Do you have recent experience with Dell? 3

[cdogg]

Hi everyone!

My company is in the process of evaluating Dell. We have been an HP shop for years with over 5000 desktops and laptops in the environment. The main issue now is cost, so if Dell has an attractive price tag on their products and services we may decide to switch.

My experience with Dell is outdated going all the way back to 2001-2002. Their phone support was top-notch, but I have to say their laptop line at the time (C400 and C600 series) were not the best quality. Power issues were common because they used a grounding screw in the center underneath the laptop that had a tendency to come loose. It would prevent the laptop from powering on. There were also some overheating issues too with those models. On the flipside, the support they offered at the business level was outstanding and unparalleled at the time.

My question to you is if Dell's business support model has improved over the years, stayed the same, or has been on the decline. If you've worked with their support in the last couple years, please share your experiences.

Thank you in advance for your valuable contributions!

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[ArizonaGeek]

We have been pretty much a Dell only shop. We tried to give a few others the chance but no one has compared to Dell. And we've been pretty happy. We have about 30 users between desktops and laptops. We also had at one point 7 racks of Dell servers but we are now 80% virtualized we are down to less than two racks.

Now the kicker, like any technology if you buy the cheapest you're going to get what you pay for. We stopped buying Inspiron laptops and Dimension desktops and now only buy Latitude laptops and Optiplex desktops. We get 3 year support and get accidental damage on both laptops and desktops. Any server has 4 hour support.

The biggest plus for me is that when you order a laptop or desktop from the business end of it you can get a Windows disk and a driver disk not some lame restore disk. So you could reinstall with JUST Windows and get rid of the crapware. Actually, most of ours are XP machines so I have a base image for our desktops and can have a brand new machine deployed in less than hour.

Couple of things I would suggest, you want to get a sales rep that you can worth with and build a relationship with. Ours will email us good deals once in a while and send us coupons for free or cheap stuff. Also try to only buy at the end of quarters of if you can hold out, buy at the end of the year, like end of November or beginning of December. They were practically giving away stuff end of last year. Lastly, we buy almost all of our software and hardware from Dell since they can beat any price out there. One software vendor, who shall remain nameless, quoted their software at $899 per CPU. Our Dell rep gave it to use for $550 per CPU.

Now I am sure there are other people with different experiences but, just like picking a cell phone company, they're all evil you just got pick the one less evil for you.

Good luck!
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[BionicJohn]

Very limited experience with Dell, but generally not good, mostly relating to Inspiron laptop batteries "failing" as soon as the warranty expired.

They try to do too much on-line, when hands-on is likely to be more effective.

But with discounted prices, there has to be a short-coming somewhere.


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[CiscoGuy33]

cdogg,

I have been dealing with Dell for about 10 years at a large college. I have about 450 Dell PCs in my area and the school must have about 3,000. I could not be happier, but like ArizonaGeek said we buy Optiplex's and stay away from the budget stuff - like anywhere - you get what you pay for.

The Dell's I deal with are in student labs and classrooms, so they are used a lot from 8 in the morning until after 9 at night 5-6 days a week. We try to turn them over every 3-5 years and normally have 3-4 year warranties on everything.

Support is great - you DON'T have the same phone number that consumumers have so I have had few waits on line. Dell's business support staff is all in the USA (at least all that I have dealt with) so no issues with understanding the person on the other end. And I have parts the next day or a tech if needed.

I do a lot of support by email, once you understand what to say as to what they will want you to try, such as if I have a bad floppy disk drive, I will say that we checked the cables, swapped the unit with a know good one and the trouble followed etc. once you know what they will ask, you can have all those things done and then they just send you the replacement part or the tech to repair.

Even with 450 units, I don't have that many that need to be repaired. Maybe 1 a month. Like it has been said, you buy bottom of the line, expect more trouble, but with better units, I don't see much trouble.

Dell can also image units for you, we have standard images for different areas so it can come from Dell ready to go. This helps with Enterprise lic. for the Windows OS, MS Office, Sophos antivirus etc. Dell can even put inventory tags on for you (I am sure you pay something) but Dell is really good for enterprise level clients!!!

Talk to a Dell sales rep for the level you will be buying at, 2-3 units don;t expect a lot, hundreds at a time ......

We are very happy

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[cdogg]

I appreciate the feedback so far. I agree that going with mid-level workstations is a smarter approach. In fact, that's how we currently deal with HP - avoiding most of the low-end budget models.

That brings me to a follow-up question. When doing repairs with HP, they have an online self-service tool. The IT workstation technicians at my company are able to get HP-certified which gives them access to fill out an interactive, online form to request spare parts. We then receive the part and ship the defective one back. No phone or email communication with an HP rep is needed in the process. This covers about 95% of our situations in dealing with defective parts.

Does Dell have something similar on their end, or even if you are Dell-certified, are you still expected to call/email in for basic parts? Also does anyone know if the Dell certification expires every year (I heard that rumor...HP certifications do not expire)?


