From The Front End - ZDNet Edition
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Saturday 13 October 2007, 10:30 AM
Dell still gets thumbs up
1) There laptops are well spec'd covering almost all types of user needs
2) Their laptops out-perform similarly priced models from the likes of Sony
3) The level of customisation
4) The customer service. I've heard mixed reaction from people - some complaining some saying how great it is. In my experience it has been excellent. I've currently got a dell and although it's 2nd hand I had great help through the Dell forums without "oh do you have premium support etc." I got advice, helped diagnose the problem and Dell created brand new drivers for me (and other users having the problem). Also with my current order - I messed about and changed it and the Dell staff were really helpful and patient - I was able to get through to the same sales guy every time.
So I would still recommend a Dell - although there are occasionally delays due to high demand - they are worth the wait. If I was in that much of a rush I could pick one up off ebay brand new but don't get me started on the problems of buying expesive stuff on ebay or I'll be here all day.
PreviousComments on this post
David, thanks for sharing your perspective and thanks for being our customer. We're certainly not perfect but Dell is working harder than ever to deliver the features, support and overall value that our customers are telling us they want.
i would seriously question the state of your mental health. Anyone who has ever seen the inside of a dell machine would first note the inferrior components used. I have also seen three identical Dell machines which have had different components inside them. The old saying is true you do get what you pay for. Interms of spec however with dell once you have added the extra's which are common place with most manufacturers such as compaq you will have actually ended up spending more money for an substandard machine.
I speak from experience I previously was Head Engineer at a DSG Techguy workshop and at any one time we would have as many paid repairs for dell (including machines inside warranty proving poor customer service) as we had our own machines.
I hear too often that deal have competitive prices and how good they are. This is meerley a fairy tale dreamt up by people who genuinley want to beleive they are getting a deal this is not true.
My advice Shop around different manufacturers have alot to offer so check it out.
I think you may be referring to standard desktops as I find Dell's laptops extremely competitively priced and their XPS Desktops are generally highly rated.
Build my own desktops with components I want but when it comes to laptops that isn't an option and I find dell to offer good value even after (or especially after depending on what you order) you add the extras.
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core T2130 Processor (1.86GHz,533MHz,1MB L2 cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium - English edit
HARDWARE SUPPORT 1 Year Base Warranty - Collect & Return edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SUPPORT No Accidental Damage Support edit
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™ edit
MEMORY 2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024] edit
HARD DRIVE 100GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
GRAPHICS CARD Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Up to 256MB shared graphics memory edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software edit
PRIMARY BATTERY 6 cell Lithium-Ion Battery (53 Whr) edit
FLOPPY/MEDIA DRIVES No Floppy Drive edit
SYSTEM MEDIA Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers) edit
£622.24
compaq v656
Product Features
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5250
1.50GHz, 667MHz, 2MB Cache
Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
2GB Memory
160GB Hard Drive
DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15.4" Widescreen Display
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Wireless Enables
£599.99
and a far superior manufacturer
2.80kg Weight
In the example you show the Dell has a superior processor - probably a faster hard drive (you've not quoted the speed of the compaq HDD).
But I don't work for Dell and I'm not here to defend them. But I have been looking at the higher end of the market and believe me I checked a lot of manufacturers before I settled on a Dell. The next nearest I considered was an Apple Mac Book Pro but the inferior battery life (especially when running Vista) and heat issues put me off. I also liked the look of the IBM T61 but again battery life compared to the XPS m1330 with extended battery wasn't even close (upto 7hrs with the dell).
I also considered a HP but found it hard to find the exact config I wanted.
My friend had a compaq and I had to send it back 3 times before he gave up and went with toshiba - I know this isn't typical though as they have a good rep in general.
I looked at Sony but from benchmarks and reviews on cnet.co.uk they were beaten by the equivalent cheaper Dell.
I guess it really depends on what you are after - you can't blanket say a particular company is the best as it depends on your requirements and budget.
