Can We Build It Cheaper Than Dell: High End Edition
What Happens When We Price Out A System We Would Actually Want...
Last month, I heard about a really great deal on a Dell desktop. Was the price too low? Well, after some research, and calculator time, we concluded that the Dell beat the home built rig by a margin of 50%! If you didn't read it, you can see all the gory details here.Was I ready to call up Mike Dell and tell him to screw one together for me? Not quite. You see, this was on a very barebones computer, suitable really for only basic needs. This is not at all the kind of rig that I would want by my desk at all. The question came up in all of our TechNudge minds pretty quickly if the ultra cheap Dell was an aberration, or if all their computers were that much cheaper. After all, Dell is the number one computer maker for some reason. But would a high end system be 50% cheaper than from NewEgg? Or was Dell playing a game of bait and switch here betting on the idea that no one was really looking to buy such a low end system, and they would make it up on the upgrades?
I decided to find out. I went to the Dell web site, and went to their standard high end desktop, the XPS 600. This is their most expensive desktop line, suitable for serious applications, with an over three grand price tag to match. I left it "as is" and didn't customize anything.
The Dell XPS 600 system can be viewed here.
The rules are the same as last time. I will now go through the parts bin at NewEgg matching up the parts, and pricing out the Dell system. Let's see who is cheaper this time on a system that we would actually want...
The heart of a system is the processor. Sticking to their Intel only philosophy, Dell goes with a Pentium D Processor 920 with Dual Core Technology (2.8GHz, 800FSB). This is one of the 900 series of dual core processors, and it retails for $213.99 over at NewEgg. Hmmm...I thought a computer over three grand would use a more expensive processor. Never mind that I can buy a refurbished 920 for $20 less.
Of course we don't know exactly what motherboard the Dell folks are using. I looked for one that would support the processor, the RAM, have built in RAID, SATA, and work with the dual graphics cards. This one satisfies these requirements, and will lighten our wallet an affordable $139.99.
As a no cost upgrade, Dell includes for the operating system, the Windows Media Center Edition 2005 release. While most stores won't sell it to consumers as it's intended for manufacturer's only, NewEgg will sell us a copy. It will set us back $114.95 to have the full set of media capabilities to match the Dell.
Dell has to include some serious parts to justify the high price tag. they come through in the graphics department. Not one, but a dual graphics card setup using a pair of 512MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GTX cards. Over at NewEgg, they sell for $489.99 each.
Next, we turn our attention to the RAM. Here, the Dell delivers 2 GB of RAM. This comes in two 1 GB sticks of Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz. Now this is serious memory. Over at NewEgg, to match it I went with the Corsair two 1 GB sticks of the even faster DDR2 675 memory. This will set us back $190 for this serious part.
The XPS 600 includes two hard drives in a RAID array setup. The part specified is a 320GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 160GB SATA 3Gb/s HDDs). While that sounds real expensive, I was surprised to see that we could buy hard drives in those specs (including 8 megs of onboard cache per drive) in the Hitachi brand for $64.99 a piece. If you have a preference for Western Digital, they're only a buck more per drive so get ahead and splurge.
The Dell includes two optical drives: a DVD-ROM, and a DVD writer that is dual layer capable. This is somewhat silly, as the writers are just as fast at reading as the DVD-ROM's. Perhaps if you read a lot of discs this makes sense, as you can save the wear and tear on the DVD writer, although by the time you wear it out, it's time to upgrade anyway. Without further discussion, we'll need a DVD-ROM from LiteOn for $18.99, and an equivalent DVD writer from Benq for $34.99.
Dell throws in a 13-in-1 media reader for flash card duties. While a USB reader would be cheaper, an internal one runs $26.99, and includes audio connections that the Dell won't have so consider it a bonus.
Like the budget system, Dell throws in a 19" analog LCD. While NewEgg was having some one day sales, and rebates from better known manufacturers, to be completely fair, I chose this 19" LCD monitor that will run $229.99. After all, who makes them for Dell anyway?
The Dell uses a top end sound card, the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic, which is the latest offering. This part will empty our pockets of $121.99.
For such a great sound card, you'll never really enjoy it with the speakers that Dell includes which are only one better than their cheapest. They're a 2.1 30 watt setup in the included package. These Logitech speakers are probably a little better, and will run us an affordable $33.99, but have similar wattage and are 2.1. C'mon Dell, for three grand can't you throw in speakers worth more than $30?
The Dell includes a Saitek keyboard that retails for $46.99, and a Logitech G5 gaming mouse worth $44.99.
Of course, the Dell ships with one of their signature cases. When we configured our barebones, we went with something more inexpensive (aka: cheaper). This time we'll go with this case that goes for $64.99 after a rebate. It includes a 450 W power supply.Ok, now that we've dissected the Dell system, and priced out the components, it's time to whip out the calculator. The Dell system comes in at a hefty $3354 total for the parts as described. And the drum roll please....our equivalent home built box comes in at a more affordable $2392.80. I'm even surprised that this is about a grand less than Dell.
Why is this so much cheaper? The theory we're proposing is that the $400 desktop to them is the loss leader. This is like the 99 cent item in the grocery store. They're not making any money, but they are generating the traffic. Once you're there, we surmise that everything must be a good deal, and you buy the top end stuff. Is it working? You bet, as Dell is the #1 PC maker for quite a while now. Will they get my money? No way, I'll hang on to my screwdriver and zip ties. A few nights of work is definitely worth a grand to me, how about you?
--Jonas
Labels: build vs. buy, Dell
posted by digitaldoc at 6:33 PM
71 Comments:
This might be a good read if you're hell-bound on the X-Fi card.
For the money, I would go with an "outdated" Audigy 2 for around $75. I resisted the temptation to rebuild the Dell better, and blindly match the components. I'm sure that many of us would spend less on some parts, like the soundcard and keyboard, and put the cash towards a better processor, or speakers.
...or bigger HARD DRIVES!
A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! R-r-r-r-r-r!
For over three grand, I would expect a full terrabyte of storage. Dell did cheap out there.
For over three grand, I'd expect a young lady in a french maid outfit, but that's another blog entirely...
I think Dell gets most of it's revenue out of buisness sales.
dell makes money on the hdd's. they use crappy slow loud drives by default. for that matter, so do most manufacturers.
Good luck getting all that to run on a 450 watt power supply...
Even if Dell isn't known for stellar customer service, don't discount the value of 3 years of repair service. Newegg parts are only covered by manufacturers warranties which are typically one year, or less.
If your dell blows up, you can send it in and get a new or repaired computer. If your newegg system blows up, you need to go through the daunting process of dealing with parts makers.
Hmm, I might be crazy here but I would think some of the extra cost might go to shipping (yes, DELL doesn't make the parts in their backyard), building the system (hey you know, the people that put together the thing get paid too!), and more importanly: configuring it and making sure everything works nicely (I guarantee you the people doing this aren't getting paid minimum wage).
Most of their money is generated in the add-ons that people purchase ie. xp Pro, bigger screen, 3 yr warranty for $300 or so. Another source of their revinue is from having tech support charge people $100 bucks to fix a issue, but who's to say that the guy on the other end that is working for $5/hr is actually a software issue not a peice of hardware.
Haha now go compare that to a computer from Apple...
And this is the very reason I look at people funny when they ask me why I custom build my pc's rather than order them ready made from Dell.
I too will keep true to the D-I-Y sprit and know that when I spend $2000 on a system I am getting one that is worth the money.
You didn't mention anything about support. You're paying for it with Dell, and in my opinion, it's worth it. Dell recently replaced my three year old latitude that went bad with a current refurbished latitude with 4 times the ram, twice the hard drive space, upgraded OS and processor. If I'm building (or repairing) computers for myself or my employees, I'm not billable so I'm not making any money. I'll let Dell deal with that so I can take care of my clients.
The extra cost is all about customer support I think. Interesting to note that, for example, the single biggest expense in producing a GM car is health insurance for the workers that built it.
Wow, great article. I assumed that the price on this one was going to come out cheaper too! Suprise.
I build High end Gamming / Workstations for friends and a few small companies here in the Round Rock Texas Area... The above system is a good system but...
If you where to add a real power supply you can add $100, Dell uses very well designed P/S..
Your case is very cheap, I know that Dell's cases cost them like $15 when buying 1000 of them, I would never use anything but a PC-1000Plus or better.
The display is ok, but I have to say that any display that dell brands is much better than most. I agree that the "E" series is lacking. As for hard disks Dell only ships WD and Seagate at this time. Just an FYI.
