Dell Lays Giant Goose Egg
Written: Jun 30 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Originally had great graphics, sound, picture, memory; lovely snap-on cover
Cons: Everything started breaking down within a few months; it's a Dell
The Bottom Line: Laptop has become a big, flat, doorstop. All peripherals have stopped working and my "laptop" is now put together with parts from my old desktop. Terrible customer service.
|
|
|
| aes_sedai's Full Review: Dell Inspiron™ E1505 (DNCWEA13) PC Notebook |
Two years ago, when I decided that I really needed a laptop to use during an extended hospital stay, it seemed a logical choice for me to select Dell. Granted, my husband and I had experienced problems with Dell in the past, mostly with customer service issues (on one occasion, a representative flat-out told my husband that I was ‘lying to him’ about a payment arrangement…but I digress), we overall had been pleased with the Dell line, each having purchased a desktop from them in the last two years. My previous employer equipped the entire Austin office with Dell desktops, and bought herself a Dell laptop. It seemed that everyone we talked to or knew had a Dell and raved about it. So, I perused the site over a period of several days, found a good sale, and we purchased an Inspiron E1505 laptop. We were really scraping to buy exactly what I wanted, and our previous experience dictated that we didn’t need (nor could we remotely afford) to buy a service contract, but we bought everything that I could possibly want or need for the next couple of years, because we aren’t people who can afford to drop around two grand on a new computer every year. We really have to use them until they are either hopelessly outdated and upgradeable, or until they completely fall apart.
I wanted a machine that would play games, so it needed a good processor, storage capacity, and good graphics capability. This certainly filled the bill with its 100 gig SATA HD and Core 2 Duo processor, 1.83Ghz, and 256MB, M54, I6400 graphics card. I also needed something that would allow use of spreadsheets, word processing programs, and the like – so it needed plenty of memory for multi-tasking without getting bogged down; the 512mb dual in-line memory module seemed perfect. I also wanted to upload pictures from my new Canon digital camera, as well as be able to manipulate them, improve images, etc. Once again, the E1505 seemed to be a perfect choice. I wanted a CD burner and DVD player, because I knew I’d be watching movies or old Dick Van Dyke episodes on it while being cooped up; I ordered a machine that integrated the two with its NEC 8x IDE DVD+/-RW drive. Finally, I wanted a good-sized screen with great sound to play my adventure games (like Command and Conquer: Generals, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), and view my movies without straining or losing picture integrity; I purchased the 15.4 WSXGA+ LCD anti-glare, wide-angle monitor. I loved the idea of a 15” monitor on a laptop!
I was in love the minute I opened the box. Everything was pre-installed; I pretty much just had to plug it in and run a few basic tasks to get things up and running. Once I plugged it in, I was in absolute Heaven. The graphics were stellar; playing Star Wars: Knights was just like being there. The sound was incredible; sitting in my little hospital room, I’d close the shades and turn out the lights, and I felt like I had Dolby Surround Sound. Game play on both of my games was smooth, easy, and never lagged or dragged down the speed of the computer, even when I had other things happening on my desktop. The keyboard seemed to be an excellent size, even for my clumsy fingers (I have several problems with my hands: Carpal Tunnel, diabetic neuropathy, arthritis, and fibromyalgia that affects them and makes them stiffen and swell sometimes), and though my typing has degenerated over the last few years, at least I had a nice keyboard that fit my fingers well and didn’t have to be pounded in order to work. I really felt that this was *my* machine, because it fit my character, my specifications, and more than met my needs. I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a computer person. I wanted a system that would be as free from issues as possible until I could find and afford someone to fix them – which would be a long time down the line, as it turned out.
When I received my laptop, I was in awe: I had never touched nor even seen such a beautiful, fast, powerful machine. The sound quality was amazing (I was able to watch movies and play some high-tech newer games that required a good amount of memory and a fast processor, and this machine handled all beautifully); the graphics were sharp and bright, and programs worked nearly flawlessly. My stay in the hospital zipped past, thanks to my trusty little laptop.
My first problem with Dell concerning this computer, however, actually began the day I received the unit. Dell had incorrectly sent me the wrong peripherals, and a snap-on decorative cover for the wrong machine. I won't bore you with specific details about the NUMEROUS telephone calls to representatives in India that I couldn't understand, or the hours I spent playing tag with ridiculous phone-trees, the several attempts by Dell to send me the correct items, or the frustration, awe, and anger at Dell representatives' ineptitude (one supervisor actually told me -- a week after a previous representative had told me to keep the first incorrect carrying case because it was too expensive to return -- that I was “required” to return the incorrect item, at my own expense!). It truly was an exercise in futility, or at the very least, a snippet from a Keystone Cops' routine. Eventually I received the correct snap-on decorative cover, the correct rechargeable wireless mouse, and the correct carrying case.
Then I had problems with the mouse itself, and yet another ridiculous contretemps ensued. Again, it took me several attempts to get that straightened out.
Barely three months after I received my Inspiron (and at that point, was still loving my machine, in spite of Dell's poor choice of call center employees), I went to use the thing on battery power, and found out that the battery was pretty much unusable. It would not hold a charge for more than a few minutes. I did some checking -- through various websites that report customers' ratings of companies and specific situations -- and, after two weeks, finally concluded that Dell doesn't care about its customers, their problems with Dell products, or resolving issues. After my initial fiasco(es) with them over a mere snap-on cover, carrying case, and wireless mouse, and seeing the *numerous* problems customers have had with the batteries for this unit, and the subsequent nightmares that they experienced in trying to get Dell to admit that the company produces poor quality batteries for this computer, and thereby actually replacing said batteries that are known to be defective, I decided that I would not put myself through the nightmare of outsourced call center employees from another country whom I never could understand -- instead, I simply used my laptop on outlet power all the time. It sort of defeats the purpose of having a "laptop" that is supposed to be portable -- but better that than to deal with incommunicable employees.
Since then, I have had a number of issues relating to incompatibility of programs, system instability, programs bogging down, and so forth. I have installed various spyware and antivirus programs that help -- but none resolves the issues satisfactorily. Then, my prized laptop -- not even two years old yet, mind you! – crapped out again. Now the monitor is deader than Michaelangelo. And now my so-called "portable" laptop (the same one that has an unusable battery and can only be used on AC/DC power), is now affixed to a large, heavy, FULL SIZED monitor. I no longer can even take my laptop from room to room, because, being disabled, I am not able to carry heavy items (even only relatively heavy ones) -- so I cannot lug my 17" Dell monitor that I purchased originally for my Dell desktop along with my laptop. My laptop has, in effect, become a ridiculously cumbersome desktop model that takes up more desk space than my original desktop. In short, it's become a big albatross around my neck. (And, by the way, since I have to use my Dell desktop monitor on my Inspiron laptop, I no longer can use my desktop computer, either.) Finally, about three months ago (right around its 2nd anniversary – Happy anniversary to me), the keyboard died. Again, I now have frankensteined onto it the keyboard from my desktop, which is now terribly outdated.
I'll be honest; I love this computer. It no longer is fast enough, now, for me to play a high-tech game my husband purchased me for Christmas (the thought never occurred to either of us that a computer that still is on the cutting edge of technology for all intensive purposes would possibly be outdated for playing a simple game) -- so my new game sits, open but unused, next to my desk. My "laptop" has become a huge paperweight on Medicare, and Dell won't do a darn thing because, naturally, my "warranty expired" (ah, two of the saddest words in the English language). There's no point in my even trying to contact my old buddies in India, because it would be a war of (unintelligible) words. More to the point, nothing would be accomplished. Expired warranty = no responsibility on the part of Dell to make things right. So my relatively-new Inspiron is a hunk of junk, and has been almost since it came out of the box. I still love the thing, even though it has turned my living room into a messy office, since I can no longer move it from room to room, and it is now permanently affixed to the monitor and keyboard from my original Dell desktop out of necessity. (What's next? Feeding it Geritol? A Depends pad under it?)
I have written, emailed, and called Dell repeatedly over the issues, and they really won't assist me except to direct me to the "Out of Warranty Department". We all know what that means: More money out of my pocket that I honestly cannot afford. For almost $2500, one would think that a computer company would stand behind its products and offer real customer service.
Bottom line: In spite of my deep-seated love for this computer, it is a piece of junk. It has never been dropped or abused in any way; I babied it, took care of it, cleaned the keyboard with compressed air, made certain to use only soft cloths for cleaning, etc. Yet only a few months after I received it, it became a sad, broken-down, emasculated has-been. It was outdated before its time. Thank you so much, Dell. I have two lessons learned from this tragedy: 1) I will never again recommend, nor buy, a Dell computer; and 2) No matter what, from now on I will buy the longest-term service contract available. Great news for whatever company gets my business next time.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium
Processor speed: Don''t Know
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
aes_sedai
|
|
Location: Texas, USA
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Fortysomething; love to cook, crochet, read, play video games; I adore kitties and ferrets! :)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.