Dude you're getting a Dell...


his is the true story about my experience with a Dell computer and Dell as a vendor.

March 13, 2003
I decided to order a Dell Inspiron 8200, after all this.

I placed the order through dell.ca's web site. I give their Ecommerce site two thumbs up...

March 14, 2003
I hadn't received a confirmation email from Dell, as promissed after my online order, which alerts me that my order was processed correctly and my system is getting built. I decided to call Dell's 800 number.

This may not have been such a good idea, since their ordering system is automated and by me calling and speaking to a corteous tech support (which confused my order right off the bat) and after processing my call, I ended up with 2 identical systems being built. Of course double the price without me knowing.

I only found this small detail about 5 days later.

March 17, 2003
I received a confirmation email from Dell stating that my order had been processed and that I could track my order in their traking system.

The tracking system is really eye candy for the buyer which gives them the illusion that something is happening. It is brilliant. I checked it 4 times a day, even though nothing changed for about a week.

After this email, nothing tipped me that I had 2 computers being built under my name.

March 21, 2003
I called Dell customer care to find out why my machine's state didn't change on their building system. A nice lady told me that my 2 systems were been built. I said "thank you" and was ready to hang up when my brain caught on and said "two systems, but...but...I only ordered one."

Well, not quite. According to their system, I had two identical orders and they were both being built. They hadn't move from the building state to the shipping state because they had ran out of keyboards.

I said that I had only ordered one system and she said "no, you have two being built." So I said, I only wanted one and she put in a request to cancel one order. At this point, I'm thinking my machine will be built faster because there is only one keyboard to be used. Not a chance. I had to wait 5 more business days she said, because of the keyboard shortage.

The deal with the 2 systems
This is what I think happened. Dell's ordering systems makes use of the same back-end system that the customer uses when ordering online. Ordering online, only means: "Your order is in our system, but, we still need a human being to process this order."

If your order online (from Dell), your order sits in a Queue for about a day, until some good soul goes through the queue and finds your order and places the "real" order. By me calling before the 24 hr incuvation of my order, and speaking with a "Customer Care Representative," I pushed my order out of the queue (So it would follow logically) and go into another queue of real orders.

What really happened is that the order never got removed from the incuvation queue. Someone went thrugh their daily shore and processed my order again. Hence, two systems were being built.

Eiter Dell's backend system doesn't account for this to make sure that orders are flagged accordingly, OR, by human error this flag wasn't noticed. Either way, I blame the computer system. The engineer who design and built this system should have made sure that this flag can not be missed.

But, then I started thinking: perhaps is just an added bonus for Dell. I mean, they had two systems sold for about 5 days. This of course, is what I've deducted and may not be accurate, but to me, is quite logical.

March 24, 2003
So I decided to call my Dell friends again and double check that I had only one computer comming.

Nope, the order wasn't canceled. So this time is was a gentleman and said that he had put a rush on my cancel, but, there "was a slight chance" that I may be getting two computers delivered to my house and that 2 computers were going to be charged.

I said, "wait a minute. I only want one computer" and he said again there could be a "slight chance that I can get two computers." The odds weren't good, since the order was not cancelled the first time, but, I decided to trust customer rep #XXXXXXXX (We are numbers after all - Easier to index) that my order was canceled.

Later on that day, after giving up on the idea of checking the status of my order, I checked again and it said that is was shipped. "Shipped?!" I asked. How can that be? They got keyboards again? Great!!! I can't wait for my new computer. Hm? Hopefuly I will get only one.

March 27, 2003
My computer arrived at my place around 10:30 AM. I was out during the morning, so my girlfriend called and said that the Purolator guy was around our building. I said, "Cool."

Two minutes later she called again saying that she had signed for the package. I couldn't wait to get home and check it out.

Later on that day, I got home and opened the package. The box was so small. Well, not what I was specting. Finally after all the little boxes and plastic covering I get to the meat of the matter.

The notebook looked great. I plugged it in and turn it on. I went through all that you have to go through making sure Bill (of the Microsoft clan) gets his share of my money from the Windows XP Home OS. I finally got into the OS shell and I started playing around with the settings and its power. What a great machine, fast, quite, and the screen. The screen in this machine is gorgeouos. Ah, wait a minute...NO!!! A dead pixel...OH, NO!!! Another one.

How can this be? This is a brand new machine. I've heard of these issues, but, this only happened to a friend of friend of mine. Not me...But, the dreaded pixel problem had arrived in my home. There was a little cluster of dead pixels (3 together) and 1 around the other side of the screen (Going from left to right).

I tried the home remedy: rubbing the area to bring it back to life. It didn't work for me, but, it has worked for a friend of friend of a friend...Ok, this may be a myth, for all I know, no one has been able to revive a dead pixel in an LCD screen.

"What do I do now?" I asked myself.
And I said "Call Dell support, you paid for the guarantee."
And then I said "Great idea."

I have to point out here, that I don't actually talk to myself. I've used this style to make a point :) - Not that there is anything wrong with it...

Anyway, back to my dead pixel issue. I played around with the computer some more, and stared at those pixels for hours and decided to call Dell support the next day.

BTW, I only received one computer. Bravo for tech support representative #XXXXXXX.

March 28, 2003
A bit later than noon (Canada/US EST time), I decided to call Dell support to get my LCD screen fixed. After some minutes on hold (Are more people having dead pixel issues? I asked) some hurried lady answer the phone.

After all the cortious scripted parlance (My name is 'blah', my batch number is 'blah'), she asked for all my information to make sure I am me, and finally she said "How can I help you?". I said, "I just received my Inspiron 8200 and the LCD screen has dead pixels." She said, "What is that?." Oh, oh that's not a good sign. I explained to her that my screen had "black dots" where there should have been none (Why me?). She said: "I'll arrange a replacement for you. A technician will be calling to set a time and place to fix your screen." That was fast and easy. She scared me at first, but, all and all a very efficient handling of the issue.

I went on with my day, doing my thang and for some reason, I couldn't stop looking at those "black dots" in my screen. I felft like Austin Powers when he met the mole in the classic film "Austin Powers - Gold Member," who conincidently, had a huge mole in his face (Man, that is good comedy).

March 31, 2003
Someone called regarding a Dell part and asking to set up a time to replace my LCD screen.

I was impressed. I don't really believe on extended warraties, but, if you ever get a computer you must have 'Next business' day service - Don't do the 'Mail in' thingie.

I called back and a time for Tuesday April 1, 2003 was arranged. I was finally going to enjoy my computer with no dead pixels.

"Is there a pixel heaven," I asked myself.
"Good question, Jose" I answered (Without really talking to myself).

April 1, 2003
The meeting was arranged for 9:30 AM sharp. At 9:30 AM, a technician arrived. A very pleasant middle age man holding a little red tool box and my brand new perfect screen showed up in my door.

We get to business and he starts poping things off my computer. The Inspiron 8200 is made of plastic and the LCD screen holder is put together just a holder to the actual LCD screen. He unscrewed everything holding the delicate, yet rogued part, while dimistifying the whole business of laptop making. I had not open a laptop myself. Desktop, yes, laptops, no.

I started asking question about the LCD, and how it became that he gets contracted out by Dell to do their "dirty" work. Once again, Michael (Dell that is, we're tight that guy and I. After all I did buy a computer from him) gave me another insight into his mind. He outsources everything: computer building, repairments, call centres, etc..

But, I digress...

He puts the LCD in and he makes me sign a paper stating that he did the job and that the LCD is perfect. Of course, he has to turn the computer on to make sure all is well.

But, all is not well. I started changing the settings on the screen (changing colors) to see if there were more dead pixels. The luck of this little 3 way circuits has it, there are 2 dead pixels and this time a white smudged developed on the right hand corner of the screen.

