Dell complaints

Dell Boi · Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:47 pm Post subject: Dell Haters! Look Away Now!

Just wanted to show you all what your missing.

Dell Dimension 9150
3.4GHz Intel Pentium D
2048MB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS
Dell 20" Ultrasharp LCD 1600x1200

Dell Dimension XPS
3.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 With HT Xtreme Edition
2048MB DDR2 RAM
ATi Radeon X1800XT 512MB DDR3
Dell 20" Ultrasharp LCD 1600x1200

Dell Inspiron XPS
2.13GHz Intel Pentium M Processor
1024MB DDR2 RAM
ATi Radeon X1300 Graphics
17" Dell Ultrasharp LCD 1900x1200

Dell Dimension 3100
2.8GHz Intel Pentium 4 With HT
1024MB DDR2 RAM
17" Dell Ultrasharp LCD 1024x1280

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Feel free to hide your jealousy with negative comments =] I'll feel better that way Cool

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FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1516

What we're missing? Question

Oh, you must mean a life, and money...right?

Last time I checked, I had both. A life not spent with online gaming, and money WELL SPENT by building my own systems and avoiding overhyped models that are all flash and no dash. Not to mention the arguable fact that I will never have to call anyone and wait on hold for countless hours over time to end up reinstalling the OS.

Doesn't seem like I'm missing a lot. Nothing actually. You may want to check yourself. You may be missing some IQ and a point to your statement.

david (aka dvdpiddy) · Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:46 pm Post subject:

Dell Boi · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:42 am Post subject:

david (aka dvdpiddy) · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:33 am Post subject:

Mele20 · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:44 am Post subject:

I was just trying to decide which forum here to put my post. Then I see you raving about the XPS. So, I'll put my post here.

I have an XPS 600. Got it eight months ago as an exchange for my failed 8300. Noticed a few days ago that there is a lot of dust behind the Dell badge on the front. That sort of surprised me because my 8300 never collected any dust to speak of in almost two years. Anyhow, today I shut it down, removed all the cables from the back, got it out of the open cabinet it sits in and on the floor. Turned it on its side (btw you shouldn't open the xps like you did. It is not designed to be opened standing) and opened up the case. Heck, the dust is gobs of it collected all on the outer side of the grill behind the badge. I can't see any way to reach that.

So, I make my second call since I have had this computer to XPS support. Wait time first call several months ago was about 5-6 minutes. This time, the call was answered instantly. That was nice. But then after I explain the problem and ask how I can easily remove the badge so I can get to the dust, I'm told there is no easy way. I was instructed to remove ALL DRIVES and then remove a bunch of other stuff so I could then remove the front panel. Geeez!

I couldn't believe it. There is a large grill with two fans just back of the badge and Dell didn't design that badge so it could just be lifted up and off or to the side easily? Ah...geeez...puleease.....I'm not removing all the drives and the rest of the stuff just so I can reach the dust easily I tell the tech. He agrees that this is a BAD design but he insists that is the only way. I say "well, I guess the dust will stay there then" after pointing out that the nVidia card is idling at about 5 degrees higher than it did when I got the machine and I think that might be due to the dust blocking the airflow. He agrees, but says I have to remove all the drives, etc. I explain that when I got this computer it came with a Sony CD drive and I was upset as I had specifically asked for no Sony components. I was told by Dell that it was ok to remove the Hitachi drive from the 8300 and put it in the XPS. I couldn't get the electrical cable to unattach from the drive in the XPS. Luckily a friend was coming over from the other side of the island around then and he said he would stop by and help me. He almost couldn't get the cable off either...pulled and pulled and pulled. Then he had a terrible time getting the Hitachi drive into the slot. The 8300 was simple to get the drive out and the Sony put in...but the XPS was a real hassle. So, I tell the tech that I don't think I could remove all those drives and get them back properly. He says I should find someone to help and to then call Dell back and Dell would walk us through the procedure. I explained this friend seldom comes over here and I know more about computers than my friends here so I wouldn't know who to ask. He insists he can't help me further.

I hang up thinking that Dell now has ammunition to use if I need service in the future since the call was recorded indicating that I am "unwilling" to remove dust. Grrr...so after hanging up, I take another look and decide to just see if some of it will remove with a computer wipe tissue although it is on the other side of the grill from where I can reach inside the case. Surprisingly some removes. Lots left and no dust anywhere else...just in the most difficult area to reach. Fan blades were even clean on the fans I could eyeball. I didn't remove shrouds.

So, I close the case and put the computer back in the shelf and turn it on and with the light lit behind the badge I can really see the gobs of dust. I shake my head at the stupidity of whatever bean counter ...obviously not an engineer...designed the XPS case. Big grill there...and obvious that dust would collect with two fans behind the grill...why in the world didn't the designer make the badge moveable?! Finally, I took a table knife and poked a wipe through the area on the side of the badge to reach the grill and actually was able to get almost all the dust removed but it was tedious doing it.

I'm still shaking my head at the stupidity of whoever designed the XPS. My temp went down on the video card so it was the dust. I give this computer maybe the two years I was able to renew the warranty for. It will be two years and 8 months old when I have no more warranty and can't extend it beyond that. I don't think it will last much longer than that. That is pitiful considering that my Dell XPS from 1999 is still running great at seven and one-half years.

Mele20 · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:02 am Post subject:

BTW, Dell sent me a 9150 when I first was referred to Small Business REC last August. I didn't ask for a 9150...the supervisor just sent it. I took one look at the tin can case and then looked inside at the cramped layout where even just installing more memory would be very difficult and I didn't even bother to hook it up. I called Airborne and told them to come get it. That was such a bad case...it would have rusted in 5 minutes in Hawaii and was such an awful design. Ugly as hell too. Hardly any USB ports compared to the 8300...no PS2 port for the Dell Quiet Keyboard. The keyboard sent with it was the most pathetic thing I have ever seen and USB. Yuck. No parallel port for the printer. Just a computer inferior to the 8300 which clearly showed how much further Dell had fallen since the 8300.

The 9100/9150 could not hold a candle to my far superior 8300 which had a great case with lots of room inside and the case opened way back. The 9150 case had to come off entirely and I couldn't get it back on. It was so flimsy and so obviously cheaply made and then insult to injury...no room inside the case. I told REC after I sent it back that I wanted my 8300 rebuilt rather than have Dell send me a NEW crappy computer. (The XPS 600 wasn't on the table at that point). So, I can't imagine why you would be posting pics here about that crappy 9100/9150. The 8200/8300 were good computers. The 8400 was about the time Dell really began to fall and the 8400 reflected that ...bad computer compared to the earlier models and then came the even crappier 9100.

Dell Boi · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:57 am Post subject:

I love the 9150 case, its so sleek and sexy.
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Pukely You · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:23 pm Post subject: Just A Hunch

I get the feeling Dell Boi would like bubbling monkey vomit if it came out of his Dell.

david (aka dvdpiddy) · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject: Re: Just A Hunch

FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1516

He appears more interested in plugging his XPS which looks like it was sponsored by Crayola.

OOOOOOO...shiny! So colorful!

Yep. And the monkey vomit comes in shades that look just like that too.

Comparitively matched, I can build a case that would bury the precious XPS for about 70% less than that which Dell wants for theirs. This would also include, of course, the flashy airbrushing.

dellxps710 · one bitch wonder Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 4

ShaftDu · Dances with Hate Joined: 26 Nov 2004 Posts: 585

FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1516

david (aka dvdpiddy) · Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:03 pm Post subject: