Well, I'm probably not buying a computer from Delll, now or in the future.

[W1GUH]

It appears that they have declined a lot, or something -- the following was totally unexpected.
So about 10:00 AM on Friday I was all set to go ahead and call them up to buy the AW M17. The initial contact was just fine. Going through the building process, everything went very smoothly & the guy saved me a bundle by letting me know that the M17 would be just fine & I didn't need to go all the way to an M18. So far, so good. And the charge for overnight delivery was half what I expected, so I'm feeling pretty good about everything. Then we got to checkout and the whole process turned into a comedy of errors.

My card was declined. This, despite making sure I had plenty of money in the account and my daily limit was sufficient. So I called my bank. What I learned is that Bank of America's fraud protection software had detected possible fraud and what happens when that happens is the card is suspended until I tell them that the charges are legit. That's a pretty quick and easy procedure to go through, and I soon had that resolved. But....one of the "suspect" charges was from Dell. WTF? So -- strike one against Dell.

So I called Dell back, told them that the card problem was resolved, and we went through checkout without a hitch and my card went through with no problem. Great! All done -- just sit back and wait til it arrives at my doorstep.

WRONG!!!!!

A little while later I got a call from Dell telling me that the transaction got cancelled. THIS time it was because Dell had an old, defunct phone number in my profile. (Despite having told the sales agent that that number was history and should be taken out of my profile). Two strikes against Dell - they cancel an order and reverse the CC change when they find that.

So I talk to another agent, explained the situation (this was late Fri. afternoon when I was stopped at a rest area on the thruway), and he assured me that all will be fixed up -- and I need do nothing more.

Wrong again!!!!!

My chard had not been charged by mid-morning on Saturday. So I call up & was informed that I needed to confirm the purchase. WTF?? I'd already confirmed this purchase multiple times AND the last time I spoke to them was assured that I need do nothing more. FUCK YOU, DELL, WHY ARE YOU MAKING BUYING A COMPUTER SUCH A LONG, PAINFUL EXPERIENCE?????

This third strike was the last straw....I told them to cancel the whole order and that I was going to change my mind and by rhe Asus machine with the same processor and graphics. Cheesh!!!! THREE TIMES Dell shot itself in the foot. WTF?

So, yes, I've changed my mind and will go for the Asus machine soon's I can find a place where it's in stock or I can get it at my local neighborhood Best Buy. It's a couple grand less AND I won't be dragged over the coals just to buy it.

I DID tell one of the Dell agents that I would buy the machine only if 1) The lop $1000 off the price AND guarantee delivery in one week, rather than two. Of course the guy couldn't do that.

Pity -- Dell used to be SO GOOD.

[NQ6U]

Shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.

[W1GUH]

Shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.

Sure looks like the thing to do.

[KJ3N]

Except for the 2 HP laptops, I can't remember the last time I bought a desktop computer (if any). I build my own stuff.

[NQ6U]

Except for the 2 HP laptops, I can't remember the last time I bought a desktop computer (if any). I build my own stuff.

Kind of hard to put together a laptop on your own unless you're really good.

[KG4CGC]

Asus is working hard to be a top brand so, you got lucky that Dell messed up. You'll like whatever it is you choose from them.

[n2ize]

Get a MAC instead.

[K7SGJ]

Like I posted way back, Dell has (or had) a pretty good product. All of my problems with them were administrative. They fucked with me so much, I finally decided to go elsewhere. That was after buying a few laptops for personal use, and a couple of servers and a whole slew of workstations for my wifes business. I will never NEVER EVER deal with Michael Dell and the Fuckups. (Great name for his company band)

[ad4mg]

The Dell Optiplex series isn't what I would call a quality product. Every one (6 or 7 now) I've had a look at either has a fried processor, or bad power supply. I picked up two Optiplex 780's Friday to "fix", one has a bad MB, the other a bad PS. Heat seems to be the issue in those SFF (small form factor) machines, and replacement parts are very expensive.

I do have an old Dimension 8400 that I brought back from the dead that seems to be pretty well built. Still, it's full of proprietary parts.

I prefer to roll my own on PC's. Never had much luck with off the shelf boxes.

[W1GUH]

Asus is working hard to be a top brand so, you got lucky that Dell messed up. You'll like whatever it is you choose from them.

Exactly, Charles. This is an Asus & there's been no problem -- it's been great!