Unnacpetable, I said. "What do you think?" I asked the technician and he called their direct line to tech support at Dell, and the person on the other end of the line agreed to send another LCD panel. Wow! That's service.

After an hour of friendly chat and my disapointment with the dead pixels, the technician parted ways and I promised to him that if came over the next time with the new LCD panel, I would make him a cup of cofee.

April 2, 2003
By curiosity, I check the online Dell store once in while. This day I started pricing the new models: Inspiron 8500, Latitude D800. This is the new line of computers Dell unleashed into the market.

I'm thinking to myself, "great, I just bought a computer and they have new ones out." I paid no attention to new systems, since they were a bit overpriced. The specs were great, but, I had a really good machine (an almost perfect machine).

But, what if I price a similar machine to the one I had?

I did, and for some reason it came to $50.00 cheaper than the one I had just bought. Wait a minute. This new machines have newer technology and they are cheaper? Maybe I should return my brand new Inspiron 8200. I decided to wait an see if my ordered LCD was any better than the last two, but, I did call Dell's support and inquire about the "send back" option (You get 30 days of money back guarantee. No questions asked - "Man, this Dell guys is a genious", I said to myself once again. "Put the customer first", unheard of).

I should said something about Dell's policy here (One I don't like). When they replace a part on your computer, they don't actually send you a brand new part. It is called a "refurbished" part. Here comes a bit of word playing: the part you get as the replacement maybe new, but, it may not be. It could have come out of a brand new system, but, it is not guaranteed. Maybe a system had a bad hard drive and the owner never touched the screen or other component. Dell's policy is that these refurbished parts are good enough for you. And they may as well be, but, I had paid $3500.00 CDN for a brand new machine and I wanted it to be to my liking.

April 3, 2003
I got a call from the same company that replaced my screen the first time, trying to arrange for a convinient time to try on the new arrived screen. I'm giving a lot of work to this people. "Good," I say to myself.

I was out of town on business (it sounds important, ah?), so my screen had to wait. I should say that next business day doesn't include Saturday and Sunday. Fair enough, not their business day, but, I still work sometimes. Note to self: "Read the fine print next time."

A time was arranged and next week Monday, I would have a new LCD. I still had in my mind on actually returning my machine and get a new model.

"Should I go through the hassle", I asked?

April 7, 2003
The earliest the technician could come to my place was 9:00 AM.

It was the same technician and I offered a cup of coffee. He politly declined saying that he was trying to cut down (I think everyone I know is trying to cut down on something). I didn't get offended. It's not like I make a mean cup of coffee, anyway.

We get to business once again, and this time I did notice that he wasn't a gentle as he was the first time. I noted that he wanted to be in and out of there.

He changed the screen, I turn it on and do my quick Quality Assurance. Voila! A perfect 15" UltraSharp LCD display. With these babies, you know where the UltraSharpness is comming from and well worth the extra $100.00.

We parted ways, I went out of town again (on business) and he went to save another Dell customer, perhaps.

I actually found out that the company he works for, used to build computer systems and provided support for their systems, but, eventually they phased themselves out of that type of business and now they are exclusively providing services. Maintanance, replacing faulty equipment, etc, etc. Imagine, an economy of services. My mind drifted to endless posibilities on the way to the destination of the day.

I opened my workhorse and started enjoying a clear screen and no 'pixelicide' on site, I coded like there was no tomorrow.

My thoughts of returning the machine were discipating, but, I still went again to Dell's site and priced a new D800.

April 8, 2003
A friend of mine came over my place, as he needed to back up some data from his laptop. I offered, since I hadn't tried the CD-RW drive yet.

The day had gone by with no insident, aside from the daily rigours of modern life: what time should I lunch? Is my code compiling fast enough? Why is that exception throwing? I'm talking heavy, stuff here. My ansestor would be proud. Their daily worry was probably on the lines of not been eaten by temperamental Mr. T-Rex around the big bush over there, and I'm wondering "is my CPU is really ticking 2 billion times a second." (The CPU is a 2GHz Pentium 4 M). Truly, we stand on the shoulder of giants.

I started setting a little network on my kitchen, since I was showing off my wireless network at home and I didn't want to run cables all over the place, except for the hub and the two laptops. I burned the data he wanted backed up. "Good" I said. The CD-RW works. And I made my descition right there and then to keep the laptop.

There is a saying that "there are no happy endings in an irish story." Note, that I'm not actually Irish, but my girlfriend is, so I kind of qualify as Irish by some sort of weird association/descention.

Back to the Irish tragedy. I started surfing while my friend stared packing up his laptop and I noticed a spec of dust.

When I say that the LCD in this computer is sharp, I kid you not. Any sharper and it would have better resolution than real life. The resolution is 1600x1200.

Anyway, I cleaned the spec of dust, as I have in the last 5 days or so of owning the machine. This time there was something peculiar about this 'dust spec.' It didn't move.

I looked closer, and my jaw droped. A dead pixel. I couldn't believe it. I was dead pixel free for about 2 days.

This time the transistor that burnt was a different type. It wasn't actually burnt and I don't believe it qualified as a dead pixel since it's read all the time. It doesn't know how to change to the correct RGB value the computer is telling it to.

I was so disapointed.

Since the nano-second I saw the red pixel, I decided to return the Inspiron 8200 to it's creator (Well, the shippers of the thing, they make them in Malasya, I think).

Later on that night, I showed my girlfriend the red pixel and out of the blue, she found a new one. A blue pixel (Pun intended).

At that point I said to myself "They are ghosts. My computer is hunted by the other dead pixels."

April 9, 2003
This date, I had to interact with the Dell company more than usual. I had to arrange for a return and I had to order a new computer. I coudn't be without a laptop for too long. Half a day is too long.

How do I do this, who should I call?

I decided to price a new D800 first and worry about the return after. I'm thinking the sales person on the line should be able to guide me through the process. Of course, his guidance may be a bit biast, since, he (In my case it was a he), is paid to sell Dell computers. I risk it anyway and explain the situation: "I have had my LCD replaced twice and there are dead pixels on three screens. I want to return the I8200 and order a new D800."

He explained to me that "the Latitude D800 is a much better choice, since it's build for business usage and it goes through a rigorous testing process." Wow. I didn't buy all the sales pitch, since I was already sold on the machine. But, I did wonder if it was true.

It's a better build machine and it was 1 pound lighther than the I8200 (8 lbs - BTW, does anyone know why the "pound" abrebiation is 'lb.' I'm guessing it's because of the latin root - I speak spanish and pound is actually written 'libra.' So I never secnod guessed it's abreviation - But, now I'm multilingual and it makes no sense to me anymore).

I digress again.

He priced a Latitude D800. Almost $1000.00 more than the I8200. I hadn't plan on that much. I said, wait for me, I have to arrange for a return on the computer I had.

The return situation
I called Dell customer service and said: "I've had my Inspiron 8200 for about a week. I've had the LCD screen replaced twice already. I want to return it and order a new one."

At this point, something weird happened. I was treated nicely and something I don't want to put in public happened. I chose not to tell what happened, since I have never, ever heard of a similar story comming from any company. It was extremely good, but, if you want to know, you have to email me. I really don't know if Dell wants me to say what transcribe in the period of 30 minutes I was on the phone.

At the end of my "mystical" phone conversation, I had changed my mind and the Inspiron 8200 was going to stay with me.

Ok, so you're thinking what's wrong with me? Do you want the computer or not. Well, it's complicated. Me changing my mind at the last minute is related to the 30 minutes on the phone with customer rep #XXXXXX.

April 11, 2003
So, I had the Inspiron 8200 for another 2 days and I coudn't stop staring at the dead pixels. I called the same person I had talk a couple of days earlier regarding the D800. I had changed my mind again. I want a newer computer with no dead pixels.

I was on the phone with "Rachel." (I put his name here, because, that wasn't his real name). I priced a D800 with the medium configuration: 1.4 GHz (Pentium M) CPU, 40 GB hard drive, 128 MB RAM (I still had 2 512 MB, from crucial.com), CD-RW/DVD combo and the 15.4" wide aspect screen. Woah! I don't know if I want to pay that much.

I stayed on the phone and finally decided to order the Latitude D600. With the same configuration as above, minus the 15.4" wide aspect screen. The D600 comes with a 14.1" screen and 1400x1050 resolution. I measured the width of the D800. It's a big machine and I din't want to carry it around. Too heavy, I thought.

The D600 looked nice and the weight was very manageable (around 5 lbs.). So I placed my order and the waiting game started all over again.

At this point I was thinking about the return. I had to return the other machine, but, I had to wait for the credit to take place. At this stage, I had 2 $3500.00 computers bought under my name, and I only needed one.

I had to trust Dell to refund my return.

April 16, 2003
I decided not to check my order status too often this time. I checked on April 15, 2003 and my machine was already delivered. It was to arrive on April 16, 2003.

Bravo, once again to Dell. Quick build of the new machine and quick delivery.

I arrived home (from my business trip) at night, and this time I wasn't as enthusiastic as I was the first time around. I had dinner, relaxed for a bit and finally I went to open the new package.

What a nice computer the D600 is. It is small, stylish, light and the built is feels steardy.

I turned it on and the screen had no dead pixels, but, it is not as nice as the 15" UltraSharp machine. The keyboard ratled a bit, but, I liked the machine right away.

"What about the return?" I asked. I hadn't received the Purolator papers I was promissed by rep #XXXXXX, when I arranged for the return. "What if they forgot? I will have two computers?" I could have actually kept both computers, but, I only need one. And I liked the D600 better. So it was just a matter of time.

In truth, it was actually good that these papers hadn't arrived. It gave me a chance to compare both computers side by side.

The new Pentium M chip are supposed to be much faster than the P4 Mobile. Better architecture Intel argues, and it uses less energy, hence, the battery lasts a bit longer.

I did a couple of benchmarks with some tool I downloaded from the Internet, and found that the P4 M 2GHz is faster at some things than the PM 1.4 GHz. For what I do, they are almost the same (Code, compile code, run a couple of servers, etc). I'm thinking the 1.6 GHz chip would be faster, but, they price is a bit marked up. $450.00 more for the chip.

I said, what a great machine and I hope this return papers come on the mail soon.

April 17, 2003
Great! The return papers arrived on the mail. I'll return it next week. I want to keep making comparison, plus, I was already used to having 2 powerful laptops on the house.

April 18, 2003
I've used the computer during the day now, but, I started to noticed that my D600 gets really hot on the left side. The palm rest to be exact.

I immediately went to the support.dell.com site and started to check out the forums.

Yeap. Everyone had the same complain. The hard drive of this computer is right underneath the left palm rest and there is no ventilation getting to it. We (the people at the forum) think this was a design mistake, since, some of us, who bought the computer use it to type pretty much the whole day and it can be kind of uncorfotable.

No word from Dell, thogh.

I really like the machine, but, what if I can't put up with the heat? I'll keep reading the forums. Maybe there is a solution.

April 21, 2003
I decided to call Dell tech support and check this heat thing. Maybe there is a fix for it. Also, I noticed that my A/C charger makes high pitch noises.

3 things I don't like about my new computer now:
1. The warm (hot really) palm rest
2. The noisy keyboard
3. The noisy A/C brick

I guess, that happens with new technology. Early adopters get the kinks out of the product and consequent batches are almost perfect.

So, I called Dell and started with my noisy "A/C brick." The gentleman on the other end doesn't seem too please anwering the phone, for some reason.

