Dell Advanced or Pro Support?

Hey all,

Just had a quick question about warranty support. I've been playing with Vostro V13 specs in case I decide to buy one. My question is, would you guys recommend getting basic warranty support over pro support? Basic is $80 over 3 years and the Advanced is $190 over the same period. Differences listed here.


Stuff Pro has that Basic doesn't have

24x7 access to remote support via your
broadband connection with DellConnectTM 2

Quick, direct line access to
North American-based technicians

Advanced (Level 2) technicians with additional
hardware and/or software certifications

Collaborative support for OS (Microsoft) and
limited third-party products

Escalation management single point of contact

Global Command Center support to manage
critical situations

Phone-based assistance with most
common SMB applications

Phone-based advice with getting started

Phone-based assistance for setting up
your wireless network

Phone-based assistance with antivirus and
spyware software


I'm under the impression that Pro support allows you to avoid having to talk to Indian tech support. I could be wrong. Is it really worth paying the extra $110 for Pro? I baby all my notebooks, but would really like to get advanced protection too. Only problem with getting advanced protection is it would bring the total cost of the warranty to $289, which is almost 1/3 the base price of the notebook after I toss in an eBayed 4gb DDR3 DIMM and an SSD upgrade.

Any thoughts???

 

It depends. Do you need to call tech support a lot? If so, then I would say it's worth it.

If you don't, I think your money would be better spent on Complete Care.

 

I wouldn't plan to. I'm just concerned that in the event I need to get stuff like a screen fixed or a hard drive replaced I may not get a representative who's helpful at all because he can't speak or understand English.

 

I use chat for parts replacements. I type out all the troubleshooting steps that I have done beforehand and just paste it in.

 

So is the basic warranty basically enough? If so, that's terrific. Makes it easier to get accidental and stay within budget.

 

Basic warranty with next business day on-site support will be what you want to get. ProSupport is more generous with parts though, but it's probably unnecessary.

 

Getting a higher level of tech support doesn't mean you'll get better English-speaking capability. I've (sadly) had foreign tech support reps who spoke more clearly than Americans.

 

Oh, I'm sure you'll come across that kind of experience every now and then. But I've always gotten things done quicker with US tech support.