[W1GUH]

Like I posted way back, Dell has (or had) a pretty good product. All of my problems with them were administrative. They fucked with me so much, I finally decided to go elsewhere. That was after buying a few laptops for personal use, and a couple of servers and a whole slew of workstations for my wifes business. I will never NEVER EVER deal with Michael Dell and the Fuckups. (Great name for his company band)

Exactly my reaction to the BS that I went through. Live and learn? Glad that particular lesson is behind me!

[W1GUH]

Just ordered the Asus machine from Best Buy. Took less than ten minutes...bank has accepted the charge, & Best Buy says I'll have it this week.



What a pleasure after the grueling BS Dell sent me through!

[K7SGJ]

Just ordered the Asus machine from Best Buy. Took less than ten minutes...bank has accepted the charge, & Best Buy says I'll have it this week.



What a pleasure after the grueling BS Dell sent me through!


Probably would have been WAY easier to have just gone out and purchased a REAL airplane.

[W1GUH]

Probably would have been WAY easier to have just gone out and purchased a REAL airplane.


And a LOT more fun! Maybe why I've never gone for that "introductory lesson." Would've gotten hooked.

[W1GUH]

It's here! And that is true sudden service. Only just ordered it last weekend. Best Buy was a little sluggish in the emails; didn't get the "it shipped" email til this morning when I was down getting chemo -- and the UPS guy had been here before I got home at about 1:00. No problem -- found the truck and the driver & here it is, working fine!

Used IE to download FF, now don't have to use THAT!!!!

Machine's coming up very smoothly and quickly. It doesn't come with a recovery DVD, ya gotta burn your own...and that's the very first thing when you start up the first time. That's in-process now. Has to burn, typically, 6 DVD's. Groan -- gotta wait to install MS Flight Sim. Cheesh! <---- just kiddin'. Burning the DVD's is important and worth the wait.

The display is freakin' great! And things move FASTER than my old 2.2G dual-core. (This is a 2.2g quad-core).

This must have been a promotion. It came with a great backpack carrying bag & a mouse. Neither were mentioned nor were expected. Nice surprise. This is my second Asus machine and they've become my computer of choice. Got the "old" one in '08 & never really had a significant problem -- it just kept on keepin' on like a true workhorse. Expect the same performance from this one.

More later when I've seen FSX with full-up detail in the graphics.

And P.S. -- UPS handled the package just fine. No visible damage, not even a crushed corner, on the box.

[KG4CGC]

Congrats ☺

[K7SGJ]

You'll get much better support from Asus. Enjoy the new electron motivator.

[W1GUH]

Thanks! The recovery DVD's are burned...I've got FF up and running. Now, to get the new USB 3.0 2TB drive I just got going, and then, its FSX Time!!!!!

[kf0rt]

Chilled legumes! ;)

[KG4CGC]

Chilled legumes! ;)

Hey! That's my line! ☺

[W1GUH]

There are so many reasons I'm really glad that Dell convinced me that what I really wanted was this Asus. For example, this is spec'd to have a 15.1 inch screen - the Dell had a 17". As it turns out, the 15" is significantly bigger than what I had, while still being more or less practical or a portable. Probably lighter, too. But same guts -- whoopie!

And, I'd thought the i7 was a quad processor, but the Task Manger shows 8, and that's way dxdiag said. Holy shit!

And, of course, the added performance is (well, duh...yea....) going to be much appreciated when editing video files and photos.

[K7SGJ]

There are so many reasons I'm really glad that Dell convinced me that what I really wanted was this Asus. For example, this is spec'd to have a 15.1 inch screen - the Dell had a 17". As it turns out, the 15" is significantly bigger than what I had, while still being more or less practical or a portable. Probably lighter, too. But same guts -- whoopie!

And, I'd thought the i7 was a quad processor, but the Task Manger shows 8, and that's way dxdiag said. Holy shit!

And, of course, the added performance is (well, duh...yea....) going to be much appreciated when editing video files and photos.


?? You planning to put a camera in the bomb bay??

[N1LAF]

And, I'd thought the i7 was a quad processor, but the Task Manger shows 8, and that's way dxdiag said. Holy shit!


Blame it on the hyperthreading. Hyperthreading is probably enabled.

