I got connected to India one time when I called Dell sales around 8pm US/eastern. I wanted to buy an Ethernet switch. The agent could not get me a quote - connection to the US was timing out. So he transferred me to a US agent, someone with a Texas accent. She got a bit further (I still couldn't buy the switch because they had me listed as a small business user, based on my recent purchases for home, but I was buying this for my employer, a large business; they said I would have to call back during business hours and get reclassified. ) I see similar overseas routing when I call Apple and Verizon support out of hours. If the accents are a problem, try calling during US business hours.
My wife and kids are all Macbook Pro users. It's all about form over function with those things. The keyboard is a miserable joke. Aside from having shallow key travel, which makes it abysmal for extended typing, there's an incredibly idiotic layout; you get quarter height ESC, Fn and cursor keys, two ENTER keys, one ALT key, a missing DEL, a BS that's labeled DELETE and a friggin' eject key. And then there's that insipid single button mouse. I also despise the fact that I have to get an appointment at the "genius" bar to get the damned things fixed when they break and they DO break. Nothing like have to drive 20 minutes to the Apple store then waiting in line for another 20 only to have Zippy the Apple FanBoy spend 15 minutes to look at it then tell me I have to come back in a day or two to pick it up. That's all well and good for home use but, not at all for business.
Unless, of course, your business is graphics design, movie studio, photography and journalism. I refused to buy a Mac because it offered a one-button only mouse. And I refuse to let Steve Jobs and his gangs project what they think as all I need...
Hi, I've had a Dell Precsion T7400 now for 2 1/2 yrs. and I'm happy to say that I'm thankful that I purchased the onsite warranty. As of date, they have replaced the motherboard 7 times, and all the internal parts 3 times. This past week they decided to replace the entire unit with a refurbished T7500. It arrived yesterday......without an OS, the system could not read the HDs; they are sending out another PC soon. When it works it works well. The guys at Tech Support have always been helpful and patient....as have I. For anyone who is considering buying a Dell Precision, one strong word of caution. When I ordered my system, I ordered it so I could run 9 monitors. They sent me the system with a nVIDIA NVS 290 (dual monitors) in the PC and two NVS 440s in a separate box. Since the 440s came in a separate box (and not in the PC) they were not covered under the PC warranty (unbeknown to me until later). The 440s recently began over-heating and burned out the motherboard several times. Dell continues to address the symptom (bad mobo) but not the problem (bad video cards). However, the cards are still under warranty from PNY but since the 440 is no longer in production they have sent me 5 cards which has been retrieved from their trash pile; they still don't work. I have now been in a tag game with them for almost 60 days. Yesterday the head engineers have agreed to send me a new upgrade, the NVS 450. My point, if you are planning on buying a Dell precision for multiple monitors....insist that the video cards be installed in the system and tested before shipment.....it will save you a lot of head ache in the long run. My problem has never been the tech support team; it was the idiots in the sales dept. ty
Owned two HP's in the 90's with not a single problem. Three Dell Dimensions in the 00's still going without a single problem. Got them extra cheap whenever they must have been selling them below cost. Got them from the Business site if it makes a difference. I have never needed support, service, assistance. The last machine I bought was 4 years ago. A lot can happen to a company in 4 years, especially lately. What do these computer manufacturers do basically? Just assemble parts from various suppliers? Do they put pressure on suppliers to lower costs thus lowering quality? Do they even demand quality parts other than something less than DOA? Sounds like I should use the machines I have until the demise of XP. Or build my own which in Bolimomo's thread said it only took him 4 to 5 hours. More like 50 hours for me to just think of getting started.
Nearly all of Dell components, like other box makers, are "off the shelf". In Dell's, the mobo (made by Foxconn), the PSU, case, some keyboards and mice are made to order.
At this point no issues with the laptop. It does have a fair amount of junk to alter, but not just Dell stuff. Some of it is why I am able to buy the laptop cheap, and I have to invest some time taking it off. Annoying, but for the price doable. The screen and sound are fairly amazing, as with probably most current gen laptops. I have to say for under $800 the kid has a 17" laptop, with an I5 intel chip, 4 gigs of RAM, HD sound(supposedly, although it does sound very good), the display is very good, WIN 7 Home Premium, a backpack with a mouse, and a surge protector power strip. I'm a fan of powernotebooks.com, but I couldn't do this through them for anywhere near the price. On top of that I can load the MS office 2010 premium for another $80 using his student discount. Hopefully it can be bought more than once using the same account.
That's a fact; I tried to get a MB for the Dell case...no go; it's proprietary...only Dell specs for Dell cases... ty