Comments for Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Comment from Kyle K. on 2009-02-21

2009-02-22T07:01:16Z

I have an Inspiron laptop (E1505) and my favorite thing about Dell has actually been the service. I purchased Complete Care along with the laptop, and I have used the heck out of it. Any little thing that goes wrong, at least hardware-wise, I can just call tech support and have a representative from a Dell contracting service AT MY HOUSE in a day or two. Maybe it's just the particular contracting service in my area, but the service I have received has been phenomenal.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Stephanie on 2009-02-20

2009-02-20T22:43:04Z

I've switch to Dell for my business computer need 3 years ago. Great experience, do not need to search driver over several website, you know where to call when there is a problem. I had some error in my orders, but no trouble to fix them. I won't change...

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Phroggy on 2009-02-17

2009-02-18T04:26:09Z

I currently have 2 D600's. Wonderful machines that seem to handle most anything. My granddaughter uses one at college and it has survived untold use & abuse! I use the other for laptop beta testing,it handles Vista well and I'm looking forward to beta testing win7. Have never needed to use Dell support (knock on wood) the machines ARE DURABLE!!

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from alphaa10 on 2009-02-17

2009-02-18T00:26:10Z

Leo, like many computer people, you spell exactly like you were taught English-- phonetically. For example, your recent column on Dell misspells the word "flies".

By coincidence, a news network recently misspelled the same word, and I sent them the following verse--

With deadline pressure we embrace
Any spelling which fills up the space
Hoping those paid to know better
With grammar and letter
Will ignore the "flys" on our face.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Roy Osborn on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T18:59:04Z

Have been on Dell since my employer took away our Macs back in 1998. Hate Windows but have virtually no issues with the Dells (PCs and laptops both) that a quick call to the service folks didn't fix immediately. Now that I am retired, I continue to buy Dell (Latitudes, XPS series) through the "business" portal knowing that the 3 year warranty guarantees a pain-free user experience for about as long as the performance shelf-life of any machine these days. The models I buy have proven to be very reliable.

Agree that it is hard to compare across Dell models since the primary variable is the quality of the non-"commercialized" components used in construction, i.e., any component exclusive of the CPU, physical drives, and non-Dell audio/video cards.

Finally, I try to find situations where I can donate my used machines to users with ADP requirements that don't require state-of-the-art horsepower. I continue to hear positive feedback from these folks long after I expect the donated machines to have died and been buried. And that's neat.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Natalie Kehr on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T18:08:50Z

I feel fortunate that my Dell Laptop was bought in the USA. I am based in the UK. The UK support have never acknowledged hardware failure until I have reformatted 3 times. I have learned to use USA support. They can't send me replacement parts, but with their help I get better support from the UK. Another advantage of USA support is that it is available 24/7. UK support is only available during UK office hours on weekdays and Saturday mornings, and the phone is continually engaged. As both support operations appear to be outsourced to India, this makes me feel particularly unloved by Dell.

My work partner has several Dells and gets good service but he is based in the USA. Until I learned to contact Dell USA myself he had to intervene on my behalf in order to get the UK to acknowledge that hardware does fail.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from WOFTBO on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T17:54:36Z

I do not recommend any brand, I prefer to offer my clients a few possiblities and let them choose!
Dell in general provides as good as or better products and support then their competitors.
But, I have a couple of problems with them. Their multi-level pricing approach can be a real pain. It can be difficult to determine whether the best price for a laptop is received as a consumer, small business, student, or enterprise customer.
My second complaint is Dell now expects the consumer to troubleshoot technical problems and perform technical work many consumers have no knowledge of. Leo refers to re-installing the operating system on the hard disk drive. Dell had always provided pre-imaged hard drives in the past.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Carl on 2009-02-17

2009-02-17T17:51:08Z

I've had my Dell Dimension 2400 4 years, no problems with it "Mechanically that is." Since it is my first computer I had some "Learning" problems, But wit the help from Dell support and my ISP got them solved quickly.
I've upgraded it from 512Mb to 2.0 Gb. and replaced the Graphics card, Flash card, or what ever its called, in order to better play games.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Robert M. on 2009-02-15

2009-02-16T00:00:30Z

I had a Dimension 2400 for 8 years. It came with an on-site warranty, and I had to use it, several times. While I had some problems with this budget PC, Dell always backed up their product with service.

