denemagna Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 Ditto on positive experiences with Stone; had the odd hardware problem (couple of PSUs, one All-In-One Enlight chassis out of 30 came without hard glass, replaced next day, buttons do stick on one or two towers) but way above average in terms of sales and support based on experiences with others. Must admit we stick to desktops with them, but also had good experiences talking servers. Much rather be dealing with the UK call centre of Stone than the alternative overseas one of the bigger manufacturers! Will reevaluate if things change but do put value on the relationship with them, and prices have always been in right ballpark with negotiations always available if needed....
hakko Posted February 10, 2011 Author Posted February 10, 2011 If you are a premium customer/part of purchasing consoritum, you get better support. Ours is based in Scotland - we have to dial an express code when we get through - otherwise you get through to "normal"/consumer overseas call centre - which is rubbish. There is a difference between their consumer and business desktops. Their consumer ones are crapy like Stone builds. The business one's are excellent.
hakko Posted February 10, 2011 Author Posted February 10, 2011 I don't know if you guys keep warranty callout records. By keeping stats we could clearly see the poor performance. We've ditched HP - too many NEW ones breaking down within months, and having to pay extra for warranty. Gone to Samsung - downside is not all of them have 500 sheet trays. Can get a duplex Samsung for £170 ex vat - with an extra 250 tray free, 3 years warranty. Toshiba ditched - 5 laptops, same model bought at different times, optical drive failed. Other models similar failures. Samsung have been good and we buy Dell Latitudes now.
azc Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 I'd like to add my experience of using Stone Computers. They've been our PC supplier since they were named Omega (and then OEE and OE Group), and the PCs were Pentiums running at 60Mhz. We have never experienced the problems that are being alluded to by some people in this thread. We currently have over 900 Stone machines on campus, mostly PCs but a fair number of laptops too. Since November 2001 when my records begin, we have logged around 300 support incidents. I don't think that's too bad, personally. We have 8 year old PCs still going strong (D845GERG2 with P4 2.6GHz), although many of the D865GLC and some of the D915GAG motherboards are starting to experience capacitor leakage. But that's Intel's fault, not Stone's, and unsurprising given their age. Most of our machines are Small Form Factor. Most common failure is power supply, which is unsurprising given the unorthodox size and shape of the PSU to fit these machines. Some of the 40mm rear case fans in older machines have also had to be removed or replaced due to the bearings going. In newer machines, the only problem we occasionally experience is needing to reseat the RAM, this this is very rare. I really cannot fault Stone. Yes, their prices are slightly higher than competitors, but it's not always about price. It's about service and overall satisfaction. For that, you can't beat them.
hakko Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 300 over 10 years? That's about 30 a year. How about 0, ZERO, a year? That's better isn't it? Maybe downtime doesn't matter to some people. Day off "innit"? I really cannot fault Stone. Er.. you just have: Most of our machines are Small Form Factor. Most common failure is power supply, which is unsurprising given the unorthodox size and shape of the PSU to fit these machines... In newer machines, the only problem we occasionally experience is needing to reseat the RAM, this this is very rare. Stone SFF are rubbish BTW. We have 8 year old PCs still going strong (D845GERG2 with P4 2.6GHz), although many of the D865GLC and some of the D915GAG motherboards are starting to experience capacitor leakage. But that's Intel's fault, not Stone's, and unsurprising given their age. It is - if it is still under their warranty. Their choice of components you see. Imagine if Toyota say "Sorry the breaks don't work, not our fault. The cables were made by Joe Bloggs cables ltd."
glennda Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 300 over 10 years? That's about 30 a year. How about 0, ZERO, a year? That's better isn't it? Maybe downtime doesn't matter to some people. Day off "innit"? 30 a year is a bit ott - all depends on whats wrong - if its something major then I expect more action - but actually i would say I expect about 10-15 failures over a year even the best companies will still have failures. [quote=hakko;634357 It is - if it is still under their warranty. Their choice of components you see. Imagine if Toyota say "Sorry the breaks don't work, not our fault. The cables were made by Joe Bloggs cables ltd." Hes said its 8 year's old - I doubt its under warranty which was his point. 8 years and the rubbish component is something Intel has supplied. They have been pretty good for me and infact i have just requested a load of faceplates for our machines as the kids keep breaking the cd drives - which they are sending me them out for free (tbf they are probably going to go in the bin anyway! but thats not the point!)
