PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Bryan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:35:06 GMT

To gain better reviews provide drivers to all products in a SIMPLIFIED format on the driver downloads page, and make it have a long optional text file which explains everything, installing, common problems.
Dell don't make us go to Asus and lookup Lenovo to get inspiron 6400 drivers, just because you wont provide 64 bit ones for windows XP.
*I hear an applaud*

PS. Put back all the Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 Windows Xp 64 bit drivers that were removed from support . dell. thanks...

Third party drivers are nicer anyways LOL.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Mearsfan25 — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:56:13 GMT

Hello there!
When reading over the comments I couldn't help but wonder why Dell doesn't offer its home users what it offers its small business users, and thats the ability to pay for North American based tech support. On your Small business site you offer it as "Gold Support," and I for one was very tempted to purchase a computer from home from that site because of this(I couldn't because I was shopping with a coupon code)... anyway.. I would have paid extra to have this level of support! Or why not take a cue from Gateway, and offer North American Based support standard for all computer bought from them?
Thanks!
Stephen

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Robert Plant — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:40:11 GMT

I am not surprised about bad results. Your policy of advertising one system on the TV but only having it available for a few seconds on the internet is devious in the extreme. Then putting on an ill informed call centre operative in india who slips in a £100 extra without making it clear is terrible. If you advertise on the TV make sure the computer is available at least for all the time between 2 adverts on the same day.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Paul Moloney — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:51:45 GMT

Paul: My sincere apologies for not following up. I take responsibility for the slip-up. Will see what I can find out and will let you know.

Hi Lionel,

I was wondering if you'd heard any more information in the last month about this problem?

Regards,

Paul.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Ross — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:05:20 GMT

Whenever it's time to buy a new computer, I always think of dell. The experience on the site is strong -- product features and pricing is clear, and there are great customization optoions. And the computer usualy arrives quickly.

However the experience of HAVING a Dell has always been subar, and I'm going on my 4th one (2 laptops, two desktops). They're poorly made. I never feel a sense of quality when using one.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Lionel_Menchaca — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:43:57 GMT

Paul: My sincere apologies for not following up. I take responsibility for the slip-up. Will see what I can find out and will let you know.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Paul Moloney — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:05:43 GMT

Hi Michael,

The irony is, it's not even something as "radical" as a BIOS setting that is changed. I'm disappointed that Lionel didn't respond further to my points or, indeed, my email to the Dell customer advocate has gone unresponded to. The best I can do is ensure other Inspiron users know about this fix; that is, do Dell's own job for them unpaid.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Michael O'Brien — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:47:58 GMT

Quoting:

Thank you for your email.

[...] Dell do not advise their customers to follow the advice they receive on forums or these type of hardware sites as the people who give the advice are not Dell qualified Technicians.

Dell have not been having problems with this issue in particular.The system was set up this way it is to prevent overheating issues, etc and for power saving reasons.It would not be advisable to do what this website is telling you to do as if you change bios and system settings, this may harm your system and we would not be able to help with that as you took advice from a non-qualified Dell Technician and this would be classed as user damage.

This is your system and it is your choice what you wish to do with this, but as a Dell Technician I would strongly advise you not to do this.

End Quote

I would have to agree with paul, and point out some things.

The Dell Support specialist / Technician that told you the above should be Sacked, the Unit that you have purchased from Dell Should be fit for purpose and be able to handle all functions programmed into the unit; this includes changing of bios settings.

You should reply to this technician stating that it is your System you have paid money for it and it is not fit for purpose, nowhere in the T&C's did dell mention that the User (being you) is not alowed reconfigure their unit to suit their needs.

As in the above gentlemans name, Dell Lied.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

YSY — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:12:42 GMT

I fail to understand the problem here. I have bought from Dell since the early 90's (4 desktops, 3 laptops). The most recent an Inspiron 6000 about a year ago. In that same time span, I've also purchased a HP Pavillion, IBM ThinkPad, a Gateway and a Toshiba. The Gateway and Toshiba systems were returned due to poor product quality and I replaced them with Dells. The HP & IBM units are still in limited use, but I will never return to either company. Why? Dell has provided far superior customer and technical support experience. None of the other above mentioned companies could even come close. Dell was fast and accurate with their resolutions to all the issues I presented to them, the most recent being last week. I can honestly say that my experiences with Dell are actually better today than they were in your heyday of the 90's. If it is something I did, then I don't know what it was. Maybe it's because I have been taking my nap regularly (ha-ha). If you're indeed setting customer & technical support quality as a primary area to improve, then I look forward to an even better and pleasing experience.

re: PC Magazine Reader Satisfaction Survey

Dell Lied — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:29:56 GMT

I agree with Paul Maloney on this issue. There are steps Dell takes to reduce heat in some models of their Inspiron line, that in my opinion, would have been uneccessary if the notebook had been properly designed.

For example, the Inspiron 6400 / E1505 can run intolerably hot on the right ride when using optimal performance settings (in bios) for the hard drive, in combination with a 7200 rpm notebook drive. I believe the cause for this is the lack of a heatpipe or other cooling method beyond airflow, along the right side of the notebook, to draw the heat away and towards the fans.

Numerous Dell reps/techs have told me that the air cooling in the notebook is sufficient, but experience tells me that when notebook drives run hot for an extended period of time, they tend to fail early. This isn't a defect in the drive, it's a lack of proper cooling in the overall notebook design, in my opinion. I can't leave the notebook on flat surfaces that can be marred by heat greater than a cup of coffee, as it will discolor them.

My solution is to use a notebook cooler underneath, and this makes a world of difference, but the cooling should have been sufficiently self sustained as not to require it.

Overall, I like the E1505, and I'm willing to deal with using the notebook cooler at all times. But, I would have wished that a second right-side heatpipe had been implimented in the E15xx the same way it had been in the E17xx's. (or at least some other effective right-side cooling method)

We all already know the poor response current Dell phone reps/techs tend to give. Dell says it's being worked on. So, I won't harp on that issue now, but it would be nice if sometime sooner not later, they wouldn't blame the customer for not choosing the right notebook. It's a lousy way to upsell.

-DL