My "Hell" experience from Dell
For all of you non-computer geeks, never buy a Dell desktop, as my father did.
Against my constant insisting to my father of not purchasing a Dell, he purchased an XPS system anyways. There are several different XPS systems, the one he purchased in May was an XPS Gen 5, which at the time has decent specs for a multimedia computer; but I know the way Dell puts together their systems and you can get much better for less or about the same price.
So after having the system for over a month in June, the computer kept crashing. It was getting what us computer geeks call a BSOD screen (Blue Screen Of Death), where the computer freezes and you literally get a blue screen on your monitor with a bunch of mumbo jumbo on it telling you what's wrong; I was getting 3 different ones on 3 different occassions. So of course I tried getting rid of the BSOD, but it was mostly due to a hardware problem on the system and not a software issue; sometimes it's just bad driver for that particular hardware.
After about an entire day trying to figure out that it wasn't a software issue and ran several tests and even formatting the hard drive 2x and re-installing Windows, I called Dell and told them the error and what I thought the issue might've been. So they sent us a new video card to replace the old one, waited a week, no go, still getting the same error. So I contacted them back telling them it wasn't the vid card, they send me a new pair of Memory modules for replacement, waited another week, and still no go. I called them back, and they insisted that it was the memory modules and I told them "no", I repaired them, reseated them, tested them in each slot, and the system is still getting BSODs. They then said, "fine", and sent me a new motherboard. I waited another week, got the motherboard, swapped it out, and still getting the BSOD.
I've done my research on the specific error on several different forums across the land of Google, and 9 out of 10 people who's had the same error is from their Dell desktop. I've also learned from my research that indeed Dell manufactures their own motherboards and memory modules, which are complete crap quality. The motherboard doesn't even have a tempurature sensor in it; which I might've thought it could've been a heat problem, but there was no way for me to be certain since there was no sensor on the mobo.
Now the only thing I can think of causing it would be the Power Supply unit. For those of you non-computer people, if your Power Supply Unit (PSU) is faulty, all things on your computer goes to hell and you wouldn't know it was due to the power supply unit unless you've tried replacing everything else as I did. So this time I when I chatted with Dell I told them that I refuse to spend any more time trying to fix this issue and I either want a new replacement or a refund. Of course at this time I still insisted to my father about the refund and i'll put together something for him, but he wanted to stick to Dell, for god knows why....
A manager finally contacts me from Dell HQ in India (did you know Dell HQ is now in India...well not really but they might as well be) by someone with a very very thick Hindu accent named "Steve". Steve tells me that he will ship me a new computer, a better one and I won't regret it. To tell you the truth I was feeling a little bit more confident hearing this. Thank you Steve, you made that day slightly easier on me.
3 Weeks pass by, and I finally get the new computer. It's an XPS 600:
The case looks exactly the same as the XPS Gen 5 except it has light indicators in the front with numbers on it, the different numbers lights up in different sequences depending on the error. The processor is faster than the XPS Gen 5, and they included a the basic version of MS OFFICE 2003...woohoo.
So I turn on the damn thing, the Dell logo comes up and the bar across the boot screen says loading, then it goes blank....blinking cursor on the upper left corner of the screen! Grrr....I reboot, press 'F2' during boot, it says "entering setup..." then I wait about 2 minutes too long before shutting it down again. I reboot again, press 'F12' to try to boot it from a CD, it goes to the boot menu option, I press '2' to go to 'Boot from CD', and it says 'Booting from CD', and blank...blinking cursor! Goddamn Dell! I open up the case disconnect everything, reconnecting all of the components to make sure it's not just a loose cable or something, and started it up again and still blank with blinking cursor!
I called Dell once again, and told them what happened, the tech guru from India tells me to open up the case, disconnect everything and reconnect it...they must be reading this from a step-by-step guide on their screen huh? I told them that i've already done that, and I know exactly what he's going to ask me to do next. I told him that i'm not willing to spend any more time trying to fix the issue since this was a brand new computer sent from them, and that we've had a non-working computer from Dell for over a month now and i'd like to get a new system; since my father doesn't want a refund. A couple of hours later a manager calls from Dell HQ India, this time he called himself "Marvin". Marvin is sending me a new XPS system (the same one) to replace the new system...
Two weeks later, I finally get the system. I'm all excited cause you know, 3 strike rule right? There's no way Dell can send me 3 faulty systems in a row right? Wrong! I plug it in, turn on the power, and blank!! The screen doesn't even come on, and the monitor light doesn't even change from 'sleep mode' to 'on'. Now this time when I called Dell, I actually read off the light indicators to him to prove to him how crappy their computers are. The techy insisted that it was the motherboard and he'll send me a new one. I had to repeat myself to him, "No offense but I cannot take your word for it as this is my 3rd Dell system in a row that you've sent me thinking it was a faulty motherboard, and i'm unwilling to waste any more time figuring out that it wasn't the motherboard, I would like to speak to a manager please." About an hour later, Dell India calls once again, and guess who this fool calls himself? "Steve"....
So 2 Steves and a Marvin later, i'm waiting for, hopefully, a working Dell computer system to be delivered. It will probably be another week before I see it, so cross my fingers. Lesson learned here, don't buy a Dell Desktop.
