Dell's Online Documentation and Quality Issues

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:45:11 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Between the Dell community forums and this newsgroup, Dell computers are pretty
well covered. And you get to buy a fake watch, too. I still see no substance
to the complaint of the OP. But maybe I'm blinded as an alleged Dellbot or
simply enamored with my new fake watch... Ben Myers

I feel your problem is *not* with being a Dellbot and is because of
the watch's that have become available.
Man what a deal huh?

Art


On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:44:46 -0400, "Paul" wrote:


"RnR" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:47:08 -0400, "Paul"
wrote:

However, I would rate the quality of Dell's online documentation as
very poor.

It is incomplete, vague, not up to date.

Who needs manuals ... the Dell Community forums are the best in the
business, IMHO .... moderated by (generally english speaking) Dell
employees who are expert in a given subject.

It would be better if they did a bundle deal, packaging up either some fake
heparin with a watch for people with high blood pressure or possibly some fake
toothpaste or cough syrup for the suicidal... Ben Myers

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:16:32 +1000, Star@*.* wrote:

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:45:11 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

Between the Dell community forums and this newsgroup, Dell computers are pretty
well covered. And you get to buy a fake watch, too. I still see no substance
to the complaint of the OP. But maybe I'm blinded as an alleged Dellbot or
simply enamored with my new fake watch... Ben Myers

I feel your problem is *not* with being a Dellbot and is because of
the watch's that have become available.
Man what a deal huh?

Art


On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:44:46 -0400, "Paul" wrote:


"RnR" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:47:08 -0400, "Paul"
wrote:

However, I would rate the quality of Dell's online documentation as
very poor.

It is incomplete, vague, not up to date.

Who needs manuals ... the Dell Community forums are the best in the
business, IMHO .... moderated by (generally english speaking) Dell
employees who are expert in a given subject.

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:41:49 -0400, Ben Myers
wrote:

It would be better if they did a bundle deal, packaging up either some fake
heparin with a watch for people with high blood pressure or possibly some fake
toothpaste or cough syrup for the suicidal... Ben Myers

I have a weakness for gadgets. If they bundle the Seinfeld edition
watch with the ejecting pez displenser they've hooked me.

I disagree.

Many of the instructions labeled for peforming VISTA related
diagnostics and maintenance operations on my Model, still have
references to performing XP operations in their text. And the manual
for my model, which has been out with VISTA for over a year, has only
instructions for XP.

It is actually very sad that Dell has done such an awesome job of
building hardware and integrating software, but left the last 1% of
the job incomplete.

I'm bought a Dell and to to use it for applications. Dell has
attempted to make processes for doing maintenance pretty simple, I
agree. But they have not gone the last mile. I I would challenge you
to take someone off the street, or better yet, a Dell Board Member
(Senator Nunn for instance), and give them a Dell that needs VISTA
reinstall. See how long it takes them to locate decent instructions.
See how long it takes them to get accurate information from the dell
customer service personnel. See how long it takes them to finish the
job, and if multiple people can follow the instructions in exactly the
same way to get the exact same final product.

"Reporter" wrote in message
...
I disagree.

Many of the instructions labeled for peforming VISTA related
diagnostics and maintenance operations on my Model, still have
references to performing XP operations in their text. And the manual
for my model, which has been out with VISTA for over a year, has only
instructions for XP.

It is actually very sad that Dell has done such an awesome job of
building hardware and integrating software, but left the last 1% of
the job incomplete.

I'm bought a Dell and to to use it for applications. Dell has
attempted to make processes for doing maintenance pretty simple, I
agree. But they have not gone the last mile. I I would challenge you
to take someone off the street, or better yet, a Dell Board Member
(Senator Nunn for instance), and give them a Dell that needs VISTA
reinstall. See how long it takes them to locate decent instructions.
See how long it takes them to get accurate information from the dell
customer service personnel. See how long it takes them to finish the
job, and if multiple people can follow the instructions in exactly the
same way to get the exact same final product.



And I maintain that you'll not find a better, more comprehensive support
site among other OEMs.

You make a valid point. And with Dell and others lopping off headcount most
recently, I don't expect updates of documents to happen any more promptly
unfortunately.

Well ok maybe I am wrong. Where is the page with the instructions to
completely restore an Inspiron E1705 running VISTA Home Premium to
factory condition?

