MSU Listserv


MSUNAG Archives

MSUNAG Archives


MSUNAG@LIST.MSU.EDU


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV at MSU

LISTSERV at MSU

MSUNAG Home

MSUNAG Home

MSUNAG  February 2011

MSUNAG February 2011

Subject:

Re: Dell OptiPlex 320 motherboard

From:

STeve Andre' <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

STeve Andre' <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:33:29 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (112 lines)

On 02/14/11 13:16, Gary Schrock wrote:
> On 2/14/2011 12:24 PM, STeve Andre' wrote:
>> On 02/14/11 12:16, Gary Schrock wrote:
>>> On 2/14/2011 11:58 AM, STeve Andre' wrote:
>>>> I think Dell is going seriously downhill. I'm going to think very much
>>>> before
>>>> ordering anything else from them.
>>>>
>>>> --STeve Andre'
>>>
>>> I can't say I've really noticed it going downhill with Dell recently,
>>> but trust me, it could be far worse. Like, say, Sony. We bought a few
>>> Z series laptops about a year and a half ago. One we had a bad drive
>>> right out of the box. One developed vertical lines on the screen, took
>>> a month a half for Sony to get the parts in to come out and repair it
>>> (although they did at least go to Ann Arbor to the professors home to
>>> replace it, which was good because that month a half later
>>> corresponded with the day before I left on a 2 week vacation). That
>>> same laptop developed the same problem a few months later, this time
>>> the on-site tech managed to disassemble the laptop and not get it back
>>> together, so it ended up having to be sent in. (In fairness, I'm not
>>> convinced mere mortals could reassemble one of those). It then
>>> developed the *same* problem a third time, this time out of warranty.
>>> Tough luck. And finally, we have the case of one that just stopped
>>> turning on. This one they insisted had to be taken into the sony style
>>> store (in Troy), and they've had that one for 2.5 months, and have
>>> been unable to give me a satisfactory answer on why it's taken so long
>>> and when we'll get it back. (The only number I have for info on it
>>> apparently only the sony store can interpret, and they claim they
>>> can't give me a number that I can talk with Sony about it.)
>>>
>>> And we only ordered between 4 or 6 of these laptops, and these are
>>> some of Sony's higher end laptops. So the grass isn't always greener
>>> elsewhere. I'll take Dell any day of the week over Sony.
>>>
>>> Gary
>>>
>>
>> Oh yes... MUCH worse. I refuse to use Sony, Toshiba, HP and a host of 
>> other
>> companies, as they all produce far too much utter crap. Or, perhaps I
>> should
>> say wildly inconsistent quality control. My other beef with most 
>> places is
>> they availability of older spare parts. I had an adventure getting a
>> part for
>> a two year old Sony laptop. Two years! It was wild, but I finally 
>> found a
>> place that had it (palm rest).
>>
>> I'd settled on Dell for desktops and Lenovo for ThinkPad laptops. Lenovo
>> has gone downhill some, but relative to everyone else they stayed at the
>> top during their slide. I thought so about Dell, but I am really
>> questioning
>> that now, when listening to friends whov'e had bad problems with 
>> repairs.
>>
>> I still LOVE my little white Optiplex Dell's. I have some that are 10 
>> years
>> old and will working, and consume about 57w of power, too.
>>
>
> So, are you having much luck with an abacus?  Doesn't seem like 
> there's much else left :).
>
> But in all seriousness, we have probably 400-500 computers in the 
> department here, and I'd say 90%+ of them are Dell.  I'd say I 
> probably end up having to call dell about 1 or 2 times a month, and 
> generally the problem is fixed the next day.  Now, if a computer 
> that's out of warranty has something like a motherboard fail, I have 
> to admit, and that point I tend to tell people it's time to send that 
> machine to salvage.  (If for no other reason that some people here 
> will hold onto a machine until you pry it from their cold dead 
> fingers, well past the useful life of the machine.  And then when I 
> try to salvage that machine, someone else will come along and swipe it 
> from my salvage pile before it gets picked up :) ).
>
> Even Dell's home support has supposedly improved based on my 
> conversations with someone's that dealt with them.  (And I have to 
> admit, a few years ago, their home support had me ready to throw my 
> phone through the wall.)
>
> (And to go back to topic, I'm afraid we don't have any motherboards 
> from an Optiplex 320 sitting around.  Honestly not sure we've even had 
> any of those systems.  I know we have a few 330's, but can't remember 
> any 320's.)
>
My lunches are with ThinkPads. ;-)  Despite their not being as good as 
they were before
(I have several friends with 7xx series thinkpads running DOSish stuff, 
11+ years old!)
they are still the best; my A series lasted 5+ years.  This W500 will 
hopefully be as good.

The desktop brand that Lenovo has, judging from the 80+ that a friend 
got for her
work, with one unit having problems after 2 years, is also good.  There 
is also the
possibility of assembling a computer, as well.  There aren't many parts 
any more
(1. case  2. PS 3. motherboard  4. ram  5. video card  6. DVD  7. disk 
8. monitor
9. misc cables & keyboard/mouse), so making one is hardly the exercise 
it once was.

I admit that I am a hardware snob.  It's OK... call me that! ;-)  I got 
very used to
the old Sun-4 days, where I had a Sun-4/670 run for 5 years, except for 
two power
outges, and three disk failures.  (Sniff... I miss VME card days!)

--STeve Andre'

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

December 2023
June 2023
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
December 2021
January 2019
August 2018
June 2018
May 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LIST.MSU.EDU

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager