I've been on both sides myself. I used to be the local guy selling computers. I could match the quality (and, generally, the price) of the big guys. However, I couldn't offer the stability that they could. One day my business partner and I decided to close up shop and move to greener pastures-something that's far less likely with a major brand. And for servers and related critical equipment, I couldn't match the likes of Dell's 4-hour warranty. I simply couldn't get the replacement parts that quickly, and as a small business I couldn't guarantee the response time.
If I could go back in time, I wouldn't waste my time selling low-margin computers. I'd make all of my money on labor and repairs/upgrades. We use Dell OptiPlex units here. They're not necessarily the cheapest, but they're made for the enterprise. The parts inside stay the same, so the OptiPlex I order six months from now will have the same components inside as the one I ordered six months ago. And of course, Dell has a solid mechanism in place for ordering machines with images preinstalled. That won't be a factor for those who push down their own images, but we don't do that-we get ours pre-imaged. John Hornbuckle, MSMIS, PMP MIS Department Taylor County School District www.taylor.k12.fl.us From: Cynicalgeek [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2:55 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Favorite corporate PCs? I've been on both sides of this over the past 17 years and have heard all of the question answer sessions before. Go with a local business who has a good reputation and uses either true Intel boards or ASUS boards. Is Dell's tech support/replacement part solution that wonderful that justifies the overpriced computer? Have you *EVER* gotten a replacement part from Dell that wasn't s refurb? I had servers on Gold or Platinum support and when a RAID array drive is sent out for replacement it is a refurb. Does that seem fair to you? On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:59 PM, John Cook <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Local business go out of business at inopportune times and there is much more to the vendor relationship with Dell than just buying a box. John W. Cook Systems Administrator Partnership for Strong Families From: Cynicalgeek [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 01:27 PM To: NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: Favorite corporate PCs? Why not support a local business instead of buying overpriced Dell computers? On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Tom Miller <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: We purchase a number of PCs each month as part of a rotation cycle. I've been a Dell customer for years, but lately don't think Dell has been offering the best price we can get (we are non-profit and state/GSA, although non-profit pricing is usually better). So I'm looking around. For desktops I'm not too picky as long as specs are similar. HP? Lenovo? Big Lots? Thanks, Tom Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. 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