In fact, a failure I had a month prior to the warranty's expiration was serviced then reappeared a month after expiration.

Dell extended me "service" by replacing the entire system, with the exception of my hard drives - and covered the shipping of the old PC's return. The replaced PC went on to operate fine until the motherboard died. I was able to use the hard drives, RAM, PSU, and CD burner in other machines. I gave away the case & motherboard on FreeCycle.

I am also a big supporter of Dell's and HP's outlet offerings. The sites might not be easy to search, but their bargains and value make them my top choice when shopping for business systems. Plus, they often give full factory warranties on these refurbished/open-box PCs and laptops, and offer extended warranties, too.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from vincent on 2009-02-13

2009-02-13T19:13:38Z

I've had my dimension 8400 for a little over four years now and upgraded it a couple of times (added 2 500 gb drives and 2gb of ram).
The machine is still performing admirably.
Not needed support so far (touching wood) ;-)

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Jim on 2009-02-13

2009-02-13T14:27:59Z

I've had 2 Dells, I will never forget my one hardware failure. The CD drive failed and I called and got a real Texan on the line. He knew what he was doing and bypassed the script, confirmed the problem. At the time (about 1999)I was novice on computers, he assured me in his down home way I could do it. Said he'd get a new CD drive sent to me and then I "just slap that sucker in there". He was right, it was easy and I appreciated the local flavor. I know they've changed since then, but my first exp with them was memorable.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Alan on 2009-02-12

2009-02-13T04:21:42Z

Dell makes perfectly competent machines from a value/productivity standpoint and I would (and have) personally recommend them for the 99% of the population that needs an appliance to do a job. Dell isn't huge by random chance, they provide the best compromise between hardware performance, durability, flexibility and support for the vast majority of users (i.e. those other than the gamer/hobbyist crowd). We've used their desktops, laptops, and servers in hot, dusty industrial environments for years and they stand up year in, year out. Even though I prefer to play around with my own builds, I still see the value in what they do. If I ran an IT department, Dell would be a top choice if only to make my life easier because there's so much less for the average user to screw up and if they do, recovery is simple. As Leo says, Dell machines usually become obsolete before they fail.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Jane on 2009-02-12

2009-02-12T21:53:26Z

I have always bought Dell. I love the fact that I can customize to my liking. And, I have always had excellent experience with Dell support - perhaps because I'm from Canada (I don't know if the support here is different from the U.S). In actual fact I have really only owned 2 Dell PCs since 1995. My first lasted 10 years and I only gave it up because like you said it couldn't handle the OS updates anymore. The second one is still running like new and it is now 8 years old.
So, yes I would and often do recommend Dell to friends & family!

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Bob Pellegrin on 2009-02-12

2009-02-12T21:34:50Z

I have purchased hundreds of Dell computers for myself and my customers over the years. I have been overall very happy with their products. I agree that you'll probably get much better service with their business service. I sometimes hear that people have problems with their consumer-level service, which I rarely use.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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Comment from Rosie Perera on 2009-02-12

2009-02-12T20:00:18Z

I bought my first Dell (desktop) about three years ago and have been very satisfied with it. It has managed to keep up with my intense hardware and software requirements of it for all this time without any major failures. Even a minor failure (a fan error that came up every time I booted for several months) went away by itself when I cleaned the dust out of the computer while I had it open to install something. The case is very easy to open (no tools required). I'd definitely buy a Dell again.

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A comment on: Dell - PC Desktops, Laptops and Accessories

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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