I want some rock solid systems - not Stone!

[Guest Guest]

Just been out to fix another Stone computer which refuses output anything to the display. The "cure" is to leave it off and let it have a coffee break before it will resume working.

 

This isnt the first problem we've had with Stone. One batch needed their BIOS flashing before they would recognise the keyboard, and even then its abit hit and miss. Not fun running round 100 pcs with a floppy disk!

 

The next batch the same happened again, and the same "cure" was given to us by tech support. Obviously i wasnt particulaly confident it would work but i tried non the less only to find they were already at the latest BIOS revision. These PCs now take anything up to a half dozen reboots before they will pick up teh keyboard.

 

Another batch they didnt put the serial number in the correct place in the BIOS so our Inventory programs cant pick it up, which obviously takes away 99% of the whole point in having an automated system for invenetory.

 

The latest batch came very poorly packed with the foam collapsed into nothing and the PC just rattling around in the cardboard box, so im waiting on HD failures on them ones...

 

 

Now Stones support is 2nd to none in the sense that you phone and they send an engineer no questions asked, but personally id rather not have to phone their support. And for these intermitant issues they have been little help.

 

 

So... whos good? Who can give us rock solid systems which are tagged properly, dont have compatibility issues with their own componants, and are actually worth paying the extra for rather than taking on the issues that come with selfbuild (which we are having to do with Stone anyway)?

[Batman]

If you buy HP or Dell through Kelway you can get them preconfigured, imaged etc. They'll do asset tagging, record serials, that sort of thing.

 

Don't know how competitive they'd be on price, but it never hurts to ask.

[webman]

We've used Millennium Business Systems own-brand PCs for ages. Never had any problems with them like the ones you describe with Stone machines.

[broc]

DELL Optiplex desktop systems have served us very well for the six years I have been buying them at my school. We passed on around 100 5 year old GX60 systems to our feeder primary schools this summer, they were still going strong.

 

BUT.... buying direct from DELL can be a major challenge, so I prefer buying from their business partners for larger quantities or other companies who can supply factory refurbished 'as new' systems for small numbers or single systems.

[mossj]

I've heard good things about SCL Online but I hear they took a nose dive service wise don't know what there like know.

[Duke]

+1 on Dell Optiplex PCs. We have hundreds here with Samsung monitors, no major issues, support is generally very good. Buy them with a 3-year warranty and you shouldn't have anything to worry about. As others have mentioned, don't buy direct through Dell, get yourself a good reseller. We've used CCS Media for many years and they're rarely beaten on price and give us very good service.

[TronXP]

My vote is Lenovo Thinkcentre's. We have 300 or so, excellent quality first ones were bought 3 years ago and we have had an engineer out twice in three years.

[glennda]

Another batch they didnt put the serial number in the correct place in the BIOS so our Inventory programs cant pick it up, which obviously takes away 99% of the whole point in having an automated system for invenetory.

 

I have nearly 200 machines from the company SCL merged with, all reading 'To Be Filled by OEM'!!!

[Guest Guest]

Its good to hear Dell are on the up again. They seem to be alot more competitively priced now than they were a few years ago. We had bought them for years but we started having PSU issues where almost every single PC would need to have it replaced every 1-2 years. Not good when they are £80 a pop once out of warrenty.

 

Saying that ive got a 10year old optiplex 260 which is my home router and hasnt been turned off in 5 years and is still going strong!

[PEO]

May be give Stone a call and inform them about the issues you are having. I'm sure they would rather try and help/improve the quality of the product/service than be publically beaten down with a stick

 

Personally I've not had an issue with them.