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VP Global Markets, Global Head of Storage at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Highly resilient with excellent performance and deduplication plus compression capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's snapshot capabilities and replication are very good features. Snapshots are allowing us to quickly build analytical models directly from production data. This gives us amazing insights into market trends and allows us to build more effective trading algorithms. Replication offers us unparalleled levels of resilience."
  • "It's a relatively new product, but for the next release I would like to see higher bandwidth on the front-end adapters. This would allow even greater scalability for critical workloads and consolidation for non-critical workloads. The hosts may not require that level of I/O performance today. However, it allows us to scale physical non-cloud environments without large investment."

What is our primary use case?

We are primarily using the solution to drive components of an e-trading (electronic trading) platform.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution has reduced our time-to-market with a single management interface, and it is a very efficient platform. Provides great improvements in operational resilience, aligning us with our direct competitors in global markets. We are ahead in some areas as a result of the deployment of this platform.

What is most valuable?

Uptime and availability are first and foremost. The deduplication and compression capabilities are also excellent, allowing us to be very efficient with the physical hardware that we need to deploy on-prem in order to fulfill our requirements. It has given us excellent value for money without compromising performance.

The solution's snapshot capabilities and replication are very good features. Snapshots are allowing us to quickly build analytical models directly from production data. This gives us amazing insights into market trends and allows us to build more effective trading algorithms. Replication offers us unparalleled levels of resilience.

The management overall is excellent. Dell EMC continues to build on very solid foundations, which have been evolving for over two decades. 

The REST APIs are great.

The solution exposes excellent automation opportunities.

We have found the performance to be very good so far.

What needs improvement?

It's a relatively new product, but for the next release I would like to see higher bandwidth on the front-end adapters. This would allow even greater scalability for critical workloads and consolidation for non-critical workloads. The hosts may not require that level of I/O performance today. However, it allows us to scale physical non-cloud environments without large investment. 

Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerMax
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerMax. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
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For how long have I used the solution?

We are about eight months into our deployment. It's still a rather new solution for us, although we have had some time to get to know it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

With six nines, we have reduced our maximum annual downtime to around 32 seconds (previously around 48 minutes). From a stability point of view, I have absolutely no issues or complaints there at all.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's an e-trading platform. Therefore, there are no end users involved. It's about half a petabyte in size.

In terms of scalability potential, it is first class. With the level of performance it gives you and the response time that we get from the arrays, the scalability is groundbreaking.

How are customer service and support?

I was very impressed with the support overall. They understand customer service. They have never made me wait for anything. Things do go bump. Challenges and unpredictable circumstances do arise. I rate the Dell EMC team based on their prompt and decisive action during these circumstances.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did previously use a different solution.

We switched to take advantage of certain feature sets. Our previous competitor, whilst they did offer deduplication and compression to some degree, could not match the availability nor performance and didn't have the same guaranteed efficiency ratios. They also couldn't perform inline compression without significant performance penalties. This would have to happen at rest and offline. Therefore, we'd need to write the data first, then compress it. The PowerMax solution enabled us to do that inline, without a read or write penalty. Basically, there was no performance impact, and we still saw all the benefits from a reduced physical footprint, such as, cost savings, reduced power requirements, and fewer components to fail (number of drives required being 66 percent lower).

How was the initial setup?

The deployment process is a standard procedure for deploying SAN, and that's with any vendor. I'd say that the process wasn't any different from deploying another solution. We've got our architecture and our blueprints. We worked with a solutions architect and that design drives the configuration, and then we go ahead and deploy that configuration.

Deployment took around three months. Some of this was due to internal processes, timing, and pandemic conditions. Over December, we were hampered with end-of-year change control freezes in place so some of the activity couldn't get done. All in all, I'd say we probably could have been done in about six to eight weeks.

I had three people working on this internally (not counting the non storage resources) as we deployed to two geographies in different time zones. 

