The one I love the best it the infinite loop catch-22 with operating system problems. When buying a new machine it come pre-installed with the operating system. If there are problems, and there are you can’t call Microsoft without paying because it is an OEM installation. If you call Dell they won’t help because there are hardware techs and don’t support software. Of course you can call there $99,95 software support line, no guarantee of a resolution, but you can call. Essentially you have no warranty support for the operating system Dell installed.

Last year I bought a very high end XPS system and had nothing but problems. Ar a few replacement machines and most importantly 8 BIOS updates in 6 months that problem was solved. The initial BIOS was not very compatible with an NVIDIA chipset. They shipped a $3,500 system which was known (the technician told me during my first call)to have BIOS problems. During that same 6 month period they replaced:
1. A hard drive (the type installed couldn’t use UltraDMA mode with the installed chip set) - of course it was my boot drive and they offered to send a technician to install the drive but the tech couldn’t transfer the files. So I would have a new boot drive with nothing, not even an operating system on it. Of course they no longer send the OS CDs either. Lucky for me I had disk clone software.
2. A new DVD burner. The one originally installed didn’t burn dual layer even though they said it did. After replacing the drive the new one had other problems, these were solved by flashing the drive with software from the actual manufacturer. Phillips drives are manufactured by BENQ and there firmware is better than what Phillips uses.
3. A memory chip - one of them died after 3 months.

I could go on with other issues but I am getting tired of writing. I have a small business and have 10 computers in addition to my 3at home. All used to be Dell. There service sucks and their reliability continues to decline (see Consumer Reports). As I take computers off-line I am replacing them with HP. The two HPs (fingers crossed) seem to be doing quite well and the only service call I have had to make was handled quickly, efficiently and courteously. Right now it is HP for me.
Scott

P.S.
They better fix my problem asap when i call the first time!

I have a Dell laptop. Not long after purchasing it one of the little rubber stick on “feet” fell off. Wasn’t a real problem it just wobbled a small amount. Then I somehow lost the A/C charging cable. Now it was time to call for support. The time I spent on hold was minimal and the tech was very pleasant and said that they would overnight some new rubber feet to me but that I would neet to talk to someone in sales for a new charger/AC cable. So I went on hold again and soon a rather pleasant lady came on and I told her my problem and she said no problem I can get you one right out. Then she asked if I needed both parts. I said I didn’t know (I thought it WAS one part) and I told her I needed everything that went from the computer to the wall outlet. Ah, no problem she said and she billed me for the part and $10.00 for shipping. I was happy, so far.

Next day I had the new rubber feet. A week later a box showed up at my door (thank goodness as the battery I’ve been nursing is rapidly going dead) So I opened the box and there was the part, except the piece that plugs into the wall was missing! Now I knew what she meant about two pieces. A quick call to Dell with the attendent wait on hold I talked to a person who apoligized and said they would get the needed cable right out. Sure enough another week went by and another box showed up on my doorstep. Hooray! I opened the box and guess what? Right, the exact same piece they sent the first time with STILL no cord to plug into the wall. My demeanor now was shall we say somewhat dark.

Call back to Dell, everytime the voice mail came on I hit the 0 key, again and again until someone finally answered. He was someone in sales somewhat baffled at how I got him. I gave it to him with both barrels. He was quite nice and apologetic but said there was nothing he could do. (sound familiar?) I needed to talk to sales. OK, patch me through. After holding forever I hung up and looked up the web site on my desktop. Having found it I got out my digital camera and placed the laptop on my kitchen table and plugged in the part they sent me with a duplicate sitting next to it and the wall plug near by with no cord going into it and took a picture. Now I sent an email to Dell with a picture of my problem (Perhaps the people in India can understand a picture).

Sure enough someone soon called and said he would send out BOTH parts and that I would be billed for them along with another $10.00 for shipping and handling and since I was spending that much on shipping wouldn’t I rather throw in some extra memory for my computer? NO!!!! Just send the parts!

Now, finally, an idea struck me. You don’t suppose you can buy those from other places on the I’net do you? On to Google and I searched for my laptop model number and dell and charging cables. BINGO! I found gobs of them! The one site I went to had a picture of BOTH parts. At half of what Dell charged me and shipping of about four bucks! I ordered one. About three days later it was on my doorstep! My new laptop was back in business.

Three days later the one from Dell finally arrived. Imagine my surprise when it actually contained BOTH parts needed to make up a charging cable!

What do you think my likelyhood is of EVER buying anythng from Dell again? Slim to none!

Sincerely,
Cameron C. Cook