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Dell Excellence: How to Experience It

Preliminary Remarks

The last several reviews (Fall 2007) of Dell (the store) have been quite negative and I am sure the authors have legitimate complaints. But, over the years I have purchased from Dell and have always been quite successful even in resolving problems. In this review I will explain what I did and how I did it and perhaps make your online purchase from Dell easier.

What the Dell Store Am I In Anyway?

What site are you really on? Dell advertises on the radio, some TV, frequently in newspapers flyers, magazines and direct mail brochures to individuals and companies. You can also access their site through third-party affiliates. If you look carefully at any of their ads their website address is something like

www/dell.com/whatever

where whatever (bolded above) is a specific page at that website. The link of the url may also be different so the link connects you with a specific server. It is possible to enter “the store” through a variety of “windows” (pun intended) where, with a promotion code or company id number, the total cost of a computer system is less than just walking in the store. I access the Dell site through my affiliation with a large university and receive a fairly decent discount which I can use to buy computers for any member of my family. Maybe you can also. Check your college site, your labor union, your church or any entity that may have a consumer relation with Dell.

Why are you in the Dell Store?

If you’re just shopping around, fine. But don’t get too overwhelmed or try to keep track of prices. It might be better to browse through an old fashioned print ad and get an idea of what you want. Then when you are online you will have narrowed your selections. For this review, let’s say you’re interested in buying a desktop computer which is what I just bought about one month ago. Here are the decisions I had to make.

What model do you want? Pick one. You can buy it immediately which I think hardly anyone does or you can choose to configure the machine. Next question.

What processor do you want? Alas, the days of the Pentium I and the Pentium II are long gone and processors have names and numbers from some far away galaxy. Why is one model $200 or $300 more than another model? The processor: its speed, its cache. Next question.

What do you want to do with this machine? Email a lot? Print photos? Download music? Create databases? What processor you choose depends on what you want to do. Just dealing with text documents is a lot different than creating video productions.

At this point perhaps it might be wise to have a budget. Getting the top of the line of all the components is going to be expensive. In my case I had a top dollar amount of $1000 for what I wanted to do. Next question.

What components should I add? Do really need a new keyboard or mouse? Some models deduct an amount if you select not to buy either or both. Do you need a floppy drive? Probably not. The model I bought came with several USB ports conveniently placed on the front of the machine. What about the speed of the DVD-RW? Is it just for playing music? Or will you be burning a lot of CDs with photos?

One suggestion is to select the upgrade of the video card to the best possible within your budget. More and more websites have photos and/or videos on the home page that a superior video card can handle better. Next items.

Do you need a monitor or speakers or can you use the ones from your present system? A monitor will up the price substantially and an upgraded monitor will do it even faster.

Each of these tasks is accomplished on the Dell site with ease and as you work your way through the remaining configurations (peripherals, operating system, preloaded software and warranty packages) you should consider the same type of questions: do I have it, do I need it and do I want it? Can I get the same item cheaper someplace else?

The Purchase – Maybe?

At the end add the item to the cart and you will see the final price. If you are not in the store via a link that produces a discount then this number is the base price. Your computer is in the cart BUT DO NOT BUY IT. Instead print out the specifications and then call Dell so you can speak with a human. This will accomplish two things. First, you will really discover if the items are in stock and you can ask about any unadvertised discounts or promotions. Dell used to give away free printers and routers. Go through the list noted above to see if you can find an affiliation. For example, I wanted to charge my purchase to my credit card but was informed if I used a Dell account which could be set up immediately I would get a $50 off immediately. So I signed up. This is also the time to request that your computer NOT be loaded with all sorts of software you may not want. Dell partners with AOL, Earthlink and other vendors.

I have discovered that speaking to humans seems to put your order farther up the warehouse queue. I ask the human for their personal extension number so I call directly if I have any problems. I ordered the system on Tuesday October 23, 2007 and it was delivered that Thursday.

This is the method I have followed with Dell for the last ten years both as an individual customer and the purchaser for a college. Problems were solved easily. For example, one system I bought shut itself off after ten minutes. It wouldn’t stay on. A third party vendor arrived within two days and replaced the entire motherboard in an hour.

Knowing the Dell website and knowing what to do on it will make your Dell purchases more enjoyable and satisfying.