Dell info needed please:for or against etc....

[BRL]

Hi all. I have narrowed my search for a new pc down to Dell.

Either going for a laptop, an Inspiration 8600 or a desktop Dimension 8300.

Anyone had any dealings with Dell, good or bad or bad before I take the plunge?

Cheers, Brl.

[Unwell_Raptor]

I bought a dektop for my neighbour a few months ago. Very helpful (Indian) sales agent who knocked off a tenner because I agreed to ring back his direct line. Delivered in four days, all there, worked right out of the box.

No problems for me.

[Timothy]

L

Until they moved their call centre to India, Dell were great and we bought huge numbers of them.

Since they moved their call centre their service has become total sh1t and we have a permanent embargo on ever buying anything from them ever again.:mad:

Help at all? :}

Timothy

[Binoculars]

The whole purchase of my Dell laptop was done online from beginning to end; I never spoke to a soul. Delivery was prompt, everything that should have been included was, and I've never had a moment's trouble with it. I'm not qualified to comment on the quality but a friend in the industry says they use all good quality parts.

Watch for their "real" specials; sometimes you can get a stunning deal if you keep your eyes open, especially on laptops. Their current "special" is lower specs than the deal I got nine months ago, which shouldn't happen in this industry.

[amanoffewwords]

This has been discussed before in various guises:

The answers you will get:

a) Dell are cr*p - stay away from them like the plague
b) they use sub-standard parts - much better to build your own
c) go for a MAC (duck, Richard!)
d) get a Sony, Tosh, Acer, IBM etc...
e) Dell are still cr*p

My two pennies worth:

I've must have installed close to 800 Dell PCs over the last two years or so, including the models you mention.

- They're both very good and reliable. I have had fewer than five technical problems during my installs - and only two related directly to the tower - the rest were with peripherals supplied by other manufacturers.

- Their customer care dept could be better that's for sure. Their technical dept is very good, once you get through that is. But I find that happens pretty much thoughout the industry. Try calling PC world with a problem on a Packard Bell for instance.

- In terms of config of the 8300 I'd recommend going for the SATA raid option - it makes a huge difference to performance - it really flies like the wind in comparison to other setups.

- The laptop is very good quality in terms of build/equipement etc. The only gripe I have with the 8300 is that the case is a bit flimsy IMHO.

That's all I can thing off just yet.

hth
amofw

[BEagle]

Agree - computers are fine but you MUST get the best warranty they offer.

The call centre is utterly dreadful. I cannot understand a word their barely trained people say over their very weak telephone line. Like every company with a re-located call centre, it's lowered the company's image and I wouldn't buy anything from them again for that reason alone!

I'm still waiting for Tech Support to call me back after 3 weeks of failed promises - but at least they're in Ireland(?). The reason - they sent my old computer back broken, then took it back to repair the original fault and fix what they'd broken - then sent it back with a glidepad which didn't work and no case latch. Neither of which were original faults....

STEER CLEAR OF DELL! That's the view of the company I work for as well.......

[Globaliser]

As an individual purchaser, I've done the Dell route twice - both desktops. The first time, nothing happened after submitting an online order. Weeks and weeks of silence, followed by many attempts to chase up what was going on. The other order (for a refurbished reject through their online "outlet" store) was processed much more efficiently.

But once the machines were delivered, both have worked pretty much perfectly.

Although Dell have not been perfect in their service, my view is that I have been ignored even more efficiently by other places I have tried in the past, like PC World.

[fobotcso]

Don't

The kit is mostly fine. But then, so is everybody else's these days. If your transaction is absolutely normal and uncomplicated then you might have a smooth ride.

However, if there is the slightest hint of something unusual requiring a personal touch from a "consultant" then the appalling internal comms at Dell will result in the screaming ab-dabs - big time. :{

My client's home - next door to mine - was temporarily uninhabitable. She placed her order in my workshop, on-line, requesting delivery to my address which is one number different to that registered for her American Express Card. Same street, house number one different.

She did this three ways: verbally with her consultant; on-line; and with authority from American Express.

Dell cocked it up and DFS held the laptop for a week in their depot waiting for authority. No complaint against DFS here.

After Client jumped up and down, those nice people at the Dell call centre in India were apologetic and gave her two extra year's warranty plus a free carrying case.

But, guess what? The carrying case was sent to the Client's address and they refused to authorise its delivery to mine.

You couldn't make it up, could you? I've bought six Dells; they haven't always been made of the best kit - particularly the tape drives I had were a cheap job lot and all three failed early; hard drives were unreliable and the early flat screens were the industry's throw-aways. But the latest flat screens have a better specification.

I'm impressed by AMOFW's stats. On the face of it, he is informed opinion. But manufacturers will always give better level of service to corporate clients with big orders/wallets and be less attentive to the little men. Sony are the same.

The market's awash with good, reliable kit. Get yourself a good reliable supplier. With Service like this, it won't be long before Dell goes to the wall - at least in Europe.

I say again, Don't.

[Evo]

At the risk of repeating what has been said... IMHO they are good until something goes wrong. Then they're not so good. :mad: However, to be fair that can be said of a lot of other companies...

My view would be that they are good if

(a) you're looking to buy something that's fairly cheap and reasonably well-specified for the money

and

(b) you are happy to fix most problems yourself

If you like the security of having help if something goes wrong then go elsewhere - but remember that the support is factored into the asking price, so that 'bargain' deal may come at the expense of useless tech-support later on.

[amanoffewwords]

The thing is you haven't got much alternative to Dell in terms of choice, price and reliability

Packard Bell are definitely rubbish as is anything PC-World connected.

IBM are good but they're really corporate-orientated and the choice is limited.

HP/Compaq are probably ok from my limited experience but I don't know about support.

Fujitsu - I only see broken ones being fixed under warranty. I get the suspicion that they have implemented a cost-cutting exercise which means they are very reluctant to send anyone out until the situation gets desperate, by which the cust has been on the phone for hours.

Mesh - I have heard good things about them and their site shows some impressive kit - but I don't anything about their support

Simply - build quality leaves to be desired from the handfull I have seen - monitors surprisingly good quality - support so so but I only spoke to them once or twice

Tiny/Time and the other cheapos :yuk:

Sony - 50/50 for laptops from what I have heard - not sure about support

Mac I know nothing about 'xcept from the comments on this forum - not sure re support

Toshiba I like their range and the kit is good quality - haven't tried their support yet.

Acer - I know nothing about

So it's Dell - Mesh - MAC triangle.

I know, build your own!

Sorted, next question ? :)

Cheers
amofw

[fobotcso]

Further to my and AMOFW's posts:

Mesh, HP/Compaq, Toshiba are the ones I'd look at as well as Sony.

But then I'm a Sony "nut". Love the design philosophy of their products. Must have had more than 30 of them in recent years.

Have recently bought four laptops with/for clients as well as for myself and now know that the drivers out of the box are also out of the Ark. Get straight on-line for the updates.

Service is so-so. I needed a bit of springy plastic to keep the letter "d" in place on the keyboard and the suggestion was that I part with the laptop for a month and pay £200 for the repair. The support person said they do not supply parts to the general public. Ignored the problem and the key top is still in place for No 3 son at Uni.

I'd still look at Sony as long as the spec was what I needed.

Just about to initiate the purchase of a Vaio PCG Z1XSP.CEK for client who gives educational presentations. £1999 VAT inc !
:ugh:

[carbheatcold]

L

I had my Dell for over 2 years now and very pleased with it. I have not had reason to try their Technical Support line though.

Some friends and family have bought from MESH and they have also been very pleased with the equipment bought.

chc

[Timothy]

I must say that I am delighted with my no-name clone. Huge bright 17" screen, works perfectly loads of connectivity (everything you can think of), DVD RW, 512MB, 40GB all for £1200.

I did have a problem which turned out to be the memory supplied by the shop, not the manufacturers, and the service and repair service couldn't be faulted.

I can get the manufacturer's name if you are interested.

Timothy

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BRL,

If you are going to go with a Dell Notebook or any of the other major computer maker's Notebook you are fine. Notebooks are expected to be all proprietary.

If you are going to go with a Desktop, either build it yourself or go with someone like Mesh that uses all Name Brand parts and does not make Proprietary (a.k.a. Dead End) Computers.

Dell, Packard Bell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, IBM, Sony, etc. are all the same. They all make it so if you want to upgrade one of their desktops, you have to go though them and their price to upgrade is so close to the price of a new computer, they get you to buy a new computer. Then they own you.

My best customers for my computers are people that have already owned a Dell, Packard Bell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, IBM, Sony, etc., since they know how bad Dead End Computers are.

Take Care,

Richard

[Saab Dastard]

I've had no problems upgrading Compaq, Dell and Packard Bell computers. Admittedly I didn't care about warranty, so I just bought whatever parts (disks, CPUs, RAM, CDs, cards etc.) that I needed and bunged them in.

No problems, no issues.

Of course, that was for home use, not work. People are much more pernickety in corporate environments ;)

I'm using an Evesham PC, which is OK. My father and brother have both had a couple of Dell PCs and are quite staisfied. My brother-in-law has a Dell and had a problem that I helped to fix - I was favourably impressed with Dell's support website. Only Compaq's (HP) is better IMHO.

And don't forget to look at Dell's outlet store (good deals to be had).

Cheers mate

SD

[Phoenix09]

I have only ever heard good things about Evesham Technology but have never used them myself as I prefer to build my own. Their website can be found here. (http://www.evesham.com/Index.asp?e=7A66E817-4B7D-41CD-8BA7-D40811941933) Might be worth a look.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Saab Dastard,

I have found inside Dead End Comps, nonstandard:


Cases
Motherboards
Power Supplies
Hard Drives
Modems
Sound Cards


Then I have also found Stripped Down OEM:


Motherboards
Video Cards
Sound Cards
Modems


In the end you are paying for the High Mhz CPU and usually surrounded by stripped down OEM junk. If you want quality and performance you go with Name Brand Hardware.

Take Care,

Richard

[Timothy]

Our experience of Evesham, though limited to four or five PCs (DT and LT), is so far very good.

Timothy

[BRL]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Seems like a toss of the coin situation, lots of 'for' and as many 'against'.. :{ I hate decisions like this...... :(

[Timothy]

lots of 'for' and as many 'against'..I demand a recount!

Timothy

[BRL]

Ok, ok, you know what I mean..!!!! Some have positive things to say and some don't...!!! :D

[Saab Dastard]

The nation anxiously awaits the result of your deliberation...

:p

SD

[Wing Commander Fowler]

For what it's worth...... have a mate who picked up his dell laptop with one hand when the cd bay wasn't occupied and it snapped! Ok I know you could say that the design isn't meant to be at it's strongest when there's a piece missing but there we go..... I don't think it would put me off buying a laptop from them in fact I know it wouldn't!

However -

Another oppo has a DELL desktop and I put some new RAM in it for him and was surprised to see so much plastic. Seems to me lots of corner cutting. :hmm:

[redsnail]

Checkboard has a Dell Inspiron 8000. Tough laptop although, more of a desk top replacement. Good screen, quite user friendly and hasn't given a hint of a problem. Couple years old now.

The company I worked for in Australia used Dell laptops in a very harsh environment. (High humidity salt air) They were fine. Great support too. (late 90's though)

[BRL]

Toss of the coin says it is the lappy, Inspiron 8600 it is then. Thanks for the advice. :) :ok:

[Timothy]

Don't come whining here about after sales support...you were warned :}

Timothy

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Don't want to set the cat amongst the pidgeons again or hijack your thread Big "L" but after searching for a bargain for months now (including the states)I just picked up a Fujitsu Siemens with 2.4 sticks of celery in it from Dabs for £575 incl VAT....... Might be worth a look especially since it comes with grace of payment until march 2005!!!

Anyone care to comment on the Fujitsu Siemens jobbies?? :}

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BRL,

So a Notebook it is. Let us know when you get it and what you think of it. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

[TimS]

If it's not too late for my tuppence worth ...

Desktop - Dell are good machines/value, but repuation for support is poor these days. Alternative (our policy) is good local supplier who will charge a touch more -also builds to your spec - but jump in the van and come round and fix it if it goes wrong - assuming you can't do without your machine for a week or so.

Laptop - try AJP, we've used them for years - lots of bang per buck - reasonable support (particularly if you are London based) www.ajp.co.uk

Brgds

Tim

(edited for cr*p typing - twice)

[amanoffewwords]

I only see broken Fujitsus so can't comment on quality etc - I'm not sure if they do on-site warranty work for notebooks/laptops as I only get jobs for towers (Dell do on-sites for notebooks and towers).