azc Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 30 calls a year for 900+ machines being used by students intent on destroying them seems reasonable to me.
glennda Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 30 calls a year for 900+ machines being used by students intent on destroying them seems reasonable to me. True - But I don't tend to call them if the kids have broken them - apparently not under warranty!
maniac Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 300 over 10 years? That's about 30 a year. How about 0, ZERO, a year? That's better isn't it? Maybe downtime doesn't matter to some people. Day off "innit"? Er.. you just have: Stone SFF are rubbish BTW. It is - if it is still under their warranty. Their choice of components you see. Imagine if Toyota say "Sorry the breaks don't work, not our fault. The cables were made by Joe Bloggs cables ltd." As far as I see it you've made up your mind that Stone are rubbish, but some of your justifications for why you think they're rubbish seem rubbish themselves. No manufaturer can garuntee 100% realibility it's just impossible given the nature of ICT equipment. If you can show me a single manufacturer where you've had 100+ PCs or Laptops from them and had absolutely no warranty claims over the 3 year period I will gladly buy from them, but I'm still searching. Considering the number of machines AZC has, 30 calls a year is naff all. For the 300ish Dell laptops we have I probably raise 1 warranty call a week as minimum, and fix many more ourselves that are out of warranty. Do I think that makes Dell a bad manufaturer? no certainly not as whatever manufaturer I brought these machines from would probably have had a simelar call rate as pretty much all the failures are down to the componants and not as a result of the way they are put together. Also regarding warranties, it may be Stone who are responsible for servicing the warranty on the equipment, but it is the componant manufaturer who is responsible for ensuring the componants are fit for purpose. If a main board fails in a Stone PC, unless it was as a direct result of something Stone did to cause the componant to fail prematurely, then the fault is not with stone but is with the mainboard manufacturer. What attracts me to Stone is not equipment reliability as that's much of a muchness across manufaturers, it's the fact that I get the same after sales service and warranty that I do from Dell, but as a slightly cheaper price. I can pick up the phone whenever I like and get my account manager in person, I can ring support and get a call answered by a person normally within a few rings, that's what I like. 1
CESIL Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 Shouldn't this thread be closed? I don't think hakko is going be convinced by anybody's real world experiences...
hakko Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 Actually I don't expect 100%, however since leaving Stone I have had 100% reliability with Optiplexes and Latitudes. If I see one on a colleague's desk, I ask if it's a new install, software problem or hardware problem? Touch wood it's been 100% no hardware problems the past year! I don't vouch for consumer lines/Inspirons/non-premier service.
glennda Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 Actually I don't expect 100%, however since leaving Stone I have had 100% reliability with Optiplexes and Latitudes. If I see one on a colleague's desk, I ask if it's a new install, software problem or hardware problem? Touch wood it's been 100% no hardware problems the past year! I don't vouch for consumer lines/Inspirons/non-premier service. well i'm in the boat wouldn't touch dell with a barge pole!
hakko Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 well i'm in the boat wouldn't touch dell with a barge pole! I would be in that boat too if I had to call their non-UK support centre.
glennda Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 I would be in that boat too if I had to call their non-UK support centre. its not the support i don't like - just never been a fan of there hardware and a touch over priced on any quote they have given me. I just had a sample quote like for like for an HP core chasis switch - HP (with a bit of 3com) 21K Dell 46K not even remotely close and there desktops have normally been 50-100 more then others
7andY Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 Dell once took 9 months to supply some drives for a server, then sent the wrong ones... Never bought Dell since.
hakko Posted February 17, 2011 Author Posted February 17, 2011 As a Premier Account member PCs are cheaper and better quality that Stones offerrings. If you are not getting a good price then that's another issue and can't comment on their switches and servers. Someone was quoted last month ~£3000 for a 24Gb RAM Precision Workstation and I told them to order through us. It came to £2000.
