Pros
Dell paid me well and continued to dangle a carrot of more to inspire me to work longer and harder. Located in Austin, which is relatively cheap to find housing. Bonus plans were easy to understand, published for everyone to see. Christmas break was nice as the company really does scale down for about 2 weeks.
Cons
Long hours. as they outsource more resources around the world, getting anything done was a pain. The good old boy network is big drawback, that is if you would rather have your work speak for you. Their rating system is idiotic, as it requires a curve to be enforced and good people to managed out as the bottom of your group. Talented people when I started in 98 slowly left and was replaced with people more interested in a paycheck than doing something great and new.