return to fix.

For laptops, I had both Dell and HP and Dell are much better. I have an Inspiron E1505 as my personal and my work is Latitdue D630. I love both.

For desktops, I'd definitely build your own. If you are nervous about it your other option is to get friendly with the IT boys at work. One of them normally builds PC and will probably give you some advice and maybe help you out. It's nowhere near as difficult as it seems.

http://www.tomshardware.com/ and http://www.extremetech.com/ can probably help you out for ideas and methods. There are plenty of other sites that give you hints and tips.

Originally posted by Osprey22

Don't even consider buying a HP its not worth it.

In my experience HP is the better of the 2 companies.  Dell you are mainly paying for the brand.  After looking through multiple HP and Dell Cases, I really don't see much divergence in the cheapo parts.  The only difference is HP doesn't mark up as much for the cheapo parts.    Also Dell uses its own motherboards which can turn into a hastle.  With both companies, the PSU is the main limiter and usually needs to be replaced.

Personally, I like HP customer support better.  Even though they are from India, they are very polite.  Also they don't seem to be as caring for replacing and entire system unlike some more horrible companies.

Just remember, no company except a used computer dealer can outdo pricing compared to building it yourself.  You are usually looking at 200-300% of the cost. 

With Dell you aren't paying for the quality of the box...because if you're anything more than a casual websurfer/work pc they are pure crap.

What you pay Dell for is the service contract. They probably have the best service out of all the pc sellers out there.

Their price is about the same. Ok since design is almost same, and it is hard to compare as different ppl have different style.

But in my experience, my friend bought an Hp Pavillion and it have tons of HP's extra stuff. If you go to Start >>  Program it have a long list of stuff. It included so many useless third-party stuff for common user that dont even use it.  But for me my Dell Inspiron 530 it have some Dell's stuff not many as HP.

Conclusion ---- I was thinking why the PC is getting so cheap , because they  installed all the third-party crap for us. So they can get money of licenses fee from other company. It is like they selling us a piece of beta PC. Well i recommend DELL, not because of their price(although Dell cheaper if you compare by price/performance ratio)