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<p>Dell could have claimed to be surprised that the students actually … used their computers. They probably underestimated the taxing use of Facebook and online games. :)</p>
<p>Dell is hardly the only company with problems. A great number of very popular HP notebooks (yes the glossy ones that were ubiquitous a few years back) suffered from problems (internet failures, video failures, and total motherboard meltdown) that were WELL KNOWN by HP. HP response was to delay the replacement or deny the problem even existed. When models reached the end of the warranty, the well-trained technicians in Bangalore or other similar locales simply switched the scripts to announce that there was a fix … give us 400 dollars and we fix the motherboard. Not only did those morons lie ad nauseam, but they insulted your intelligence with an annoying accent! </p>
<p>This is the definition of a global business: get the Chinese in Shangai to slap utter crap together, sell it to hordes of unsuspecting customers at the Best Buy and Walmart of the world, and then use thousands of Indians to pretend they work in 'customer service." The only solution is to consider the notebooks for what they are: cheap and shoddy pieces of equipment that WILL fail. If the darn thing lasts more than 24 months, consider yourself lucky. If not, just buy another one and unload your source of aggravation on Craig list. </p>
<p>As far as I am concerned, there are no differences between the companies. It is only a matter of luck to get a computer that won’t fail. Planned obsolescence has been elevated to a science by every one of the companies, be it Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, AND … Apple. The only difference is in the smugness and the hype. And yes that IPad and Iphone 4 are so cool! But Apple still does not think that you should be able to choose your carrier when traveling abroad. ;)</p>