Dell is in the middle of trying to change their business model, which used to BE mass customization, over to one where they can compete with the same companies who five minutes ago were begging and pleading for mercy. They probably won’t succeed.
Thus, problems with quality, service, and support! Gotta save the money!
I tried that last time i wanted a desktop. This was back in 2004.
There was a local computer store not far from my house. They had a reputation for being a geeky bunch of guys who really knew what they were doing, and who gave good customer service. They had supplied my previous computer, and had also worked on it a couple of times when it got infected by viruses (this was before i was very computer savvy myself).
Anyway, i’m always up for giving business to local vendors over national mega-corps, so i went over to see what sort of system they could work up for me, and what their prices were like. At the time, i had also been looking online, especially at the offerings of Gateway and Dell.
Here’s the system i ended up getting from Dell:
P4 3.0GHz, 800Mb FSB
1Gb RAM
160Gb Serial ATA HDD
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM and 8x DVD+RW
128MB DDR GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 (D) Card
Dell 17" E172FPb Flat Panel Display
$1,250 (including shipping)
And here’s the system i was quoted by my local geek store:
P4 2.8GHz
2x120Gb SATA HDDs
1Gb RAM
4x DVD-RW/CD-RW drove
256Mb GeForce FX5200 video
leyboard, mouse, speakers
WinXP Home
No monitor
$1,699 plus tax
So, the local store offered a slightly slower processor, a single (slower) optical drive, a bit more hard drive space, a better video card (not really necessary for my needs), and no monitor, for almost $500 more than Dell.
I would have been willing to pay a bit of a premium to buy local, from a bunch of guys i trusted to fix the computer, but i was also a grad student on a limited income, and that sort of price and spec discrepancy was just not worth it for me. I went with the Dell, and it’s still (after a few minor upgrades over the years) still chugging away under my desk at home.
I’ve only ever owned two laptops (my first one lasted me 5 years, and my current one has lasted me about 3). I bought both from Dell’s website and never had any problems with the purchase. I know several other people that have bought Dells and didn’t have any problems. Sounds like bad luck on your part, or very good luck on everybody else’s part.
My partner has a Dell Computer and printer and is raped monthly for ink refills. Has anyone ever tried to get Dell printer cartridges refilled at a Walgreen’s (or the like)?
I’ve bought all my pc’s from Dell online. First in 1998, then in 2005, then last year. All have performed well and lasted like forever for the price. I will be wary in the future though, and whoever said it, I agree Dell printer’s suck…they EAT cartridges, also print wobbly lines. My Dell printer is still on a shelf unused after the first month. Their computers are much better, but it doesn’t hurt to be wary.
I had the same experience with Dell about 1 month ago. I purchased a laptop online but a few days later a friend told me they could get employee pricing through their company. I called to cancel the order but they refused. Although they said there would be no charge for shipping or for restocking. I was a bit surprised that they would rather pay for the shipping both ways rather than just canceling the order.
I was on the phone for about 30 minutes with two levels of support. They told me there was no way to cancel the order because they couldn’t locate the individual parts in production. This made no sense to me, since they could identify my computer by order number. They tried to tell me that the parts come from multiple places (which I’m sure they do), however when the computer is complete, it is only going to ship from one location. THey didnt’ know where and couldn’t be bothered to find out to cancel it. What a giant waste of time and money.
The hassle of waiting to receive and return it wasn’t worth the meager employee discount. So now I have the laptop I wanted, at a slightly higher price, and never a future Dell customer.
Several years ago I ordered a Think Pad online. I specified how I wanted the machine built. I placed the order on a Sunday afternoon. The thing was on my desk the following Wednesday morning (less than 3 days). It had come from Kowloon and gone to the East Coast of the USA. I’m still impressed!
And for every good small computer shop, there are dozens of overpriced ones looking to take advantage of locals. I’ve never even been to a small local computer store and been satisfied by the prices or selection. It’s just basic economics that bigger businesses are usually able to sell for less since they buy in bulk. So sure, maybe your shop is the exception, but it’s definitely not the rule. And given a computer is such a big purchase, I don’t care for the risk of finding a good local shop, given it’s such a hit-or-miss situation.
And sure, there are always going to be dissatisfied customers with every company. And unsurprisingly, it’s the customers that are unsatisfied that end up being the most vocal about their bad experience. If Dell was truly that crappy of a company, they wouldn’t be in business today… Nor would they have such massive contracts with businesses and universities worldwide.
Well given the prices of most Think Pads, that’s not too surprising. They’re quality laptops, no doubt, but I find that Dell often has lower prices (and lower-quality laptops for the low-end models).