Fujitsu's technical support is superb - but then again the number I dial gets me to the front of the Q. everytime :ok: .

By the way of all the responses on this thread no-one has really offered a good replacements for Dell - i.e. where the choices/prices/performance are matched and supplemented by the holly grail of excellent and promp technical support - apart from Mesh maybe... (their 64bit machines are tempting, very tempting - when I have 3K spare....mmmmm).

amofw

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

amanoffewwords,

If you want to talk alternatives for Notebooks, I have one from a very unlikely source. eMachines, yes I know, but believe it or not eMachines!!!

eMachines M6807 (http://www.e4me.com/products/products.html?prod=eMachines_M6807)


Mobile AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ Processor
512 MB DDR SODIMM (PC 2700)
60 GB HDD
DVD +/- RW Drive
ATI® RADEON™ 9600
56K* ITU V.92 Fax/Modem
Integrated 802.11g Wireless LAN
15.4" Widescreen TFT LCD WXGA
4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA External Connector, 1 S-Video Out, Microphone In, Headphone/Audio Out, 1 PCMCIA Slot
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition


All this and you can find it in the U.S. for $1,450.00 ($100.00 less thatn the eMachines Website which I linked.) which is a great price for a notebook of this class.

Take Care,

Richard

[BRL]

Here is what happened. Toss of the coin 1, yes or no to a Dell........Heads it is then, gonna buy a Dell. Now, what one, laptop or desktop...... Toss no'2 heads again, so it is the laptop. (Also like the look of the widescreen on it.....)

Many thanks for all the advice again, lets hope I don't have to come whining back here soon..... :D

Very, very busy in April so I will buy it in May.

[amanoffewwords]

Just a wee note about the widescreen - the resolution you get with it means the screen fonts are extremely small - and if you tweak the settings the whole thing looks weird - so you're stuck with the initial settings basically. Web pages also tend to be stuck in the left hand-corner as they are generally unable to cope.

But I only see them for a short period of time so there may be a magic setting I am not aware, though I doubt it.

amofw

nb: thanks Richard, but is their support the dog's doodles?

[BRL]

Aahhh, thanks amofw. I just knew there would be something like this to make me think twice about it.

Does anyone have any more info about this please? Anything will do, thanks.... :ugh:

[Timothy]

My laptop has a 17" 1440x900 widescreen and I am delighted with it and don't suffer any of the problems amanoffewwords mentions.

Timothy

[amanoffewwords]

Thanks Timothy - glad I put my little get-out clause in my previous post :) though the laptop BRL mentions has a different screen size/resolution than yours:

15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect Screen
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect Screen
15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect Screen
15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect Screen

The ones I have seen are of the 1920x1200 flavour and the "problem" (read working-as-designed-feature) was apparent on them.

But according to a reviewer of the 8500 (http://www.ciao.co.uk/Dell_Inspiron_8500__5377130) the font issue can be fixed so maybe this is a non-issue - I'll check next time I see one.

amofw

[BRL]

Pheeeew.....!!!!!!! :D :D

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

amanoffewwords,

The 15.4' WXGA is 1280 x 800 on the M6807.

Now that eMachines is a division by Gateway, support is much better.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. It is about the best bang for the buck on the market, and if you can get to the U.S. it is well worth the look.

[Timothy]

15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect ScreenBleedin' 'eck. How are you supposed to be able to read that!?!?! Do they supply a free electron microscope with every one purchased? :p

Timothy

[BEagle]

More Dell woes......

After waiting to be called back and getting fed up with answer machines, I finally got through to someone at the end of March to discuss their failure to repair my laptop. Profuce apologies, then another of those wretched conversations with someone in Bangalore. They agreed to collect it and repair it and picked it up on 1 Apr. Yesterday there was anote saying that it was waiting for me at the local DHL depot....

Went to DHL, picked up laptop. But it hadn't been fixed - in fact it now doesn't work AT ALL. Switch it on and it just says 'Operating system not found'. So - another phone call to my helpful chap at Dell who told me again that he was very sorry, but I would have to ring Bangalore AGAIN to get another 'DPS' number. This took about half an hour of arguing with someone who seemed incapable of understanding that all the problems of the last 6-7 weeks had been down to Dell. Eventually he agreed to issue a new 'DPS' number; so I rang my chap again and told him. "Right" he said, "I'll track this personally as I'm as dubious about these people as you are!". So yet again my laptop will be enjoying a trip with DHL on Wednesday in further attempt for Dell to service it. This has now been going on for over 4 months......