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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[ArizonaGeek]

I am not sure if the Dell Certification expires but you can get Dell certified. When you get that certification you just make a call to their Gold support and say "Send me the part" and they will. I was supposed to get a couple of certs with Dell but like most companies, our budget got hacked to shreds last year and this year.

Here are some of the classes they offer.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[dippncope]

Dell certs expire after 1 year and then you must retake the tests.

 

[Prydonian]

My previous position was at a DELL site and I never had an issue with the hardware preformance or the support. I now work at an all HP site, and for what it's worth, there is really only one glaring difference, and its totally a matter of opinion.

DELL's DRAC (DELL Remote Access Card) is an extra cost item and takes up a PCI slot. HP's version, called ILO (Integrated Lights Out) is, well, intregated as part of the motherboard. As far as I'm concerned, the ability to log into a powered down server located halfway across the country and bring it up or run diagnostics, or just install MS updates/patches is invaluable.

Other than I hated losing a PCI slot for no reason, toss a coin. They're both quality outfits.

Mike, The IT Guy

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran!

 

[conceptumator]

Our company went to Dell computers nationwide about 10 years ago and I fought it tooth and nail at the time. After about a year, I wouldn't go any other way. I switched everything at our church to Dell, our kids to Dell, friends, etc. -- never a bad experience. I had a laptop I use for work (construction) that went out with 11 days left on a 3 year warranty. I was in Miami that week, so Dell came and fixed it on the jobsite the next day. That fix lasted just a few hours as something else was wrong. The came to my office in Orlando the next day and couldn't fix it (this was Friday); on Tuesday, I received a brand new laptop, two models newer than the one I had, with absolutely no questions asked and no charge. I wouldn't go any other way but Dell!

 

[gbaughma]

I have been very happy with Dells.

At my last job, we had about 2,500 dells company wide. I had a rack full of servers that I never had to worry about.

Their support (business support) is great.

At home, I have Dell servers (OK, and one AS/400). One of the Dell servers I just retired a couple of days ago was about 15 years old! A dual processor at 233Mhz! I had it running Red Hat Linux for my e-mail services, and honestly, I rebooted it once in the last year. I retired it because it wouldn't run Fedora. lol

I just picked up a single rack-space Dell Ummm... 1750 I think... dual 3.0 Ghz processor... 4GB of RAM, and 3x36GB Hard drives in raid 5. Dual power supplies, dual nics... I found a place down in Texas that resells lease returns... the server is only about 3 years old... and I got it for under $500 including shipping. WOOOOT!

It's now running my web server, monitoring software, and backups; happy as a clam. I never have an issue with it.


Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

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http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[xwb]

Dell desktops are OK but I prefer the HP servers. They don't have the complicated mounting that the Dells have and there are some features like ILO, twin power supplies and the blue light that shines from front to back that are non existent on Dells.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

Well, xwb you're pretty much wrong on all accounts. Dell realized their rails suck so for the last few years they sell universal rail kits with their servers. Work in every rack I've had to deal with so far. It is nice because I have non Dell racks in our office server room but our Co-Lo has Dell racks.

They also come with DRAC cards which used to take up a PCI slot but no longer, it is an option which some might want to take advantage. I don't know who, they are a life saver, but someone out there might not want to pay for something they aren't going to use. Every server I've bought has dual power supply. Again, I don't know why, but maybe someone only need one power supply. It is nice to have the option.

Ok I was wrong on one account. Dell doesn't have a fancy blue light that goes from front to back. It only lights blue on the front. I guess if you want a server that has a fancy blue light, buy a HP.

If you want a server that runs like a wild horse, with great service and support you might go with Dell. Or HP. I have nothing bad to say about HP they make great servers. But we've built a reputation with Dell and no one can beat their prices. No one. Until they ruin their reputation or give us a reason to leave, a really good reason, we're sticking with them.

Every year or two we try to see if anyone can beat Dell at service, price and support. Just to say we checked (and we let our Dell rep know this, keeps him on his toes) we've tried IBM, HP and a few other smaller brands but so far no one has beat them for hardware or for software prices. That's the way it's been done doesn't mean it is always the right way.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[PRPhx]

cdogg,
We are mostly a Dell shop also, at least as far as desktops go. The department I work in purchased probably 20 Dell Percision 390 desktops, lesss than a year and a half ago. We've had ONE motherboard fail. We also bought a number of 24" and 19" monitors. ALL of the 24" monitor power buttons have failed!! These monitors were replaced by Acer. Otherwise we've had good luck with them. They get used 8 hrs a day X 5 dayas a week. They are connected to high speed scanners. We scan approx 190,000 pages a week, so these pc's get a good workout!

 

[StNixon]

We were Dell for Laptops and Desktops from 2002 to 2008. It was a nightmare!!!!! We bought 15 Desktops and 20 laptops. 2 were DOA and took a week to get parts to fix them. In the first year we had 13 service calls for Motherboards, Monitors, Hard Drives and Power supplies. That's a 37% failure rate.
Using support was like trying to train a horse to whistle. I was always treated like an idiot, it fact I was told that once and the support person hung up on me. When I called back to complain the supervisor said he would "look into" that problem, I never did hear back from them.
Our supplier tried to get us better help but we both just went in circles. I DO like their chat support, that way even if I run into a very slow support person, I can think my answers through carefully.
Dell installs a lot of Dell apps on their PC. Some of which conflicted with our existing software and XPPro. I had to threaten to return a batch of laptops as defective, before Dell and our supplier would help me fix the problem (solution was to uninstall the NIC monitoring software).
I was recently offered a brand new Dell for free, I turned down the offer.
We now use Lenovos for desktops and laptops. 55 units, 1 failure in the first year. However their support is spotty, either really good or really lame.
All our servers are HP and as I am an ASE my support their is second to none.

 

[ArizonaGeek]

StNixon, I am not sure how you were buying your PCs and Laptops from Dell if you think they have a lot of crapware and Lenovo doesn't. I have never bought from the User point of view but at least on the business end of it, Dell gives you a Windows CD and a driver disk. You can just reinstall with no apps at all. But the equipment I buy from Dell has a minimal amount of crapware loaded on them. In fact, any more they usually don't come with any crapware. I bought a few Lenovos for another company I worked for and they were loaded with crapware. Not like Toshibas's though, they were the WORST!!! I mean like 10 gigs of it! They also don't have on site repair you actually have to bring it to a certified warranty repair shop and be down for a week or more. We always buy accidental damage protection with next business day repair service with all of our desktops and laptops and then 4 hour service on our servers.

As far as failures, just yesterday I had my first laptop repaired in more than a year. User error though, they dropped it and then dropped something on it. Dell came out the next day and replaced everything but the hard drive and wireless card. Everything else on the laptop is brand new. I haven't had a PC fail in at least 2 years. Actually, the last failure was when I had 3 power supplies that died when we had a power surge during a monsoon storm. That was in the summer of 2007. And they were on battery back ups so I am surprised we didn't lose more or lose a server.

37% failure rate?? I have less than 1% failure on my network and those are outside forces like weather and user error. About 70 servers, 20 desktops and 20 laptops.

I am just a little surprised by your post.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[CiscoGuy33]

Rob,

I am with you and I have about 450 Dell's I take care of, when I have used a tech, he was out the next day, I normally get the parts and do it myself. Dell sends them overnight express - my only trouble is when MY MAILROOM does not get me my package - Not Dell

37% failure???? that is weird unless you are buying Dell's "low end" stuff, and I would even be shocked by that even with low end stuff.

We did have a bad batch of Western Digital hard drives about 6 years ago, but after the 3rd one failed out of 30 Dell sent a tech out and replaced all of the batch, either they or WD had determined they had a bad lot.


StNixon,

Not sure who you are dealing with, you said -

"When I called back to complain the supervisor said he would "look into" that problem, I never did hear back from them."

But, when I call tech support, I get a follow-up email from the Dell rep and several times I also got an email asking how the service was! I also ALWAYS get the name of the tech and any supervisor I am talking to in case I do have any issues.

E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +

 

[KTM72]

We are a small shop, all of our desktops and laptops are Dell's. All in all I cant think of anything wrong with them, other than they don't like some cards being stuck in them sometimes.

 

[cigol01]

I do like dell computers as I have 2 of them and have never had any real problems with any type of hardware failure even after the heavy use of 1 pc for 6-7 years. However I did have a bad experience when paying as I transferred the money to thier bank and this wasn't acknowledged, best to pay online for a smooth process!


PC REPAIRS FALKIRK

 

[happykappy]

I have worked with Dell also. Except that I work with small businesses. Every repair job was done with refurbished parts even when they replaced the laptop less than 30 days old. Every part I received from Dell was a refurbished part and not new. On a different job I called Tech support and they were completely unable to help me and suggested a new MB and new warranty. $450 dollars later it turned out the problem was in a switch and not the MB.
Dell used to be made in USA and they have closed many USA plants. To me it raises the question of their quality going foward.
Otherwise Dell is not much different than any other manufacturer. If you buy multiple Dell PC's from intermediate seller, Dell gives a hard time on the warranty. So again get a good sales person and deal directly.

 

[cdogg]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I don't believe the quality of techical support is going to be an issue at this point. If we decide to switch to Dell, we will be engaged in a corporate contract of sorts that would give us access to something above basic residential support. So wait times and unwillingness to cooperate over the phone aren't issues that I'm worried about.

On the HP side, we do have something called the Self Maintainer tool which allows our technicians to request spare parts from HP without calling or emailing. We log into their Customer Service website, punch in the serial and part numbers, and the spare part is delivered the next business day. We then ship the defective part back, log into the site again and close the call. We even get reimbursed a small fee for doing the work ourselves ($20 and $60 here and there really adds up over time).

Now the only thing left I'd really like to understand is if Dell has any kind of similar self-service tool. So far, I have not heard of anything...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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