I said: "My A/C brick is making high pitch noises." And he said: "I've never heard that one before." At which point I aluded to the fact that I had called to get a replacement, not to be mocked at, to which he said: "We'll send you a new one. It will be at your home tomorrow." I said "Wow!" This is good service.

Now, to my heating problem. I'm thinking, this guy can fix anything, even if he's not too please to be doing it, but he's good. I mentioned my problem with the "hot palm rest," to which he says: "that's normal, the computer gets hot. In fact, if you put in your lap, it can actually burn you."

I was disapointed. I want Dell to acknowledge that the D600 has a heating problem, but, my tech support guy didn't really understand what the issue was. I gave up and said thank you for the brick and decided to wait a bit longer and keep reading Dell's forum regarding this heating issue.

April 22, 2003
The new A/C brick arrived, just like the Dell's tech support #XXXXXX said it would.

"What great service," I said.

I open the box, I plug the unit into the wall and...It was worst. The high pitch noises were actually louder on the new brick.

I had read that the some bricks were actually defective and made the noise. I had also read that there was a new revision on the brick (Part #: 5U092 REV L02).

I decided to wait until the next day to call Tech support to get order the new brick. That day I had my Distributed Computer Systems exam and I wanted to be fresh of mind and temperatment.

I also waited till the night to call Purolator and arrange for the pick up of the Inspiron 8200. I called Purolator, and it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. The pleasant woman on the other end of the line arranged for everything and I was one step closer to getting my money back.

As for the Inspiron 8200, the ghost pixels will hunt another soul, since I'm sure they will re-sell the computer in a refurbished offer. I just hope no more pixels die. One is already too many.

"Jose, there's got be a pixel heaven," I said to myself.
"Good," I replied back...Without actually talking to myself...


April 23, 2003
The Purolator guy came over to pick the Inspiron 8200 machine. I was away on business again, so my girlfriend had to say goodbye to the computer. It was a great machine, but, the dead pixels issue really bothered me and also, after carrying the 5 lb. Latitude D600 I decided it was for the best. Even if the palm rest gets too hot.

I'm sure Dell will have to do something about it. I mean, everyone is complaining about the same thing.

April 24, 2003
Ok, today is a transition day. What I mean, is that we have arrived to the present. All the previous entries were typed in the last couple of days. This one and subsuquent, I will try to do write as it happens.

I called tech support again and tried to get them to specifically send me "part #5U092 REv L02." The issue with the A/C brick is not as anoying as the warm palm rest, but, at night when all is quite I hear the chirping on the brick and it drives me nuts.

I hope tomorrow's delivery is what I asked for.

As for the warm palm rest, there have been a few comments on Dell's forums and perhaps there will be a solution from Dell sometime soon.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I emailed tech support regarding the heat of the hard drive and someone emailed me saying that there is a solution, but, she couldn't arranged for fix since the email tech support is only for the states and that I should call the Canadian # and they should have everything logged already and a solution to my problem would be there.

While requesting the brick this morning, I mentioned the heating issue to the tech support guy and mentioned that email support said that they would have the whole story. He was dismissive about and just said "there is nothing here."

I don't think they like doing tech support too much, or perhaps they are bored from answering phone calls all day. I can't put my finger on it.

Anyway, I said that I was going to call back regarding the heat issue and thank him for the A/C brick.

I have to say, that even though the tech support guys are not hte most curteous ones, I get some of my issues fixed. So far so good...

April 25, 2003
Yesterday, before packing everything up to go home, I tried to save a file and my D600 blue screneed on me. I check the temperature of the HD and it was up to 57 C.

I'm starting to get anoyed with the heat and the crashes (3 so far).

I will call Dell support a bit later (11:17 AM)

I called Dell support and no help was given this time. All the person on the phone said: "Run the Dell diagnostic tool." Funny thing is that a floppy is required to run this utility and I have no floppy drive. This is the new millenium, I thought. Laptops don't need floppies.

My D600 crashed again. 2 times in one day.

I will call Dell and return this particular computer. The heat on the left palm is getting to hot too handle and the crashes are happening too often. Very unproductive.

This is really too bad. I really like this computer.

April 28, 2003
Another blue screen.

Finally, I was able to read the message the machine complains about: "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL."

Very cryptic, but, it probably means something to some one. I did a search on google and the results informed that it could be anything related to hardware.

Ok, the computer has n parts, so I'm looking at n! possible problems. I don't have time to debug it, nor, I want to spend time trying to figure it out what the problem is.

I will call Dell tomorrow to get an exchange.

April 29, 2003
I just finished talking to a Dell customer representative. I explained my situation and he asked: "What do you want to do Mr. Sandoval." To this question I answered "I want a new computer that doesn't crash and doesn't heat so much, since I believe it is a HD issue." He said "I can arrange for that, let me put you on hold to order your new system."

Great service. Bravo for Dell once again. The down side, I have to start checking the order status site 5 times/day.

I'm no hardware expert, but, I do think it is a hard drive issue. The hard drive keeps making clicking noises (Some say it's normal) and the temperature is up to 61C right now and I'm only typing this entry. Way too hot, I think.

Hopefully the new computer will not heat so much and will not crash. I guess, the new system will have 3 weeks to prove itself.

BTW, the A/C brick has not arrived yet. I wonder why?

BTW2, I've been reading good things about the ThinkPad T40. It's not that much thinner than the D600, and it is a bit more expensive than the D600. I bet it doesn't heat as much, though :)

I'll wait and see what happens with the new system, which is being built as I write this.

May 5, 2003
As a force of habit now, I checked the dell.ca site and price a new machine again.

This time I priced the D600 with the 1.6 GHz CPU. I think the 1.4GHz, is pretty fast already, but, what if I had the 1.6. "Could I code faster?" I asked, "Could, I, hah?"

My hypotalamus started to have some activity again, and it was regarding this new computer I had priced. It had a 10% discount and the price ended being the same as the 1.4GHz machine.

Since I was still in 30 day money back guarantee, I said to myself "Cancel the exchange, and return the computer you have." I said "Genious, simple genious, Jose!"

So, I did. I called Dell tech support once more (I think I got a repeat tech support, for I recognized the voice). I explained that I had an exchange being built, but, I wanted to cacel it and return the computer I currently had. The lady on the other end of the line said "No problem, I will arrange for that. Give me a couple of minutes and I will be back." Great service, once again. This would be the second computer I would be returning and they asked no questions. I guess, "money back guaranteed - no questions asked" actually means what it says.

So, now I had to get a new computer. I ordered the top of the line 1.6GHz, 60 GB hard drive (20GB more that the one I currently have) and the rest of the machine is the same.

The only problem now, is that I have to check the ordering system 5/days again. Oh, well. Small price to pay.

May 5, 2003
I called today to check why my order hadn't move on their system. I don't think the system is updated to minute, but, I checked anyways.

The Dell representative said that all was in order and that I should be getting my new machine in "2-3 business days." Apparetnly, they all say this phrase. I chose to believe, nontheless.

A bit later during the day
I arrived home late in the afternoon and a Dell package was waiting for me.

It wasn't the brick I had ordered long time ago (Remember, to fix the noisy brick). It has never arrived and I doubt it will. One thumb down for Dell and rep # XXXXX. He indulged in believing I had a brick comming but, it never arrived. I wonder why?

Back to the package.

I opened it and it was a brand new D600. I love oppening this packages. Everytime is a brand new computer. It's like X-mas every month in my house :)

So, I oppened and start setting it up. I was curious, though, as to why the Dell rep said early in the morning that my system was being built. I pay no attention to my logical query and continue setting up the machine.

I started playing with the settings and decided to check the CPU. I wanted to see the 1.6GHz number somewhere.

Well, that didn't happen. The machine that had actually arrived was the exchange for the 1.4GHz machine. I asked myself, "Wasn't this machine canceled?" What's going at that Dell office/department/warehouse/shack? I'm guessing the cancel didn't happen fast enough, so I receive the new machine. Since I didn't check the arriving papers, I opened the package thinking it was the 1.6GHz computer. So far I had 3 brand new Dell computers in my house. It is getting ridiculous, if you ask me.

I called my friends at Dell again and explain the situation. They were a bit confused also, but, we sorted it out after some talking to managers in their end and me waiting on the phone listening to awful "on-hold music."

At this point I had to ask: "What about my new system? Is it comming or not?" To which query, Dell customer rep # XXXXX reply, yes it is comming your way.

"Great!" I said. "I get to open another box with a new computer."

May 16, 2003
I checked the status of my order and it said that it was in transit. It should arrive next Tuesday, as Monday is a long weekend. I don't really know why it is a long weekend. It's called the "May 24 weekend." Funny thing is that, this year is on May 19, yet, the name still stands. As for the cause, it's someone's birthday. Who? I'm not sure. It's not mine, that's for sure. I think I would know that.

May 20, 2003
My computer arrived today.

This is the fourth computer I've had in the last couple of months, the novelty of oppening the boxes was wearing out.

Nah. Who am I kidding. It was great!

I start setting it up and checking that this time I had the right computer. It was. It's the 1.6GHz model.

The machine looks identical. The only difference is the CPU and the hard drive's size. Since, I still have the 1.4GHz model, I will do some benchmarking later on.

A bit later during the day
I've been doing some benchmarking using some tool I donwloaded from the Web. The 16GHz, is much more faster of course. And the 60GB hard driver is actually quiter than the 40GB drive. Perhaps it has to do with the RPMs. The 40GB is high performance 5400 rpms. The 60BG drive is only 4200 rpms. I don't notice the difference on the heat on the left palm rest. It's pretty much the same. And the speed is negligable. I don't notice the change in rpms. But, the CPU is defenetely worth the money. "Wait," I said. "I didn't pay extra. It's the same price, because of the 10% discount." I smiled into the sunset, and perhaps my girlfriend wondered why and she asked why. "It's complicated," I responded. And then I said to myself, without actually talking to myself "Act natural. And stop smilling."

May 23, 2003
My new D600 (The 3rd D600 and my fourth Dell computer) blue screened again.

I can't stand it.

I updated the drivers to see if the crashes would stop. It's a waiting game, I guess.

June 3, 2003
I've been pretty happy with the performance of the D600 (1.6GHz) computer, but, it has crashed 4 times since I got it, and I can't figure out why.

I guess I can just keep updating drivers until it doesn't crash any more.

BTW, yesterday I noticed that the top cover is all scratched. I put the laptop inside a bag I use together with some books and the AC brick and due to the movement, while walking, the cover got all scratched. I was disapointed, but, I should have used a laptop bag and not just a regular messenger denim bag. The price of being cool, dogh!

I showed the scratched cover to my girlfriend and she asked "So, are you returning the computer now?" I thought it was funny and so did she, but I said "No, I will not return it."

June 4, 2003
A coleague of mine inquired today how my new computer is doing. I said it is great, but, I had scratched the back of the LCD cover. To which statement, he replied "So, are you returning the computer now?" I laughed and got a sense of deja-vu.

Ok, I won't return the computer. I could, but, I won't.

What I can do, is call Dell and get them to send me a new back cover. After all, I have paid for the "Complete Care" guarantee. This "Complete Care" business is actually a really good coverage policy.

This is the way it was explained to me (By Dell rep # XXXXX): "If your computer breaks, or you break it, let say by droping it out of your bag, stepping on it, sitting on it, spilling coffe on it, etc, etc. We replace your computer with a similar (or better) computer, no questions asked."

So, will I exchange my current computer for a new one? I already said no, so no.

I think the scratches give it a rugged look and it gives it character. After all, I a rugged software developer. I even wear steel-toe work boots. You never know when a keyboard or mouse will fall in your toes.