hakko Posted February 17, 2011 Author Posted February 17, 2011 its not the support i don't like - just never been a fan of there hardware and a touch over priced on any quote they have given me. I just had a sample quote like for like for an HP core chasis switch - HP (with a bit of 3com) 21K Dell 46K not even remotely close and there desktops have normally been 50-100 more then others Give me the spec of the Dell switch, I'm interested to see how much I can get it for.
hakko Posted February 17, 2011 Author Posted February 17, 2011 Dell once took 9 months to supply some drives for a server, then sent the wrong ones... Never bought Dell since. Why would you wait 9 months? If they didn't deliver by X as on contract I would have bought one myself and sent them the bill.
gshaw Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 Someone was quoted last month ~£3000 for a 24Gb RAM Precision Workstation and I told them to order through us. It came to £2000. Are you an IT supplier in that case? Regardless of what Stone may or may not do I think there might be a conflict of interest here...
hakko Posted February 17, 2011 Author Posted February 17, 2011 Are you an IT supplier in that case? Regardless of what Stone may or may not do I think there might be a conflict of interest here... No. What happened is they just went and got a quote from the Dell website, the standard consumer/business page. They are meant to order through us the IT unit.
Dos_Box Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 Dell once took 9 months to supply some drives for a server, then sent the wrong ones... Never bought Dell since. You never thought to chase them after 2 weeks? As much as many companies swear by tehir customer service, mistakes can, and do happen, regardless of the reputation of the manufacturer, and sometimes the onus is on us to follow this up. 1
maniac Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 As a Premier Account member PCs are cheaper and better quality that Stones offerrings. If you are not getting a good price then that's another issue and can't comment on their switches and servers. Someone was quoted last month ~£3000 for a 24Gb RAM Precision Workstation and I told them to order through us. It came to £2000. But if you're the only one who can get that pricing from Dell then it's not a lot of use to the rest of us is it, hence the reason I favour other suppliers because I don't need to be on some special elite pricing structure or a member of a 'premier service' because from companies like stone that's their normal service level and their normal pricing which is on offer to all of us regardless.
glennda Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 No. What happened is they just went and got a quote from the Dell website, the standard consumer/business page. They are meant to order through us the IT unit. Nope I had the quote direct Dell which I spoke to at BETT. What also annoys me is they will suddenly turn around and group not just a few pounds off quotes but thousands. Which is them just purely being greedy. I know everybody is out to make money - but i've had dell drop 6k off a quote without even questioning it.
hakko Posted February 17, 2011 Author Posted February 17, 2011 But if you're the only one who can get that pricing from Dell then it's not a lot of use to the rest of us is it, hence the reason I favour other suppliers because I don't need to be on some special elite pricing structure or a member of a 'premier service' because from companies like stone that's their normal service level and their normal pricing which is on offer to all of us regardless. We are also on a special "premier account" with Stone and even then they were more expensive! There are schools with premier accounts. Schools in regions have to get together and become a consortium and/or via LA. If you are out on your own, you will not get the best deals.
notnow Posted March 1, 2011 Posted March 1, 2011 We are also on a special "premier account" with Stone and even then they were more expensive! There are schools with premier accounts. Schools in regions have to get together and become a consortium and/or via LA. If you are out on your own, you will not get the best deals. Depending on quantities and what I am buying I can purchase PCs via a consortium or directly from a supplier and the direct route is generally the same price or cheaper. However the hassle of going through a consortium or a tender to European standards and the regulations you have to abide by do add a hidden cost it's difficult to quantify. Stone aren't cheap which is a surprise being as they use cheap components and cases, presumably leading to the higher than expected failure rates we have seen (5% requiring a call out fix on the Stone PCs in the first year compared to less than 0.2% on the business class HP and Dell PCs). The big manufacturer PCs are much higher quality and generally cheaper but only if you go direct. If you are going to a reseller then you probably pay more unless that reseller asks for a "special bid" from the manufacturer. The only gotcha I have learned is not to buy Dell PCs at the beginning of their sales quarter as you can't get as good prices as at the end of the quarter. The HP PCs tend to be more consistent prices throughout the year.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now