Maintenance is just ongoing service and that'd be the same as any technological asset. It has a mean time before failure. We monitor it on a daily basis. Alerts are actioned with the vendor. However, the platform does have five-nines of availability  and multiple layers of redundancy.

What about the implementation team?

We did not use an integrator, consultant, or implementor during deployment. We worked with a solutions architect to build the configuration. We then worked with our project office to coordinate and complete that deployment.

What was our ROI?

Six months in, we have ROI. Some key metrics are: 

  • Increased uptime and availability, 
  • Reduced man-hours for support and provisioning (approximately 30 percent reduction in overall management hours required).

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing will very much depend on an organization's terms and conditions with the vendor. Therefore, I couldn't really give any concrete pricing to quote. I'd just advise CTO/Technology leaders to negotiate hard and consider the commercial advantages/benefits to Dell EMC for onboarding their product. 

Be very thorough about your criteria (functional and non-functional requirements) and what you're looking to achieve. Test, test, test! Do the due diligence and test comparable solutions head-to-head. In our use case, PowerMax was the best solution. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it would be the best solution for every scenario. You really do have to do the work, the engineering and architecture, then test the products head-to-head to see if this solution really does solve your business requirement.

The licensing again depends on the agreements they've got in place with your organization. For example, we know we've got a large and global agreement with Dell, and therefore, our pricing and discounting structure might be different from a small to medium business or another enterprise.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did look at other options. We tested it head-to-head with two other vendors in a lab with identical conditions. We basically looked at the top five storage vendors on the market and shortlisted three.

The cons were the fact that it was really an internal process. Qualifying a new platform, through engineering and getting that through governance and architecture is a detailed and time consuming process. Those were the cons. In terms of pros, the technological features available, including the compression ratios, were excellent. The performance itself, the out-and-out, the horsepower of the platform, is where PowerMax did significantly outperform the other solutions we put it up against. However, most importantly, it was that uptime and availability which pushed it ahead. The inline deduplication and compression capabilities also significantly outperformed its competitors.

What other advice do I have?

We are customers of Dell EMC.

We are using the PowerMax 2000.

My advice to other organizations considering the solution is to fully understand your use case, and test it. Make sure your functional and non-functional requirements are complete, understood, and documented with input and agreement from your internal stakeholders

Definitely support your teams with education and training, even internal workshops. This will help make any transitioning smooth - a great tech solution can evaporate very quickly if your teams are not onboard and up to speed on day one.

You need to have a good people strategy and processes before you start running away with the technology!

Overall, I would rate the solution as an eight out of 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Naveen Radhwani - PeerSpot reviewer
Head IT at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Seamless infrastructure integration with good configurations and compatiblity
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use with applications that are user-friendly."
  • "There is room for improvement in adjusting into the existing infrastructure easily without much of the technical contribution."

What is our primary use case?

We use Dell PowerMax NVMe since Dell services were very good, and the product configuration suited our needs. It was easy to integrate into our infrastructural environment since we had other Dell servers.

How has it helped my organization?

Dell PowerMax NVMe has been a well-suited solution for us, being compatible with our existing infrastructure and aiding in seamless service.

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use with applications that are user-friendly. It also offers ease of accessibility.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in adjusting into the existing infrastructure easily without much of the technical contribution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Dell PowerMax NVMe for approximately eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Dell PowerMax NVMe is high; I would rate it nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is an important feature, and I would rate Dell PowerMax NVMe eight out of ten on scalability.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service and support are excellent. I would rate them ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not use a different solution before Dell PowerMax NVMe.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was moderately difficult; there were a couple of areas where support was required.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment was done by a third-party integrator.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment has been more than three times in monetary terms.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing was quite competitive and the lowest among the competition.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated NetApp and IBM storage solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to other people.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Dell PowerMax
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Dell PowerMax. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Solution manager at Al sundus
Real User
Top 20
Has an okay initial setup phase but needs to improve in the area associated with its costs
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's technical support was good, and it is one of the tool's main advantages."
  • "The main challenge with the product was to have control over the simultaneous failures of controllers. For recovery, manual intervention is required."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution in my company for mission-critical core banking applications.

What is most valuable?

If you ask me, technically, the tool is the same as most of the vendors have the same thing. If you ask me about Huawei, I can tell you about the tool's many features.

Dell PowerMax NVMe's advantage is just the support.

What needs improvement?

The tool's disadvantages are its cost and lack of ease of use. According to the latest market trends, certain technologies are lacking.

The main challenge with the product was to have control over the simultaneous failures of controllers. For recovery, manual intervention is required.

The tool's cost, active controller part, installation, maintenance, scalability, and recovery parts can be considered for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Google Cloud for five years. I have a Dell PowerMax NVMe 8000 and a Dell PowerMax NVMe 8500. I was a partner integrator with Dell. I have twenty-four years of storage experience.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is not a very scalable solution. Other vendors offer much more scalability options than Dell PowerMax NVMe.

There is something called transfer of ownership known as LUN tagging, but other boxes don't offer such a feature.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support was good, and it is one of the tool's main advantages. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I am also a solution architect for Huawei.

We are talking with one of our vendors and customers, who were keen to get involved with OPSWAT. With most vendors, whenever there is an NFS and compliant storage, all the products offer support. I just wanted to understand why only a few products are listed in Google's support portal.

I have been using Huawei for almost seven and a half years now. Prior to that, I was a business partner of HP and Oracle. I was Dell's partner for almost ten years. Before that, I was IBM's partner for five and a half years.

How was the initial setup?

The product's initial setup phase is okay. If you compare Dell's setup phase, Huawei is convenient and easy to install.

For Dell's installation phase, around two people are required. For Huawei's installation phase, one person is required. Huawei's installation can be managed remotely. I am a solution architect, so I don't do the deployments now.

What was our ROI?

There is no ROI. I have seen the tool used, and pretty much all the vendors are the same.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool is very expensive. I rate the tool's price as a one out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

We are talking with one of our vendors and customers, who were keen to get involved with OPSWAT. With most vendors, whenever there is an NFS and compliant storage, all the products offer support. I just wanted to understand why only a few products are listed in Google's support portal.

The tool has a fully symmetric architecture, so it offers an active controller there. Controller failure is not something that we can withstand, especially if there are two simultaneous controller failures. With the other vendors right now, considering what we are working for, tools can support up to seven controller failures, which is so for any banking operations.

I don't know how the tool's real-time machine-learning capability has impacted our company.

The maintenance of Dell PowerMax NVMe requires companies to have resources along with extensive technology experience. It is the same for any vendor.

I have not really seen any AI features in the tool.

For the technical specifications, I can rate the tool as a seven out of ten.

I rate the overall tool as a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
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Joerg Utesch - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Director at systemzwo group
Reseller
Top 5
Offers performance, serviceability and high availability
Pros and Cons
  • "I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy."
  • "Dell needs to offer more midrange storage options with enterprise-class features similar to the PowerMAX."

What is our primary use case?

It's mainly when it's driven to performance and high availability, that's the main two use cases that we actually address with the systems. 

What is most valuable?

The main feature that we are looking into for some storage is the DDoS features as well as transparent failover and failback in terms of high availability. That's the main topic that we're dealing with with these systems, but at our customer sites.

Besides reliability and so on and serviceability also in different countries.

What needs improvement?

The new versions, like the Power Store, which is coming up, are mainly in the midrange perspective. Because we have a lot of customers from the KMA, which means that we have, like, they typically buy Enterprise-class features with midrange storage, basically, and we don't have typical sizes like the PowerMAX from the solutions, we have either Pure for the higher customers or we have different systems like VNX and Unity and so on from the Dell EMC side.

Dell needs to offer more midrange storage options with enterprise-class features similar to the PowerMAX.

Additionally, the NVMe benchmark could include more features, such as built-in transparent failover.

For how long have I used the solution?

We are a Dell partner, and we are a pure professional partner, an elite partner as well. 