In all honesty, I cannot recommend Dell! Their laptops are very nice, but their customer service is utterly dreadful. Many companies are learning that these Indian low-cost call-centres are alienating their customers; I know of no other company who expect customers to accept such appalling service!

[fobotcso]

Beags, you saidI know of no other company who expect customers to accept such appalling service!

Try BT! :yuk:

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BEagle,

There are plenty of companies that expect their customers to accept a complete lack of service. That is what helps keep my companies so busy. :ok:

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. I hope they do not change their policies any time soon. ;)

[BusyB]

Re Fujitsu laptops I purchased one in Hong Kong with a full International warranty but Fuj UK refused pointblank to deal with it as they stated they did not have access to any manuals for non-UK models. (Fortunately a local shop agreed to look and found a bad connection now fine). Warranty was effectively worthless!

[Timothy]

I know some people don't want to hear it, but Dell customer support/services is just about the worst I have ever come across, far, far, far worse than BT.

Timothy

[7550]

My tuppence worth. I have been running three different types of Dell Computers for the last few years and am very happy with the product and support. I have a Dimension 4550 desktop, a Latitude D500 Notebook and a Axim X5 Pocket PC all of which function well and have given zero problems. I have not needed Dell support yet other than for an Axim cradle, which I burnt out due to my stupidity and they replaced that for nothing which could have been an expensive exercise. The quality of the machines is definately superior to a lot of the others out there and you only have to open one up and have a look inside to see the difference. Due to the better quality parts I think your chances of requiring support are significantly reduced as well. Hope that helps.

[Timothy]

am very happy with the ..... support. I have not needed Dell support yet....um...well "no comment" I suppose! :O

Timothy

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Well said Timothy!! Hehe......

BusyB - had EXACTLY the same problem with Sharp over a telly bought in the UK and taken 40 miles across the 'oggin to far away Dublin. Sharp Ireland wouldn't touch it with a barge pole and Sharp UK would only refund the cost of repair I had to get carried out by a repair man in Limerick. So much for world wide warranties eh??

Have spent lotsa money since on electronic products, seen lotsa nice Sharp items and steered away from the lot!

F@ck you Sharp!! hehe......

BTW - haven't had to deal with warranty claims yet on my new Fujitsu lappy but impressed with the set up to now. Some real good deals on the go at the moment and DABS seem to be leading the way! :ok:

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

7550,

The quality of the machines is definately superior to a lot of the others out there and you only have to open one up and have a look inside to see the difference.

I have found the exact opposite to be true in the many, many, many, service calls I have had to make to fix people's desktop computers that turned out to be Dells.

It all comes down to a high Ghz CPU surrounded by the cheapest, stripped down, hardware they can get.

The reason is the general public does not understand anything about computer hardware, they just see the high number for Ghz touted and buy solely on that number.

That is why you see all the major computer makers touting the Ghz when they sell computers.

If you want quality, get with someone who knows and buy the best parts, then either assemble it yourself or have someone who knows, assemble it for you. Something else you will find, you get a longer warranty building yourself than from Dell or any of the other computer makers.

Computer makers use OEM Parts that have a 30 day or less warranty and when you buy your own parts you get anywhere from a year to 3 years to 5 years of warranty depending on the part.

Take Care,

Richard

[amanoffewwords]

Doesn't stop Dell making $41bn+ a year - so they must be doing something right, for the average joe at least.

[BEagle]

..and the saga of my Dell Latitude LT continues! After considerable difficulty in getting some idiot in Bangalore to understand that all the recent problems were of Dell's Repair Centre's making, the laptop was sent back yet again to them to repair on 14 Apr. Guess what - they've now decided that no parts are available, they've locked the service tag and won't accept any further service calls about it. And they've sent me back what is now a useless computer which displays "Operating system not found" when switched on.

So what do I do now? All I can do is to write to Dell Customer Relations in County Wicklow and politely explain that I sent a perfectly serviceable computer off to have its screen replaced and, thanks to them, now have a piece of useless junk. Perosnally I think that they should replace it - plus the associated software - with whatever the nearest current equivalent is. Is that a reasonable request? Or should I ask for financial compensation. I guess the files on my Latitude LT are lost forever though...:mad:

Would anyone seriously expect me to recommend the purchase of a Dell computer? I think not!!

