Dell machines -- an opinion

Since everyone does it, I want to add an entry regarding Dell's machines. *feels cool now.*

Anyway, most people ask me, "Dont Dells suck?" And I tell them, "if you want them to." The problem is, not the machine, but the user a lot of the times. I say that because many of the times the user will go out a buy a machine and not know what it has or does and expect more out of it than it is capable of doing. I see it all the time. Or I get asked, "I want a new computer can you help me?" So I say, "well ok, what do you want to do with your new pc?" And they say: "I wanna listen to music, watch movies, play games, burn DVDs and CDs, download fast, draw, make this and that...blah blah blah..." I'm like "ok..." Then they say, "I only wanna spend about $300-$500 bucks though...not over that." And I'm like, "wtf?!" They want a Cadillac for the price of a GeoMetro. Sheesh! Doesn't everyone?

So when I actually bring them back to their senses and tell them, "well dude, for about that much you can probably get a pretty basic machine. You can do some office work, play some low-level intensive games, and maybe burn some CDs." They get all pissed. So then I usually point them to Dell since they have prices they are looking for, for some what decent machines.

Then when they get it, they proclaim after a month, "Dells suck!" That phrase gets tossed around too loosely in my opinion that I think there needs to be some clarification. To put it plainly, Dells suck as much as HPs suck as much as Compaqs suck. However, Compaq has some killer servers, yes their Proliant models are great. HPs make killer printers, and some very nice desktops too. Dells make some pretty good desktops also. They all have their good and bad. If you are only going to pay some chump change and expect a miracle, Miracle Max woulda told you, "I've never worked for so little." tsk tsk tsk.

Or I also hear techs say, "i'd rather build my machine thats the best way!" Yeah, no crap! Who doesn't know that? However, many of the times, it can come out much more expensive for the same configuration than going to a Brand company. Also, many dont consider is that, if you have a large network that needs PCs, what are you going to do? Build 500 machines? Yeah right--your boss will laugh at you. Shoot even building 30 machines is rather ridiculous--just do a proper pc rollout and get yourself a brand name PC.

I run a network full of Dells, and have 2 Dell servers and 1 "whitebox" server. For the most part my Dell machines run very well, and the built one runs ok only. Its not that it was built wrong, its just old.

Anyway, my only complaint with Dell machines are, usually the PSUs. They are usually not very powerful, cheap and if it is a Dimension, tend to go out eventually. I've replaced 2 so far. The RAM could also be of better quality but it ok if you payed a low price. The motherboards can at times seem pretty limited, unless they are servers or workstations, which usually allow more options.

However, as far as scalability and reliability goes, I think Dells do their job, provided you dont get a crappy machine to begin with. I have always admired the scalability though. Back when I was scouting for a NAS server, I checked out HP, SNAP, DELL and none of the other two came close to scalability as the Dell NAS did. Reliability, maybe, but not in terms whether it was scalable or not. Plus, the price was nice too. So I chose Dell.

However, for those that get a Dimension and plan to turn it into a gaming machine have another thing coming. Stay away from the dimensions--at least the entry-level ones ;-).

So I say here again, Dells are fine, they are good for business use and home use depending how you configure it. But in stark contrast, their service sucks. Dont expect them to rollout the red carpet when you arrive.

Outlook and Network keeps asking for Password

I've actually had this issue in my network for several years. Though it has appeared in various different forms and has reacted differently to different "solutions."

My first encounter after a user changed their password, they could no longer access the network, open outlook or get online (since we used a proxy.) So I clumsily did a quick fix, which I knew would work, I hit IE and it prompted me for credentials. Why did I use IE though and not just any other form like Outlook or UNC to access a share--since they would too ask me for credentials with a login prompt?

Well the difference in IE, it actually gives you an option that the other two prompts dont, which can be seen here. As you can see, it has a nice little check box that lets you tell it to SAVE the password so it will stop harrassing you. I discovered that since it was saved there with the login prompt IE gave, it also eliminated the rest of the prompts from appearing in Outlook and while accessing shares. So I said, w00t! I knew it was a dirty fix but it worked and didn't have time to mess with it.

The next time the same users changed their passwords, I had the same issue. Though it was no longer because of the previous issue (which I still didn't know why or what caused it) but now it was because even after changing the password, while they attempted to access any resource, the saved password from before would still be attempted as a login and of course it would fail.

So what I had to do was (from what I remember) is get into the control panel and in the users control panel go to advanced and delete the saved passwords in the "manage password" area. Mind you, sometimes I would see credentials stored on there and sometimes not--which made it much more frustrating.

Now another form of this problem came with only Outlook asking for credentials. The user could access shares and stuff just fine, but Outlook would ask them for a password every time they opened it.

Since the other prompts (IE and shares) did not come up, I could no longer do my dirty work around of telling IE to save the password, so I had to find another way. The way I found was to give the user a new Outlook profile by using the Mail applet in the control panel. You know how to do that so I wont go into it. And just making it default into the new one (or completely delete the older one and re-create their outlook profile). That seemed to work so I kept doing it.

Now recently I've been getting another variation of this same credential issue. Right after the user had changed their password, upon reboot, their mapped drives could no longer connect (because of an authentication problem) and Outlook continued to ask them for credentials. Strangely though, IE would work fine for them (maybe because I removed authentication from the proxy server.)

