dell notebook at fixed price?

[Kho King]

I know Dell sell their notebooks online, and the price is quite high and not so much different as compare to Compaq or NEC. Is there any middleman from Dell that sell offline at cheaper price? I am refering to official product with original Dell warranty. Asking this becos I found out some so claim salesman buying from Dell and can sell notebook to me at much lower price, claim to have Dell original warranty.

 

[clive]

few people will buy dell..its hard to get over the mindset.

 

[Kho King]

few people will buy dell..its hard to get over the mindset.

Clive, Dell notebook is problematic? Bad reputation? Dell headquater is in Penang, so i would expect good service if notebook got problem...or am I wrong?

Please advice as I am going to buy one DELL soon...

 

[Sputnik]

There is nothing wrong with Dell computers.

Offices and individuals have been buying laptops & Pcs from dell and using them for a long time. In fact i've been using a dimension pc from them for the past 3 years and have not had much problems with it.

There is no problems with buying things online and most people who are working would have bought many things online before. As with any purchases, buy it from a reputable source.

Hope your dell gives you many years of good service.

 

[clive]

in sg, alot of people dont like dell. many say its problematic, only a few say its good. there r a lot of stories...2 yrs back when i upgraded my desktop to P4, i was also a blur blur computer-dunno-person...i decided to play safe and dont buy dell. but first impressions last...up till now i will still not go for dell. maybe dell is actually not bad one, just that a lot of hardcore hardware/gamer dudes in sg didnt get satisfactory performance from dell...so all this stories come about..for such stories, can goto HWZ.com.sg and read lor...thign is, i nv touched a dell b4, so u got to go wif ur gut feeling. [just like the reason why u prefer IBM laptop and dun wan acer laptop ]

 

[gooseberry]

Dell normally sell direct (online/phone/their own outlet stores), so far I have not heard of them using a third party channel/retailer.

I've had a pretty good experience with my Dell laptop - have had it for over 3.5 years (took out their 3 year next business day warranty, which I suggest you take if you are buying one, as I've had my screen and motherboard replaced under warranty, as well as AC adaptor). The service is great, they come next day with replacement parts - even when I was overseas in London.

Their build quality may not be up to par with the likes of an IBM thinkpad, but you pay a hell of a lot more for an equivlent thinkpad. I've heard horror stories about their support (mainly from US), but my experience with Asia Pacific support has been great.

 

[Sputnik]

try not to give unqualified comments when you have not used dell pcs or laptops before.

 

[James_T]

I've had a pretty good experience with my Dell laptop - have had it for over 3.5 years (took out their 3 year next business day warranty, which I suggest you take if you are buying one, as I've had my screen and motherboard replaced under warranty, as well as AC adaptor). The service is great, they come next day with replacement parts - even when I was overseas in London.

Similar experience. Current DELL inspiron 3800 notebook is about 4 years old. Had the motherboard replaced during first year warranty. It was a known problem and they came down to replace it.

The battery died after 3 years and the keyboard and lcd are also giving me some problems after about 3.5 years. But no complains.

 

[Bromba]

Clive, Dell notebook is problematic? Bad reputation? Dell headquater is in Penang, so i would expect good service if notebook got problem...or am I wrong?

Please advice as I am going to buy one DELL soon...

I had a Dell notebook before. Broke down exactly one month after warranty.
**** happens, right. But what pissed me off, they wanted to charge me
more than S$100 just to tell me how much the repair would be.

Because of that, I will never ever buy from Dell again.

(At the end I got the notebook repaired by a 3rd party repair shop near
Peninsula Plaza (used PC hub or something like that) for S$200.)

But, I must admit, that Dell notebook, while it was working, was a great deal.
And the screen was fantastic (14" 1400x1050 Samsung, very bright). So,
if you want to buy Dell, go ahead. Just remember to buy the warranty
extension.

 

[zod]

aiyo... so many problems...
get a mac

oops

 

[gooseberry]

Hehe.... all items have a chance of failure, no matter what brand. Mac's have had their fair share of quality problems as well (iBook pcb boards come to mind). So have many PCs. Buy what fits your needs, pricepoint etc. An important thing to consider is after sales support and warranty.