However, I can say for the features I was looking for (light weight as I carry my laptop everywhere, a DirectX10 graphics card for the image editing and games I do, Long battery life, wi-fi N, under £1300). The Dell m1330 weighed 4lbs, had a Nvidia 8400m 128mb (DX10), upto 7hrs battery life thanks to the santa rosa processor and 9cell 85whr battery, Wireless N, and a bunch of features that were nice bonuses like HDMI out, 200Gb and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR all under budget (£1200)
It is a fair point that in cases with some manufacturers you get the same spec for the same or slightly less price but my issue would still come down to reliability. The battery performance says it is that now but is it in actual fact and will it continue for a prelonged period of time. i also think dell have modeled that time with all the bells and whistles turned off as apose to other manufacturers who give you a running time with them on.
Also with a laptop even if it fails and you wanted to repair it yourself you either couldn't due to design or it would cost a ridiculous amount to have repaired.
The ultimate point i would make on the subject is that if you were in a position where you were kitting out an office for your company would you lay your reputation on a manufacturer who you initially save money with but could have countless issues with, causing no end of downtime and your time being spent in the wrong areas. Or spend slightly more money for a Proliant server with either HP or Nec or even Acer Clients where the only issues you are going to have are with the applications that run on top of them. Also these machines will easily last four or five years somewhere in your company when compared to probably two years with dell, which is how long our sister company has had theres and we are now replacing them as we have taken over running their IT as the performance is now non existant that is if there not already broken.
Very valid points. If I were kitting out an office my priorities would be reliability/low maintenance and I'd lean towards IBM or perhaps HP.
Had a lot of relieability issues with NEC, Samsung, MSI and Western Digital components so they would be out straight away.
Having said that the Dell systems I used to have to work with 5 years ago are totally different in build quality to the systems I have used more recently. I don't know whether it is solely because I am using more expensive systems or that Dell has improved it's quality.
I hope that Vista will start to make a difference with its system scoring. So often manufacturers wow buyers with a high speed CPU but all the other components are shoddy. With Vista scoring the system based on the lowest ranked component even novices will be able to see if they've been sold a white elephant. Obviously Vista won't have much penetration in businesses just yet as many consider it still in "testing" phase until it gets it's first service pack or has stood the test of time.
The point about the battery life... I seriously doubt I'd get 7hrs out of it in normal use but my current dell promised up to 5hrs and I get 4.5hrs on average when the screen brightness is about half and I have wi-fi enabled - about 2.5-3hrs when I have screen brightness on or near max and playing games or DVDs. When I compare this to my friends Apple Mac he gets 2-2.5hrs at best and less when doing intensive work. I think all manufactures quote battery life times in powersaver mode rather than when running a full pelt.
Fair points if someone could definatley show me they use quality components across there whole range and had better selling tactics, for example the dell i quoted before started at £329.99 and when you add what you want it gets more expensive. i would like the idea more if the advertised a model at say £580 then with a few personolisations or upgrades it would be £629.99.
I just think its a bit underhanded like If you ever go into a Citroen car Garage they want you to buy the car yesterday or this deal only lasts for ten minutes, whereas with say VW you want that Golf its quality it sells itself, no need to say you can get it for £8000 without the engine.
I really hope they have improved because in the past i have been dissapointed with the products they have been giving to their customers, as long as they can deliver quality with customer service i would not dispute them as a worthy manufacture however i do think they should be sticking to the home market as appose to chasing business customers, as they do not have the resources to do this, business customers are alot more demanding and as a result will further disadvantage the home market by pushing dell to the limits with problems.
Its been a good discusion Thankyou
Yeah the quote low for the no frills option is a bit misleading. When I worked in PC sales customers would say "but I can get a desktop for £300" from Dell and then I'd have the hassle of showing them how that price rose to £500+ on the Dell site when they added all the components that I was offering.
Not quite as sneaky as the airlines though as at least the extras are optional. Some Airlines quote a low price but don't mention all the extras that you HAVE to have such as Taxes with Ryanair even baggage is charged separately.
I totally agree business have very different needs to consumer (especially with large scale orders) and since I haven't ordered for a large office in a while I will take your advice on suppliers until I'd checked more thoroughly. I'd be inclined to go with whatever the stoke brokers use as they have the most extreme demands on uptime/reliability - I couldn't believe some of the stories my friend told me (he does IT support for stock brokers). They can lose millions in seconds and so downtime is not an option.
I currently use HP in the office and Dell for on the road and my home systems are self built.
