Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

HP is kicking Dell's butt these days, especially in servers.

Hp makes good servers but Dell makes better laptops and workstations ...

From what it sounds like in this tread, customer service is becoming more important with laptops and workstations and that doesn't appear to be Dell's forte.

My childhood next door neighbor is current design chief for Dell.

I have an Acer. Don't beat me up.

I feel the same way with my Mac, Sheena.

I have no problems with it, in fact. Well, i do have one, actually: it gets hot too fast...

Acer made a beautiful Ferrari laptop a couple of years ago. Big on style, but short on features.

I'm waiting until I can find one for a few hun'.

I've seen a Ferrari LT for sale - about $ 2K, but i'm not sure it's original. Just not my cup of tea, plain and simple (and btw, i've got mine for much less).

it seems a lot of companies are sending their help desk overseas ... when you call Dell tech support you talk with somebody in India or the Phillipines ... so now you not only have a technical problem but you also have a language and culture barrier to work through ...

Then there are phone companies ... my local phone company was sbc and long distance was at&t ... then to save money I dumped at&t and put it all with sbc ... then sbc was bought by at&t ... through all of this I was trying to get DSL ... it seems both companies are too incompetent to deliver dsl to my location ... they say I already have dsl on the line ... and then at&t will call me and say "We are your new phone company, would you like dsl service?" I say yes ... but when they check they say they can't do it ... then I order comcast broadband and the stuff never shows up on at my door ...

Customer service is ceasing to exist for many companies ...

Bad management.

In these parts, Verizon wireless is getting killed lately. They had the most reliable service in our area but their God help you if you had a problem with a phone and needed service from their stores. You'd spend half the weekend there and still woudn't get your phone fixed. They were clearly arrogant because of their brand leading position.

But the others have improved their service and Verizon is being dumped in droves. They, and Time Warner Cable, are the worst in customer service I've ever delt with and I no longer use either.

As for laptops, I'd recommend alienware. Great customer service, amazing designs and great quality. They are pricey, but well worth it. Of course they get some of their shells from Sager Notebook.

I work on both platforms and love my 17" DigitalAudioWave/Sager notebook and my 12" Powerbook. I steer clear from Dell and HP all the way. Don't get me started on Dell customer service, they are the worst.

As for telco services, I've been dealing with installation of lines for our remote host in Boston. Her local carrier is Verizon, great service but bad long distance lines. However, the customer service was very helpful and they did all the work for me by switching the ISDN and long distance lines over to AT&T, who are by far the best carriers for long distance. They have the best quality. I'm never going with subleased lines for telco. Go straight to the source, and so far, our lines have been solid.

You get what you pay for.

oh ya hp tech support ... I had a server that I wanted to expand the array so I call hp tech support and gave them the model numbers and asked will this work ... they said yes ... well I tried it and I wiped out the server ... my mistake was trusting hp tech support ...

go figure

Customer service for the most part is indeed lacking. We just built a house. I order the clear Lexan hurricane shutters for every window , door, lania area. Yet they spaced out on one window. the garage entry way side door. When I asked why that was not installed their answer was " well you did not order that" HUH? Why would I pay over 11k for hurricane shutters and leave one window unprotected? I have not paid the balance owed yet as the county inspector has to sign off on the install. The company has not return my calls. At least I have some leverage here. Everything seems to be a fight these days. I upgrade my cell for at the local Verizon kiosk and decide that a bluetooth head set would be good considering I have to drive and talk most of the time. Well I was having trouble with the headset and went back to the Verizon kiosk. The employee told me that I could not have bought that there as they don't sell that type, HUH!! She would not even check her computer for my account. I was dumbfounded. So I went over her head to the owner, but that took a couple of days. We are having a propane powered 16k watt generator installed. The propane tank will be buried. That area was marked off with white spray paint. Where do you think the Sprint sub contractor buried the phone line? Yep, right across the area marked off for the propane tank. Duh They are coming out this morning to move it. I better not get charged for it...Have a nice weekend

On the topic of cable TV, I ran across this website the other day while frustrated with Comcast:
http://wewantchoice.com/
I think it is unbelievable that the cable company you have depends on where you live. I think you should be able to choose, creating healthy competition.
I have actually shopped for houses using the factor of a certain cable company serving that area.