[kf0rt]

Hey! That's my line! ☺

I knew I'd heard that here before. ;)

Gotta say though, I still like Dells. Got a "new" Dell desktop at work; had it about 6 months now -- 3.4GHz quad-core i7 (Task Mangler shows 8 cores), 16GB RAM, 3 monitors; pretty loaded and it screams. It's a shame that my position there as "Guru of Old Sh!t" won't let me use it to any potential -- half the stuff I do won't play on Win7, so I'm gimping along on a quad-core Xeon running XP.

[N1LAF]

I knew I'd heard that here before. ;)

Gotta say though, I still like Dells. Got a "new" Dell desktop at work; had it about 6 months now -- 3.4GHz quad-core i7 (Task Mangler shows 8 cores), 16GB RAM, 3 monitors; pretty loaded and it screams. It's a shame that my position there as "Guru of Old Sh!t" won't let me use it to any potential -- half the stuff I do won't play on Win7, so I'm gimping along on a quad-core Xeon running XP.

May I ask which Dell model? I have the T5400 and T5500 with dual quad cores, and 24 GB memory, and even running Win XP 32 bit, some programs fail to execute.

[W1GUH]

I knew I'd heard that here before. ;)

Gotta say though, I still like Dells. Got a "new" Dell desktop at work; had it about 6 months now -- 3.4GHz quad-core i7 (Task Mangler shows 8 cores), 16GB RAM, 3 monitors; pretty loaded and it screams. It's a shame that my position there as "Guru of Old Sh!t" won't let me use it to any potential -- half the stuff I do won't play on Win7, so I'm gimping along on a quad-core Xeon running XP.

Uh-huh. I'm sure I would have LOVED the AW, but for $2K less, I'll live without the fancy packaging & logos. Besides, Asus is doing a damn good job of that, too! And I'd ordered the AW with a "hybrid Hard Disk." The agent pointed out that SS memory doesn't crash like a disk. Thinking about searching out one of those to put in this machine. AND - that'll let me benignly check out the recovery DVD's I made.

I'm not noticing a big diff. between Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium. The human interface looks very much the same. One difference I see, and I'm glad of, is there's a full Task Bar that Vista was missing. Good to see that back!

Having a ball playing with the new toy. Ran FSX -- set all the scenery options to the highest - got about 10 FPS. Perfectly fine....going to set it to what I had with the old machine to benchmark the 860M graphics.

[W1GUH]

And, FYI, the nvidea 560 is 3D capable. Just gotta go buy the hardware for it. Groan - there's a few option, will have to use some gogle-fu?

[kf0rt]

May I ask which Dell model? I have the T5400 and T5500 with dual quad cores, and 24 GB memory, and even running Win XP 32 bit, some programs fail to execute.

Optiplex 990, if memory serves. It won't run XP because the XP drivers don't support the "advanced" hardware. Smokin' machine on Win7, though, and I can run Ubuntu in a virtual machine.

[W1GUH]

Just installed SP1 and SP2 for FSX. Frame rate, with the same super-high settings seems to average about 25 with occasional excursions to about 18 and about 34. Wonderful. I'll have to go back and install those on the old machine.

[K7SGJ]

Uh-huh. I'm sure I would have LOVED the AW, but for $2K less, I'll live without the fancy packaging & logos. Besides, Asus is doing a damn good job of that, too! And I'd ordered the AW with a "hybrid Hard Disk." The agent pointed out that SS memory doesn't crash like a disk. Thinking about searching out one of those to put in this machine. AND - that'll let me benignly check out the recovery DVD's I made.

I'm not noticing a big diff. between Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium. The human interface looks very much the same. One difference I see, and I'm glad of, is there's a full Task Bar that Vista was missing. Good to see that back!

Having a ball playing with the new toy. Ran FSX -- set all the scenery options to the highest - got about 10 FPS. Perfectly fine....going to set it to what I had with the old machine to benchmark the 860M graphics.

Keep an eye on Newegg for the SS drive. They have had several ~120g and ~256g for around a buck a gig. If you haven't already done so, sign up for their "shell shocker deal of the day". Some pretty decent prices on stuff. Even the stuff you didn't know you needed.

[n2ize]

I prefer to roll my own on PC's. Never had much luck with off the shelf boxes.

