Dell does not have to be Hell! (Dell)

Member Name: digital-fire

Product:	Dell
Date:	28/08/02 (388 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent support, Build quality, Very concise

Disadvantages: Price

After making my way through several Apple Mac computers, I thought it was time to switch to the dark side and buy a new PC.

At the time of buying I did not know that much about the PC world as it where, so I took to searching through web sites trying to find an attractive deal, and preferably something on finance!!

I came across the Dell web site and was instantly impressed. It was very easy to use and had plenty of customisation options so you could basically build your own PC.

One offer that caught my eye was a "Gamer dream machine - SALE" so I clicked and found myself buying a 1.7GHz monster (Of course as soon as I clicked the order button it was out of date, but that?s computers for you!). To be honest I was not earning much at the time and never expected to be accepted for their finance, but I was and soon found a letter in the post detailing my order down to the last RAM chip. Very concise.

What I found amazing was their order tracking system. I logged on every night to read the progress of my order. It even stated when the lorry carrying my order boarded the ferry! I watched as within a couple of days my PC had made it from Ireland to a Sheffield depot.

A rang Dell to arrange a delivery time and they contacted the depot on my behalf. The next day I was unpacking my new PC. The instructions where very clear and everything was colour co-ordinated, green cable goes into green socket, etc. This was the first time I had ever set up a PC and it took me no more than 10 minutes!

Online support is really where Dell excels. (I believe they have won a number of awards for this too). When you login to their support web site the page is automatically customised to your own PC, so you only see what is relevant to you. From here I could get the latest driver updates, read detailed instructions on how to remove anything in my PC and access 24hr tech support should I need it. Oh... and did I mention that the PC d
id not only look good, it was built as solid as a rock? I was one happy bunny!

Even months later I received a letter from Dell containing a floppy disk, just let me know that my BIOS may need updating if using Windows ME as some customers reported problems. I cannot imagine that sort of support from any other retailer.

But all this convenience and quality does come at a price, and if you can build your own PC from scratch you will save on those hard earned pennies.

Summary: