Belgique
2nd Jan 2003, 04:33
Easily reached the conclusion that the best O.S. for my laptop was Win2K and it is a joy to use - no BSOD and generally no hiccups with 256mb SDRAM.
However, as many an unsuspecting Dell buyer has found, your support stops with the O.S. your computer was bought with (Win 98 in this case - and Win 98 is an exercise in self-flagellation). Dell absolutely deny that they have any obligation to support the basic machine or the peripherals and devices that you bought it with under any other O.S. (whether your 3 year extended warranty is current or not). Apart from that of course, their support (which you pay dearly for) is great.
The only other problems thus far have been three "dissolving" key-boards in three years (keys just break off). After having to ship the machine back to Australia (from UK) for repair (because their International warranty didn't include the servicing bit), I finally wrote them a blistering letter about their product quality. They inferred that I must be really hard on the keys and that's why they break. A couple of letters later they agreed that they might look further at the problem when I inevitably send it in (out-of-warranty) for its fourth keyboard (but not the power supply burn-out problem - because that's "lifed" by its use - as against the keyboard which I suppose is designed to be "used"). I rarely use the laptop on battery because it has no useful battery life - I just run it down and charge it up so that it doesn't develop NICAD style "memory".
But not being able to have sound under Win2K is rather irksome. I've spent literally hours on forums and driver sites downloading all drivers (any O.S.) for the Neomagic MagicMedia 256AV Audio (WDM) - for many months now. NeoMagic Corp itself (you might have thought) would be a source - however despite having been a major Dell supplier they threw away their audio-card support business leaving everyone in the lurch - and headed off in a more profitable IT direction. They are now a very prosperous and thriving concern.
So of course Dell refers you to them and they refer you to DELL. But actually no-one is responsible. I am posting here in the hope that one of the many thousands of people out there who have Inspiron 3500's may have found a solution or workaround that they might be able to pass on to [email protected] (please include Pprune in the subject line to avoid Junk Mail Hell).
I am also posting in order to warn fellow Ppruners about the dubious practices of DELL. Their product works well (apart from its fatigue-prone plasticity) - but they pride themselves in their ability to throw the small-print in your face. And at the stage where this Win2K issue first came up, the Inspiron 3500 was only 20 months old - with 16 months to run on its extended warranty (having been bought under a corporate contract).
However, as many an unsuspecting Dell buyer has found, your support stops with the O.S. your computer was bought with (Win 98 in this case - and Win 98 is an exercise in self-flagellation). Dell absolutely deny that they have any obligation to support the basic machine or the peripherals and devices that you bought it with under any other O.S. (whether your 3 year extended warranty is current or not). Apart from that of course, their support (which you pay dearly for) is great.
The only other problems thus far have been three "dissolving" key-boards in three years (keys just break off). After having to ship the machine back to Australia (from UK) for repair (because their International warranty didn't include the servicing bit), I finally wrote them a blistering letter about their product quality. They inferred that I must be really hard on the keys and that's why they break. A couple of letters later they agreed that they might look further at the problem when I inevitably send it in (out-of-warranty) for its fourth keyboard (but not the power supply burn-out problem - because that's "lifed" by its use - as against the keyboard which I suppose is designed to be "used"). I rarely use the laptop on battery because it has no useful battery life - I just run it down and charge it up so that it doesn't develop NICAD style "memory".
But not being able to have sound under Win2K is rather irksome. I've spent literally hours on forums and driver sites downloading all drivers (any O.S.) for the Neomagic MagicMedia 256AV Audio (WDM) - for many months now. NeoMagic Corp itself (you might have thought) would be a source - however despite having been a major Dell supplier they threw away their audio-card support business leaving everyone in the lurch - and headed off in a more profitable IT direction. They are now a very prosperous and thriving concern.
So of course Dell refers you to them and they refer you to DELL. But actually no-one is responsible. I am posting here in the hope that one of the many thousands of people out there who have Inspiron 3500's may have found a solution or workaround that they might be able to pass on to [email protected] (please include Pprune in the subject line to avoid Junk Mail Hell).
I am also posting in order to warn fellow Ppruners about the dubious practices of DELL. Their product works well (apart from its fatigue-prone plasticity) - but they pride themselves in their ability to throw the small-print in your face. And at the stage where this Win2K issue first came up, the Inspiron 3500 was only 20 months old - with 16 months to run on its extended warranty (having been bought under a corporate contract).