Dell Shipping Times...

I was thinking about it before.. and I reckon its ridiculous that it takes a company as big as Dell so long to make a laptop and ship it out to you (Most especially Alienware's). Its not like they have a small little shack making computers (possibly in China?) for their millions of customers!

Dell are a mssive company. Taking 6 weeks or more for a laptop to get delivered is outrageous. I could order a car, have it delivered to my door, then go out and and order another car just to prove how long it takes Dell to delivery.

Now while I realise Dell is hugely popular company, and that they have many people trying to order from them, so they might run out of components from "time-to-time"... but time-to-time being the key word here. Whether it be Australia, USA, or even the UK, their Delivery times are outrageous. Don't get me wrong, I love Dell (and Alienware's) and I've been using Dell since 2006 at the very least, and they have exceptional customer service... but that does not make up for the fact they are slow to begin with, its not a good impression.

I did a few simple tests on the Dell Alienware Australia, UK, and USA sites using the M17x using the exact same build (I realise they probably come from the same factory, but for the sake of the argument let us continue). (Randomly I'm adding the link from Engadget to computer reliability by company)

Max Processor, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd. Top screen resolution. Top Graphics card. (settings I tried to use)

Dell Australia - Did not give an exact shipping date, but said estimated shipping time was 20-25 days (which I expect would be much longer for Delivery). Price was about $4,197 AUD (so about $4,000 USD)
Dell UK - The most expensive of the lot, the price comes in at £3,114.00 (estimating to $4,620). Dell UK claims a delivery time of 15 days, and hell with the price difference I hope they get it in 15 days.
Dell USA - Base price of $3,464. Estimated shipping date was 10th of June. Plus the 7 days or so of delivery. Take this with a pinch of salt, as delay's happen all the time.

So we have the big Dell's down. I suppose you could say its not too bad right? Well to compare lets have a look at Dell's competitors (All usa sites).

HP - (HP Envy and DV8t used) Had a play around with different configurations and different models. I tried to get the configuration as close as possible to the Alienware's (but they don't sell as high models). However no matter what configuration I tried, May 24th (with most showing May 21st) was the latest build by date. Delivery time was the same as Dell's. Not quite the same configuration. Quick Ship is available like Dell's, but you don't get all the options you can choose. Prices came in at about $2500.

Apple - (Mac Book Pro 17") Apple? Why not, how does another big company rate up against Dell. Surprisingly couldn't find anything on their website about and estimate build date. A quick search around the web shows most deliveries take max of 7 days, which is extremely impressive, but that could be due to Apple either having lots of stock or giving customers what they paid for. Price came to $2,515 (without any software).

Sony - (VPCF1190X used) Obviously the configuration is quite different as I come to different companies, so showing the price is pointless without showing the exact configuration. However keep in mind i'm trying to max any spec I can except RAM and the HDD. Sony Estimated 20th May as their ship date. Price for this mode was $2349 (with SSD).

Toshiba - (Qosmio X505-Q880) Price was $1,899. Unconfigurable on their website which was dissapointing. They did however mention that estimated ship date was 5-6 weeks.. which is on par with Dell as dissapointing. Offers free shipping like most.

Sager - (NP8120) The true guns who can compete with Alienware products performance wise. $3,226 with roughly the same specs are Alienware with a different graphic card. Unfortunately I couldn't find a delivery time given to me, but I've read somewhere else early-mid June it's expected. So slightly worse than Dell (but unconfirmed).

There are plenty of other alternatives I could go into. But this will do for now.
In comparison to the other companies, Dell is marginally worse off. True they use higher spec'd components (which are possibly rarer) in their products, but Dell need to try and take a page out of Apple's book in delivery times (just read the Apple computer thread to see delivery times).

I'm not trying to take it out on Dell, or even insult them, but rather, I am pleading with them to sort their delivery times out. I would love one day, to order a M17x Alienware system from Dell, and be able to receive in the same month I order it (and while it does happen to certain people, the majority wait for their beasts to arrive).

So guys, thoughts/comments/questions? The floor is yours.

NOTE: IF I have any incorrect information here.. could someone please let me know so I can correct myself.

 

We live in a must have it now world. And manufacturing operates on a just-in-time inventory management. Considering we are dictating numerous specs on a manufactured product, I find the delays are reasonable. While I would like to order tonight and have it tomorrow, I'm also realist enough to know it does not work that way. I also have other interests to keep me occupied while I am waiting for my next machine.

 

I didn't read your entire post, but I get the point.. I think it all boils down to timing, parts and how many previous orders they're working on... Everyone is going to have a different experience. I can tell you that my replacement system was ordered on 05/06 and was due here today 05/12 and would have been here had Fedex's plane not broken down (my luck). 6 days from time of order until time of delivery is pretty damn impressive, big company or small..

 

Ha! That sounds like my luck!

But you got a good point. Many manufacturers wait for orders before ordering parts, rather than spend the money stocking up, and risk not getting the orders (the concept of just-in-time inventory systems).

 

Damn that was fast man! I will get my replacement the 11-06-2010 or before and my order status are not even visible yet... I sure hope that I will get a pleasant surprise one of these days

 

Yea, it was fast.. They definitely surprised me .... By 11/06/2010, do you mean November 6th 2010or June 11 ???? Either way, why so long, who is handling your replacement and has it been authorized yet??

 

The point of the matter is, pretty much every company hands down beats Dell in delivery time. I'm sure its not too much to ask for if Dell cuts it down a little is it? I'm not saying hey I want it tomorrow, just sooner than next month.

 

This. Good manufacturers balance this type of inventory management with good forecasting so their supply will regularly meet demand while trying to avoid stockpiling finished products. That's easy to do for 'vanilla' (plain/always the same) end products.

What makes it difficult for Dell is the level of customisation available for their offerings. It would be impractical to have a stock of ready made systems available for each combination of components. Conversely, they may also not want to hoard inventory on-site as this also costs them money. Eg. Some car manufacturers may have multiple deliveries of the same components through the day instead of one bulk delivery in the morning. If done right, it's actually a more efficient and cost effective process (for Dell).

 

Mine took a good few months to even get into Production; it arrived in April, Ordered on the 1st of February, Yeah there delays are a bit irritable, I'm stuck waiting on my second GPU, My ETA was the 5th of May and Now i don't have an ETA and the Sales Manager won't reply to my email i had to go through Dell and enquirer about it, A got a reply saying that its in "Production with Carrier" So who knows when I will get it.

 

I agree. Given the sales volume of Dell, they should allow for an little extra supply of critical parts. This could knock a few days or even a week off their delivery times, while still maintaining control over their inventory costs, and still permit the level of customization we all know and love.

 

I wish they kept up their supply too...I'm held up right now due to a blu ray shortage.

 

the 11th of June My replacement is handled by one of the managers at Dell in Denmark. The order is authorized and I have received my order confirmation. The order will arrive the 11th of June or before(hopefully the last). Perhaps it takes some time for the machine to assembled and shipped or else I do not know why it should take that long time(perhaps it is standing in line and waiting for other orders to be shipped????).