Petals
- Comment
I havent had this desktop for a full month yet but Ive been using it daily for the past 3 weeks so I thought Id write a review. Should anything change, I will update this. At the present, it runs quietly and its small size is so nice. I have it on my table as opposed to on the floor. Its assembled in Mexico. I was under the impression that Dell assembled their computers in the U.S. and that was a point in their favor for me. To learn otherwise is not a good thing. I dont know how well things are built in Mexico so that doesnt give me any assurance as to longevity or repair issues. I did a lot of research before buying this computer. I had to read up on all of the different aspects of the specs in order to intelligently assess the machines under consideration. The specs. on this computer and the fact that it has the 7th generation Intel Core i5, which was only released in January 2017, ultimately influenced me to purchase this machine. Its a fresh machine and thats a big deal for me. For years, Ive been dealing with such a slow computer that I wanted something with enough power and capacity to handle all of the huge security software that are of necessity these days. My document files and folders are opened quickly (used to take forever on my old laptop) and my backup software isnt being blocked anymore. Malware scans dont interfere with my usual tasks like they did on my old laptop. It runs like I wish my old computer would have!!!! It handles Windows 10 well. Some of the lower end computers in the consumer category dont. I did have a malware infection on this computer within a week. Man, Windows 10 has a BIG target on its head as far as malware attacks. Ive been reading about the necessity of upgrading to Windows 10 since Microsoft will cease all support for anything but the most recent versions of Windows 10 and right out of the gate I get hit with malware. There was a fake "update firefox" download box that appeared shortly after I had installed Firefox and I wasnt sure if I should click on it or not. I did but I didnt run it. Still it did its job. (Anyone who has the earliest 2015 version of Windows 10 needs to update their software ASAP.) I called Dell Tech. Support because I couldnt log into my computer. I dont like having to log in on a Standard user account. (For those of you using an Administrator account for surfing the web or doing anything online, you better create a Standard user account--an addition to the Family and Friends category--and stop putting your computer at the highest risk. Any malware can take over your computer and change whatever settings it wants if youre using the Administrator account when youre infected.) On my old Dell laptop, I had a Standard user account with no password and it was very convenient. Now, I cant even access my paid antivirus program unless I type in an Administrator password. How irritating. I digress. Dell Tech Support used a remote access program and got the malware cleaned out and restored the system to its original point. I did lose the function of the shutdown button on the start page that same day before my session began with the tech. guy. It never returned. It had the shutdown-restart-sleep function and now it only has shutdown. I havent tried to see if it works, though. It just only shows shutdown as the only option. Its a minor issue. I hope it works if I need it. So, Im taking a wait-and-see approach with this new Dell SFF Desktop. I sure hope it lasts a long time and without any repair problems. Update: I didnt lose the shutdown options after all. But, I was experiencing crashes for a couple of months. I got the Dell Command Update activated and since then I havent experienced any more crashes. Preliminary diagnostics indicated that one or two drivers were the problem. Hopefully, the Dell Command Update has fixed whatever the problem was. I had bought a Dell laptop a month after this purchase and the Dell Command Update function was automatically working and I never had any crashes with the laptop. So, I advise anyone whos purchasing this desktop to get that function operational as soon as possible.