Dell or PC World

[Guest doors]

Considering a new PC as my Dell is about to go on the blink it seems. I've had it about 5 years, does that sounds about right life time wise? What's the best idea, to go to PC World or do the Dell again. I'm not sure of the pros and cons.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2009 by saintly_1
removal of commercial links

[dpick]

My daughter bought me a laptop for christmas from PC World without telling me, they told her that she had to purchase a backup dvd of the system to avoid any problems if the system went down. She to them I was a retired computer programmer but they told her that a user cannot make this disc themselves. When I unpacked the laptop from the box the first thing I found was you guessed instructions on creating your own system dvd backup disk robbed her of £30. I have no knowledge of Dell and this is my only knowledge of PC World.

 

dpick

[Renzokuken]

My daughter bought me a laptop for christmas from PC World without telling me, they told her that she had to purchase a backup dvd of the system to avoid any problems if the system went down. She to them I was a retired computer programmer but they told her that a user cannot make this disc themselves. When I unpacked the laptop from the box the first thing I found was you guessed instructions on creating your own system dvd backup disk robbed her of £30. I have no knowledge of Dell and this is my only knowledge of PC World.

 

dpick

 

I find that hard to believe considering PCworld don't sell individual backup disks. He may have suggested she buy blank disks to create her backups on, but I fail to see how he could offer recovery disks they don't sell.

 

Anyway I would buy from PCWorld rather than online, simply because if anything goes wrong you'll have to go through an RMA process with dell. If you do it through PCWorld, they go through the process for you and deal with everything, which saves you a headache. Other then that just compare the specs and price and decide based on that.

[The Chez]

Don't buy from either of these stores. My PC is from PC world and to cut a long story short, their repair service is nothing short of a circus act. Instead you should think about buying from a local, independent computer retailer. There are lots of them about and they often provide a much more personal service, keep repair bills down to a mimimum and give you REAL advice on things like malware protection, not force sell what they're told to. They are also very knowledgable about what they sell, offer much better phone services, geez I even know my local computer shop guys a bit lol.

 

It also helps support your local economy, and for a much better & more personal service, it's worth it.

 

These shops also provide a 'build your own' service, where you can select the components you want and have a PC built around your needs.

[chris-t-2k7]

plus build your own services always include pirate software....great :') nothing wrong with buying from dell but if your not fussed on colours pc world laptops are cheaper and normally include webcams for less then dell, but obviously with dell online you can customize.

[Conniff]

If you do a search on 'problems with Dell', the results will be in the tens of thousands. Do the same with PcWorld and the results are in the thousands. I know which one I would choose plus with pcworld, you can go to the shop and complain face to face if you ever have the need to.

[InformedSearcher]

If you do a search on 'problems with Dell', the results will be in the tens of thousands. Do the same with PcWorld and the results are in the thousands. I know which one I would choose plus with pcworld, you can go to the shop and complain face to face if you ever have the need to.

 

LOL erm and how many PC's/Laptops does Dell sell vs. PC World? Dell certainly has a lot of corporate stuff worldwide.

Now I know nothing about PC World but have had 2 Dells in the last 5 years. The plus with Dell is that hidden away is a 'Norton Ghost' sector so if you have some issues and want to 'install as delivered' you can do it. Dell supplies 'all' CD/DVD's for manual installation inclusing the operating system in the box.

In the end swings and roundabouts. I guess I'd go with Dell because aftersales as in technical support is great. I also have the issue that if I walk into PC World the person selling is doing exactly that as you can imagine 'commision' in his/her mind followed by the sale.

The downside to Dell is they use CIT group for finance. This has been an awful experience for me as they show 'no' sympathy in hardship cases and 'twist' it would seem the CCA to their own conveniance so issuing default notices as they see fit. If you want a statement from them they'll to charge you £25 for the priviledge!

Michael

Edited July 8, 2009 by InformedSearcher

[Renzokuken]

LOL erm and how many PC's/Laptops does Dell sell vs. PC World? Dell certainly has a lot of corporate stuff worldwide.

Now I know nothing about PC World but have had 2 Dells in the last 5 years. The plus with Dell is that hidden away is a 'Norton Ghost' sector so if you have some issues and want to 'install as delivered' you can do it. Dell supplies 'all' CD/DVD's for manual installation inclusing the operating system in the box.

In the end swings and roundabouts. I guess I'd go with Dell because aftersales as in technical support is great. I also have the issue that if I walk into PC World the person selling is doing exactly that as you can imagine 'commision' in his/her mind followed by the sale.

The downside to Dell is they use CIT group for finance. This has been an awful experience for me as they show 'no' sympathy in hardship cases and 'twist' it would seem the CCA to their own conveniance so issuing default notices as they see fit. If you want a statement from them they'll to charge you £25 for the priviledge!

