What's The Real Deal With Dell

Hi everyone. I'm in the market for a new laptop. I want to spend less than $1000, need a CD/RW--dvd, need wireless. Those are the main needs. Dells seem to fit my budget and have what I need. But I've been reading a lot and consistenlty read problems regarding the customer service and the preloaded software. On the other hand I have a friend who bought a B120 about 8 months ago for around 650 and he's had no problems. So what's the DEaLio?

 

Preloaded software can be easily disposed of if you know how to do a clean install--I'm sure there are step by step guides on this forum.

Customer service for Dell, contrary to your belief, is actually to most many customers' satisfaction. You've been reading only the bad cases. A vast majority are good ones.

 

Its up to you on how to approach the preloaded junk: Reformat or Manual Cleaning.

Customer service is okay, but they outsource so be prepared to be frustrated sometimes.

 

Dell is a decent company, but there quality of product has gone down in my opnion. Many notebooks nowadays are sleek and have a nice fit and finish. Dell Inspiron line doesnt. They look bigger than what they could actually be and also the bumper look doesnt look too nice either. If they go the same path of newer design such as the m1210 into there Inspirons and up the quality, they might get more people.( I used a Dell Desktop for over 4 yrs and it was a good platform, but right now, Dell doesnt do it for me right now and lets have the discussions commence!

 

Ive had a few run-ins with Dell customer service since i got my e1705 last month and its all been positive.

The first was to get the CDs for reformatting and they were delivered 2 days after I called.

The next was because my optical drive was broken and again, the new part was here in 2 days.

The third time was to try and finagle a free backpack out of them. This was the only time where i had any problems with their customer service. But in their defense, it was totally legitamite. I didnt qualify for the promotion for multiple reasons but on my 4th or 5th try I got a really helpful rep, who let me get any bag I wanted.

So, I'd say their customer service is excellent based on my limited experience.

 

I think dell's a very respectable company that creates good products for those on a budget but still want alot of features. I agree that inspirons look like...i don't know wat they look like...but they still tend to be good quality computers. As for their customer support, they're just like any other company. There will always be caes of frustration with waiting and trying to get yourself heard. But overall I'd say their customer support is pretty decent.

 

Dell will be the way to for budget minded people, because its your call on the features you want in the pc in a price range. Its a great deal.

 

Dell is a good fit for many consumers. They offer the most computer for your buck. They are able to offer such low prices because they deal with such a high volume of computers. I have had good experiences with them; but this is my first laptop. I have the e1505 and have had no problems with it so far. I will admit that it is a bit heavy, clunky and largely plastic--but I couldn't get this kind of hardware in any other notebook for the price. Kind of like the newer corvettes--the best car for the money. They have good performance but are not as luxurious or branded as bmw, maserati or mercedes.

If you have a budget under 1k--dell is likely one of your better bets. They have better quality than a company like averatec, but everything depends on your needs.

 

thanks. Nice to hear at least some nice things. Don't think I'd feel comfortable with the reformatting. I'm not computer savvy, and I've read post that talked about drive partitioning and drivers, etc. Now, manual, I think I could do. Is that just going in and deleting programs? Is that as effective as reformatting?

 

I have been very very impressed by dell lately, I couldn't believe it. I have a Swiss Gear Backpack coming from dell, a 15" skin, and a free OS installation disc. I am very happy.

 

Once you get into their higher service personals then they are great. In the beginning, it is all about attacking and break through their defense and then once they can't handle it, they'll bring you up to their managers who really do the stuff for you. I've own 3 dell pcs and right now I have a Inspiron 9300. They are pretty good at supporting what I need.

 

It really isn't as hard as it looks. You will get MUCH, MUCH better results reformatting and reinstalling than just removing the junkware. I would just look at the guide. If you have questions just ASK! That's what this forum is for. The majority of people here are very friendly and knowledgeable.

 

So what you and some of the others seem to be saying is that Dell's notebooks are unattractive? All of them? I kind of want it to look decent, if not outright goodlooking. Don't want dog ugly!

 

the xps and latitudes look good imo. latitudes look very professional.

 

No, I wouldn't say that they are ugly--but it is an aquired taste, haha. The lattitude, xps, and precision lines are sleeker looking--but if beautiful is what you're looking for, check out the macbooks or asus/sony. They will probably be out of your budget however. To see the notebooks just visit the dell website--they have plenty of pictures. Also to view in person try to see if a mall near you has a dell kiosk.

 

I'm not worried about whether you guys would help me. I know you would, that's why I'm writing now. What I am worried about is you guys having to help me after I've tried to reformat the computer and ruined it! :->

 

An acquired taste? I guess I'd better take a good look at them then.

 

To be honest--it's pretty difficult to "ruin" a computer by trying to reformat it. All you end up doing is boot to cd by pressing f12 after turning it on and following the directions. Only thing you need to do first is get a few drivers. They are real easy to install now-a-days-just click and bang you're in business.

SG's guide really is a great walk-through.

But, you can always try to remove the bloatware. I think someone wrote a program to automate the process. It might be a good thing to look into if you're squeamish/uncertain about reformatting.

 

Well, perhaps I'll try the reformatting. I normally learn things quickly, it just seemed so technical.

Hey, does dell have any cheap silver laptops? I love the way silver looks.

