Dell info needed please:for or against etc....
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 722
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From: Earth (just)
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.
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.
PPRuNe Handmaiden
Joined: Feb 1997
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From: Duit On Mon Dei
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)
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)
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 722
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From: Earth (just)
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??
Anyone care to comment on the Fujitsu Siemens jobbies??
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 310
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From: Perm any one from 3 !
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)
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)
'nough said
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Raynes Park
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
.
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
Fujitsu's technical support is superb - but then again the number I dial gets me to the front of the Q. everytime
.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
The Oracle
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,902
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From: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
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
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
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
- 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
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,068
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From: Brighton. UK. (Via Liverpool).
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.....
Very, very busy in April so I will buy it in May.
Many thanks for all the advice again, lets hope I don't have to come whining back here soon.....
Very, very busy in April so I will buy it in May.
'nough said
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Raynes Park
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?
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?
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,068
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From: Brighton. UK. (Via Liverpool).
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....
Does anyone have any more info about this please? Anything will do, thanks....
'nough said
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,025
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From: Raynes Park
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 the font issue can be fixed so maybe this is a non-issue - I'll check next time I see one.
amofw
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 the font issue can be fixed so maybe this is a non-issue - I'll check next time I see one.
amofw
The Oracle
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,902
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From: Naples, Florida U.S.A.
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.
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.
Sub Judice Angel Lovegod
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,460
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From: London
15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UltraSharp Wide - Aspect Screen
Timothy
Joined: May 1999
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
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From: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
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!
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!
Last edited by BEagle; 8th April 2004 at 15:57.
