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#11
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"Lem" wrote in message ... On 04 Jan 2005, Tx2 wrote: ISTR that reliability too is better than average Than average what? Dell's reliability is often said to better than the average. See: 17th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1623585,00.asp click on links like 'Survey Results' ....."often said to better than the average" - cute phrase, ...says - not a lot. From the article: "As you peruse the results, you'll see that no company is beyond reproach. Each is guilty of selling machines that need repair and providing poor technical support at times. The leading vendors-Apple in the desktop and notebook categories, Dell in desktops and servers, and IBM in notebooks-are those that keep criticism to a minimum." ......"keep criticism to a minimum" - how does that tranlate into MTBF? also: "Unfortunately, phone support is also among the most expensive support methods. In order to cut costs, many vendors have moved call centers overseas. Big vendors Dell, HP, Gateway, and Toshiba all use at least some foreign call centers, and many readers complain of difficulty communicating with technicians." I especially liked: "Unlike many of its competitors, IBM refuses to use overseas technicians, and its tech-support scores are impressive. Readers give IBM a 7.0 overall score for desktop tech support and a 7.6 for notebooks. They rate IBM support techs' ability to comprehend user problems and to speak in a clear, understandable manner at least a point higher than they do Dell, HP, Sony, and Toshiba techs." ..... does that translate into "no one ever got fired for buying an IBM" ))))))))) Pete Out of interest - how much does Dell charge for a fifteen quid (thirty buck) PSU? |
#12
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DaveW wrote: Dell uses PROPRIETARY motherboards. They are NOT standard. The Dell I worked on yesterday (~1yr old) had a standard mATX motherboard, with 2 unusual features: 1, the CPU cooler consisted of a green plastic duct over the metalwork led to a 120 mm fan on the rear, nice and quiet. 2, No AGP socket - the solder pads are there on the board, but no socket. This one had onboard graphics. If you wanted to upgrade to decent graphics you'd have to use a PCI card. As far as I can see, they now use standard ATX power supplies (they didn't used to). |
#13
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On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 17:03:14 -0000, Tx2
wrote: snip Sourcing and installing still apply with the Dell (let alone how long you take checking and double checking the specs before you hit "BUY") Of course, you haven't factored in the time you'd spend on the phone to Dell trying to convince them an engineer is needed when it goes wrong, with them arguing the toss, etc etc etc. Of course it depends too on the service level you have purchased and the system. i.e. I would tend to go for Dell and the like for servers where you can just phone up and say "I want an engineer over here in 4 hrs", swap the unit out if necessary and install a system backup rather than spending a day with the server down. For a small business where the IT person is the secretary who knows how to swap tapes over and thats about it, this sort of service level is a reasonable compromise over having a company on retainer for call out support. As you say though getting an engineer out can sometimes be problematic. I've been finding their call center problematic at times. -- Gamma gamma gamma chameleon You come and glow, you come and glow. Kick out the cats before you reply |
#14
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If your ever considering "looking under the bonnet", or peeking at the
BIOS - don't do Dell! But if you want a well built system with good specification at a low price, then do seriously consider Dell. For the majority of the market out there who just want it to work, Dell fits the mark. I used to build PCs for friends and family. Don't bother anymore if they're looking for a new system - can't beat Dell on price esp. when you add in the operating system (which lots of home builders seem to forget :-) and the hassle factor is so much less. Rob. |
#15
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Anybody that buys a brand name computer is an idiot.
Build it yourself using good brand name hardware and build it the way you want it. You will be very pleased with the results. Are you serious?? :-) I would estimate a very high percentage of PCs are bought by non-technical users who just want to plug it in and go. Building your PC from parts, whilst not exactly difficult, is occasionally fraught with difficulties. Like the questions & problems that this group is filled with. And on price, I'm not sure anymore that a custom build PC to the same specification is any cheaper when bought in components. This doesn't include my time as well. Rob. |
#16
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chosen to buy in some Dell PCs for the office. One reason might be that I
am, as you say, an idiot. The other reason might be that the Dells do the job I need for the office, and they cost 20% less to buy in ready-built than the price at which I can buy the parts. 20%? Yes, that probably sounds about right. We've only built one custom PC at work (a dual Athlon XP system) and we've had no end of problems with it - it's always got the top off :-) The Dell PCs & servers just sit there and work 24/7. Rob. |
#17
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20% for not being able to support them *properly* when the machine goes
down is worth it is it? Dell kit is incredibly reliable mainly because you don't mess around with it. The only Dell hardware we've had fail is a CD-ROM and video output from one laptop. Compared to the Compaq iPAQ that litereraly blew up, the custom built Gigabyte system that decided to stop working with WD hard disk and won't run through the KVM, the 3 Toshiba laptops that have developed several faults etc... If one of the Dell base units failed, we wouldn't bother trying to fix it. We'd simply buy a new base unit for ~£200. £200 doesn't buy you a lot of "fixing" time and you'll have a nice new higher-spec box anyway. Rob. |
#18
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I can build and have a system up and running in about half a day.
And what about time spent purchasing the components and did that include the operating system and software?? What about those times when you got an awkward new motherboard which didn't work with a component? And don't get me started if one of the components was DOA! Getting the supermarket suppliers like Dabs & Insight to replace them is a nightmare... Rob. |
#19
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As you say though getting an engineer out can sometimes be
problematic. I've been finding their call center problematic at times. Dell's customer care did go down hill last year, about the same time they outsourced to India... I believe there have been so many complaints that this is under review. We had one particularly hilarious support job where we just wanted a missing CD-ROM for a laptop (it was missing on delivery). The probably spent more time on the support call than the £1 CD-ROM. But compared to Gigabyte support... Rob. |
#20
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"But I have 3 year on-site warranty" you say
For what Dell charge? You must be joking! :-) We don't bother with the 3 year on-site warranty except for the servers - one year RTB is fine. For desktops and even laptops it just doesn't make financial sense. For the occasional system that might fail, then just buy another one. 2 x new systems in a 50 user site compared to 50 x 3 year warranty - you do the math :-) Rob. |
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