The video card is a toss up, The manufactures change day to day.. I wanted to say that as for refurbished anything for NewEgg, I love NewEgg, is a bad idea, everything I have purchased for NE that was refurbished has bee a return.... As for the mobo, Dell is using boards designed by Intel and tweaked by Dell, its more likely to be a board like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016
As with anything you get what you pay for, if this was for my techtard brother, Dell is the way to go, he can call tech support. If this system is for a friend on a budget and he lived close... This system is good for him..
If it where for me, no way, I hand pick the each part for what the system will be doing.
-=j
jack@ripper.com (for real)
You get what you pay for. In this case you're paying Dell to do it for you.
If you know how to fix your own car, you can do it yourself without paying the mechanic $60+/hour, right?
Buying a processor is the same way. The latest and greatest is always the most expensive and the middle-lower ends are always the best value for the money.
Here's the thing. You put restrictive rules on yourself and built pretty much the exact same computer Dell is selling. Why don't you try to build an equivalently powered computer with AMD parts and such? I bet if you did that you could beat Dell's loss leader.
The other question you have to ask is do you really need SLI? That second video card cost $500, what does it buy you? Surely it doesn't increase performance by $500 worth. You can get a much better CPU for $500 more, and that will make a lot more difference than a second video card. Better yet, just drop the video card and save $500 to buy a next-gen gaming console.
I figured it was kind of a given that you could build one yourself cheaper than buying one premade. Guess that isn't as common knowledge amongst the geek types as I thought. It's the customer service, profit, and people that built it that you are paying for.
Awful article.
Nice article, but referring to differences in pricing between high and low-end models as "bait and switch" is a tad inflammatory.
From wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait_and_switch]
A bait and switch is a form of fraud in which the fraudster lures in customers by advertising a good at an unprofitably low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute good is. The goal of the bait-and-switch is to convince some buyers to purchase the substitute good as a means of avoiding disappointment over not getting the bait, or as a way to recover sunk costs expended to try to obtain the bait. It suggests that the seller will not show the original product or product advertised but instead will demonstrate a more expensive product.
------ end wikipedia ---
Notice the word fraud there. It's important.Having a vastly different valie profile at the high-end, does not constitute baint-and-switch unless the low-end systems are unavailable to the consumer.
A few things, first the low end systems are highly subsidized (IMHO) by all the advertising that is on it. Do you think Google spends billions of dollars to make your life easier, NO, they make back billions on the advertising that comes from it. So I am not sure if the entry level system is a lost leader or just small profit. On the more high end systems you do actually get MUCH better service. I know this and this is why I only buy XPS for my main machine. In the last 3 years I have purchased over 300 systems from Dell, mainly for others, but many for myself. Tech support is horrible on most of the systems but I actually get to speak to someone that can talk intelligent, and more importantly, listen to me, when I am having a problem with an XPS. In my 20 years of building computers I have to say, I am much happier having Dell put it together and also deal with the repairs/RMA's. I know I can build a cheaper/faster/better system, but I am just told old and tired of it (in computer years, kinda like Dog year, yet much faster, making me ~500 computer years old)! Just my $0.02...
Why should anyone be surprised that a Dell is more expensive that a home built PC?
Dell isn't shipping you a box full of untested parts and asking you to assemble them.
They are shipping you an assembled PC with parts that have been tested together and then providing support for whatever term you've agreed to.
The limited R&D/testing, assembly and support that Dell provides does in fact cost money and that is reflected in the price.
I'm not saying go out and buy a Dell. I wouldn't. But no one should be surprised that an assembled and supported PC costs more than an unassembled and unsupported one.
The best way to buy from Dell is to use one of thier coupons. I purchased an XPS at 40% off.
Looks like the d3ll underground forum lackys are all over this one... "Dell uses a very well designed power supply" ?!? hehe, o man.
Or about $2400 at MonarchComputer.com when configured to include a 3-year warrantee (same as Dell).
you seem to have forgotten a few things... 1. What is Dell's cost for WinXP? I'll bet they don't pay MSFT 114 / copy
2. Dell bundles AOL, EARTHLINK etc with it;s boxes and get a bounty for each bit.
so they are making estra $$ there too
3. dell pays whole sale not retail so they are making extra there too...
I'd love to know what their real cost / box is ....
Keep in mind that Dell regularly has 35% off or $750 off their computers, so you end up paying about the same amount, especially when you throw in a save $100 one time use coupon or something.
Well Dell stock has done pretty well. They sell mainly to Businesses and Government. Funny that they sell to these large corporations that have their own Support staff etc yet it is standard feature.
