Dell machines? Good deal? 2

[GrnEyedLdy]

Currently we buy our PC's locally for about $1000.00 (no monitor included). We are talking about,

2.8 ghz Celeron (As I recall, I don't have the specs here)
256 DDR
Floppy
48x DCrom
XP Pro
MS Office Small Business
On board sound, video, Nic., etc
3 year limited warranty

Comparable Dell machine with 15 inch Flat Screen monitor priced at $815.00 with free shipping.

Good savings but are there any known problems with ordering Dells? My Admin doesn't want the headache of sending a machine back in for service.

Does anyone have any experience with Dell and the quality of there product. Or dealing with service issues should they arise.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Patty

 

[Ford500]

Have a friend who ordered a Dell.Works GREAT no problems yet, has had this for about 8 mths.

 

[garebo]

Two things about Dell.

1 Some of their motherboards and power supplies are purposely wired different from standard ATX. Because of that you have to pay thru the nose for any replacement motherboard or power supply you get. Pc power & cooling has dell power supply but again very very expensive for a very cheap power supply!
Some of the newer dell units dont have that problem, so i have heard, but i would stay away from ones that do that have problem.

2 Dells support is the pits. Every PC mag, every survey in these kinds of mags and other survers on tech-net type of net places that have these surveys, same thing, dell is at or near the bottom as far as tech support, the pits.

There are tech places you can go to on the net to get info like that, try PC world or other pc mags, toms hardware guide on the net, other tech places you can google. They will all tell you about dell but also there is info on other brands so you can make a good choice.
I wouldnt buy a dell, but then again i wouldnt buy a Compaq or an HP. If i had a choice between the 3 i would go with Compaq. but no-one is ever limited to those 3 choices, there are others available.

E-machines used to be somewhat of a laugh years ago, but not now, things have changed. I think they bought out a company or two but now they have a very good name and low prices to boot(pun).
There are others, i cant think of them as i build my own and build for others, i dont buy them anymore.



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[paparazi]

GrnEyedLdy
Have you been happy with your local shops PC's and backup? YES?
If I were you I would take the Dell spec sheet and price and give them the option to price match or at least give you options.

Dells are great value until they go wrong, the proprietory nature of some of their components makes it necessary to go back to them every time and once out of warranty that can prove expensive.
Also upgrading can be limited for the same reasons.

If you have to go with a named brand then make sure the PC's are fully ATX compliant and are able to be upgraded with readily available standard ATX components ie:
power supply, motherboards and memory.

Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[micker377]

garebo:

"Dell's support is the pits"

What! You expected English?

 

[garebo]

Right on, micker377. I have also heard, and forgot to mention that if you contact Dell for support, you get a person who doesnt understand you and you dont understand them. Im not knocking any culture, but i got a phone call the other day and i dont care what culture, what nationality the person was, but i am in Canada and i speak english and i spoke english to the person but i couldnt understand a word he was saying. I told him, no offence, but please have someone call me who speaks english. Apparently thats what you will get at Dell support, after waiting on hold for a half hour!! Yes, you can ask for someone who speaks better english, and wait on hold another half hour or longer, i hear!!
Dell should be ashamed. They make their money off Americans, they should employ Americans for support!!!
I am both Canadian and American so i might as well get that out in the open i suppose.

I would never buy a dell because of the support situation and because of the proprietary motherboard and power supplys, period.
There are many other good sized computer mfgrs, like e-machine and many others!


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[GrnEyedLdy]

Thanks to Ford500, Garebo, Paparazi & Micker377 for taking the time to educate me!

After reading your advice I find that you all are completely right. I have come across many many pages of complaints with Dell's support, or better yet, lack of support. Long, long telephone waits and just plain unwillingness to settle problems prompty.

I certainly don't need that headache!

I think I will stay with the local company we use or just start building them myself.

Have a great day and thanks to everyone for their valuable input.