I disagree. I’ve built my own computer before and it wasn’t significantly cheaper than what I could have configured from a company like Dell. Plus, given the constantly-changing technologies (RAM, harddrive connections, etc.), it can be a bit of a hassle to keep up with everything and have to do research for every single component you pick out.
I’ve had nothing but a string of Dells since about 1996. Desktops, laptops, etc. All my old ones are still up and running. I have had a recent dog of a laptop, and severe problems with my latest desktop. I think I’m done with Dell as well.
But I’ll bet you picked yourself out a name brand and higher quality PSU, Ram, case, etc. Dell advertises one or two flashy items, like the HD size or the video card and the rest are pretty crappy parts.
I built my first PC in March and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I did a little research, picked out the eight main parts (already had a monitor, mouse and keyboard) and asked on a couple of PC message boards what they though of my choices. Got a little advice, sent for the parts from NewEgg and MicroCenter and was expecting to run into problems putting it together or starting it up for the first time. No problems at all and assembly was a piece of cake. I picked out awesome parts and found sale items. I’ve got an 80Plus certified PSU that runs quieter than any I’ve had before and it uses less power than what I would get out of most Dell rigs. I doubt I’ll ever buy a pre-built unit again.
I’m not doubting your experience, mhendo, but the part of your sentence I bolded tells me something significant about the local shop you got that quote from. When someone comes in our shop and says they’d like to buy a computer, the first thing I or my boss will do is ask them what they want to do with it. If you didn’t need that graphics card, or you needed a faster CPU, or what have you, then the local guys should’ve gotten you a quote on a PC that was right for you.
I also notice from your location field that you’re in SoCal. I understand that property values there are considerably higher than the national average, and in that case, a local shop, having to pay high rents and high wages, may very well not be able to compete with a national supplier. However, if you were in Indiana or Oklahoma, I’m betting that the local shop would’ve been able to give you a better deal.
If there’s no good local outfits in your area, then yeah, I can see your point. But you could say the same thing about car mechanics or chiropractors. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how much time you want to spend finding the right vendor for you.
Well, the most likely reason that people buy a computer from us is because they want to be able to come by our shop for immediate help if there’s any problems, or even if they just need help understanding something. A lot of them are people who dealt with Dell before and got fed up with their lousy service. You’re right that we can’t beat Dell’s hardware prices - but I only said that we were competitive. Customers today are pretty savvy and they know they could save a few bucks on a Dell, but they’d rather pay a little more for excellent after-sales support.
Ironically, we really don’t care all that much about selling you a computer. The margin is pretty thin. We make most of our money on services and repairs. And boy, do we get a lot of Dells in for repair…
I agree.
But your original point, as i understood it, was not just to plug your own shop, but to suggest that everyone try a small, local shop as an alternative to the big online retailers. As i said, i’m happy to pay a bit of a premium to support a small local business, but that sort of discrepancy is not worth it for me.
I’m in SoCal now, but when i was buying that computer (2004) i lived in Baltimore, a city where my wife and i were renting a three-bedroom, two-story (plus basement) rowhouse with hardwood floors and a recently-renovated kitchen for $1100 a month. I don’t think outrageous rent was a big problem for my local computer store.
I’d never suggest that anyone should just patronize their local shop regardless of circumstances. I’d only suggest that they consider the local guys and not just write them off out of hand. That’s all.
Maybe they were just lousy businessmen and/or crooks. It happens.
Our main competitor is an incompetent who does half-ass jobs (we get to clean up his messes) and charges up to twice what we do. But he’s a local boy and we’re not, so he somehow manages to stay in business. In the USA, the guy would’ve gone out of business years ago.
Items most likely to be found in the recycle bin in the Staples back room"
1: Dell Desktops
2: Dell Laptops
3: HP printers
I’m not particularly mechanically inclined, but I’ve built several PCs including one very recently for my mother. Cost-wise, the end result is usually that I could buy a (superficially) similar Dell PC for about the same price or slightly less, but doing it myself meant that I could pick and choose quality components with the best user reviews, instead of whatever discount parts Dell uses. IMO the greatest advantage in a pre-built PC is the inclusion of the OS software, which I had to purchase separately.
That is a bit of a bonus, but as you said, it comes at the expense of getting plenty of inferior parts. In my case, I was able to use the Windows XP upgrade disc I bought seven years ago and I had no want for Vista anyway. Oh, and you get to pick out your own case that tells anyone that sees it that you’re too cool to buy a pre-built computer. 
Surely the time machine they supplied you with as a replacement more than made up for it?