Against my constant insisting to my father of not purchasing a Dell, he purchased an XPS system anyways. There are several different XPS systems, the one he purchased in May was an XPS Gen 5, which at the time has decent specs for a multimedia computer; but I know the way Dell puts together their systems and you can get much better for less or about the same price.
So after having the system for over a month in June, the computer kept crashing. It was getting what us computer geeks call a BSOD screen (Blue Screen Of Death), where the computer freezes and you literally get a blue screen on your monitor with a bunch of mumbo jumbo on it telling you what's wrong; I was getting 3 different ones on 3 different occassions. So of course I tried getting rid of the BSOD, but it was mostly due to a hardware problem on the system and not a software issue; sometimes it's just bad driver for that particular hardware.
After about an entire day trying to figure out that it wasn't a software issue and ran several tests and even formatting the hard drive 2x and re-installing Windows, I called Dell and told them the error and what I thought the issue might've been. So they sent us a new video card to replace the old one, waited a week, no go, still getting the same error. So I contacted them back telling them it wasn't the vid card, they send me a new pair of Memory modules for replacement, waited another week, and still no go. I called them back, and they insisted that it was the memory modules and I told them "no", I repaired them, reseated them, tested them in each slot, and the system is still getting BSODs. They then said, "fine", and sent me a new motherboard. I waited another week, got the motherboard, swapped it out, and still getting the BSOD.
I've done my research on the specific error on several different forums across the land of Google, and 9 out of 10 people who's had the same error is from their Dell desktop. I've also learned from my research that indeed Dell manufactures their own motherboards and memory modules, which are complete crap quality. The motherboard doesn't even have a tempurature sensor in it; which I might've thought it could've been a heat problem, but there was no way for me to be certain since there was no sensor on the mobo.
Now the only thing I can think of causing it would be the Power Supply unit. For those of you non-computer people, if your Power Supply Unit (PSU) is faulty, all things on your computer goes to hell and you wouldn't know it was due to the power supply unit unless you've tried replacing everything else as I did. So this time I when I chatted with Dell I told them that I refuse to spend any more time trying to fix this issue and I either want a new replacement or a refund. Of course at this time I still insisted to my father about the refund and i'll put together something for him, but he wanted to stick to Dell, for god knows why....
A manager finally contacts me from Dell HQ in India (did you know Dell HQ is now in India...well not really but they might as well be) by someone with a very very thick Hindu accent named "Steve". Steve tells me that he will ship me a new computer, a better one and I won't regret it. To tell you the truth I was feeling a little bit more confident hearing this. Thank you Steve, you made that day slightly easier on me.
3 Weeks pass by, and I finally get the new computer. It's an XPS 600:
The case looks exactly the same as the XPS Gen 5 except it has light indicators in the front with numbers on it, the different numbers lights up in different sequences depending on the error. The processor is faster than the XPS Gen 5, and they included a the basic version of MS OFFICE 2003...woohoo.
So I turn on the damn thing, the Dell logo comes up and the bar across the boot screen says loading, then it goes blank....blinking cursor on the upper left corner of the screen! Grrr....I reboot, press 'F2' during boot, it says "entering setup..." then I wait about 2 minutes too long before shutting it down again. I reboot again, press 'F12' to try to boot it from a CD, it goes to the boot menu option, I press '2' to go to 'Boot from CD', and it says 'Booting from CD', and blank...blinking cursor! Goddamn Dell! I open up the case disconnect everything, reconnecting all of the components to make sure it's not just a loose cable or something, and started it up again and still blank with blinking cursor!
I called Dell once again, and told them what happened, the tech guru from India tells me to open up the case, disconnect everything and reconnect it...they must be reading this from a step-by-step guide on their screen huh? I told them that i've already done that, and I know exactly what he's going to ask me to do next. I told him that i'm not willing to spend any more time trying to fix the issue since this was a brand new computer sent from them, and that we've had a non-working computer from Dell for over a month now and i'd like to get a new system; since my father doesn't want a refund. A couple of hours later a manager calls from Dell HQ India, this time he called himself "Marvin". Marvin is sending me a new XPS system (the same one) to replace the new system...
Two weeks later, I finally get the system. I'm all excited cause you know, 3 strike rule right? There's no way Dell can send me 3 faulty systems in a row right? Wrong! I plug it in, turn on the power, and blank!! The screen doesn't even come on, and the monitor light doesn't even change from 'sleep mode' to 'on'. Now this time when I called Dell, I actually read off the light indicators to him to prove to him how crappy their computers are. The techy insisted that it was the motherboard and he'll send me a new one. I had to repeat myself to him, "No offense but I cannot take your word for it as this is my 3rd Dell system in a row that you've sent me thinking it was a faulty motherboard, and i'm unwilling to waste any more time figuring out that it wasn't the motherboard, I would like to speak to a manager please." About an hour later, Dell India calls once again, and guess who this fool calls himself? "Steve"....
So 2 Steves and a Marvin later, i'm waiting for, hopefully, a working Dell computer system to be delivered. It will probably be another week before I see it, so cross my fingers. Lesson learned here, don't buy a Dell Desktop.