Why Dell Sucks!
Sunday, Dec. 09, 2007 5:35 PM

�Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip.� - Gary Allan

Well, I have my Christmas cards done. I can't wait to see what people think of them. I was so proud of myself. I wrote my first poem in over a year, and featured Haley and Comet in it. I'll post it up in here before Christmas hits. If I remember to do so.

It's been a wonderfully lazy weekend. I didn't have to do anything. I could just sit back, read a book, watch TV and play computer games.

Speaking of computer games... I love to play The Sims 2. However, every single time I play it, the game crashes. It's my graphics card. I've been dealing with Dell for over a year and a half now about it, but they've been complete turds about the issue. I even spent 6 hours one day on the phone with tech support and they didn't resolve the issue. Dell finally sent me a new graphics card, and while it's helped out with most of the games.. the Sims 2 still crashes. I even have the latest drivers and I do that crap with closing down all the background tasks. All I can say is that I'm never buying another Dell computer again and I'm never getting another Nvidia card again. This has made me loyal to ATI Radeon cards, and has sent me off to want to buy an Apple as my next computer.

My sister Angie bought a Dell about the same time I did. Her computer's already falling apart. She said the USB ports are broken. My brother Scott bought a Dell laptop and he said it's already falling apart, too. In fact, if he's not careful, the screen's about about ready to detach from the keyboard part.

I've done some research, which I wish I would have done before I bought this computer. There are literally thousands upon thousands of people with these same problems. There are thousands upon thousands of websites telling you why you shouldn't buy a Dell. Look it up. Everywhere you look, there are people dissing these products. And for good reason, too!

I bought the XPS 400 for ultimate gaming experience. Ha! I can't even play a game on it without the computer crashing halfway through the game. And I'm not the only one. And we all have Nvidia graphics cards. Does that tell you anything?

And their tech support? They give you the run around. You have to actually insist on being elevated from a level one tech to a higher authority. They try to get you to stick with a level one tech, but don't let them. Keep insisting no matter what they ask you. And make sure that the guy who comes on the line - a half an hour after you've been put on hold - tells you that he's level 2 or higher. And make sure that even when they say, "I'm taking ownership over your computer" that they mean it. Because half the time, they don't.

They're ready to write you off as soon as they can. Once you get the dreaded e-mail confirming tech support did all they could do, you know they won't return your phone calls or attack the problem again.

This is what I had to do: After calling them for a year and a half, I finally wrote an e-mail to customer service. I asked them for information on where I could file a complaint. They sent me a survey and I filled it out telling them what an awful experience I have had with their company. I demanded for a box to return the computer in, and I had to turn into a bitch to get anywhere with them.

I went on Nvidia's and Dell's forums and spoke my opinion, and I told Dell I was going to pass on the word about what I've experienced with them in all faculties. Which, I still plan on doing. They've lost me as a customer for life.

They sent me an e-mail offerring me $75 for my troubles. I lost more than that much skipping work to take care of this problem, and spent way more than that in having Jeff the computer guy look at it. Then they sent me a new Nvidia card to replace the one in my system - even though I told them time and again that its Nvidia itself that is the problem. I installed the new graphics card just to appease them only to have the games crash like they always do. I haven't mailed back my old card yet, so I'm not sure what to do from here.

I may just ask for an ATI card for Christmas and tell Dell to fuck off. I should sell the computer on E-Bay and get some money back for it, but I don't do the E-Bay thing. And if I bought an Apple computer, I'd have to find an XP disk so I could install windows software on the computer just to play these PC games. It's turning into one expensive disaster, and I'm tired of it.

So if you want to learn anything from my experience, don't buy a Dell no matter how cheap they are. And don't get an Nvidia graphics card no matter how much they tell you it's the graphics card to have.