Dell positive/neg. reviews ran about 10:1.
We'll see....
Del Thomas Ph. D. wrote:
I'm not sure what this is about. However, one should be very careful with this companies products. I have seen many people with price sheets who have no idea what they are getting from Dell. Dell sales staff start low and sell up bit by bit. A near by state has a Dell contract and has many problems. On the positive side I can always tell when my wife is working because I can hear the noise of the fan (her note book has a desktop processor) But on a cold winter's night you don't have to sit by the fireside, just your Dell.
Sorry to say that reviews are also suspect because it is hard to know who "owns" the reviewer.
There are a set of things to consider when buying a notebook. First always buy a Centrino or the value brand Celeron M. They are identified by the logo on the case. Both a designed from the ground up for the advantages of mobility, cool, battery life and wireless. Always look for the processor number. Centrino's are 7xx Celeron 3xx. In the Centrino 730,40,50,60 have the latest technology. Some OEM's continue to put desktop chips and processors in notebooks because they are cheap. These notebooks are thicker, hotter, shorter battery life and have lower performance as the heat increases.
Warranty is important. Toshiba they only make notebooks has service centers world wide and the best set of warranties including replacement. Other brands look at the store (best buy, Comp USA, MicroCenter (they make Win Book) Circuit City and so forth) I have 6 + Toshiba's all but on working. That one failed after where the power adapter plugs into the the back of the
notebook. That is often the weakest point. Because the user did not take it for repair at once it could not be fixed. I usually get a 3 to 4 year
warranty because I hand them down.
The technology improves so much that you may replace every 3 years. Of course the advantage of the store warranty is geographic propinquity. You can talk to real people. Ask the store if their tech folks have A1 certification. You are making a big investment.
You should know that there is no profit in the notebook sale. So stores push add ons to the basket. Best Buy and C City do not have
commissions. The mark up on some store warranties is 50%. But you get your money back in the first repair.
Free tech support. In the store is generally good. You will want to check this out before you buy. On the phone it depends on the time day
and place of origin. On line good but often not flexible. In general the software will blame the hardware and the ISP will blame everyone else. :-)
Happy shopping Monica!
Del
Monica Edwards wrote:Andi... I own a dell laptop and am extremely pleased with it! I would buy another.
--
Andi
Andi
Every object, every being,
Is a jar of delight.
Be a connoisseur.
~Rumi~
Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt our existence into
something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. It's in our hands.
~Cathy Better~
Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter
least.
~Johann von Goethe~
----------------
Dr. Andi Stepnick
Associate Professor of Sociology
314 Wheeler Humanities Building
Belmont University
Nashville TN 37212-3757
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