So, we have been working with this solution for more than 12 years.

We sell the systems and we have been selling them for 10 years now. It depends on whether we sell new systems to our customers or upgrade them. We're basically looking into past solutions that still are ongoing and running, but mainly when we go to new solutions, then it's the latest version that the customers actually can have.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. It is suitable for medium and enterprise-level businesses. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We're dealing with Dell Storage, which we sell to our customers.

How was the initial setup?

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy. 

The deployment time depends on whether you have to do the migration as well, but it's hours to days max.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

It is quite expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

When it comes to Dell, we prefer to go for Pure Storage, which is more, in our terms, more reliable and simple to use for our customers. 

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Rami Jadallah - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Center Solution Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5
Offers outstanding high availability and stability for telecom company's critical system
Pros and Cons
  • "The high availability that other systems don't have. In other systems, there is an owner in the storage processes. But for PowerMAX, there is no owner. All the process storage is passed to all nodes without ownership. So, there is no response feature in the storage in PowerMax. In the other systems, there is a response, which is a very nice feature. No systems have such a feature."
  • "The initial setup could be easier."

What is our primary use case?

Our customers are using it for telecom.

What is most valuable?

The high availability that other systems don't have. In other systems, there is an owner in the storage processes. But for PowerMAX, there is no owner. All the process storage is passed to all nodes without ownership. So, there is no response feature in the storage in PowerMax. In the other systems, there is a response, which is a very nice feature. No systems have such a feature.

What needs improvement?

The initial setup could be easier.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the solution since the last year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The PowerMax solution has been very stable, in my experience. I have been using it for four to ten years and have only had two issues related to internal storage processes. One was a planned maintenance issue, and the other was a CBU failure. Both issues were quickly resolved with no data loss. Once again, it's a very nice feature. You can go with the upgrade without storage records. So it will not affect the production servers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not difficult. But it's not easy to have access to this material. I'm having a problem right now in this implementation in order to find the procedure generator in order to initialize the system. It's not updated on the website. So, sometimes you suffer from getting the material of the software. You need to have a discussion with the support and the way the account team is in order to provide you with such material.

The deployment thing is different from customer to customer. It depends upon the requirements. But it's fairly easy to deploy. The deployment, once initiated, is easy. There is no problem related to that.

I would rate the deployment process of this solution a five out of ten.


What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is competitive. I would rate the pricing of the solution a six out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

For the customers, I advise them to test it and check the features because it has very nice features. It has some features that don’t exist in other solutions, such as the migration for the new PowerMax 2500 and 8500. There will be no more data migration except for licensing the nodes and the old nodes and installing the new nodes. It's a very nice feature, and in the future, there will be no technical attachments and no better migration. It will be very easy for them to implement the new solutions in addition to the other solutions. As for the partners, they have to make sure that they have their knowledge and enrich their knowledge in PowerMax because PowerMax is not an easy solution. They have to understand it to implement it easily.

I would rate PowerMax NVMe a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementor
PeerSpot user
Jan Cipra - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Gapp System
Real User
Top 20
An enterprise storage designed for bigger customers that require resilient and powerful storage solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "I have been highly satisfied with the resiliency and scalability of the solution."
  • "I believe it would be of great benefit to work on the customization of the pricing structure for different enterprises and their specific needs."

What is our primary use case?

Dell PowerMax NVMe is an enterprise storage designed for bigger customers that require resilient and powerful storage solutions. It ensures seamless management of large database workloads that need high performance and low latency in data handling and responsiveness.

What is most valuable?

I have been highly satisfied with the resiliency and scalability of the solution.

What needs improvement?

It is more expensive compared to midrange storage options.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Dell PowerMax NVMe for the last four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I am highly satisfied with the stability of the solution. I would rate it ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It allows great flexibility regarding scaling options to adapt to evolving storage needs, ensuring organizations can meet their growing data demands without major disruptions. I would rate it ten out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

We are overall satisfied with the customer service provided by their support team. I would rate it eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup can be somewhat complex as it requires specialized knowledge. I would rate it seven out of ten. 

