<p>I know that Dell has had problems with customer service the past two years or so, but I was under the impression that the company has been improving. My daughter loved the new Inspiron with all the color choices, and the price is good for what you get. Reviews said that it’s sturdy and well built. Now I’m worried that a) It won’t arrive before she has to leave for college; and b) Dell is bad. Tell you the truth, though, no other laptop brand seemed appealing. D is studying languages and not anything like accounting or engineering. I guess I have buyer’s remorse. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I think your D will be just fine with her Dell. FWIW, my husband has Macs at work, a Dell laptop for travel, and we have pcs at home. Husband says, he’s seen no difference in either customer support nor in the reliability between the Dell laptop and the other computers.</p>
<p>There may be no turning back now, but sometimes if a student buys his computer through the book store, he can also get on campus tech support.</p>
<p>We bought our son’s computer through his school. We had a choice between IBM, Dell, and …I forget the other or maybe it was just those two.</p>
<p>We bought through the school because they work in conjunction with Dell to provide the four years of service (maintenance plan) so that all four years of school will be covered.</p>
<p>So far, we have been pleased. When my son’s power cord broke while he was home for winter break, I dealt with Dell directly, and we had one sent to our home within 24 hours. </p>
<p>My son’s computer has held up well (we’re going on two years now), and any dealings I’ve had directly with Dell have been positive and have adequately addressed any problems.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that the laptop you bought for your D will work out just fine for her. I really don’t think you need to worry about this!</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK! :)</p>
<p>~berurah
p.s. Saw those colors and went “WOW!!” Still have to get a laptop for my D, so I may do the same as you did for yours!</p>
<p>My son accidentally dropped a textbook onto the keys of his laptop and several of them broke off. Dell sent a new keyboard. We have a three year maintenance agreement.</p>
<p>Another thing to think about…I believe you can add your student’s laptop onto your HO insurance for a little extra $, which would cover theft, loss, or destruction.</p>
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Wow…I didn’t realize that! Thanks for that tip, dp!</p>
<p>I’m on a Dell Inspiron as we speak. Only problem has been a tiny burnout in the screen. ldgirl bought a new laptop with her summer earnings, so this one will be passed on to my son, who does not like to be called ldboy…lol! The top is a little scratched up so he went to <a href=“http://www.skinit.com%5B/url%5D”>www.skinit.com</a> and bought a really nifty skin for it. ldgirl also bought one for her new laptop to protect it…the designs/colors are toooo cool. (The skins are customized for each computer make and model…for a perfect fit.)</p>
<p>The HO insurance thing came to me courtesy of a friend of mine who put her son’s laptop on their insurance (State Farm). I haven’t done so, but I should.</p>
<p>My luck, SF will have changed their policy, just like they’re dropping hurricane coverage for those of us who live 2-10 miles from the beach. :mad:</p>
<p>oh…btw…berurah mentioned buying new accessories. I recently purchased a new battery for this Dell from <a href=“http://www.laptopbatteries.com%5B/url%5D”>www.laptopbatteries.com</a> It was almost half the cost of the part through dell.com Prices tend to vary depending on when you are ordering. Just an FYI it is better to shop other online vendors, should anyone ever need parts. (I’m about to order a new ac adapter as we speak…must be a weak part.)</p>
<p>According to my husband… </p>
<p>Dell used to be a good product with great support. Then they started going a little downhill in the support area, and were getting complaints. In the past year, they’ve improved their support tremendously.</p>
<p>I don’t have any personal experience with Dell, I’m an HP devotee. The best part of their customer service is that in the past 12+ years, and 4 computers, I’ve never had to talk to a service person yet!</p>
<p>Did you buy the "covers absolutely EVERYTHING warranty? We did for son #1, and it was well worth it!!! One time the Dell guy came out to our house the very next day to replace his monitor because he broke it on a plane (probably through carelessness).</p>
<p>Here’s a recent discussion about college computers <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=365228[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=365228</a></p>
