how bad is dell... 110

   It's greatly dependent on what you buy, and what era it came from.

   Example: From what I've read on this group, and what I've heard from others in the IT field, Dell's "consumer" grade systems and "support" are little better than Gateway.

   Their "business" tier systems, particularly the Labreastude C and D series portables, seem to be a much different story. My own laptop, a Labreastude C640, replaced an older Labreastude CP-233XT that I had owned for at least five years.

   I never had any trouble with either one. The few times I did need to ask a question of the support folks, the response was quick and helpful, always provided by someone who was clearly a native of the U.S. and usually located at Round Rock, TX.

   My current Labreastude is under Dell Gold warranty support until September of this year. It's an off-lease unit that I bought from a Dell reseller on Ebay. So far, it has proven to be a real workhorse. I will add that, when I did call the Gold Support line once, the person I got routed to was in the States. No India routing at all.

   Given this, it all seems to come down to "You get what you pay for." This is true in any field, especially that of computing. I'd love to own a Dolch or similar 'mil-spec' ruggedized portable, but I don't want to spend $3K and up for it.

   As to what Dell is putting up in your area -- Could be anything from a simple distribution center to a full-blown manufacturing plant. Keep an eye on it, and ask around.

   And, if you decide you want to buy a Dell, look at the high-end stuff first (the 'Professional Workstation' line for the desktop, Labreastudes for the laptops).

   Keep the peace(es).

-- Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Insbreastute. (Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR, kyrrin (a-t) bluefeathertechd=o=tcalm -- www.bluefeathertech.com "If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped with surreal ports?"