Dave,

I've bought Dell before and do not recommend them as a vendor because their support staff is overseas and is generally incompetent. Dell recognizes this by offering as an expensive option, US-based support.

The PC Magazine survey I wrote about has Dell near or at the bottom in terms of support and reliability.

The Dell specs are very good. However, I caution you that if you need Cisco VPN, that 64-bit Windows 7 operating system may be problematic. You would need to shift to Windows XP-emulation mode to use Cisco VPN driver, but that is only available with Windows 7 Ultimate, not Home Premium. If you have no need for VPN, please ignore this paragraph.

Someone recommended Micro Center. I also recommend Micro Center, especially their private-label PowerSpec brand equipment. (However, PowerSpec is only desktop PC's, not notebooks). My local Micro Center also has walk-in support-there is a PC expert there who's only function is to give (free) advice and also will look at your equipment-so there is "hands-on" support which I find very reassuring.

I bought on Amazon only because I knew what I wanted, the price and lack of sales tax was attractive, and am willing to take a chance on Asus support (again, that PC Magazine survey shows Asus with very good reliability and service).

The Asus I bought has most of the specs you list, except that it only has 4 GB SDRAM program memory. However, this is something that most users can add themselves.

 

Good points about Dell. I was thinking Dell originally, then got talked out of it, then got talked back into it. I think I read they have someone come to your house if you can not solve it over the phone. One thing I definitely do not have here in town is any support beyond say Best Buy. I'm going to look up Asus and see what they have. Thanks.

VPN is a non-issue. My VPN is a magazine in the bathroom.

 

Here are some links to those reader surveys:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/211081/2010...y_desktops.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368154,00.asp#

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368149,00.asp#

 

Who do you believe.... CNET rated Asus support 4 on a scale of 10.

I am still leaning towards a desktop tower since desktop space is not issue. As for reliability and support Apple wins in every survey I've read. But for windows users, it seems to really be a toss-up when it comes to desktops. No one stands out from the rest.

I didn't see an Asus desktop that ranked high except for their all-in-one and I've ruled that style out as well.

 

How about Consumer Reports? Here is their latest on desktop computer reliability.
(note- eMachines is owned by Gateway)

Apple has been the most reliable brand of desktop computers, while Gateway has been among the more repair-prone brands. That's what we found out when we asked more than 30,900 readers who bought a desktop computer between 2006 and 2010 about their experiences.

This graph shows the percentage of brands that have ever been repaired or had a serious problem. We've adjusted the data to eliminate differences due to age or whether the computer was covered by an extended warranty. Differences of less than 4 points aren't meaningful.

Models within a brand might vary, and changes in design or manufacture might affect reliability. Still, choosing a brand with a good repair history can improve your odds of getting a reliable model.

Desktop computers

Apple 12
eMachines 17
Compaq 18
Dell 19
HP 20
Gateway 23

 

The earlier survey hits the key about Dell.... the folks convincing me it's good are "business" users (which did rank it high) vs "home" users who put it at the bottom. BIG difference in how the two markets view it.

Damn, now I am back to square one..... for a brand.

 

Some of the survey samples for specific brands are way too small to be considered any good IMHO. i.e., I think Systemax ranked 2nd with only 50 some reporting. Anything less than 700 IMHO is questionable. That's why I do like CR but as you can see from their data, only Gateway looks really bad and Apple looks good. Not much difference between the others.

Even if I can't see a clear leader, I at least have a better idea of what I want.

 

We use Dell exclusively at work. They do give us good service, mainly because we are a major customer. I asked one of our computer techs about the fact that 2-3 years ago, Dell sold thousands of business PC's with faulty capacitors. Our company was not concerned because they were quickly replaced, under warranty.
Pity the poor owner of home Dell equipment.

 

dave, it's business PRODUCTS vs home PRODUCTS that makes the difference. as a former business owner, I have sometimes gotten the DELL business flyers.....but not recently.

for the 40th time, take a half day and your friggin truck over to the Micro Center. the refurb products (like my horizontal desktop TOWER) are DELL, compaq or HP products that originally came from BIZ users.

VPN could help for access from your garage

 

Dennis, my old company is exclusively Dell too. My tech friends who work there use Apple at home and Dell at work, so they are covered nicely. I know Gene and others here were not high on Dell either, as home users. Where's the darts and a blindfold?