Pay for new, get refurbished....
Written: May 29 '02
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Pros: fast, priced right
Cons: unreliable hardware, unacceptable Customer and Technical support, uses refurbished or like-new parts
The Bottom Line: If you can get a system that works, or Dell to address any issues you encounter, consider yourself lucky.
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| pdyar's Full Review: Dell Dimension 4400 (A-D0314) PC Desktop |
I work in the computer industry and decided to go with Dell when I needed a new system for home use. I ordered a Dell 4400 with 40 Gig HD, DVD, CD-RW, 512 meg RAM and Dell's premium movie editing. The system arrived very quickly (within 5 days of order). Setup was a breeze - very helpful setup instructions (except for the video editing hardware).
All software was pre-installed, so no need to install any software, drivers, etc.
I bought this system "beefed up" with added RAM and larger HD with the intention of doing a fair amount of video editing. Within the first 2 weeks, every time I "taxed" the hard drive (video editing takes a lot of read/write to the hard drive), the system smelled as if were on fire. Literally a burning smell. Dell Tech Support told me I only imagined this and not to worry.
To make an extremely long story shorter, for 2 additional weeks I argued with Dell Customer Service and Tech Support personnel and they agreed to send me a new hard drive. They send out unformatted drives with no software installed. They will have a tech come to your home to install the drive, but the tech does not format the drive nor install software. (Although they will do this at an additional charge.) I convinced Dell that I am capable of putting a hard drive in a computer (since that's what I do for a living!!), and they agreed to ship a new hard drive to me. The drive was supposed to have the OS preinstalled along with the software (including the video editing software, drivers, etc).
The hard drive arrived (which took another 2 weeks - they need more time for a "custom installation" - and it was a refurbished drive; while the OS was partially installed, I had to go through the software installation. The drive froze during the OS installation - I called Dell, complained about getting a refurbished drive - and was told they ONLY replace parts with refurbished parts.
Basically, Dell shipped me another drive, but no video editing drivers -- I couldn't get the video editing hardware to be recognized after the hard drive replacement. Dell doesn't furnish those with the drive and suggested I go to the vendor site to download the drivers.
The entire experience with Dell is unacceptable -- I would not recommend a Dell system to anyone because of the hassles I have had to go through to resolve a (seemingly simple) issue. Beyond that, it's difficult to say the system is stable, since the hard drive isn't.
Added note: two other people I work with bought Dells about the same time I did and both have had to have Dell replace hardware parts. (Neither of my co-workers report having Dell satisfactorily resolve their issues).
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1950
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
pdyar
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Reviews written: 1
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