What about the implementation team?

The basic deployment can be done in one day, as it easily integrates with existing Dell EMC storage platforms and software. Usually, it will require following certain steps regarding the configuration and installment in the data center of the customer, connecting the storage to the infrastructure, and initializing it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of the solution is quite noticeable, but it provides a good fit regarding the price of the hardware and all of the required licenses. We are fairly satisfied with it as we didn't have any need for additional subscriptions and licenses.

What other advice do I have?

I would suggest thoroughly evaluating all of the benefits of Dell PowerMax NVMe and checking if it provides good value for the money because it might not be feasible for organizations with budget constraints. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
reviewer1852083 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Offers good reliability, has great remote replication features and is able to replicate bi-directionally
Pros and Cons
  • "It allows us to protect our data using different data centers and replicate bi-directionally between our two main data centers."
  • "Some of the management features could be simplified and that's probably the main thing they need to address."

What is our primary use case?

It's our primary storage and it replaced some older and slower storage.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable aspects include the remote replication features. It allows us to protect our data using different data centers and replicate bi-directionally between our two main data centers.

What needs improvement?

Simpler management would probably be my biggest ask. Some of the management features could be simplified and that's probably the main thing they need to address.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this product for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We do have two main data centers and we have a PowerMax in each one. It is our primary storage so pretty much everything we have is on it.

We do not plan to increase usage at this time.

How are customer service and support?

They need to make it easier to get to higher levels of support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used other Dell products, such as the BNXs and XtremIO. 

We switched mainly to gain access to the top-of-the-line model and we had more money to spend.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was fairly straightforward.

It's a multi-step process. We had a hardware guy come out for a day and install it. Then a couple of weeks later, an implementation person set some things up. We slowly phased it in over a month or so.

There's not a lot of maintenance. It's usually just me, or, if I need to do a code upgrade, I just call down.

What about the implementation team?

From Dell, there was a couple of hardware personnel and then an implementer. From my side, it was just me and one other staff member.

What was our ROI?

It's hard to quantify ROI for me. I'm not an accountant.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

They're finally getting the licensing right where it's not a la carte so much anymore. That said, it is pretty expensive. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated products from Pure, NetApp, and Kaminario.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
SeniorEnc9d7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Improved our SQL and Oracle Database response times, but needs configuration automation
Pros and Cons
  • "The response time, compared to XtremIO, is far better."
  • "I would also like to see a real-time, graphical view of metrics. I don't know how far back in time we can look, but if we could see the performance from two months or three months back, and how it is performing now, that would be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

We work in robotics and we need better response times. Our primary reasons for buying this solution are our SQL and Oracle databases, to improve the performance in running queries and their response times.

How has it helped my organization?

It has simplified our operations when it comes to troubleshooting. We're on-call every time there is an issue and I can show them, 100 percent, that there is no problem on the storage side. I can show them there is no issue here.

The solution has helped to improve our services, in the medical field.

What is most valuable?

The response time, compared to XtremIO, is far better.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better provisioning of storage from PowerMax, as well as automation. If you have a cluster with 15 datastores you have to back and select everything for report groups, as an example. You have to create 15 datastores and bundle them in a storage group. If there was some automation of this process, a script or a workflow, to configure everything, that would be great.

Unisphere could be improved and I would also like to see a real-time, graphical view of metrics. I don't know how far back in time we can look, but if we could see the performance from two months or three months back, and how it is performing now, that would be helpful.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable, like VMAX, which has been pretty stable for the last few years.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had XtremIO but we have been a Dell EMC user for a long time. The solution's architecture influenced our buying decision because of the performance and storage growth. With XtremIO we have had storage growth issues.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is pretty straightforward. With VxBlock 1000, everything is pre-installed.

What was our ROI?

The application folks are happy.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn't look at other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this product. For us, this is the best product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell PowerMax Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Dell PowerMax Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.