Patty

 

[garebo]

Welcome on my end.
However, like someone else said, you can take the price of the dells and try and get the other person down on their prices a bit.
Plus, there ARE places to get a good computer and good support, emachines seems to be one, but there are others.
Go to pc mag or others and see their results.
You still have all the options!
There are good ones out there to buy from.
And how about having someone in your org build them for you?

Also, i have a bud who bought a Dell p3 500 and has never had a prob with it. But i dont count that as he doesnt use it that much for one and i expect in a business these puters will get a lot of support. And, my bud can do all his repairs and such, maybe you would need support more than he would. Since that is the case and dells support is the pits, that may put them out of the running for you. But for someone who does his own repairs and such, dell may be a good deal for him.


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[cdogg]

Just for the record, only about 1/3 of Dell's helpdesk is overseas. But yeah, I share some of the same sentiments.

What actually made Dell so popular 6-7 years ago was their outstanding tech support and warranty policies. Back then, you had IBM, Gateway, Packard Bell, and Compaq all competing against each other. Dell was easily rated higher than all of the rest in terms of support.

But then something went wrong...[navy]they became mainstream[/navy]! Everyone and their grandmother owns a Dell, what else would you expect from a giant? Look at Microsoft...

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[garebo]

Uh oh, cdogg, look out, someone is going to appear and cloud up and rain all over you, lol.



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[garebo]

GrnEyedLdy, maybe you might have a look here:

http://www.pricewatch.com/

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[garebo]

I said above that E-machines bought out a company, it was Gateway that they bought out. It is pointed out here and also here is a list of budget computers.

http://compreviews.about.com/cs/desktops/tp/aatpbudgetdesk.htm

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[garebo]

Finally, this is the survey i first talked about:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118514,pg,3,00.asp

Good luck with your choice!

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[cdogg]

[LOL]
Funny how that PCWorld survey changes so much over the years!

EMachines? They weren't even on the map 6 years ago. Looks like Dell still places 2nd overall in that list, which to me is another surprise!

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[garebo]

Well, Dell doesnt do too bad in some surveys and dell does badly in others. For me, it would be the proprietary mobo and power supply that would make me run away fast. For others, its the poor support. Most of us could care less about support but the proprietary issue is still a deal-breaker for me. I have dissed Dell but i have also been honest and fair while dissing. Also, i have heard that some of dells computers dont have the proprietary issues, still i wouldnt take a chance, personally.


And, as you said cdogg, emachines werent even on the map. But, again, they also bought out Gateway too. But they had built up a good name even before buying Gateway, they didnt get the good name by default sorta thing either. I have been watching them, just for the fun of it.

There are others, too, besides Dell, HP, Compaq(now HP too), that are pretty good.
Still, i would simply advise GrnEyedLdy to look around for a good deal on a white-box. But i dont know how important support is to her. Still support on a local purchase is almost always better than support from afar.

Need some input from the lady!




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[bazzert]

Here in UK I use Fujitsu Siemens. Have used Dell in past but CS got a bit patchy.

Fujitsu CS is excellent phone answered promptly (half a dozen rings at most usually) and staff seem knowledgeable. Any problems sorted next day and warrenty is 3 years on site.

Machine similar spec to original post but no Office (not needed have site license) but including 15" TFT (excellent well made and bright) worked out at £460 each.

 

[ANFPS26]

Actually, Gateway bought EMachines:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115175,00.asp

Jim

 

[garebo]

got it backwards, i did.


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[GrnEyedLdy]

Thank guys,

I don't want to take a chance with Dell. I am A+ certified and can handle most problems myself but if there is an issue with proprietary Motherboards then I would rather not get involved.

The company we use now is reliable and long standing. Personally I think we should simply build our own but I am not the decison maker on that issue. Perhaps in the near future.

Once again, thanks for all of the useful post. I can always count on the people here at Tek-Tips for helpful information.

I will take a look at Emachines and all the great links that were posted as well.

Garebo and ANFPS26 thanks for the links!


Have a great day,

Patty

 

[garebo]

yw



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