Geeks have time and can fine tune their machines.
Dell follows the capitalism model of Profict Maximisation at all costs, so as long as individuals are not willing to be knowledgeable and demand more for their money they get whatever the Dells of the world will charge.
Newegg too makes a great amount of profit on the parts you buy there.
I just did the same exercise for myself.
I was able to configure an almost Identical XPS 600 as listed but it included a 20” LCD.
I waited and bided my time. I was armed with 20% off XPS system coupon, and I was able to cash in some AMEX points for a $250 off Dell card.
So I got the whole shooting match for $2250.00
exacty what everyone else said.. Dell keeps their prices high so they can use the 35%-45% off coupons and make it look like an amazing deal.
I agree with the "coupon" deals. I got a pretty good system for under $1000 (after a $500 off coupon), which was about $200 less than I could price one out for on NewEgg.
I think Dell is the way to go if you need a low to mid-range machine without any special requirements, and if you can find a good sale.
For a high-end or specially configured machine, definitely build it yourself.
The link for the "13-in-1 media reader" is wrong (it's a dupe of the Benq link before it).
I wanted to configure a regular price, without a one day sale, or use a special coupon. Otherwise, when the article was published, everyone would say "Yeah, but we can't buy it for that price today."
I agree that the 450 W power supply was anemic and should be beefed up. Ditch the overpriced keyboard, and it's a wash. A better case would be nice as well, but I haven't found Dell's cases so awesome either.
True, you are giving up support with a DIY rig. With the lackluster Dell folks reading scripts off of monitors, I don't think you're giving up much there. If a hard drive fails in 2 years, aren't you just better off buying a newer, faster and larger one for $100 rather than going through an extended warranty?
Thanks again to all who enjoyed this story, and your comments.
--Jonas
The media reader link is fixed, thanks for noticing!
This is somewhat silly, as the writers are just as fast at reading as the DVD-ROM's.
Not silly at all, if you are in the habit of backing up DVDs often. Waiting for your 4.7GB of data to transfer from the DVD to your hard-drive, and then from the hard-drive to your DVD-R, can take a lot longer than just streaming the data once right from the DVD-ROM drive to the DVD-RW drive.
Anyway, what I'm really curious about is the price-to-value ratio of Dell's higher-end laptops, compared to other companies. I can take a small hit on quality if it's going to save me $1000 on the laptop.
And yes, I know you can get barebones laptop kits and save money there too. But I've yet to see a barebones laptop kit that'll give me the nice hi-res widescreen displays that the big names offer. (But if one exists, a link would be much appreciated! I'm planning to get a laptop soon.)
A big portion of Dells profits come from selling their extended warrenties for the junk they know for a fact, WILL BREAK DOWN.......in 2005, Dell profitted $180 million in extended warrenty sales
Their tech's are foreigners that are very hard to understand and read from a script to try and troubleshoot you.
Lets not forget that Dell pre-installs (without the consumers consent) spyware called MyWay.
Dell is crap, plain and simple!!
A big portion of Dells profits come from selling their extended warrenties for the junk they know for a fact, WILL BREAK DOWN.......in 2005, Dell profitted $180 million in extended warrenty sales
Their tech's are foreigners that are very hard to understand and read from a script to try and troubleshoot you.
Lets not forget that Dell pre-installs (without the consumers consent) spyware called MyWay.
Dell is crap, plain and simple!!
A big portion of Dells profits come from selling their extended warrenties for the junk they know for a fact, WILL BREAK DOWN.......in 2005, Dell profitted $180 million in extended warrenty sales
Their tech's are foreigners that are very hard to understand and read from a script to try and troubleshoot you.
Lets not forget that Dell pre-installs (without the consumers consent) spyware called MyWay.
Dell is crap, plain and simple!!
Awesome comparison...was considering buying my first fully build machine from dell and was looking at an XPS system. After this article, NO MORE! Thanks for saving me some cash!
If Dell Tech support is a consideration when you buy a PC, you shouldn't be DIYing to begin with.
For over 3 grand, I'd expect to get a digital monitor. The refresh rates on the analog monitors is to slow for gaming.
I'd rather do my own trouble shooting than have to suffer through phone support. Also, the support people are different for corporate buyers.
Dell uses mid level power supplies on the high end systems, I'd rather buy a Hi-efficiency part from Antec or one of the other better makers.
All in all, it depends on the end user. I buy Dell all the time, just not for my own use. In the last 5 years I've purchased 3 dells for my oldest son and wife for college use, then I'm not under pressure to find the time to fix them myself. When the time came to get a PC for video editing, I built it, hand picking the components and software. No unneeded extras. I'm typing this from a Dell Latitude thats about 8 years old, it's slow, but works well, and if it gets lost or stolen, the joke is on the thief, It's not worth anything.
Rapcomp, try one of these for some additional LCD monitor info.
"I wanted to configure a regular price, without a one day sale, or use a special coupon. Otherwise, when the article was published, everyone would say "Yeah, but we can't buy it for that price today.""
But ignoring 20-30% discount discounts that are regularly available on the entire system gives
you an unfair advantage. Newegg may have $10 off a particular item or a $50 rebate or such,
but no way are you getting the kind of total discount you'd be seeing on the Dell.
Plus the service/warranty stuff which other folks have mentioned.
Factor those in and your "advantage" isn't all that compelling.
I bought a laptop from Dell recently. It's a $1600 laptop, and with their coupons the total was around $1000. I got a decent video card, ram, etc., but the best part is the 1920x1200 15.4" widescreen and the 4 year warranty.
I actually have had no troubles with their support. One day I accidently broke two keys off of the keyboard. I went on their online chat, explained the problem, and new days later a brand new keyboard arrived with clear instructions on how to put it in (they even included the tools necessary).
And as a bonus, it runs Linux perfectly.
A year ago I wanted to try out a new system with a nice RAID 10. I'm not talking about cheapy 0+1 that most motherboards support in software, but full blown RAID 10 via a dedicated RAID card.
I priced out my dream system at Dell. Final pricetag: $5,460. So I set about pricing out the separate parts to build the machine myself.
After about a week, I had all my parts I had ordered online. Two nights after work and I had my machine up and running. 2GB RAM, dual core AMD, 4-disk 200GB SATA150 RAID 10 (total 400GB space), nVidia 6800GT (top of the line nVidia at the time), 3ware RAID controller, $150 all-aluminum case. Total pricetag: $2,186 and this config had more diskspace and a better video card than the Dell config. Granted, my setup didn't come with the 1024x768 15" LCD...
Dell is a complete waste of money for anything other than low end machines or their LCD's.
I can't believe people are actually defending dell. Unless you are a brain dead non tech savvy person, why ever build a machine. Hardware made by manufacturers are already tested. I don't need retesting. FCOL, if you want a dumb simple, good customer service deal, get an Apple. As for PC's, if I want that, I'll run Ubuntu or something one an AMD for MUCH less.
I've given up on "on the fly copying" a while ago. As the writers got faster, the readers simply can't keep up. You'll get a better burn by going to the hard drive first. So, the only reason to have the DVD-ROM is to save the wear and tear on the writer.
My one critique of the article is that you usually can do BETTER than the price on the Dell website. Look around for some coupons or deals. It's pretty easy to get an additional 30% off or so particularly if the stars align and you can get a percent off coupon that stacks with a fixed dollar discount coupon. I bought a high end dell last year that was impossible to build at that price myself and certainly was better priced than any of the other computer dealers online.
Perhaps the next expose will be what you can do for the same money....
Dell tech support. There's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. (...or HP tech support, or Gateway tech support... or (brand name here) tech support.)
If you can't build your own box, and then troubleshoot it if it's not working, well, then, you can't really build your own box, you're just sticking parts into slots and hoping for the best. You're the sort of folks who NEED tech support.
However, if you CAN troubleshoot your own efforts, you'll save a lot of $$ by building your own using hand-picked components, I've done it for years now.
I've got to tell you... I've just priced out over $125k worth of hardware. Dell beat the others by close to $10k on that price tag. The competitor (selling HP hardware) was selling portions below cost (after having received "major deal" pricing) just to try to compete.
The Dell systems don't have all the built in "lights out management" that the HP systems did, but the cost savings didn't justify the benefits.
-Pete
See, that's your opinion. And it's just as valid as anyone else's opinion that might run contrary to it. Perhaps Dell's "blindfolded management" meets your requirements but not theirs.
Nice, Jonas. Now, as a follow-up, see if you can spend your "Dell Budget" of $3354 to build a total toy!
My "spidey sense" is feeling a series of articles here...
Dell makes its money as all corporate entities have done, by catering to the idea that making dumber customers generates bigger profits.
