[sclug] Dell desktop for 175GBP inc. delivered - offer closes 2/11/2005

[Dickon Hood]

On Sun, Oct 30, 2005 at 19:30:21 +0000, Keith Edmunds wrote:
: Stuart Major wrote:
: >This might seem like a daft question (and apologies if it is) but is 
: >there any downside to this machine

: Probably not. However, after multiple problems with Dell's after-sales 
: service with two of their machines, I will never buy Dell again.

That's unusual -- most people I know who have had to use them had found
them fine.

My main problem with Dell kit is that it's generally the cheapest possible
set of components to do the job as advertised.  That's OK at times, but in
Dell's case, they have a tendency to swap parts out for cheaper versions,
within the same model line, and even within the same batch.  So the
ethernet card you get in one box may well be entirely different to the one
in the second box you bought.  Fine for single-users, but not so good if
you're buying a roomful.

Add on top their non-standard power supplies and motherboards (same
connectors, different voltage pinouts -- this can get unfortunately
expensive if you're not aware of it), and the frankly ugly styling of the
cases, plus a habit of underspeccing the RAM (and charging a fortune for
upgrades) means I won't buy one.

OTOH, their laptops are lovely.  Missing a third touchpad button, but I'll
live with that.

Right, MITM.

-- 
Dickon Hood

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