Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

always been MAC, never been sorry

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Joe,
I'm sorry to hear that but, on the other hand its always a good idea to inspect your product when it arrives...
Standard or payed option always speak with the proper rep: otherwise you will get the run around...
Good luck
PS. getting rid of your notebook? email me!!

stay away from Dell Computers
 

Any looking for a new computer system stat away from Dell. I went to them not knowing much about computers. I told them what I needed in a lap top and they set me up with one. I went to use to hook up into what I needed it to do and the correct port was not there. THis port will only get used maybe 5 times a year so I did not notice it was not there. Not knowing computers I would not of even known what it looked like any way. Well I did not see this till after the 30 days since I received it. After fighting with them for 2 months, and they said it was a inturn problem that he or she did not know that port was not standard on the unit I purchased, all they can do is sell me a 210.00 upgrade for the port. Pretty sad customer service if you ask me. I know I will never buy another dell product again. If you do purchase from Dell make sure you know your stuff because if you have to trust them in selling you what you need, they will not give it to you and hope you dont notice it till after the 30 days.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

I hear ya.I ordered 5 complete desktop systems from Dell, when I checked a few days later it said it would ship on 4/11, checked again on 4/17 and it said the order was canceled?
When I e-mailed them, noone could explain why.They said they would reenter it, I said forget it, Compaq makes computers too.
Customer service, my a$$ - they don't answer e-mails for days, will put you on hold forever.
Never again.
Bill

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

You mean there was more than just ME ???!!!!!!
I ordered a palm pilot (Whatever their brand is) for Christmas I later added a leather case then a Laptop. 2nd day air,When I checked my status on the web My delivery date had changed 8 days More.I called was told the leather case added Days.I told them chasing down the Cow was not really the problem , Putting the ZIPPER on it was !
I canceled, the case,LATER I check status ,Order CANCELED I called back The Whole order was canceled !They re-instated it,Then I called Gateway had a store 'bout 15 miles from here,got off work walked in at 8:45 left at 9:00 with a New Gateway,I'm on it Now and it works GREAT !!
They even added Win.Proffesional at NO Charge later !!
I did cancel the other order,Dam* I feel Better !
Sounds like we need a Bit'#$^ place.I'm done
I'm in a good Mood Now!
Scream'n Reels' [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Have had 8 or 10 Gateways. My sister has had another 10 or so. They've always been terrific.

I like my Sony Vaio laptop though...

Otto

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

I had 250+ Dell PCs & Workstations & Laptops and another 15-16 servers - all Dells and they were and are great products. Best overall Bang for the Buck - not necessarily thr best though. Generally low failure rates and good pricing models.

However, I will say that their service has gone downhill considerably in the past 2 years. When all of these companies cut back, they didn't do it in just their production facilities. The lion's share was their support systems and much of the balance of their support got outsourced to other companies...

Would I buy them and use them again, absolutely. Would I expect to have few problems with customer service - nah...

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Ok, I am going to stick my head out and say I like Dell for the most part. I have 32 workstations and three servers, all but one is Dell. I have not had any problems with them, except for a cooling fan in one of the servers finally taking a dump. I didn't even try to get the fan from them, went to Coolerguys.com to get it. I have had IBM, Compaq, and some clones. Had problems with them all. I never had the chance to deal with Gateway so, I can not comment on them. Maybe because I buy so much from Dell that like me, don't know.......

John

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Ahhh, JohnR has me beat....

Ok, the two of us have stuck our heads outon the chopping block so be easy with us here....

JohnS

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Well guys, I have a Gateway and think it is a piece of junk. I keep telling the old lady "dude, your getting a dell !!".

I have to reboot this computer on a daily basis. I blame the kids for the problems they create when they visit porn sites when Im not home. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

seriously though, I/we will never buy another gateway.have to admit the customer service is not bad.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Sounds like more of an OS problem than a hardware issue.
d.h.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

We're all in luck! John R is now a computer consultant available on a "fee" basis. Send himm all your problems...

There ya go, John.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Have allways bought from Gateway.I'm on my fourth one. Customer service is excellent.
d.h. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

I have both Dells and Gateways and luckily have had no problems with either. Most of the problems people have with computers are with software not hardware.

Just my $.02.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Yes - I will work for fee (that's the 4 letter word after losing an r [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )...

You guys touched on it - the software causes more issues than anything. We went thru extensive config changes before we'd roll out 25, 50 or more desktops to the masses to make sure the config was as good as we could reasonably get it.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Ya JohnR, you are right on that one. Then, give the people those machines for two months, go back to each and every one of them and check to see what they have running in the background. Especially the ones that have INTERNET access!! Ohhh boy! Most of the time, they have more crap running in the background that they unknowingly picked up off the net and now have it residing in their machines and then they wonder why their machines don't run right!!! Oh, but it wasn't them that did it, it was the little green man that comes in at night and does it!! That's it, Gremlins, they did it.............

John

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Hey JohnS - is there a good software program that can identify and blow away the "background" crap on a computer? Would Norton Utilities be something something worth looking into? I have 5-6 Dell's running in my office and would like to optimize them. They all have internet access. I know my computer has slowed down considerably over the years....I do the basic clean up of temporary internet files etc. but nothing beyond that. I think my startup is also clogged, takes me 6 minutes to boot up.

thanks in advance for the free advice.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Eric,

I don't know if this will help but goto lavasoftusa and download ad-aware 5.83. It is free and will get all of the useless programs that have been put on your computer through the net. It helped me stop pop up ads in their tracks.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Get the Adaware! Great product!

Stay away from Norton Utilities, Clean Sweep, and all of those "fixers". They WILL solve numerous problems but they also create problems, often fatal

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Eric,
Sorry for not responding back quickly but I don't check all the posts every day.

Symantec, maker of Norton products, though they make wondeful stuff, it can cause problems at times as JohnR stated, though, I do use it at work on some things and it does do it's job. Personally, if you are good with Microsoft products and know your way around them, you can go in and wipe out most of your problems manually, keeping in mind that Microsoft hides stuff in as many as three places at times. They are good at that! So, depending on which operating system you are running, it can be in different places. I like the Adaware stuff that JohnR mentioned too, works pretty good and stops most of the BS on the garbage that the internet seems to send our way. Cleaning out the temp file is nothing compared to what could really be in your machine. If you are not really comfortable doing that stuff on the machine, well, you can purchase the Symantec product and more than likely it will function just fine for you though, it will not delete the garbage that the internet has instiled into your machine and you will need to stop those from starting up, which is why your machine is taking forever and a day to start up. I suggest you also get some firewall software, again, Symantec makes some decent stuff for that too, called "Internet Security". They offer it in a combo with their anti-virus software as well. You can customize exactly what you will receive and what you do not want to receive, such as cookies etc. It will eliminate all those nasty pop-ups if you choose as well. Let me know..

John S

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Joe,
What type of port are you missing? Are you saying that your laptop didn't come with a serial port? firewire port? parellel port? built in ethernet port (network card)? built in modem? Tell us what you are missing. I'll bet we can set you straight for a lot less than $210.00.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Thanks John's and Bri - I will definitely check out the Adaware software first. I also already bought the Symantec stuff....I will try that as well....

I'm not sure if this is true...but I heard that McCafee and Symantec might actually be contributing to the "spam" on the net so they can increase anti-spam software sales...so I was a little wary of that stuff. Not sure if it is true or not - but hey, I am getting off the subject....going for a ride in my boat, it was put in yesterday and it is finally starting to warm up.

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Eric - which Norton did you get. I am hesitant about installing Norton Utilities/System Works. It creates almost as many problems as it fixes...

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

John - i got the latest Symantec Antivirus for Small Business. I haven't even opened the box, but I have had it for 6 months now - not sure which version, does not say on the outside of the box. One of these days i will install it - I will let you know if I notice any problems.

I did download the Adaware software and it has solved my "pop up" add problem when I boot up the computer...

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Eric,
It really doesn't matter which version it is. Just go get the live update after you install it and it will bring it up to the latest virus definitions anyway. It will also update anything else that they have made changes to.

I was thinking of your problem a bit more the other day and I thoought about this one thing. If you have EVER installed some stuff off of the internet, it could be that some of that software had some "snoop" stuff in it. There is some "anti snoop" software available on the market now that works wonderful and I strongly suggest it. Basically, if you install some garbage off of the internet, at the very bottom of that "license agreement", you know, the one that everyone just clicks on "accept" and never really reads. Well, anyway, at times, they include a little clause at the very bottom that says something like, "We will from time to time check, for marketing purposes, your computer. Not exactly like that but, you get the drift. So, what your machine will do is, when it gets an internet connection, it will connect and send data. It is not a virus and therefore the anti-virus software will not see it. Just another one of the many ways they get ya. That is one of the reasons I suggested the "Internet Security". It has a built in firewall to help stop stuff like that. The anit-snoop software is a great way to scan your machine and keep it clean from garbage like that. Again, I strongly suggest that as well. Not expensive stuff at all, should be less than $20 and you can get it at most computer stores. I know Comp USA sells the stuff.

Just another suggestion....

John

Re: stay away from Dell Computers
 

Thanks John - you mean you don't read those licensing agreements!?! I hear ya - it seems almost impossible to keep the computer "clean". Although I don't have any specific problems - over the past year my computer has just slowed down considerably. I think I just have too much CRAP on the thing - I only really use a few of the programs that are on the thing....I am thinking of re-formatting and starting over with the essentials....then after a year I can be right back where I am now! Thanks for all the advice...I wish computers were like boats - see the problem, fix the problem and move on!