 

do you liek silver with white bumpers?? haha if so then dell's perfect for you. and yea they're cheap.

 

Almost all of the their laptops are silver. The xps m1210 and the xps m1710 are the only current models that aren't all silver, AFAIK.

 

the inspiron series is mostly silver (e1505,e1705, etc)

 

I've got no clue what white bumpers are, but you don't make them sound good. :->

 

Cool. Hi-yo Silver!

 

Cool. Hi-Yo Silver!

 

The silver with 'white bumpers' look is Dell's budget trademark look. Ya, some aren't fond of it, but many do actually like it. Their all silver look is apparent on the Latitudes and XPS line, I would say the look is up there with Sony. BTW, was checking out some laptops at the Sony store recently, a lot of them feel like toys (well I guess in some sense, they are toys) but the built quality wasn't there. It was most apparent on the 11.1" notebook keyboards.

 

Check out this link. http://home.comcast.net/~andy.le/e15052.jpg This is the computer I got, for $1200, and it sure is fast. Check out my sig for some specs.

 

LOL , if you can live with the style and not the best quality parts ( meaning the screen is working but you can find better screens , same for keyboard and all the other "Dell" parts of the notebook ) then Dell is right for you .

I try to look only at the screen of my Dell ...

 

Whoa there cyndi, I said the Inspiron line, not the Buisness line(at work I have to work with those notebooks and there more solid than the consumer line).

The consumer version of Dell has made the notebooks kinda fat and big for what they actually have. When I chose my notebook I wanted a nice powerful notebook that didnt scream "HUGE!!!". The only notebook I like right now with Dell is the m1210, as it doesnt have the look of the older E series bumpers and is pretty sleek looking. Not only that, I could get a more powerful computer than Dell for the same cash and discounts.

 

i can assure you guys that good dell coupons will come out soon, and you can always use them on system, you just have to play with the value codes, for the e1705 there are 4 standard configs, 6V620-E1705S1 6V620-E1705S2 6V620-E1705S3 6V620-E1705S4 and other 3 special that will rip you off, the second is the most common but doesn't accept coupons, the first one has a crappy CPU and the fourth is too expensive, so always use the third, its different for all systems y supose... just play little with the value codes, and lets hope for new epp coupons that were the only coupons that mattered

 

LOL. I seriously need to try to get a close look at these Dells before purchase.

 

Okay, I feel you. Don't lump all Dells into one basket. But how will the nicer Dells fit in with my under $1000 quota. And if I was willing to spend $1000-1300 couldn't I buy a better quality computer than a Dell?

 

The buisness line is good as the D620 and other Latitiude notebooks are pretty strong. True that you could buy a better computer with 300 more, but its an investment im willing to go for. For many students, it will be the laptop of choice as it has a cheap price and decent components inside. This is what Dell runs off of, and as long as these notebooks are cheap, they will be sold and the design wont change as if it aint broke why fix it?

 

Hey Whats Up with the Silver and White Bumpers, actually I love the way my Inspiron 6400 looks, with the blue leds on the multimedia buttons and all that. It is not ugly at all!!.... Definitely Not For the Money you invest on it!

 

As someone who was scared of reformatting and tried the uninstall thing, let me tell you, reformatting is the way to go. My computer started with 70+ processes running and was very slow. After the uninstall i was down into the 60s. After reformatting, I was in the 30s. Basically, if you really want your laptop to be all it can be reformatting is a must. And I am a total techno-phobe, but if you use SG's guide it is incredibly easy.

 

if you choose to uninstall programs, this is a good thread to read:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=48490&highlight=delete+programs

 

Thanks so much for all your comments. Right now I am leaning toward one of the business Dells, possible the Latitude. I think I also read somewhere that the Latitudes don't come with as much preloaded crapware.

 

Yeah, I pretty much heard the same things, and hence I bought their business notebook the M90. Now I'm regretting it, not because its bad, but because I recenty came across the Inspiron E1505, and its quite well made. Also, the E1705 has a metal chassis, the same as the M90. I'd recommend the inspirons now. Issues that people have raised:
1.Keyboard - they're quite good, only keyboards better are thinkpads.
2.Screens - not the best in the business, but still pretty darn good, u wont notice it. The screen on my M90(same as that on the inspirons) is GORGEOUS.
3.White bumper thingy - its just a white trimming around the border of the laptop - I think it looks nice.
4.Crapware- yes the inspirons do come with a lot of preinstalled crapware, and yes, reformatting may be the best option, but like you I chose to just manually deinstall the programs - and its very easy, and no bad at all. Just remember to first deinstall programs via the windows control panel, then run"msconfig" (google it), to stop unnecessary programs from running at startup. I now have 38 processes running at startup - a very respectable number.

Build quality - I just dropped my laptop 3 feet (while in laptop bag), not a scratch on it.

I have handled sony vaios, thinkpads (T30,T42), Dell inspiron 5000, E1505, M90, HP pavilion - while the earlier inspirons wernt that well made, the recent models are pretty darn good. There is very little flex on the E1505, the legendary build thinpads (T42) creak and flex more.

I recommend the inspirons.

 

I was leaning toward the E series, then one of the business lines. But I didn't like the looks of the latter too much. Now I have fallen in love with an HP DV5000. Thanks for all the help.