I followed Dell's directions, but apparently the Utility Partition was
overwritten and the wrong Wireless Driver was loaded.

"Reporter" wrote in message
...
Well ok maybe I am wrong. Where is the page with the instructions to
completely restore an Inspiron E1705 running VISTA Home Premium to
factory condition?

From what I can see on Dells site, in the manual for the E1705
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1306003

The E1705 uses the Ctl-F11 feature to restore the system back to it's
original condition.

If you happened to reformat the OS partition along the way, (did the system
ship with XP and you upgraded to Vista?) then you would have changed the MBR
in the process, killing the Ctl-F11 feature.

However if that's what you did, then there is still a chance to restore the
MBR and revive the Ctl-F11 feature by usinging dsrfix from Dan Goodell.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm


I followed Dell's directions, but apparently the Utility Partition was
overwritten and the wrong Wireless Driver was loaded.

Well, if Dell does not go the last mile, HPaq, eGateMachines, Toshiba, and Sony
do not go the last 93,000,000 miles. Metaphorically speaking, that is. Dell's
efforts with Vista may not be perfect, but Vista sure ain't either. All you can
do is provide Dell with constructive feedback, and feel glad you don't have
another popular brand. On this, I am fairly certain. I service lots of
Dells, more than other brands, because that's what is in my neighborhood. But
when I encounter other brands, the service tasks are a lot worse. Not because I
know Dells well either, but because the other brands have an absolute paucity of
technical information available... Ben Myers

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:52:36 -0700 (PDT), Reporter
wrote:

I disagree.

Many of the instructions labeled for peforming VISTA related
diagnostics and maintenance operations on my Model, still have
references to performing XP operations in their text. And the manual
for my model, which has been out with VISTA for over a year, has only
instructions for XP.

It is actually very sad that Dell has done such an awesome job of
building hardware and integrating software, but left the last 1% of
the job incomplete.

I'm bought a Dell and to to use it for applications. Dell has
attempted to make processes for doing maintenance pretty simple, I
agree. But they have not gone the last mile. I I would challenge you
to take someone off the street, or better yet, a Dell Board Member
(Senator Nunn for instance), and give them a Dell that needs VISTA
reinstall. See how long it takes them to locate decent instructions.
See how long it takes them to get accurate information from the dell
customer service personnel. See how long it takes them to finish the
job, and if multiple people can follow the instructions in exactly the
same way to get the exact same final product.

.... which illustrates another point about Dell. There is plenty of self-help
from various sources such as Goodell's web site, this newsgroup and Dell's own
community forums. You won't find anything even close for any other brand. HP
at least has a similar support forum, but it is not for the trashy Presarios and
Pavilions, more for the quality business-oriented boxes and high end printers.

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:12:07 -0400, "HDRDTD" wrote:


"Reporter" wrote in message
...
Well ok maybe I am wrong. Where is the page with the instructions to
completely restore an Inspiron E1705 running VISTA Home Premium to
factory condition?

From what I can see on Dells site, in the manual for the E1705
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1306003

The E1705 uses the Ctl-F11 feature to restore the system back to it's
original condition.

If you happened to reformat the OS partition along the way, (did the system
ship with XP and you upgraded to Vista?) then you would have changed the MBR
in the process, killing the Ctl-F11 feature.

However if that's what you did, then there is still a chance to restore the
MBR and revive the Ctl-F11 feature by usinging dsrfix from Dan Goodell.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm


I followed Dell's directions, but apparently the Utility Partition was
overwritten and the wrong Wireless Driver was loaded.

I agree, many of the other computer manufacturers are worse.

But regarding the http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1306003
link posted by HDRDTD, as previously stated, it does not mention VISTA
at all, and furthermore, there is a lof ambiguity about which function
key to push to do the restore.

I don't want anymore operating system enhancements. I think XP and
and Vista are good enough, but I wish computers were more self
diagnosing and self repairing. If you are not a computer geek, and
you only do maintenance a couple of times a year, they are still not
easy enough to work on.

And I am talking about Garden Variety maintenance, not power user
stuff. Every person who owns a computer and uses it intensively will
have to reinstall the operating system at some time. It should not be
necessary to go to forums to get basic information about how to do
that. Dell should have it documented perfectly.