Anyway, before the new fix I figured out, if they wanted to access their shares or mapped drives, they had to double click on one of the mapped drives that had a X on it and it would prompt them for password and user name. They would enter it and it would let them pass, until the machine was rebooted, same process.

So I finally took the time today to narrow this issue down further since it was springing up like daisies! After several tries at deleted temp files, and weird folders from the users profile, I finally slimmed it down to two folders named, "Credentials."

One is located here:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Microsoft\Credentials<---

And the other here:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Credentials

I did not have a chance to slim the issue down to just one of the folders though. I was not aware after renaming those folders it needed a reboot so I was merely testing the fix with logoffs. But it is now certain that the problem lies in either of these folders if not both. They contain empty folders that are named after SIDs of specific users. Once I deleted them (or you can rename them to .OLD or whatever) and rebooted, I had the user login, the process re-created these two folders, but with only one folder which I assume is specific to that user. Their mapped drives automatically connected and Outlook opened up smoothly. No more credential prompts.

I am still not sure what is causing this, but at least now I have a simple fix, a much cleaner one than recreating profiles, or saving passwords.

Also, the cause of this very well may still be repercussions of my first dirty fix...I am not sure, but I will keep my eyes peeled for this one. I really couldn't find a solution for this problem of mine. I found many solutions but none of them worked for my situation. So hopefully you will find this documented issue useful.

Dell really DOES suck! (well their service)

I've been doing business with Dell for over 4 years, ever since I made the choice to do my PC rollout with them I've been ordering from them. The only things I've really ordered from them have been PCs, Laptops, Monitors and a NAS. Though I remember, when I first ordered my PCs, which was a nice sum of money for them, I had a pretty cool Rep. She was always quick about ordering things I asked and she had some brains.

Now, I started noticing over the years (and at first it was just theory) but now I feel it is confirmed, the less you buy, the crappier service you get. Not to mention, the stupider Sales Reps you get that usually don't give a flying rats arse if you buy from them or not.

I am serious, ever since I've purchased less, I've had the most moronic service reps I've dealt with. Here, lets start calling out names, my rep, "Fred", sucks monkey arse. Get this, he would email me replies to another email address that I no longer checked at all...though I kindly reminded him about 5 times that I had changed my email and to update his contact list, I would still get emails to that old email address that I no longer checked. You can imagine the confusion it caused on several of our orders. Finally it appeared he got that small task correct, because I actually started getting replies to the correct email address.

But now, its hard for me to even get a response from the Dell reps LOL. I emailed "Fred", (this has happened several times mind you), to get a quote for a couple of laptops (looking to spend about 3-4 K. So I email him on Monday:

I need a quote for two notebooks, for home users.

They need the following:

Windows XP
Internal Wireless
40G HDD
512 MB RAM
Celeron (just for basic usage, not heavy media)
2 Batteries, must last at least 2-3 hrs if not more
All standard ports (usb, pcmcia, ethernet, modem etc)
Flash drive (thumb drive 128mb)
Office 2003 (Excel, Power Point, Word) Student Edition if possible since it is for students
CDRW

And they need a carrying case, one for each.

Thanks.

Ya know, a simple to the point email, the type that says, "I want to order something, I kn0w what I want, send me a quote so I can buy." Well....3 days pass, no reply. I even checked my Exchange Server to make sure the emails were not stuck in queue (I am such a considerate guy!)

So I send another email, to "Fred" just in case--but with a firm tone:

I asked for a quote a couple of days ago. I expected a response from you that same day, is there any reasonable excuse for such a long delay? Also remember, I receive email on this address.

And guess what, no reply. WTF? Is he dead or something?! I highly doubt it--if he were alive anyway he would still neglect his customers--thats whats crazy!

So no reponse, so I send another email. Keep in mind, my boss wanted this quote a few days ago, so I am also working under the gun--but I cant get a freakin quote! I email another sales rep (storage I believe):

Who can I speak with on customer service? I’ve been trying to get a quote for the past 2 days and I can not get my Sales Rep to respond.

Thanks

And guess what....no reponse! Wow, who woulda thunk? So I get pissed off finally and Go to my guy over at PC Connections. Always been there and has always wanted me to buy outside of Dell.

I finally get 3 quotes from him, all on the same day (nice) and I can be an anal mofo--so I'm told, so thats pretty impressive in my opinion.

I finally choose what I want, get them ordered, and I just got all my hardware I asked for, its actually sitting next to me right here. Let me take a picture (pauses):


w00t, take a look Dell, I bought from HP--which was my sworn enemy for merging with Compaq resulting in my layoff! :-O However it was a pretty kick arse laptop(s)....

Anyway, stay away from Dell if you can. They have killer prices, but now you know why, they sacrifice customer service it seems (ugh!). I can't say too many bad things about their machines, I've used Dells for a while now and I've never had a problem with them, they have always been scalable and reliable for me. Its just their service sucks. Their Power Supplies could be better, and also the type of ram, but whatever, I am not here to complain about their machines, I respect their machines (generally) however I have no respect for their crappy service, HP bought my service with a smile and I am good with that. This doesnt mean I am going Pro HP, I've had my share of HP stories, but until then, GO GET MY PC WITH A SMILE LIKE THEY DO IT ON THE COMMERCIALS!!!:@