Advice on buying a Dell pc?

bindybandy

Hi Folks,

Not sure if this has been done to death but could not find any threads recent enough with search facility. I'm helping a family member choose a pc.

I'm confident with them and build my own but live too far away to make this an option for them (as if stuff goes wrong) we need a decent after sales service. Apart from ordering one prebuilt and ready to go from Komplett, PC World or Dell I don't know who else there is?
Dell's pc's seem good value and the after sales looks ok but I understand the tech support call centre is in Asia? Has anyone had any dealing with them so i can see if they'd be anygood?

Anyone kow when Vista is out as well as if it is end of the month they might wait a few weeks?

Thanks

ressem

With Dell, you can pay extra for support from someone based in the UK/Ireland.

The last few times that I dealt with the Indian support, they were OK. Unlike some UK help people I've dealt with, they would deviate or truncate from the online script if you could demonstrate that you have followed the steps online.

But that's just a handful of cases, less than a dozen.

muppetkiller

their outlet site has great deals at the moment and they offer free Vista upgrades too.
I've only had to deal with their customer service once and it was rubbish but that was because the machine never arrived. When it did I haven't had a single issue with any dell machine i've purchased,

Polonious

I agree with ressem. I deal with Dell support a lot with work. Of course the more you pay the better the support, but their basic support which gets you through to a helpdesk in India is very good, and the agents for me always go that extra step to help and are very friendly and for the most part very knowledgable. I'd choose dell over pc world any day.

kaisersose77

@muppetkiller


do you mean the normal dell site offers free Vista upgrades or do you mean the outlet aswell?

Zascar

Wow I can't believe what I'm reading! Dell are normally torn to pieces when anyone asks about their support! I worked there for 2 years (left 6 months ago) but people (used to at least) constantly bitch and moan about it.

When support first went to India it was a disaster - the customers hated it, and we as sales people hated dealing with India too! It was always the only bad thing I had to say about Dell. I know all the gamers/modders don't likem, but I think their gear is excellent, but I think they let themselves down when it comes to support. Sometimes you can pay extra for better support, it is always worth it.

Perhaps they have got better more recently I'm not sure, I just found that with something they know how to theya re fine. If it is new to them they are useless.

I once got an email from one of the Indian tech support guys, asking me what my email address was.

bindybandy

Zascar wrote:

I once got an email from one of the Indian tech support guys, asking me what my email address was.

Lol that is one of the best I've ever heard LMAO:D

dlane99

wait until the home versions of vista are out,
a vista upgrade isnt as good as a fresh installation.

lodgepole

I've dealt with their support in India on several occasions and aside from a few language problems and one very early morning phone call from them, they were perfectly acceptable. The quality of the machine was excellent, proven by the fact that i'm writing this email on it and the machine is almost six years old. I'm building a new one later this week, but i'll find a use for the Dell.

CK.1

I bought a PC from Dell last week. There is a problem with the monitor and they are replacing it tomorrow. Apart from that I have no complaints. The PC is great and was good value. It is a Dimension E520. The tech support people I was dealing with were all very helpful and friendly. They are based in India and their accent is a bit strong so you have to listen carefully to them but they speak and understand English perfectly. And when they give you a time to call you back at, they will call, very reliable in that way. The guy said he would call me back last night sometime between 7 & 7:30. He called at 7 on the button!!

Anyway, I would defo recommend them.

good old days

till you have a problem that they can't fix, then watch them drop you like a hot snot.

Steffano2002

Don't

Soundman

Steffano2002 wrote:

Don't

Wow. Excellent advice. So profound and helpful.

Only problem I have ever had with Dell was with this laptop that I bought 2 years ago. They screwed up in my favour and gave me a DVD-RW instead of a CD-RW/DVD reader drive. Eventually discovered that the drive wouldn't burn to DVD. Called up support (my computer skills are pretty good) which was in India and found the lady I was dealing with to be excellent help. She did the usual of asking me if I had tried this, that and the other. One or two things I hadn't tried. She asked me to try a reformat which I refused to do seeing as I couldn't back up my files at the time since I couldn't write DVDs. She said fair enough and organised a courier to pick up the drive the next day and that he would have a replacement one with him. Been working like a dream since. (Touch wood). Have bought Dell for my Family members when they required advice on what to buy and none of us have had any problems. Including my computer illiterate Dad who is in his 60's. The reason we have had no problems is that the computers are looked after and we don't leave ourselves susceptible to viruses and so on, nor do we do anything that is detrimental to the computer's health.