[Lost_luggage34]

Simple, search for the Dell history on the Companies House website.

Find the MD's details.

Write to him/her recorded delivery.

Also go see a Solicitor - breach of contract / trading standards issues.

Basically don't **** about - hit them hard.

[BEagle]

I shall certainly do that if I don't get a reasonable response from their Customer Relations Department - it's only fair to give that a whirl first.

Funny old thing - I'll be chatting to my old chum who is a QC in a couple of weeks' time in any case.....:E

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Hey BRL - you still got yer ears on.......? I hope you haven't made a move for that credit card yet! :ugh:

[mini]

Hi Guys, my tuppence worth...

I've been using Dell for over 10 years now, first desktops and then lattitudes. The Lattitudes have spent hard time in some of the worst operating environments imaginable, in 7 years I haven't had more than a battery failure.

I bought a new one recentely, a specced out D600. I chose this over an Inspiron because they seem to be a more robust machine - Pentium M vs P4 etc.

The ordering experience was so bad that I genuinely tried to find an equivalent machine from another supplier. The support was what made me take a deep breath and go back to Dell, I work all over the world and can't send it back to the maker if it goes wrong - as happened with company Toshibas a few years ago...

I have dealt with the call centre, is it India?, not reassuring, I wasn't sure whether I'd been talking to a human or a machine.

Now I'm worried...

[amanoffewwords]

Well I've completed my 761st installation of a Dell home system today - and still just a handful of problems so far - fewer than ten.

I also had to call Dell tech support the other day - on behalf of a client - waited 20 mins for an reply, introduced myself as the inhouse techie for my client, went through some basic diags and an engineer was scheduled to attend site two days later to changed the mobo. Maybe it's just me but I thought the whole process was painless and reasonably quick.

I also ordered a Dell laptop for my mum - again the whole process went very smootly and the end product looks very good quality to me.

I'm not a Dell employee by the way - I know things sometimes don't go as you'd wish but then that can happen with a lot of companies.

Now, if I had to recount the experiences I had when I was installing Gateway PCs I'd probably end up swearing - glad they went and Dell are nowhere near how hopeless they used to be...

I'm still intrigued that no-one has so far suggested a firm alternative to Dell - any takers? <ducks>

Charles

[mini]

AMOFW

Thanks for the reassurance.

Strange that I don't notice any stunning performance difference between the PII 366, 256Mb and the PM 1.7 512Mb ?

[BRL]

Next Friday is the big day. Would it be possible to go to the local computer shop and get a laptop made up like a homebuild pc?
If so then I feel this is what I may end up doing.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BRL,

Notebooks are completely Proprietary so you do not have the same options as with Desktops. The major computer makers do a good job on Notebooks but a lousy job on Desktops.

Just make sure you find one with all the specs you want, since it cannot be upgraded.

Take Care,

Richard

[PilotsPal]

Bought a new desktop from the Dell Outlet yesterday. 1g RAM, 200g hard drive, a graphics card that's way beyond what I'll ever use it for, separate DVD and CD drives, no delivery charge and I got them to throw in a wireless keyboard and mouse. £570.

[Binoculars]

So the answer is quite simple really.

Those who have had Dells with no problems think they're great. Those who have had Dells with major problems think they're crap. I wonder if there is a brand name that wouldn't fit into the same set of statistics?

[amanoffewwords]

I wonder if there is a brand name that wouldn't fit into the same set of statistics?

That's what I've asked twice before in the thread but no magic answer so far....

I guess the holy grail of computers doesn't exist :confused:

[Binoculars]

That seems a reasonable assumption. You pays your money and you takes your chances. :8

[BEagle]

Well, I wrote to Dell Customer Services at County Wicklow a month ago. Last Thursday, 28 days later, having had no reply of any sort from them - not even an acknowledgement - I wrote a letter direct to the CEO in Bracknell asking him to intervene personally......

Today a chap from Dell rang and after I recounted my tale of woe for the Nth time, he promised to send me a new laptop to replace the old one which their repair centre had killed.

Fingers crossed for a satisfactory outcome - shall find out very soon! He also promised to replace the MS Office software as well....

