Dellol

[Brehvolution]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/technology/29dell.html?pagewanted=1&src=busln
As someone who personally went through this at work, I found it hilariously amusing and another testament to how business in America is run.

After the math department at the University of Texas noticed some of its Dell computers failing, Dell examined the machines. The company came up with an unusual reason for the computers’ demise: the school had overtaxed the machines by making them perform difficult math calculations.

Even the firm defending Dell in the lawsuit was affected when Dell balked at fixing 1,000 suspect computers, according to e-mail messages revealed in the dispute.

Epic lulz

A study by Dell found that OptiPlex computers affected by the bad capacitors were expected to cause problems up to 97 percent of the time over a three-year period, according to the lawsuit.

Some of the documents in the case that were sealed under a protective order became public this month. Those documents show that after A.I.T. complained, Dell representatives looked at the failed computers and contended that A.I.T. had driven many of the computers too hard in a hot, confined space. Dell’s sales representatives discussed trying to sell A.I.T. more expensive computers as a resolution.

Corporate America, fuck ya! 

[Diunx]

I have an OptiPlex :'(

[Great Rumbler]

Corporation are so moronic sometimes.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's pretty much all the time.

[Brehvolution]

97 percent

Almost as bad the the Xbox 360.

[Brehvolution]

I thought I would get more reaction.


We had blown caps(capacitors) on all 11 Optiplex GX270s that we bought within 6 months. The replacement motherboards ended up dieing too. 
By time the replacements died, they made it past extended warranty.
Major manufacturing fail though the decision was made to replace the broken with more Dells.

In the end, Dell won I guess.

[Joe Molotov]

Fell

[lennedsay]

All of our small Optiplex's at work have or are on the verge of dying. We had to take the side panel off most of them just to get them to run.

[Bloodwake]

This is why I am glad I am Dell free now.

[Phoenix Dark]

My parents just bought two Dells for the office 

[lennedsay]

As long as you're computer savvy enough to troubleshoot, repair and replace parts, they probably saved money in the long run. Dell is so ridiculously inexpensive most of the time that even if you have to replace some of the components, it's still fairly inexpensive.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Just trying to cheer you, PD.

[close]

[brawndolicious]

Well a dell is still better purchase than those iMacs you see in some schools.  They pay $1500 bucks so that you have to reformat every paper you write and not be able to right click.

[Phoenix Dark]

So 2-3 years of constant repairs and guess who'll have to do it. Just today:

"i don't have a start button"
"what?"
"where is the start button?"
"uh probably in the bottom left of the screen"
"all i see there is a ball with the Windows sign. where's the green start button"
"click that ball. you have Windows Vista now"
"oh hey, there it is!"

[lennedsay]

  Poor PD...

So glad I don't live at home anymore. I was also that person. Now they only call when they get mad viruses and can't start it.

And about the Macs - seriously, it's true. You're better off buying a couple hundred dollar Dell with the intention of replacing some of the components in the next year or two. Because honestly, unless you're paying several grand for the top of the line, you're getting obsolete components on your $1K+ Mac too.

[Phoenix Dark]

I don't even live with them lol, but I get a call every week about computers. I've spent hours doing stuff at my dad's job. I hate seeing them paying people to do stupid shit; they paid a computer company $70 to connect a fucking wireless mouse.

[lennedsay]

  My parents & in-laws aren't that bad, thankfully. My mom will at least try to figure it out herself, but will call as soon as there's an issue. She even remembered how to search for, download and install ComboFix after showing her once!

Unfortunately I know basic, basic troubleshooting and the software side, and my husband does this for a living, so our families think they have some sort of on-call Geek Squad. And we both work full time and live 40 minutes away, so if their shit isn't fixed after they do call us, we get the Guilt Trip. 

[Brehvolution]

My parents just bought two Dells for the office 

This was all a few years ago, PD. Fret not. Everything we bought from them in the past 3 years has been solid. And by everything, I mean over a half million dollars of equipment. Your parents will be fine.

[Ichirou]

All my Dells have died horribly within a few years of buying them (owned 3).  Switched to Acer for my latest netbook.

Fuck PCs, seriously.

[Reb]

I never expect my laptops to last longer than two years.

[Great Rumbler]

I just built my own PC.

[Eric P]

Some of the documents in the case that were sealed under a protective order became public this month. Those documents show that after A.I.T. complained, Dell representatives looked at the failed computers and contended that A.I.T. had driven many of the computers too hard in a hot, confined space. Dell’s sales representatives discussed trying to sell A.I.T. more expensive computers as a resolution.

They tried to do that with us too on our servers

also, our internet company will occasionally give us testable 20% packet loss and their solution is selling a bigger pipe

come the fuck on

[Tristam]

I never expect my laptops to last longer than two years.

I'm posting on a 5-year-old Dell laptop.

Granted, it's a slow piece of shit now, but it works.

[Phoenix Dark]

Set up the other Dell computer today at my parents' job. Once I turned it on I got a "cpu fan failure" prompt. I opened up the case and manually spun the fan to find out it was stuck in a stationary position like it had been screwed in. A few manual spins loosened the fan enough to move freely, so I turned the computer back on and it was fine; downloaded Speedfan to monitor things as well.

Glad I caught that or it would have fried. It has a year warranty and I'm betting we'll have to send it back in that time period.

[DJ_Tet]

My last job involved repurposing old PCs.  Inevitably PCs 10 years older than Optiplexes would pass inspection and get sent out, while the Optiplex was the most familiar model for repairs.  Total piece of shit, stands out among other pieces of shit.