11/29   I haven't bought a PC in years.  How does the quality of Dell, Compaq
        and Gateway PCs compare?  That is, how long does a brandnew machine
        last until something breaks.  Any other major brands I missed?  I'm
        buying a low-end desktop.  Thanks for any info.
        \_ Other brands: Sony, HP, Micron (now "MPC"), eMachines.  Try CNET.
           \_ HP == Compaq, eMachines == Gateway.
              \_ They are still different "brands". i.e. at the least, the
                 cases are somewhat different at least for HP <-> Compaq.
                 Also I know the "HP" brand ones offer AMD but not sure
                 about Compaq. I have no idea what their marketing strategy
                 is though, if any. Having two brands competing in the same
                 exact market segments seems idiotic. Oh and apparently IBM
                 still produces desktop (business oriented) PCs.
        \_ You should just get a Dell if it's a desktop.  They are as good as
           anything else, and they're cheaper to configure.  All PC vendors
           use commodity hardware and re-use RMA parts, so there isn't much
           difference in reliability.  -tom
           \_ Dell uses nonstandard power supplies. If your psu fries and
              you want to replace it you're out of luck unless you hunt down
              a $20 conversion cable or spend a lot on a "real" dell PSU.
              The most standard "PC" out of the bunch is probably emachines,
              although the PSU is a micro they are still relatively easily
              obtained. Everything else (including the MB if you are so
              inclined) can easily be swapped out of these el cheapo machines.
              If you want to replace parts yourself consider
              getting a white box system from Fry's. -wiliamc
           \_ "cheaper to configure": this is not always true. There are also
              a couple other factors one might consider. One being that Dell
              has some proprietary differences for no good reason so e.g. you
              can't just go buy a power supply if the Dell one dies, you have
              to get a Dell-specific one. Another factor is others may have
              a design (case etc.) you like more. Another factor could be that
              Dell is Intel-only and this entails a price markup for the same
              performance.
              \_ Typically, Dell charges about half what the other major
                 vendors do for changing RAM, disk, video cards, etc, from
                 the base models.  I've never seen an example of things
                 going the other way.  Worrying about Intel vs. AMD is
                 strictly for the slashdot crowd, to 99% of users there's
                 no difference.  -tom
                 \_ I'm saying Intel generally costs more for the same
                    performance. Do you dispute that? Worrying about changing
                    a bunch of stuff is more a Slashdot thing IMO. HP appears
                    to offer a sufficient selection of ready-to-ship versions.
         \_ I should point out there was never a "Dude, you're getting an IBM!"
            ad.
            \_ But there was a "no one got fired for getting IBM" which is
               almost as bad, in a spineless corporate sort of way.
               \_ Appealing to business cowardice is kinda funny.  "Buy our
                  stuff or you might get fired!"
        \_ Thanks for all the tip so far.  I just saw the Gateway 3200S that
           has an Intel Celeron 2.66GHz.  Does anyone know roughly what clock
           rate of a Pentium 4 processor is a Celeron 2.66GHz equivalent to,
           performance-wise?  --- OP
           \_ The obvious response is "At what tasks?".  For general internet
              use it's plenty.  Probably pretty good for 3D games, but crappy
              for stuff that needs a big cache.
              \_ How about editing a huge Excel spreadsheet?  That's what my
                 wife does with my current PC.  Let's say there's a lot of RAM
                 and swapping is not a factor.  --- OP
                 \_ Just editing, you'll be fine.  Trying to do big operations
                    or computation is asking for pain.  That's just what cache
                    is best for.