Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
227 Posts
0
2343
Am I wading into a mine field?
I am thinking of getting the XPS 400 or 600. But from what I gather here is that Dell's telephone support has totally deteriorated.
The last time I called (with my old Win 98) I, of course, got someone from India. She could not understand me (I have a Southern accent...) and I could not understand her. It was a comedy of errors.
But I will say,in fairness, I have never had any of the telephone support techs in India be rude or impatient with me.
That has not always been the case when long ago I could get some young tech from the USA. Most of the time it was pleasant and helpful, but there were times when some of the men got impatient with me. And once in the evening (I'll never forget it) some young tech told me to defrag, and while doing so, I could hear heavy breathing in the phone.
And it was the same mantra from all of them: "Reinstall" the whole thing, OS and everything, which was totally unacceptable to me because I had so many emails stored on the system as well as other stuff.
Well, that being said, I am worried that I will not be able to get the phone help I may need with a new computer.
What is the best way to insure that I get good help? Do I pay for a plan?
I am older now and may need more help with a new computer. Especially if it is defective... or has problems.
Any advice would be welcomed.
Sara
Scream_And_Fly
406 Posts
0
March 29th, 2006 18:00
zbestwun2001
8.8K Posts
0
March 29th, 2006 18:00
Spend the extra few bucks and get the 3yr onsite warranty. It's well worth it if you are not savy in computers.
I think I bought the 3yr onsite and they thru in the 4th year for free. Not sure about that but I do have 4 yrs onsite.
So far the techs on the XPS line seem to be less heavily accented, so you too might just do OK.
I think you would be happy with an XPS 600....I have had one for 2 months+ and I dig it.
I acutally just like a good system.
Message Edited by zbestwun2001 on 03-29-2006 12:55 PM
Sepp D.
78 Posts
0
March 29th, 2006 20:00
I'd shoot for the 600, it'll be able to keep up with current technology in the near term. I wished I had held out until it was fielded myself.
Level 1 tech support is usually cursory, some non-tech type is reading a script from a ubiquitous fault isolation tree with basic solutions that rarely fix a problem. I still see the panacea prescribed for many hardware failures is the tried and true "reformat and reinstall."
Unless you buy an extended warranty, I think access to any level II or III support will require payment, or it seems to be pretty much industry standard.
Message Edited by Sepp D. on 03-29-2006 05:52 PM
Old Irish
34 Posts
0
March 29th, 2006 21:00
Sara,
I too would recommend the XPS 600. I have had mine since January and am very happy with the purchase.
As far as tech support, the Dell call-in support was given a "B-" grade in a recent PC World article. The grade, believe it or not, was better than most; but not as good as some (or one....Toshiba won their approval).
I have found the best tech advise to come from these forums. There are many helpful and knowledgeable people who post here and have no trouble "reading" your southern accent. :)
I hope this helps.
zbestwun2001
8.8K Posts
0
March 29th, 2006 21:00
rje49
141 Posts
0
March 30th, 2006 00:00
Legaleze50
51 Posts
0
March 30th, 2006 12:00
First, get the 600. Second, you may be lucky and the machine may not have problems, however, I was once told by our office techie to buy the support for the amount of time you expect to keep the machine. On my first Dell, a Dimension 4400, I had nothing but power supply problems but found that they came and replaced it right away. Finally, I bought spare Dell power supplies and kept one and reinstalled my own. Had a 3 year service contract and had the machine for over 4 years and it's still good -- 80 gb hard drive and 1,000 mbs of RAM (and I installed the extra RAM). Just reinstalled all the software and gave it to my niece. I will say that those power supply problems made me learn alot about the machine. If I didn't get frustrated I would not have learned to install the power supply, the RAM, a new modem.
And, yes, pay for the extra warranty -- the extra years. However, if you have any immediate problems, in the first 21 days, return the machine. That means if you power up on the second day and get nothing -- call Dell and get a return. But pay for the service plan, if you can afford it, for the amount of time you expect to keep the machine, usually 3 years. Like everything else, some have problems right away or have quite a number of problems and some are fine. What you mostly see here is those that have problems. Many people, who are enjoying their machine, are not on the boards, saying how great the machine is.
And here's another thought. This time I bought a refurbished machine, the 600. And I figured if there was anything wrong with it, it's been fixed. In other words, it's already had another "go over." I think I managed to get a nice machine for the right price. Had it about 3 weeks now, and so far so good. However, my Dimension 4400 didn't give problems until 3 months.
Getting good support is a matter of luck. You will be able to handle it. It takes patience.