Steffano2002

I meant it! Was in a hurry...

I wouldn't get a Dell product. It's too expensive and too "restrictive". The support can be got right here on boards.ie if you need help and all loads of other websites.
They force you to use their software (or they're partners') and their hardware... Just don't like these kinds of restriction...

Basically, what are the advantages? Why do people choose Dell (apart from the fact that they advertise like crazy and people who are clueless think Dell must be the best as a result)?

Soundman

They don't "force" you to use the software. They load those on so you can use the computer straight away. If you don't need them then simply uninstall them.

If you don't like the computers then that is fine, don't use them. Others do like them, have no problems with them so why not use them. If Dell were really that bad would they be such a popular and flourishing business?

Steffano2002

Soundman wrote:

[...] If Dell were really that bad would they be such a popular and flourishing business?

Because they advertise non-stop and get people who don't know better to buy them. Such as yourself.
I'm glad you are happy with Dell. Their PCs do work ok. But they are more expensive than the competition and all that Dell software is a big pain in the neck...

DaSilva

Have had a dell Laptop for 2 years, and have had an enormous amount of problems with it, but that's due to the laptop it is, Inspiron 5150. It's a badly designed pc, and so has many problems.

However, personally I think their support has gotten better since it moved to India, despite currently never being able to get onto the chat service they have always seemed a little more enthusiastic about solving the problem. Maybe it's just my deep engrained dislike of nearly any large tech support based in Ireland or England.

They do have one major flaw, and that is that the company seems to think that Warranties are the gospel, and if it's not under warranty they don't owe you anything, which is wrong, of course try explaining that too them. 5 weeks later, and it looks like I'm probably going to court with them.

zod

check here every day and beat even the outlet prices http://stores.ebay.ie/Dell-Outlet

Zascar

Steffano2002 wrote:

I'm glad you are happy with Dell. Their PCs do work ok. But they are more expensive than the competition

Having worked in Sales for Dell for 3 years I can tell you this is not true. Yes they are a gian marketing machine, but they advertise some of the best deals going. PC's are comodities - people so not have much of a brand preference these days, all pc's are more or less the same - their box with a bunch of different manufactureses parts in it. Dell have pioneered the industry by using the best business processes to drive down prices faster than anyone else. Fact. In all my days dealing with everyone to ordinary punters to multinational companies, it wasn't very often I got beaten on price.

I'm sure it possible to buy a case and the same parts/spec for cheaper than Dell, but who the hell wants to bother getting 10-15 boxes, taking the time to build the PC, loads on the operating system and set everything up etc. I don't know about you but my free time is worth considerably more than the time it would take me to do all that. Its a small price to pay for the convenience of having it all done for you. And if something goes horribly wrong with your self build PC you've no one to turn to if you cannot diagnose the problem yourself.

If this doesn't sound like too much trouble, self build is for you.
If not, A Dell is a pretty safe choice.

Gurgle

bindybandy wrote:

Dell's pc's seem good value

If you want a basic PC for internet, MS Office, watching DVDs, playing music etc. then a bargain-bin Dell will do you fine.

Other than adding memory or a bigger hard disk, you won't be able to upgrade it later, this is the biggest catch.

If you want something for heavy use, that you can add to, or something with higher specs then don't go near a Dell. The price inflates beyond all reason for anything other than the absolute basics.

Saruman

Thats odd, Dell is cheap and a little overpriced... though ONLY as opposed from building yourself or off komplett or ankermann. They are cheaper than most other big companies.

As for problems? Sure some have problems just like self builds can!!
Dasilva im surprised about the 5150 problems? I had one for years, i just sold it. I never called Dell once. Never a problem. 4 to 5 hours battery life. It was a solid laptop!

Look buying a Dell is gives you more freedom than buying a Packard Bell or Compaq from PC world as you can pick what you want from their list. It will never be as good as one from Komplett or a complete self build but they do have payment plans so for that alone some people feel they are better off just going with them.