Take Win 3.1... remember how hard it was to use...
Remember how easy Win 95 was in comparison..then Win 98, then 2000, then XP...
They dumbed us down and that carried over to PC manufacturers. They figured out that the dumber we are, the more maney they'll make. How many times have you heard about people who had a perfectly good system that got a load of spyware (oddly enough, this is roughly 80% of Dell's customer support questions) and traded it in for a $2000 brand new system? I've worked with computers for 23 years and this is will just keep getting worse until the average person gets up off their mental a** and start educating themselves.
And now Dell has started incorporating spyware preinstalled into their systems, and charging their customers 50$ to remove it...
HP's been doing that for a while now.
The sad truth is, we accept these in tiny doses and after a while that kind of medicine doesn't taste so bad. Once DRM is controlling more your PC than you are, imagine what that will taste like...
Dell, Compaq, or my favorite
e-machine's are found in homes for one raason... support...
an they need support why? all the extra crap to watch this burn that register this perioticaly update that...my theory Build one even if u build a p.o.s. for the guy at work just to read his email an watch porn... 300$ pentium 4 or equillavent AMD. is all u have to spend, but like the guy said earlier in the post, if we all did that there would be no mechanics for our cars charging 60$+ an hr
I've built three computers and have never had a serious issue. Do it well do it right dont have problems.
I've not owned a Dell, but i've rebuilt three Compaqs, and wouldn't buy any more. They clearly use bottom shelf components. After I sliced my hand on the exposed metal of the case upgrading a hard drive I decided I had enough!
You had a torx screwdriver?
Comment on the Apple:
a dual processor G5 tower, with 1 Gb Ram, at the Apple REFURBISHED store, with dual 250 Gb drives, a very decent video card, listed at $1349 and INCLUDED the Applecare warranty!
Go check them out for yourself! New Price? $2,000+, with the three year Applecare warranty!
Happy to save the $651, thanks! Or, to save the $1651!
I have torx bits for a multipurpose screwdriver. Not exactly the easiest case to get into. I learned a lot rebuilding the Compaq; the most important lesson was to not buy a Compaq again.
Hi, I'm commenting directly on this article concerning the power supply you website picked for this system. My problem with it is its totally 100% inadqequate for the job, The most that psu puts out if my memory serves me correct is 18 or 19 Amps. Its not even SLI certified. Higher end graphics cards are recommended 12v rails of at least 20-22 Amps by most manufacturers and at least split 18 Amp 12v rails for SLI. This adds about $100 to your total price, but the bottom line is should some newcomer to computers attempt to build your computer he mind find himself with one that refuses to stay on for longer then a few minutes, and in the worst case scenario might actually be so overloaded the PSU would kill a few components. Just thought you should know.
Thanks for the comment. You know, I got another one just like it in my e-mail yesterday. Do you have an anonymous sibling?
The difference is actually about $175 if you want to go upscale with an ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W Power Supply. It's SLI compliant and has more than enough watts to carry the system as configured.
That still leaves you with over $800 (more if you eBay the take-out PS) and that's quite a lot of popcorn and DVD rentals by any accounting.
Dell never fail to impress me
when I first started where I work, I was directed to dell to buy our pcs. the previous guy in my job bought everthing at dell. I started looking around, pinching pennies and building my own machines. In the first year I saved my boss in the neighborhood of $15,000 in hardware alone.
In dell's defense, The motherboard on one of our dells went out and they had a tech come out and fix it for free. I was more than happy to take advantage of that but I'm very pleased with my non dell purchases.
I don't think too many home users had a Dell tech come out to their home to replace a motherboard. Their clearly is a different level of support for business vs. home customers.
Im having the Dimension 8300 series from Dell and its almost 2 years old. I have 3 year complete care service.
Last month my cd-writer gave problem and I phoned Dell. 2 days after, I received a totally new cd-writer. They didnt even ask me to return my defect one.
Se, thats the value of customer care service. That you can't compare with any others!
You could have bought a CD-Writer for $39 and replaced it yourself that same day rather than wait. If I remember correctly, that's a lot cheaper than Dell's service policy. And didn't Dell offer to send a tech to your home because you had in-home service?
$39! You can get a DVDRW these days for that. How about for around $20 we get our choice of LiteOn, LG, Sony, or Benq drives.
Ditto Bill for Dell not sending out a tech to replace your optical drive. What brand was it anyway? Did tell you so you can upgrade the firmware?
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