<p>And who knew-- there a whole forum in CC devoted to college computers ! <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=672[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=672</a></p>
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<p>This was our main concern. You don’t want to be stranded for too long should something happen. But another thing you can do is find out whether there is a store like Best Buy that is conceivably accessible from campus (by bus or something) should the need occur. And buy one that can be fixed under their terms. That’s what my sister did. If that is the case it frees you up a lot more (my dad could get a better deal than the book store ones). But if that isn’t the case, you may have think harder about it.</p>
<p>Our experience is that the next day on site service from Dell beat the several day turn around at Best Buy that our friend suffered. We, too, had computer fixed on site next day. Things happen with students and notebook computers. get the covers everything service plans.</p>
<p>macnyc:</p>
<p>Don’t worry - you did just fine buying the Dell. I’ve been using Dell laptops for many years, older D’s been using her Dell laptop for about 4 years and younger D’s Dell laptop has been fine for this past year. </p>
<p>I purchased the 4 year warranty and accidental damage coverage for my younger D. It’s some additional money but it covers them for 4 years in the volatile environment of college even if they drop the laptop, spill a drink on it, etc.</p>
<p>I had to have the display hinge replaced in my laptop and had great service from Dell. I talked to an American help desk person who could speak English who asked if I wanted the part shipped to me overnight or for a technician to show up. I opted for the tech. While on the phone I said my keyboard sometimes had a non-responsive key so they said no problem and shipped one of those as well. The part was shipped to the tech who showed up the next day and did a good job replacing the parts. </p>
<p>Note - the tech didn’t actually work for Dell - he worked for Unisys whom Dell contracted the service with. The same person also worked on HP and other systems.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that Dell appears to have had different ‘tiers’ of service and support. They have one category offering “North American based Technical Support” (‘Gold Technical Support’) so different people may have different experinces depending on the type of support contract they have.</p>
<p>Since you just bought the laptop, I expect you could add the additional warranty/accidental damage coverage if you don’t already have it.</p>
<p>We have all Dell. Currently two Dell desktops and three Dell laptops. (Family of 4, hubby works at home and has a desktop and a laptop.) My current laptop replaced a prior Dell laptop that i used for years, then gave to D2 for her “first” computer and it lasted until it was just too out of date, and when the battery would no longer charge she got a new one for Xmas. All but one of our Dells were the “very inexpensive bottom of the line” units, with not so much bells and whistles. We have one $299 desktop that is a workhorse, and 2 of the $599 laptops (D1 and D2) that work just as hard. (I have learned how to work the website to find the best deals, and to not add any frills we don;t need) I splurged on my Inspiron 700m as I wanted to pay for the lightest one possible, and I love it. I think you can get more than your money’s worth with Dell. For a student laptop, the 2 or 3 year next day warranty will be worth it. And many LAC’s and U’s have student tech support that include hardware whether you bought your computer from/through them or not. Several LAC’s we visited (didn’t ask at the U’s we visited) have free loaner laptops available through the library/tech support if the laptop goes down. </p>
<p>We have had Dell exclusively for about 15 years. Service was good, then about 2 years ago it went down, and in the last 9 mos is way back up. When using warrenty service, we have never ever been disappointed.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice. I’ve been here at CC well over a year, and I never knew there was a separate forum for computers! Amazing!</p>
<p>I also opted for the Lojack service, which tracks the laptop if it is stolen. Has anyone used that? I think it’s fairly new for consumers. I think it’s a great idea, if a bit Big Brotherish.</p>
<p>We’ve had a Dell desktop for about 18 months now (bought it used) and have had no problems. We just bought DD the green Inspiron 1520 with the 4 year service plan, laptop Lojack and whole bunch of other stuff. We’ve heard nothing but good things about their service (although we’ve never needed it on our desktop). The fact that they’ll show up at her door to fix the problem sold us on the Dell, since DD is not technically inclined and accident prone.</p>