Zascar

A very very small percentage of people would ever want to upgrade anything other than hard drive and memory. You can upgrade the Graphics card in most dells. Personally if it came to the point of needing to upgrade the processor or motherboard, I'd perfer to buy a new pc all together

Gurgle

Zascar wrote:

You can upgrade the Graphics card in most dells.

Nope, its generally On-board graphics with no AGP or PCI-E slot.

Zascar wrote:

Personally if it came to the point of needing to upgrade the processor or motherboard, I'd perfer to buy a new pc all together

And dump (looking into my case):
DVD-RW
DVD-R
80GB S-ATA HDD
40GB IDE HDD
1GB RAM
TV Capture card
Soundblaster Live
128Mb Graphics card
450W PSU
Windows XP license

tbh, when I want a faster PC, I'll spend €250 on a CPU and motherboard, possibly €150 on RAM and keep everything else. And I'll have a much better PC for my €400 that you'll get in a bargain-bin Dell.

Dilbert75

Gurgle wrote:

Nope, its generally On-board graphics with no AGP or PCI-E slot.


And dump (looking into my case):
DVD-RW
DVD-R
80GB S-ATA HDD
40GB IDE HDD
1GB RAM
TV Capture card
Soundblaster Live
128Mb Graphics card
450W PSU
Windows XP license

tbh, when I want a faster PC, I'll spend €250 on a CPU and motherboard, possibly €150 on RAM and keep everything else. And I'll have a much better PC for my €400 that you'll get in a bargain-bin Dell.

I'm not 100% sure about the newer models but I have a Dell desktop and, from your list above, I upgraded:
-HDD (added an extra)
-DVD RW
-RAM
-TV Capture Card
-Sound Card
-Graphics Card
-OS

with no problems. I suspect that if you buy the very entry level model the number of expansion slots are limited but if you go up one or two models the options open up a bit.

My experience with Dell has been almost 100% good - and when I had a small issue with an accessory I bought from them recently, the customer service from India was an example to any organisation of how to look after its customers - e-mails to confirm the problem, immediate dispatch of replacement and a phone call after delivery to make sure that everything was OK.

good old days

I have a dimension 8300, my graphic card broke - need a new Graphic Card what do Dell tell - you need a new computer, ffs my graphic card is broken solution you need a new pc.

Gurgle

good old days wrote:

I have a dimension 8300, my graphic card broke - need a new Graphic Card what do Dell tell - you need a new computer, ffs my graphic card is broken solution you need a new pc.

With onboard graphics, no AGP slot, no PCI-E slot; you need a new motherboard. You'll find Dell 'no longer support' that model, so you'll have to buy one separately. But a standard motherboard won't fit in the Dell case, so you'll have to buy a case. But the Dell PSU won't fit in your new case - Buy a new PSU. Now the Dell DVD-RW drive doesn't fit either, oh well, buy a new one.

Hmmm, you've spent more than the cost of a new Dell fixing your old one.

Its almost as if they planned it this way.

good old days

oh - i also asked an question - can i have your complaints dept number please, i'm sorry sir i have no update on that information - ok then do you have a complaints dept - i'm sorry sir i have no update on that information.

as i say when they can't help you, they drop you like a hot snot.

thank god for boards.ie the guys on here sorted me

sdanseo

Gurgle wrote:

With onboard graphics, no AGP slot, no PCI-E slot; you need a new motherboard. You'll find Dell 'no longer support' that model, so you'll have to buy one separately. But a standard motherboard won't fit in the Dell case, so you'll have to buy a case. But the Dell PSU won't fit in your new case - Buy a new PSU. Now the Dell DVD-RW drive doesn't fit either, oh well, buy a new one.

Hmmm, you've spent more than the cost of a new Dell fixing your old one.

Its almost as if they planned it this way.

I had a good giggle at that , so true.

Stay away from Dell unless you're forking out for a top-of-the-line XPS 700, in which case you won't be able to upgrade still, but you'll have a decent computer. And, as the support is (or was) based in Sctoland, you'll be able to understand customer care.