So do I but in Paul's case he's using a laptop system, not so easy to roll your own. The first computer I assembled was a very basic 200 mhz Pentium many years ago. I built it because I wanted my parents to have online access and also so when my niece came to visit she would have a computer to use instead of having to use mine. My folks took to the Internet like smoke to a chimney. They have been avid Internet users ever since. They enjoy using the Internet for news, music, videos, and a whole host of things. The only regrets they have is that all this technology didn't come along sooner. The only regrets I have is that my grandparents never got to experience this stuff. They would have loved it. A well, so much for sentimentalism.

Getting back to rolling your own system yeah, I am still using a 32 bit Dell Dimension 4600. I am hoping to upgrade soon and when i do I will probably just buy a case with a board installed and roll the rest of the system myself. Do I need Windows ? Not really being I'll be running the Linux 99% of the time. But I might install Windows anyhow. It does come in handy from time to time. Generally I make my systems so they can boot into multiple operating systems.

[W1GUH]

Keep an eye on Newegg for the SS drive. They have had several ~120g and ~256g for around a buck a gig. If you haven't already done so, sign up for their "shell shocker deal of the day". Some pretty decent prices on stuff. Even the stuff you didn't know you needed.

Thanks for the tip; - I'll do that.

[N2RJ]

I have never had payment issues with Dell but I don't like how they've gone rapidly downhill.

I did have a Dell Dimension 8200 P4 which lasted for 8 years though and was still going strong before I upgraded to a HP Core i7.

For laptops I prefer Apple.

[K7SGJ]

Uh-huh. I'm sure I would have LOVED the AW, but for $2K less, I'll live without the fancy packaging & logos. Besides, Asus is doing a damn good job of that, too! And I'd ordered the AW with a "hybrid Hard Disk." The agent pointed out that SS memory doesn't crash like a disk. Thinking about searching out one of those to put in this machine. AND - that'll let me benignly check out the recovery DVD's I made.

I'm not noticing a big diff. between Vista and Windows 7 Home Premium. The human interface looks very much the same. One difference I see, and I'm glad of, is there's a full Task Bar that Vista was missing. Good to see that back!

Having a ball playing with the new toy. Ran FSX -- set all the scenery options to the highest - got about 10 FPS. Perfectly fine....going to set it to what I had with the old machine to benchmark the 860M graphics.


At Newegg. This may be of interest:



SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5 Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
(http://e.newegg.com/servlet/cc6?gLmkQSTWDQWVGa4bedbGxzaQ8wfVaVSAVXLX)



$299.99



With Promo Code: EMCYTZT1302



Free Shipping

[W1GUH]

At Newegg. This may be of interest:



SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5 Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
(http://e.newegg.com/servlet/cc6?gLmkQSTWDQWVGa4bedbGxzaQ8wfVaVSAVXLX)



$299.99



With Promo Code: EMCYTZT1302



Free Shipping




Thanks for the tip...but I've decided to put off the SSHD til the prices fall. Also, I just put a 500G disk into the extra bay inside the laptop case. VERY nice to have two disks in the machine. Didn't even know that this machine had two HD bays when I bought it -- it just keeps on giving! Seems that Asus and I are on the same page, computationally. This is the second time that I've found what I wanted in one of their machines for a great price! Maybe, even, someday, the 3D will work, too. But even if it doesn't I'm very happy with the computer. Been too long since I had the state of the art, at least in laptops. Need for Speed has some awesome scenery. Trouble is....it zips by so frequin' fast that ya can't enjoy it -- they REALLY made those damn races challenging.

[n2ize]

I have never had payment issues with Dell but I don't like how they've gone rapidly downhill.

I did have a Dell Dimension 8200 P4 which lasted for 8 years though and was still going strong before I upgraded to a HP Core i7.

For laptops I prefer Apple.

Mapes ?

[N2RJ]

I prefer to roll my own on PC's. Never had much luck with off the shelf boxes.

I don't really prefer to do this anymore as I find it a hassle, especially when dealing with warranties. I like one place to go to when I need warranty service.

HP I've noticed is using more non-proprietary stuff. Their motherboards are pegatron which is an spin off of Asustek. Everything is more or less standard stuff.

[N2RJ]

Mapes ?

Say what?

[n6hcm]

I don't really prefer to do this anymore as I find it a hassle, especially when dealing with warranties. I like one place to go to when I need warranty service.

HP I've noticed is using more non-proprietary stuff. Their motherboards are pegatron which is an spin off of Asustek. Everything is more or less standard stuff.

yeah..if they were using proprietary stuff it would have been harder to try to sell off the pc business like they were wanting to do last year.