Dell Laptops - Your experiences

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#87006 17-Jul-2011 19:12

I'm heading back to do some study and need to get a laptop, everything I tend to get is usually overkill for the intended use but thats a fault of mine and I'm happy to live with it. I will just be running the standard programmes everyone runs, watch a few movies, stream bits and bobs to Apple TV. Id appreciate some feedback on any recent experiances dealing with Dell, general build quality, reliability and after service experiance if anything went wrong.

This is the model Im looking at the XPS 15z, I'm open to any other suggestions that are simarlarily specd.
http://www.dell.com/nz/p/xps-15z/pd?oc=u510502nz&model_id=xps-15z for $2399

Thanks

billgates

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#494353 17-Jul-2011 19:18

Currently own 2 dell laptops personally and we only order Dell laptops at work. From a business POV, the service is very good. From a personal POV, Dell and the local courier service (PBT), gave me a run around for the last laptop. Their call center kept hanging up the phone after knowing that the call was for 'Where is my bloody laptop?' because no one could trace, track or find it in the depot. Turned up a month later from the tracking notification from dell and on the day when I was about to go to the bank and do a credit card reversal on the transaction. This is the only bad experience I have ever had from Dell but I would still buy from them.

My recommendation would be to pay by credit card in case you need to to fall back to a credit card reversal scenario like in my case which luckily I did not had to end up using.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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#494362 17-Jul-2011 19:52

Thanks, scares me slightly if thats the response form a simple Track and trace, hate to think what they would do if you actually had a "real" issue

Handle9

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#494364 17-Jul-2011 19:56

We use lots of them at work - I'm on to my second Latitude and have found them great.

Their after sales service is also pretty good - their next day support is next day and they don't argue about replacing parts.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#494375 17-Jul-2011 20:18

My parents-in-law have two Dell Inspiron R15 and they work well. I myself have a HP dv6 (which I will be selling this week), replaced with a ultraportable HP dm1z (a lot smaller, not as powerful, but very fast).

I'd recommend both brands. But since you are worried about overkill, why buy a laptop that costs that much? Why not go for the Inspiron line which is a lot cheaper than that?

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nigelj

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#494377 17-Jul-2011 20:21

I have a Dell Studio 1555 that I purchased in 09 from Australia, still runs great, and is still my primary 'desktop' machine, my desktop got relegated to server-ish tasks only.

I opted for Dell's 3 year International Warranty, and when I needed a new AC Adapter because the old one was acting weird, (a weird buzzing noise) I had it to my door within 24 hours and I'm on a rural delivery route.

They seem to use DHL/Courier Post for spare part logistics which really helped make the process fast.

Verdict: If there is a Dell laptop you like then go for it.

Piscator

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#494384 17-Jul-2011 20:37

freitasm: My parents-in-law have two Dell Inspiron R15 and they work well. I myself have a HP dv6 (which I will be selling this week), replaed with a ultraportable HP dm1z (a lot smaller, but not as powerful).

I'd recommend both brands. But since you are worried about overkill, why buy a laptop that costs that much? Why not go for the Inspiron line which is a lot cheaper than that?

Cheers, not worried about overkill, although I realise it probably is for what I need it for but I always like to get the best I can afford, in this case I have $2500 to spend.

muppet

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#494387 17-Jul-2011 20:57

I have a Dell XPS M1330 Laptop. It's nearly 4 years old now. It's broken down on me 3 times. NVIDIA Chip died (it's a known fault, it'll die again one day, I've installed a copper shim to keep prolong it's life), screen just stopped working and something else went wrong. I forget what.

Dell's are great. But _get the warranty_ with it. Bargain them down on the phone - they'll try and sting you a huge amount for it at first. I still have the warranty on mine, expires Oct this year.

I hate you.

SumnerBoy

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#494402 17-Jul-2011 22:03

Hey - I have been buying Dells for 10 yrs and recommend them to all my family and friends. It takes a little longer for them to build and deliver, as opposed to buying from a retail shop. But you can customise away to your hearts content and the prices seem pretty competitive.

Of all the laptops and desktops I have bought (for both personal and work) I have only had one problem. The screen on my current laptop arrived with a distortion. I rang support and a technician came out the next day and replaced the whole screen. No questions asked.

I can only speak highly of them.

insane

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#494416 17-Jul-2011 22:45

At work all our workstations and laptops are Dells and we had a very bad run the latitude E5500's, they were noting but trouble.
Granted they were cheap so we got what we paid for, and support came quickly with the technicians always replacing the parts we wanted, and sometimes more.

On a personal note however, I can vouch for ASUS, I've had 7 of them with the last one still going strong after 4 years.

mattwnz

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#494434 18-Jul-2011 00:03

The dell business quality machines are good, but I haven't found their consumer laptops are quite as good. I have an inspiron, and it's buttons (volume controls and media buttons) have begun to die. The keyboard is fine, but flexs a bit and feels cheap.

Batman

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#494435 18-Jul-2011 00:07

book the base online but don't pay for it.

ring up and haggle for every upgrade you want (note the extended warranty above - very handy!) ... you'll be pleasantly surprised! some they have room to discount more than 50%, some they have zero room to move.

insane

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#494439 18-Jul-2011 03:03

Speaking of haggling, if you're a business with an account with Dell then make sure you get access to Premier Page. Basically it allows you to order online much how joe bloggs does online but with your preferential business/trade pricing.

Most importantly it allows you to pick and choose each option you want and quite often a higher spec option can costs less than what they throw in by default.

You can then also cut out several bits here eg, the user manuals etc, quite easy to save anywhere from $100 to $200.

Piscator

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#494516 18-Jul-2011 10:32

Hi all, thanks for the time to respond, all in all a reasonably positive response and I will certainly try a little haggle, hopefully they are as easy to bargin with as Noel Leemings. I had this exact conversation during the week.

Me: "Hi, do you have the new Panasonic XYZ in, I'm keen to see what the style of the new models look like"
NL Sales Guy: "No but just one moment and I will see how much I can knock off it"
Me: "No don't waste your time, I just want to see what they actually look like"
NL Sales Guy: "2 ticks"

End result was that he slashed $500 off the latest model plasma without me asking for it, I'm afraid retail salesmanship is dead if infact it ever existed.