Dell Hell!

[Techie101]

Hi all

 

A school has asked me to price them up 3 laptops. They must come with 3 years ON SITE WARRANTY, Acer used to do an onsite warranty but no longer offer it. So the only other name I could think of that offered warranties and a decent price was Dell.

 

So I went onto Dells site and after 5 mins of staring at the screen my head is no spinning, am I the only one who thinks that their website is badly put together, I mean talk about information overload!

 

I'm trying to match this spec of laptop -

 

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer%5FTravelmate%5F5730%5FLX%2ETQ20Z%2E113/version.asp?PID=881

 

But Dell seem to add to the price for every option you add, I wonder what the Dell base model includes in the price they quote, do you just get an empty box!

 

As you can tell I'm fed up, always used to hate Dell, now I just reminded myself why.

[EvLPhenom]

Have you thought about Stone. They do on site warranty and machines are pretty good. Might be worth a look.

 

Stone Computers - Computers, Computer Equipment

 

All of our desktops are stones and we have 5 banks of their laptops.

 

On site warranty for us is next working day after job is logged with them.

[achedgy]

If you want Dell kit without going to Dell, you can buy through a reseller. That way they get the hassle of dealing with Dell and not you!! I use Orchid [email protected] but believe a few of the advertisers on here supply as well.

[Techie101]

Thanks for that, will look into it before the school lets me off my leesh and lets me go home.

[teejay]

Or just phone Laptops Direct, they have an edu dept which should be able to advise you.

[Haptic]

If you looking for Dell give us a try we have supplied many edugeek customers with success,

[gshaw]

I can vouch for the Stone on-site warranty... next day without fail and fix every time

[bert113]

I'd recommend Stone everytime, they're after sales service is brilliant, can't fault them.

[localzuk]

You can get NBD warranties with HP laptops. For example HP ProBook 4510s - Core 2 Duo T6570 / 2.1 GHz -... - NX613EA at Insight UK and Electronic HP Care Pack Next Business Day Hardwa... - UK704E at Insight UK

[Dom_]

I always use global computing solutions for dell's - [email protected]

[Haptic]

I always use global computing solutions for dell's - [email protected]

 

you should give us a shout for comparisons then fella we have come up against them a few times and managed to save schools money a few times now:cool:

[Soulfish]

Hi all

 

A school has asked me to price them up 3 laptops. They must come with 3 years ON SITE WARRANTY, Acer used to do an onsite warranty but no longer offer it. So the only other name I could think of that offered warranties and a decent price was Dell.

 

So I went onto Dells site and after 5 mins of staring at the screen my head is no spinning, am I the only one who thinks that their website is badly put together, I mean talk about information overload!

 

I'm trying to match this spec of laptop -

 

Acer Travelmate 5730 LX.TQ20Z.113 - Laptops Direct

 

But Dell seem to add to the price for every option you add, I wonder what the Dell base model includes in the price they quote, do you just get an empty box!

 

As you can tell I'm fed up, always used to hate Dell, now I just reminded myself why.

 

Personally we use the Dell Latitude E5500 with a better spec than that Acer (T7250 and 4gb Ram with 3 yr NBD onsite) and it's quite a bit less than the price for the Acer. Always found that Dells Education pricing and their website pricing are miles apart.

 

Try and get a Dell Premier account setup - that way you can spec things up via the premier website which has much more realistic pricing

[Techie101]

Or just phone Laptops Direct, they have an edu dept which should be able to advise you.

 

I have used Laptops Direct in the past, the problem is that Acer no longer do an onsite warranty, other makes such as Sony for example want £240ish for a warranty!! Acer used to do them for around £70-80 including accidental damage plus you got a carry case and mouse for free.

[Slewis]

+1 for Stone recommendation.

[Techie101]

Just had a look at stone computers website, very impressive, they offer a lot of good stuff, i like

[Arthur]

Try and get a Dell Premier account setup - that way you can spec things up via the premier website which has much more realistic pricing

Ditto. You definitely want a Premier account.

 

The difference can be in the £100s. A good example is the Latitude E6500 where you can easily save £220 just off the base price.

[FN-GM]

Just got a couple of Dell machines from CP, as usual top notch.

 

Zak

[Edu-IT]

Just got a couple of Dell machines from CP, as usual top notch.

 

Zak

I echo this. Just ordered a laptop through him too, should be waiting for me at work.

[gaz350]

Another 1 for Cp joe even did a great job dealing with dell support for me!

[hakko]

Dell is decent, their website is overload but then it is aimed at techies ordering stuff and not end users.

 

I find Stone's website poor, but then I access their Uni side.

 

Dell have a more consistant spec with their laptops, so makes planning and imaging easier.

 

We get Samsungs from Stone (drop shipped from Samsung I believe), which are good machines, but don't have XP. If they do, it's just a bog standard XP disc and separate driver CD.

 

We get Toshibas from Getech (drop shipped from Tosh). Prefer Toshibas because they come with an XP image disk (OS and drivers included), so quick and easy to setup. Plus reliability refund guarantee and the tecras are failry solid.

[GrumbleDook]

Thumbs up for Stone and Dell from me too for next-day on-site warranty.

 

In both cases make sure you know who your account manager is and make sure you have the right access on the sites. I always used the sites to get the approx spec / price and then talked to the account manager to negotiate. The downside with Dell is getting the account manager. Sometimes it is worth speaking to the external account manager (the one who goes round and visits schools) and keep them in the loop. You can also get some good deals by inviting them up to your school so that they can also see some of your long-term needs.

 

The other thing with Dell is that you can often get some good one-off deals from the business team or from resellers such as CP / XMA / etc ... but it is always worth doing a comparison with the Dell edu price.

 

I am also impressed on the 4 and 5 year next day on-site warranties from Dell too. Very helpful when working out a long term refresh program. (not available on all products)