2405FPW Monitor -- About To Purchase on ebay

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But you don't have to read too far on this forum to see that Dell is selling a black rectangular plastic case with a screen that they are trying to pass off as a monitor. Have you ever watched the TV shows with the people showing you a camera and then bagging a wooden block on the sidewalk in Vegas? Well, you have a bunch of people on ebay trying to sell their wooden blocks they bought on the sidewalk. In other words, don't buy a Dell or you'll joing the long ranks of all of us desperately trying to find some member of the public that will help us fix our junk because Dell won't!!!! Bob

I have been so happy with my 2405FPW I bought the 20.1" widescreen for my wife, excellent monitors with good warranties. Some people will have issues but I think Bobsday is exaggerating a bit, the unit has a strong secondary as do many bundled products.

You can say I'm exaggerating all day long. I too had a nice viewing monitor until it quit working. So, where is Dell today? I'm not saying the monitor this guy is considering purchasing isn't a NICE monitor. But, what if it quits!!!!????? Then what? Are all thses people in this forum exaggerating? I certainly didn't put all these people up to slamming Dell and saying that they don't back their product. Dell created this reputation all by themselves. All I'm saying is this: Dell has done NOTHING to even call me back or write or email me to recommend what I should do with a 19" $350.00 monitor that gave me TWO MONTHS OF SERVICE before it simply quit. If you have a warranty AND can tolerate the continued transfers, hours on hold, try this before-----........, well, then buy from Dell and take the chance. I simply do not have the trust or the patience to sit on hold, call, get the run around any more. These people are nincompoops that could care a less about customer satisfaction. So, to the potential purchaser, it's your call. But, if you have trouble down the line, stay off this forum because simpathy is not here to those who read and ignored. Bob

But is a critical failure after 2 months of service really typical Bob? Honestly, do you really think Dell could survive in the marketplace if all their products were truly this problematic? And I do agree with you that phone support is a mess, but might it be worth the effort to endure the calls from voicejail and get the issue resolved? Have you tried emailing support? Yes, it is not reasaonable and not fair to you, it is a waste of your time. But if the products were truly junk I don't think Dell would still be around. Dell sells literally hundred of thousand of PCs a month, I don't think the small sample from these boards is an honest measure of quality. By way of comparison, go check out the Apple hardware boards and you will see similair issues, yet PCWorld's annual service/support survey shows Apple with a high satisfaction rating? But how many class action suits and recalls have Apple been involved in with a far smaller user base? Based on sheer volume if the products were that bad Dell would be in court and settling complaints all day long.

I don't deny you have an issue, but you make it sound like every product Dell ships is busted out of the box and doomed, and that is an exaggeration.

Man, it almost makes me wonder if you work for Dell. Holy smokes. If this forum is a "small sample" like you say, most people DO NOT participate or even know about this forum!!! Yes, Apple has always had the reputation it has and it gets worse. However, when a customer has called, emailed, and even gone to the trouble of WRITING A LETTER AND MAILING IT TO DELL and still get absolutely no response, this warrants a customer the RIGHT to absolutely slam this company as I am doing. The support I have is from the others with the same issue!!! Over and over and over. I am not the only bird in the tree with this problem. Read through the forum, as I have done, and there are dozens of customers with the exact same complaint. Heck, forget the other issues, just my issue, unresolved, unanswered. Not answering it is the worst part. It tells the public that we are working with the majority and the small percent gets tossed asside. Remember, I bet less than 1% of Dells customer base even knows about or uses this forum. I have no data to back it up, but I'd be willing to bet that it's a small percent. Oh, besides, how many Dell tech responses have you seen in six pages of troubled people?. I've seen jsut a VERY FEW. Heck, Dell knows about their forum. But nope, they aren't here either!!!!!!!!!! Bob (Where is Dell)?????????? Spending your money!!!!

I love how anyone who doesn't have an issue with Dell must be any employee, weak. With around 150-300 registered users logged in to the forums at any given time and over 3,000 guest viewing every hours I think your 1% is waaayyy off. This is a user to user support forum, if you come here expecting an answer from Dell support direcly you are wasting your time.

More hyperbole doesn't help and I stand behind my earlier statement, you make it sound like every product Dell ships is broken and that isn't true. I'm sorry you are having an issue, and clearly others have issues, but I don't see that many unique post with users having serious problems with thier 2405FPW. I see questions, I see people with some issues due to pushing old FX series video cards and I see a handful of issues with legitimate defects. What I don't see is an epidemic that impacts all Dell users; perhaps part of the problem is you don't grasp just how many PCs and displays Dell sells everyday?