I bought a HP, that said, perfectly upgradable and grand value at the time for what I got - then I added bits

Dilbert75

Gurgle wrote:

With onboard graphics, no AGP slot, no PCI-E slot; you need a new motherboard. You'll find Dell 'no longer support' that model, so you'll have to buy one separately. But a standard motherboard won't fit in the Dell case, so you'll have to buy a case. But the Dell PSU won't fit in your new case - Buy a new PSU. Now the Dell DVD-RW drive doesn't fit either, oh well, buy a new one.

Hmmm, you've spent more than the cost of a new Dell fixing your old one.

Its almost as if they planned it this way.

So don't buy a Dell with onboard graphics!

TerrorFirmer

Gurgle wrote:

With onboard graphics, no AGP slot, no PCI-E slot; you need a new motherboard. You'll find Dell 'no longer support' that model, so you'll have to buy one separately. But a standard motherboard won't fit in the Dell case, so you'll have to buy a case. But the Dell PSU won't fit in your new case - Buy a new PSU. Now the Dell DVD-RW drive doesn't fit either, oh well, buy a new one.

Hmmm, you've spent more than the cost of a new Dell fixing your old one.

Its almost as if they planned it this way.

I'm sick of people talking so much **** about dell. Dell use totally standard optical drives and unless you bought the cheapest machine possible, Dell all have expansion slots. The cheap mid-range e520 have a 16x pci-e slot. The only people stuck with onboard graphics are the people who buy the cheapest of the cheap, and somehow I don't think they are going to be trying to stick a killer card in there anyway are they. And if they are, so what - you get what you pay for. If you want a gaming machine it's not DELLs fault that you're naive enough to think the cheapest machine available is going to blaze through the latest games. Or did you almost forget there that about 98% of the market Dell cater for are non-gamers?

Oh no, Dell are crap because they aren't capable of my gaming needs after I purposely bought a cheap as chips model. Get over it.

As long as the ram, hd, graphics card etc are all interchangable in the mid to high range, which they always have been, then the average dell user will have no problems staying on top of even games.

edit: And I have owned several dells, and now use a custom build. But I still think DELL are fine, and always have. 99% of 'reasons' people bash dell are totally inapplicable to the circumstances they bought them under

Hobbes

Oh no, Dell are crap because they aren't capable of my gaming needs after I purposely bought a cheap as chips model. Get over it.

No there are many reasons.

I own three Dells. One of them broke down over four months ago. It is still with Dell.

Last week was the final straw I got it back only to find it was still fuked.

After calling support again they have offered me a new latest machine as a replacement, which they said they would get back to me and guess what! They haven't. So if there is no new machine by the end of the week its going to legal action.

Dell machines are grand if they never break down.

Steffano2002

I don't like Dell personally and I would never recommend them to a friend.
I don't like Dell fanboys and I would never recommend them as friends.

Heinrich

Zascar wrote:

I'm sure it possible to buy a case and the same parts/spec for cheaper than Dell, but who the hell wants to bother getting 10-15 boxes, taking the time to build the PC, loads on the operating system and set everything up etc. I don't know about you but my free time is worth considerably more than the time it would take me to do all that. Its a small price to pay for the convenience of having it all done for you. And if something goes horribly wrong with your self build PC you've no one to turn to if you cannot diagnose the problem yourself.

If this doesn't sound like too much trouble, self build is for you.
If not, A Dell is a pretty safe choice.

So is

http://www.komplett.ie/k/cc.asp?bn=10306

Gurgle

HavoK wrote:

I'm sick of people talking so much **** about dell. Dell use totally standard optical drives and unless you bought the cheapest machine possible, Dell all have expansion slots. The cheap mid-range e520 have a 16x pci-e slot. The only people stuck with onboard graphics are the people who buy the cheapest of the cheap, and somehow I don't think they are going to be trying to stick a killer card in there anyway are they. And if they are, so what - you get what you pay for. If you want a gaming machine it's not DELLs fault that you're naive enough to think the cheapest machine available is going to blaze through the latest games. Or did you almost forget there that about 98% of the market Dell cater for are non-gamers?

Oh no, Dell are crap because they aren't capable of my gaming needs after I purposely bought a cheap as chips model. Get over it.

As long as the ram, hd, graphics card etc are all interchangable in the mid to high range, which they always have been, then the average dell user will have no problems staying on top of even games.

edit: And I have owned several dells, and now use a custom build. But I still think DELL are fine, and always have. 99% of 'reasons' people bash dell are totally inapplicable to the circumstances they bought them under

Dell are just fine for plenty of people but the non-standard motherboard, case and PSU does cause problems if someone wants an upgrade/repair without shelling out hundreds of euro.

BostonB

good old days wrote:

I have a dimension 8300, my graphic card broke - need a new Graphic Card what do Dell tell - you need a new computer, ffs my graphic card is broken solution you need a new pc.

Gurgle wrote:

With onboard graphics, no AGP slot, no PCI-E slot; you need a new motherboard. You'll find Dell 'no longer support' that model, so you'll have to buy one separately. But a standard motherboard won't fit in the Dell case, so you'll have to buy a case. But the Dell PSU won't fit in your new case - Buy a new PSU. Now the Dell DVD-RW drive doesn't fit either, oh well, buy a new one.

Hmmm, you've spent more than the cost of a new Dell fixing your old one.

Its almost as if they planned it this way.

AFAIK the 8300 has a AGP slot. All you need to do is swap out the card.

DVDRW's are all standard sizes. My 4600 had a standard PSU, most Dells do these days unless its a SFF or Workstation. Most people will never even open their PC never mind change something major like a motherboard in it. The only people who do that are hobbyists and Dells aren't targeting that market. Of course they build obsolescence into their products, that's how you make money. Its a business after all. You can get around it easily. There's loads of old Dells around and for very little. You similar find a similar model with a working part and get that. You'd do the same thing for a car.

I find if you shop smart you can buy Dells a lot cheaper, (especially on the outlet when there's a Dell running) than you can buy buying a pre built from Komplett, or by building your own. Especially for a run of the mill, office machine. Of course it depends what type of machine you are building. Some people don't have the time for that, or simply not interested in it.

Dells are a cheap machine, so you don't go paying over the odds for one. Thats just silly. Most people don't need gfx cards. But if you do, and buy one with integrated gfx, thats your fault not Dells.

good old days

i bought my dell 3 years 2 months ago at 3.5k i would not call that cheep.
my graphics card broke - i don't have a problem with that but Dell tells me i need a new pc and there is no graphic card on the market that will fit pc


as to dell being cheeper - go on to there web site and build an custom job and then go on Komplett and build the same custom job, there's a huge difference in price

nesf

You recommend Dell to the same people who couldn't tell you and don't care about the difference between a PCI slot and an AGP slot. For these people, my father springs to mind, it's a perfect solution and these people do form the majority of the market at the moment.


Also, there is an argument against 'incremental' updating and just doing it all at once with a new machine every few years. It doesn't work out very different really for most people.

Dilbert75

Hobbes wrote:

No there are many reasons.

I own three Dells. One of them broke down over four months ago. It is still with Dell.

Last week was the final straw I got it back only to find it was still fuked.

After calling support again they have offered me a new latest machine as a replacement, which they said they would get back to me and guess what! They haven't. So if there is no new machine by the end of the week its going to legal action.

Dell machines are grand if they never break down.

I could say the same from my experience of Acer. Bought an Acer PDA from Komplett December 2005. Within 2 months it had started giving trouble, gave up on it by the March and complained to Komplett. Told to contact Acer directly. Had to spend an hour on a premium rate call to UK, then call Acer's UK courier to arrange collection. Sent it back. Waited six weeks. Called - still not fixed. Requested (wasn't offered) a replacement. Was asked to call back a week later to see if my request was granted. Did so and was pleased to be told it was. Waited another three weeks - received the replacement, which was of inferior spec to the original. Went do-lally at Acer. Got little response. Went do-lally at Komplett. They agreed to refund the original purchase price once I sent the replacement back to them. Did so. Then found out they wouldn't refund my Visa card. They would only bank transfer to my bank account. Advised by bank & Visa Card not to give bank details, only get refund to Visa card. Komplett refused. Point Blank. Ended up opening a special bank account to get the refund (rather than giving a bunch of incompetents my current account details). Even at that I had to go back one further time and request the cost of postage of the replacement. I think it was August (5 months after initial complaint) before I got all my money back. Then I bought a Dell and its been faultless.

Most people will probably tell you that Acer are good and that Komplett are great. But I found both to be atrocious in this case.