buying a dell computer?

Question

since i can customise my dell computer...

I can drop the price by £153 if I don't want the 3yr at home service. I would opt for this - I never ever needed help with my current computer so is it really worth the £153?? Surely any big problems would occur after 3yrs anyway?

Advice?

Answer 1

It just depends on your risk tolerance. You get the first year free with Dell anyway. All you have to do is call Dell if something happens, they help you, they send you a box, you put it in with detailed instructions, you send it back, and they fix it in a week. I don't think it's worth it, but it might be to you if you don't know much about computers. Dell computers are usually pretty reliable though.

Answer 2

If you're looking for a bargain basement computer with no room to grow, then buy one of the Dells you see advertised on the Web or TV. If you dig into to the details you'll see that if you want a computer with the ability to upgrade, no matter who you buy from you're gonna' spend a lot more than $400. You have to remember that Dell or any computer manufacturer does not make the parts, they only put the computers together and ship them out the door. The questions you should be asking yourself is who will offer me the best support for my dollar. Who will offer me the most computer for my money. You don't want to have a couple of big cartons show up on your doorstep and find out that you can't get ahold of someone for a warranty or support question. Nor do you want to learn after the fact that you have no room to upgrade your computer and have to buy new in two years. Consider who will be using the machine and what it will be used for. Word processing, web surfing, e-mail, etc., don't require much computer while digital photography, ripping music, watching movies, etc., require a lot. Don't rush into this and research all of your options. Also, do yourself a favor and look into other makes than Dell.

Answer 3

It's not really good value .... unless you need it.

And you have 1 hour or more on the phone to india going through various dismantling rituals (and they forget which bits they told you to take out).

One repair might easily cost £153.

But if they sell 10 £400 computers with £153 pound warranties, then the warranties would cost £1530 - almost as much as 4 computers.

Are the computers so bad that they really expect to replace 4 out of every 10 computers? Or is the £153 an overpriced ripoff?

Answer 4

I bought a Dimension 3000 9 months ago. it crashed 2 months ago, i called Dell support center and after 90 min on the phone to India I was told to reset to factory settings. I lost all the data. Anyway since last w/e the computer starting playing again, very slow and the dvd drive doesn't read any discs. I called Dell and I was told that this was a software issue and asked to call another number. when i rang the number I was asked to pay a fee!? DELL SUPPORT DESK IS PANTS AND BASED IN INDIA. I WILL HAVE TO PAY TO GET MY PC REPAIRED.

Answer 5

I've had the Dell at-home service, and it pretty much sucks. When I needed a new hard drive, they sent a guy to install it, but that was it. I had to put everything, including the operating system, back on there myself. I argued with them, because it seemed to me that at-home service meant someone would come and put my computer back the way it was when they sold it to me, but that's not how they see it. It sounds good until you actually need it.
I've heard that for a laptop, you really do need to get the service plan. They're more prone to problems and probably harder for the non-expert to fix.

Answer 6

I wouldnt bother with the cover - we took it out when we got our computer and was told if anything went wrong we could get an engineer out etc etc. Then when we needed an we were told we werent covered by that policy and would have to pay £30 for someone to tell us how to fix the problem over the phone! (hope that made some kind of sense?) Suffice to say we didnt pay and made such a fuss that we got the cover refunded to us.
So if you know about computers anyway i certainly wouldnt pay for the cover

Answer 7

I buy Dell's direct for my company, and we have 3 yr onsite warranty, although its a really handy feature if something goes wron, it rarely happens.

Out of 800 machines that we have I've had 3 go wrong in sone form or another in the last 5 months which is not bad.

Answer 8

Personally, I would build my own from scratch and not even worry about Dell. It is the only way you guarantee getting everything you want as well as not having to deal with being on hold for hours if you do have a problem..

Answer 9

3 Year home service may not be required. But here is something that happened to me. I had a one year accidental insurance on my laptop. After 13 months, I accidentally spilled water on it. It cost me $350 after much bargaining to get it repaired with Dell.
But coming back to 3 yrs, I guess the computer itself may be obsolete in 3 years, who knows. SO I dont think you require it.

Answer 10

Exactly! I think your computer will be so outdated by that time your home service warrently will have cost you lots with interest on the intitial investment. I think they come standard with a 30-60 or 90 day warrenty. If its broke you will know in this time.