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7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
2.5 stars
"One bad experience ruins it"
Pros: It is a stable machine with lots of potential
Cons: Where do I start?
Summary: I ordered this machine (with the AIO 922 printer and 17" LCD) while I was serving overseas with the idea I would set it up when I got home. I believed I had a great deal on a great system. I had ordered and used Dell before with no problems whatsoever. A couple months later I got home and set up my machine. THe first thing I noticed is how sluggish my machine was running. I had upped the Ram to 1GB, and a 3.4Ghz P4 machine should not be getting outperformed by an 866Mhz P3 laptop. But it was fighteningly slow. In my research I found a ton of Bloatware and software that Dell may consider helpful but I would classify as nothing more than spyware and Adware. I thought I would simply delete that which I would nbot use and move on. Now mind you I worked for several years as a level 2 Network and PC technician for a big blue corporation so I had a clue as to how and what to do to configure a machine. THe next step was connecting my machine to the internet. The connection itself went flawlessly. I plugged that cable straight into my switch and DHCP handed me my IP immediately. I joined my home network that already had 2 other Dell's connected via the same switch with no issues. Well this machine had an issue, it simply would not ocnnect to certain random websites or execute simple things like send email or register my McAfee software. The first thought is it is a connectivity issue except that the other 2 machines had no problem at all! I ran them simultaneously. I then shut them down to check bandwidth, nope could not get at many websites still yet no problems getting to many others. The McAfee registration would just hang there. Next step check the cable and switch. I tested both and they tested fine but I replaced them both anyway and no change. Next step connect the machine directly to the DSL modem, no change. Next step uninstall the McAfee security center including firewall, no change. Next step turn off Windows Firewall, no change. Reset MSIE web settings, no change. Finally I broke down and tried Dell's tech support, first I went to the support website to see if the answer was posted,..wait I could not open that website! But yet I could open the Dell homepage and my shopping cart just fine! IE would just sit and sit and sit with the little window waving away never opening a thing. So I had to email them using their email off the shipping material. Explaining the situation clearly outlining the fact that I was using a DSL connection I waited for a response. It was a software setting or conflict somewhere that I was missing, it had to be! I got a response the next day outling several steps to take. Each step walked me through the proper set up and testing for a dial up connection with my internal modem. I thought how could they miss the fact that I said it was DSL, I am not using my modem. I tried again and got a reply with other very scripted tests and corrective measure. Gee I never thought to reset my websettings or uninstall and reinstall my NIC. Finally after going round and round to no avail I called Dell Tech support. If Mr Dell reads this, GET PEOPLE THAT SPEAK ENGLISH AND UNDERSTAND IT! After bouncing from tech to tech and supervisor to supervisor I finally got one that could repeat my issue to me. He suggested I reinstall the OS from my restore CD, Great Idea! Except I had tried it already and made a startling discovery, it was an XP Home CD. I had XP Pro on my machine!!!The CD refused to run any installs and stated quite clearly that it was an XP Home install. When I told the more understanding teh this he decided to send me a new system and application recovery disk. Great! I got the disk 2 days later and proceeded with the install. It installed! But after final install and reboot I learned the replacement CD did not have any drivers on it at all. It claimed to be an XP Pro dimension 840 OS and driver disk but not one driver was on the disk for video, networking or sound! I called back furious and finally got them to replace the machine. Anticlimactically the new machine arrived and had the exact same problem as the previous! Does Dell test after a build? But what really put me over the edge was when I tried to print with my nice All In One printer and it jammed EVERY TIME!
Afer calling back infuriated and speaking to several Tech's I finally got one that was ok with English. She got an approval for me to return the whole system but I had to pay the shipping. Fine! But shipping is more expensive than the cost of the printer so now I am stuck with a scanner that takes up a whole lot of room. All in all I am disgusted with Dell and their total lack of concern for customer care. I used to love them and their build it your way online store and now I am out one very precious tool for my photo work.
- 1 reply to this review
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Got a new Dell 8400 last week The Mcafee product will not allow me to register - the window just sits there - and in windows there is no way to kill a single window - is there?