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

BEagle,

I hope that what they send you works properly this time. ;)

Richard

[PilotsPal]

Time for an update.

They have my money. I do not have a new pc.
The situation is fast deteriorating - it'll be lawyers at dawn...

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I think a computer assembled by enthusiasts using quality components is the way forward. I have two friends with excellent experiences down this route.

One used http://www.meshcomputers.com and the other used http://www.evesham.com/

I myself am tempted by http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk who seem to have a popular fanbase and universally good reviews on the usual review sites.

Buying a new Dell seems a bit like going into a Ford garage and buying a new one at list price. Its alright - but there's a lot better out there for the money.

Cheers

WWW

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Wee Weasley Welshman,

Do let us know the specs of the machine you are thinking of before you buy. We might be able to tweak the specs before you are locked in. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

[BahrainLad]

First Dell I bought was in Feb '97, cheapest of the cheap as I needed it for (gulp!) school. £899 +VAT. P233MMX and 32M of RAM....remember those days!

Lasted for ages, even survived Gulf Air chucking it around their LHR and BAH baggage systems but eventually 5 years after birth smoke started coming out of the motherboard and it was decommissioned....

Second Dell bought was for the little brother; didn't last long before some +uckwit nicked it.... :(

Third Dell I bought in Dec 1999, laptop (Dimension 3700) absolute peach of a machine. Slight problem with the RAM initially, but settled down. Motherboard replaced in early 2002 as the PC cards were buggered. At the end of 2003 something horrible happens and Windows vanishes. It only boots into DOS and I'm trying to think of a way to get 4 years of data off it! Currently resides in a drawer....

Fourth Dell bought was a desktop for the parents, it's a beast and no problems so far (apart from the usual that can be attributed to William H. Gates III)

I now run a Mac powerbook. Battery was dead on arrival, only problem so far is a creaking hinge (but I'm waiting for the Apple Store in Regent Street to open so I can go and chat to a genius about that....)

Computers: Expect the worst, hope for the best.

[Basil]

Dealt with the Dell call centre in India (is it Bangalore?) by e-mail with no difficulty. (except when they wanted £730 to fit a new screen which costs £300 in the US)
Writing this on an old Dimension XPS D233 which has had upgraded memory, HDD, CD-RW, OS etc and still struggles along.

(Ref call centres, called bank in March and thought I may be speaking to CC.
Me: So what's the weather like with you?
CC: Oh goodness, it is very hot.
Result!)

[Binoculars]

Long past the stage of being of any use to anyone I suppose, but credit where credit is due. Had problems with Windows XP on my Dell laptop, looked up the manual and found a toll free number for support.

Loaded up the fridge, got in a couple of DVD's to pass the time and rang the number. One automated query, to which I replied yes, I'd like to speak to a tech, and bugga me if 20 seconds later I wasn't speaking to a human!

She took me through the whole process, decided a clean install was the best move and insisted on staying on the phone while I started it in case there were any problems. Once it was going, she said she would ring me back in an hour to supervise the installation of the drivers. And she did! My gaster was flabbered!

Hats off to Dell from this satisfied customer; yes, she was in Bangalore, but she spoke English a hell of a lot better than I speak Hindi!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Binoculars,

Was this the notebook that had the two viruses in the other thread:

Windows cannot find....... (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=132530)

by chance?

If so, I am glad you were able to sort out the install.

Take Care,

Richard

[Binoculars]

Yes it was, Richard. I couldn't interrupt the boot sequence to boot from the CD which is why I decided to try the support line. My description of the problem led her to believe that a repair wouldn't work, and she didn't like the idea of a reinstall over the top, so I did a full clean install. Not a major problem since it's basically a network computer and all files are kept on the host.

All up and running fine now. thanks for your suggestions as always.

Binos

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Binoculars,

I just hope you did not lose all your data. :eek:

Take Care,

Richard

[BEagle]

All's Dell that ends well!

Today I received, totally free of charge, a Dell Latitude D400 together with external media drive with DVD and FDD bays, plus MS Office 2003 SBE to replace the Latitude LT which Dell's repair people broke.

So it woud be remiss of me not to mention that a letter to the UK CEO had the desired result and I now have a good back-up computer to use.

Thank you, Dell!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Way To Go BEagle! :ok:

Richard