Ok, clearly you and I could chat back and forth all week. It is entertaining and possibly boring to other readers. I will put my point this way. The monitor you are quoting is most likely a GREAT monitor. Many are. But to narrow the scope of my point exactly is how my wife put it. We went to the Mall of America, you know, the largets one in the Country? I live near it. it's no real big deal to us Minnesotans, but to tourists, it's a big deal. Anyway, they have a Dell booth manned by a few Dell sales guys. I approached them with my monitor issue and simply asked how to get it repaired or how to get someone on the phone to see how to get it fixed. Without a service tag number or a specific warranty, he said you can't unless you do the credit card thing per phone call. IN fact, I got a bit direct as to how they could sell a product and not back it or at least direct you to where you could get it fixed. Look at this forum, most complaints are from people simply asking where to go get repairs or parts or someone to simply say , "Can I help You?" this guy said that they DO NOT work on or honor customer service issues AFTER the warranty expires. In fact, he said why should they? He asked, does GM or Ford back their stuff after the warranty? Well, my argument was this YES. I can call GM, Ford, Chrysler (THE FACTORY REPS!!!!!) and obviously any dealership and get free "give this a try" all day long for free. This Dell guy disagreed with me. He is clearly an idiot. Why would anyone buy in this situation even if it was the best product around. Because, IF IT FAILS, NOW WHAT? That's all I'm saying. So even if ONLY 1% of their stuff FAILS, if you're the 1%, YOU ARE TOAST!!!! The Today Show on NBC Agrees. They rated DELL the worst in customer response and satisfaction!! So, if you like it, buy it and pray. If it lasts great, if it fails, I don't want to hear about it. Thanks for tossing the rug back and forth. Bob

So your monitor died when it was out of warranty?  I don't know what planet you live on but I don't know of any company that provides out of warranty service, and most ( to avoid liability) won't even acknowledge such request. If this is all about Dell not taking care of out of warranty issues (and if I am confused I apologize) I don't think you have any right to post this nasty stuff. The Dell guy is not an idiot as he is stating the company policy he is paid to represent. I have worked for a couple of large VARs and honestly, there is not a PC company out there who will do ANYTHING for you outside of the warranty period. Asking someone at a car dealership for advice isn't even comparable as there is a pretty huge after-market for the entire automotive industry, in the PC world when something dies it is generally dead.

The cost for someone to bench an LCD just to find out what is wrong is at least $45 per hour (if you are covered by a service agreement) but more likely around $85-115 per hour (typical walk-in labor rates). I've worked at service places that work with the major OEMs (HP, IBM, Dell, Gateway, Sony) and there is an amazing system at work. Every hour gets billed, every part paid for and when covered by warranty the cost is covered via rebates and refunds by the OEM, they aren't just "free" and if I don't account for them my depot gets charged back and if I do that often enough I lose my job (and maybe my techs as well). The biggest point of failure for LCDs is the backlight of the panel controller board, either of which would cost a bundle to be purchased seperately (I can't imagine how many of these things Dell contracts to be built to get the prices they get). By time you factor in parts and labor you could pay for a new LCD, easily, with money to spare. Now I also understand that you are frustrated because no one could just tell you that, but I doubt the guy at the Dell stand at the mall, the people on the phone or even most of the people in Dell support have that kind of insight into the process.

Ok, I don't know why I'm responding, but I am. It must be a guy thing for both of us. We're both idiots playing with stuff that isn't worth what we paid for it. Yes this piece of SH _ _ has a warranty. But I got it as a gift and the purchaser who is in combat in Iraq ok?. So, with that said, I can't believe for a MINUTE that any PC company wouldn't TALK to you out of warranty. I have had over ten systems built by a local company here in Minnesota and they will answer questions, trouble shoot problems or the like for free even now. And some of these systems are YEARS old. So, what is the new industry today? As soon as the one year warranty, (or extended) is up you toss it? I do say this is why the good old USA is in the mess it's in. For the record, did you know that the top thirty cars in the USA are not US built? Yup, Japan. Only two USA cars are in the top 30. So, if what you are saying is true, then I am truly waisting my time on this forum because you all would have to be absolute idiots to purchase from a company that will ONLY talk to you when you are buying and/or have a warranty. I do say, what a sad day. Look for the guy that posted, "what kind of forum is this....... lots of questions.......very few answers..... kinda makes ya wonder. This is the story. So, good by, I am shooting the monitor next week at the range, have to wait for the snow we got to get plowed. So, happy Delling, I'm going Best Buy!!! Bob