Michael

 

You realize PCWorld sell dell computers right? I mean if recovery is a major issue, almost all pc manufacturers provide a recovery sector or recovery disks nowadays, quite often both.

[InformedSearcher]

You realize PCWorld sell dell computers right? I mean if recovery is a major issue, almost all pc manufacturers provide a recovery sector or recovery disks nowadays, quite often both.

 

I was commenting of the difference as I see it between Dell and PC World. Whilst PCW might well sell Dell Computers my point was not that. PCW sell many makes of computer and are a retailer whereas Dell are both retailer and manufacturer/assemblers of computers. Of course both sell additional items.

I guess the difference is that Dell are rather more dedicated to their own products wheras PCW or PCWB are simply resellers. I like the way Dell PC's are delivered including everything in case of problems including on line updates and help centre stuff that IMHO gives it the edge.

Michael

[Renzokuken]

I was commenting of the difference as I see it between Dell and PC World. Whilst PCW might well sell Dell Computers my point was not that. PCW sell many makes of computer and are a retailer whereas Dell are both retailer and manufacturer/assemblers of computers. Of course both sell additional items.

I guess the difference is that Dell are rather more dedicated to their own products wheras PCW or PCWB are simply resellers. I like the way Dell PC's are delivered including everything in case of problems including on line updates and help centre stuff that IMHO gives it the edge.

Michael

 

Not that it's any of my business where you choose to buy, although I'd consider it rude of me not to at least try to inform you. Don't take this as me just arguing against you for the sake of arguing, at the end of the day it's your decision where to shop, I'd just rather you made an informed choice.

 

Dells customer service center has been rated amongst the worst. I've dealt with them as part of my job working for currys and they are one of the worst companies I've ever had to deal with, the worst being HP. I mean don't get me wrong, the customer service offered over the phone from pcworld isn't much better, but at least with PCworld, you can dump it into a currys/pcworld store anytime within the first year and get them to deal with everything, should anything go wrong.

 

Also, all pc's come with online updates in the form of windows update, which also includes updates for drivers now.

[labrat]

if you can give it a few months theres some nice new services coming out at pcworld

[InformedSearcher]

I have listened. I guess you get that feel good factor when you find things go okay for you and stick with them.

For a laugh I recall years ago when I had an Amstrad. Like they charged premium rates (kinda shows how AS made what he did!) for support at the rate of 60p a minute.

Michael

[daves6599]

Dell dont have any shops you can 'go to' if theres a problem. I like to see a person face to face when I have a problem. I've been burned on the net before thats why its PC world for me

[diem23]

Don't bother with PC world if you're going to buy a new dell computer, go to dell direct. PC world sold me a dodgy dell inspiron laptop which i didnt even have a month, wireless card fault, took 5 different visits to 3 stores just to get an exchange as it was in the 28 day period. The staff at pc world are rude, useless and tried all kinds of tactics to fob me off with the faulty laptop!

[InformedSearcher]

Just for the info there's a long winded article in PC Pro (free on line) about places to shop. Sadly these mags are good but alas I'm sure biased when it comes down to things like this, probably due to potential advertisers. Although it does not mention after sales it does show a couple of places I'd never have thought of going to.

Michael

[Russianimp]

My advice - steer well clear of Dell. I bought a Studio system from them this year. Allowing for them rerouting it to Newcastle (I live in Hampshire) it took six weeks to arrive. The call centre in India had no idea of where either place was and just kept telling me to wait in for it. Now I'm arguing over the back-up disks. It comes with a back-up utility only that doesn't work. It's apparently a known bug and they're only going to charge me a nominal fee - that's £59 in your money - to fix it. Everyone I've spoken to about Dell gives me that sort of "what did you expect?" look. I haven't found anyone who has had a good experience with them. Don't do it. You will regret it.

[InformedSearcher]

I'd guess that Dell operate a bit like Amstrad in the past. AS managed to charge premium rates for retail customers to get technical help - then kept them 'holding' so as to notch up the income. 'The Apprentice' - now there's a couple of words to linger on! Dell is really corporate based. To them people like me are nothing but a corporate buyer having say 500 PC's and laptops are good to work with. Plus of course the warranty is shorter.

There's good and bad in all the PC builders/manufacturers so a simple retail consumer tends to be 'We sold it/ forget them' attitude. I have to confess when I had a problem with my PC I spoke to a gentleman from Canada who was so helpful. Sadly I suppose it's pot luck if you get 'India' - If you ever have bank problems remember 'India' is the keyword, amongst Malysia and The Phillipines. Eventually UK suppliers will come back to the UK but let's face it, 15 quid a week for a 3rd world locations pay per week(!) vs. UK and its 300 quid a week average in that type of job - Now who are they going to employ I wonder?!

Michael