Clobbering Dell’s quality and earnings are fashionable now in tech and investment circles, but I’ve never been more pleased or more ready to become brand loyal to a computer maker.

As I outlined this Epinion, I thought about the computer brands I’ve used over the last 20 years. None were made by a guy named Joe in his basement. Texas Instruments, several Commodores, a bunch of IBMs, Toshiba, Packard Bell, Micron, Compaq – you get the idea. I’ve never been brand loyal before, but I’m now toting a Dell laptop and use a Dell desktop. I even politely declined a relative’s offer for a discounted IBM to stick with Dell.

Talking about computers the other night, a friend suggested that she and her husband were torn between a new box and a new car. Mind you, they know cars and computers, so this is a tough decision for them. Get the computer, I told her, turning my back on 15 years of auto experience. Unless you’re driver4t5 or an avid car buff, you’ll spend much more time using and get much more enjoyment from the computer. Besides, you know how to turn a wrench and can keep your “old” car running just fine.

She's still torn, but I stand by my words. My philosophy: Buy as much computer as you can afford and go bleeding edge if you can. I didn’t quite go to the edge this fall when I purchased the Dell Dimension 4100, but I significantly upgraded my existing system. Yes, I dropped three grand on a 266 P-II with MMX just three years ago. Now that MMX has gone the way of quadraphonic sound and family drives on Sunday afternoons, I decided to scale back a bit, save the premium on the new product, but still get something that screamed.

The Stats

Hitting one of Dell’s regular sales, I bought this system for $2000 in October, including shipping and tax.

Pentium III/800mhz with 256 meg of RAM, a DVD drive, CD-RW drive, a 19 inch Trinitron monitor and a subwoofer bigger than my laptop. There’s a 4xAGP card for video and a Sound Blaster PCI64V card for audio. I lowballed a little with a 10 gig hard drive, but honestly, with a CD burner right there, how much hard drive do you really need?

That’s the hardcore stuff – I’ll address other little things such as keyboard, floppy drive, and the real commodity stuff in the various sections.

Choosing Dell

I had $2000 to spend thanks to an interest free employer loan program. I drew up my dream spec list and hit every major computer maker’s site over a week. My short list was six. I dropped by the MIS and Help Desk gang at work and we cut that group to three: HP, Dell and Micron. Finally, the Help Desk Manager looked at me and said, They’re all okay, but with Dell you get just a little more on each part of the system for the same money. We all looked again and argued some more, but he was right. There were tradeoffs on all the other systems, and I had to be willing to sacrifice price or power. See, that wasn’t such a hard choice.

Ordering Process

Dell’s folks apparently work on commission and a simple phone call will result in a plea of I can be your salesperson. Thanks, but it’s easier to click and pay. I don’t want a relationship with you. I want a computer, and the faster, the better.

Here’s where Dell’s logistical genius and service orientation kicks in. Buyers are given an expected shipping and arrival date. I quickly saw that mine was scheduled for a discouraging two weeks. Nothing is more frustrating then buying a new toy and not being able to play with it. Say what you will about instant gratification, but if you’re reading this, you most likely already spend a significant amount of time on your computer and know how much a new one changes things.

Don’t worry, said a friend who orders a ton of these things. They pad their dates.

Yeah, sure. Except it appears that he was right. My computer arrived a full week before the date it was promised.

Setting a realistic expectation that is achieved virtually all the time and beaten during a significant portion of the time is a technique customer-centric companies such as Disney have successfully used for years. Don’t believe me? Stand in a line at one of their theme parks near a sign advising that the wait is X minutes long. You’ll be on the ride in X minutes and very likely on the ride much faster. The goal is exceeding expectations.

So Dell’s order process gets high marks from me. The site is easy to use and once your computer is picked, you can bookmark an order page to check the status. Email contact is also frequently made.

The Moment Of Delight

Direct marketers rightfully call the period when a purchaser opens their package the moment of delight. This single instant is when the majority of the customer’s perception regarding their transaction is formed. If everything is in order and easy to operate, the customer is typically well on the way to delight. Note the word delight, rather than satisfaction.

Buying a computer that is difficult to set up, is missing parts or cables or that is late in arriving presents a tough problem. I’ll always remember that my last PC, a Micron, also arrived on time, but with a bad floppy cable and a damaged video card. The company was terrific in responding to my service call so I was satisfied, but I wasn’t delighted.

Dell delighted me. The packaging was sturdy and appropriate, the documentation was clear and even the cables were color-coded. Warning stickers were put in all the necessary places and set-up was a snap.

Of course, the software build included some advertising and things I didn’t want. That stuff was easily deleted. By using an external Zip to move data from my previous machine, I was humming in less than one hour with my data. Think about that for a minute. Connected, ready to go with my own data in less than 60 minutes.

Again, high marks for set-up and the moment of delight.

Performance

Some of the Epinions authors have detailed problems with noisy fans. I’m pleased to say that I can’t even hear mine. Nor have I experienced any of the BIOS problems others have, so I’m assuming that as of now, Dell has fixed the early issues. The only thing that’s gone wrong is that I allowed Windows ME to be the OS and several of my add-ons, notably my video camera, don’t support ME yet. But I’m confident that they will soon enough. Meanwhile, every peripheral works and I’ve had absolutely no problems with the software build.

Drives - The DVD is a NEC model with a standard headphone jack and volume knob in front. The bundled software is InterVideo’s WinDVD 2000. Together they perform like a champ. Seek time is virtually instantaneous, and I’ve never had any sort of buffer problem or memory error. The same goes for the Adaptec CD-RW software. The floppy drive functions fine and there are two open half bay slots on the front of the box.

Monitor - A terrific 19 inch Trinitron monitor was included in the price. A simple reset button along with the obligatory menu options that only graphics folks seem to fully understand are on the unit. The monitor is big, but with a virtually flat face that makes video viewing actually pleasurable. I also find the monitor’s menu system and sub categories very easy to navigate.

Sound - Did I mention the subwoofer was bigger than my first computer? I upgraded to decent Altec Lansing speakers and the best Sound Blaster version available at the time. I spend far too much time with CDs in my computer to skimp on sound, and I have not been disappointed with Dell’s bundled software. I can play or rip CDs, tune to radio stations and do just about anything else that Winamp or Media Player typically do. With my broadband connectivity, CDs are instantly scanned against CDDB’s database. Easy-to-follow directions allow me to build a CD library or even select a playlist from two CDs.

Resources - Again, I haven’t had an issue here, particularly thanks to upgrading to 256 meg of RAM. I know I can expand again to 512 when Microsoft releases more bloated code and that’s reassuring. Meanwhile, I’ve opened up to nine browser windows and still launched apps quickly. With two add-ins and virus scanning, Excel opens to a blank spreadsheet in 7 seconds and FrontPage opens in only 3. I know there are slowdowns on the system when I push a ton of things through, but even with multiple Office apps and browser windows open, I can’t get below 28% resources available. Well, I guess I can, but I’ve got no reason to have that much up and running.

Performance therefore also gets high marks.

The Bottom Line

Three of us bought the Dell 4100 for home use within a three-week period, including our Chief Technology Officer. No one has experienced a problem with the hardware. Granted, we work for a data company and are at ease with technology, but there hasn’t been one single problem on machines that get used for hours every day. I can’t give you a higher recommendation than industry-standard pricing, high quality, good service and no failures among three heavily used units.

You won’t be bleeding edge with a Dell 4100 unless you pay through the nose for upgrades, but you will get as much machine as anyone except a graphic artist or gamer could possibly hope to use as we enter 2001.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2000
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 701-800
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12