What Kho King was initially asking was whether there were third party channels to purchase Dell laptops - which there aren't any as far as I'm aware - buying direct from Dell is the safest option.

He was then enquiring about Dell's quality and customer support services after somebody replied that not many people buy Dell - different peope have different experiences with the same company, some people have had great service, others maybe not so.

My personal experience with Dell is that, their products are quite good value for money, their support has been very good and repsonsive. But I would recommend taking out the 3 years warranty if you can afford it and intend to keep your laptop for that long.

 

[Kho King]

will Dell replace the notebook LCD screen if there are one or two dead pixels on it? If I take the 3 years warranty, is battery and LCD screen included (cover under the warranty) as well? Everything included (keyboard...etc.)?

Thanks.

 

[Bromba]

aiyo... so many problems...
get a mac

oops

Before I got that Dell I almost bought a mac (can't remember which model was it, for sure on the low end side - anything else can't afford :cry: ) but then I read somewhere on web a review written by a self-confessed Mac fanatic for 10 years. And it was negative (something along "barely runs OS X, but too slow
to do any real work on it").

So, I decided to stick to Wintel/Lintel combo :blah:

 

[s_wrx]

but then I read somewhere on web a review written by a self-confessed Mac fanatic for 10 years. And it was negative (something along "barely runs OS X, but too slow
to do any real work on it").

haha.. talking about the old power macintosh ah? :bsmilie:

 

[Kho King]

more info: I plan to buy the D800 model, with Pentium 1.4Ghz 1MB L2 cache (2MB L2 is not available to my source), 64MB Geforce, 1GB ram, 40GB hardisk...DVD ROM (again...CDRW not available and need to add too much $$$), WinXP Pro, 15.4 inch screen.

Any comment?

 

[darrelchia]

I know Dell sell their notebooks online, and the price is quite high and not so much different as compare to Compaq or NEC. Is there any middleman from Dell that sell offline at cheaper price? I am refering to official product with original Dell warranty. Asking this becos I found out some so claim salesman buying from Dell and can sell notebook to me at much lower price, claim to have Dell original warranty.

Dell ALWAYS sells direct. Their corporate strategy does not make use of any middleman, which is how the cut their costs to a minimum.

 

[zod]

come switch back la
the article quite vague
i too can write an article and say i run win xp on a 100 mhz machine with 64mb ram and say "why win xp so slow"

get my drift?

come come come. join the white side

i love this quote

"Windows get in your way while Mac gets out"

Before I got that Dell I almost bought a mac (can't remember which model was it, for sure on the low end side - anything else can't afford :cry: ) but then I read somewhere on web a review written by a self-confessed Mac fanatic for 10 years. And it was negative (something along "barely runs OS X, but too slow
to do any real work on it").

So, I decided to stick to Wintel/Lintel combo :blah:

 

[Phildate]

Have always found Dell Pcs to be VERY reliable. They have superb after-sales service but unfortunately, never had the need to use it more than once.

But if I was buying, I would go to the White side. So tempted right now!!

 

[gooseberry]

will Dell replace the notebook LCD screen if there are one or two dead pixels on it? If I take the 3 years warranty, is battery and LCD screen included (cover under the warranty) as well? Everything included (keyboard...etc.)?

Thanks.

Hi Kho King,

I think Dell (and pretty much all companies) have a policy of only replacing the LCD if there are five or more dead pixels (not sure on the exact number), so one or two pixels they probably won't, not sure - I've been quite lucky, the two lcds I've received with my laptop, the original and the replacement have not had any bad pixels, so hopefully the same for you)

With the warranty, everything is covered except the battery - which is only covered for a year (all companies only cover a battery for a year because Li-ion batteries only have a life of 2 years from date of manufacture)

 

[jbma]

My company have been using Dell for the past 8 years and that include servers, desktop and laptops. There is no problem whatsoever. They deal direct. I usually get my shipment within one week upon ordering. I have one notebook that is now 5 years old and still running like a horse. Always purchase the 3 year warranty. It will give you a peace of mind. I once had a desktop whose monitor conk out after almost 3 years. The repair guy came, replace the monitor and left. No question asked. Same thing for all the other hardware.