In case you hadn't heard, Boycott Dell

[Osamasux]

Michael Dell contributed $250,000 to Chimp's inauguration bash.
http://money.cnn.com/services/tickerheadlines/for5/200412172013DOWJONESDJONLINE001141_FORTUNE5.htm

The relationship is not new - his wife, Susan, even designed the Bush twins' 2001 inauguration gowns.
http://fashion.about.com/cs/celebtrendsetters/a/bushinaugural.htm

[EdGy]

1. not too hard to do...

Dell sucks anyway.

[Flying Coyote]

3. Ummm

In the interest of fairness, my company uses mostly Dell machines, because *they work really well out of the box*. They might not be perfect for some people's needs and we may not like Michael Dell's politics (or rather, bribery), but the boxes rock.

[Princess Turandot]

7. I just bought my 3rd Dell (because my miscreant cat Razpy..

somehow managed to push my old laptop onto the floor, which put it down for the count pretty much.) I bought a new laptop from Dell, and promptly re-formatted the hard drive so I could install what I wanted, not some of their looney programs. I have never had a quality problem with them; I needed 2 parts replaced on my desktop over 3 years, and had no trouble with the in-home service people.

HOWEVER, when I bought my new laptop, I fell for a 0% interest rate 'bait & switch' from them and the company which does their financing. I would have just paid for it with Amex, but they offered an additional discount and the no interest in 2005 pitch, so I figured, why not? Figured I'd take advantage of the 'time value of money'. (I'm embarassed to confess that I am a CPA lol.)

Then it turned out when I received my first bill that I was only given a 3 month interest waiver. Their financer, CIT (not to be confused with Citibank who I personally think does a great job with consumer accounts) handles all of the financing issues for Dell.
They claim that I was shown a webpage with my credit limit and interest rate before the transaction was finalized, which is a bald-faced lie. Even if they had, nothing on the Dell website gives you any idea that you needed to be awarded an interest rate below a certain number to get the best plan. (You cannot communicate with them by phone; you have to do this all thru email.)To date, on the Dell forums, I've heard that only 2 people had ever posted that they were given the annual interest plan.They even use the exact same language as I type this, in separate pitches links for a 90 day and 365 day interest waiver.

I'm trying to track down the business affiliations of their trustees, since I know from experience that they tend to get very ticked off by complaints. (Dell lists addresses for them, but they are all at the Dell exec office, which isn't uncommon.)

Nothing sets me off like being lied to!

[Helga Scow Stern]

13. Citibank lied to me! They did a similar bait and switch thing when I

called "customer service" once to get an address. Talked me into switching my card over to another kind for a few extra miles, swore up and down they were otherwise exactly the same. Then I came to find out that there was a huge interest rate increase, with a strange payment requirement that ended up costing me a few grand.

I will never have another credit card or plan again. Bastids!

(I hated CitiBank so much that I was "secretly" glad to see Daschle go.)

I know this isn't computer related, but when you said you love Citibank, I just had to share.

[Osamasux]

8. It has reached the point where we are willing to sacrifice

It has reached the point where we are willing to sacrifice

to get our point across. A large, organized movement is underway to speak the language they understand and 'hit them in the pocketbook'.

Here is a link to one of the DU threads in the Economic Activism and Progressive Living Group

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=255x1307

[liberalnurse]

10. That was my thoughts too.

Never bought one but heard many horror stories from hard-working folks who had to save, and save for a computer. Service was said to be poor. Only the Marketing is good....they can't and don't live up to their claims.

[Virginian]

2. What about Gateway?

I need a new desktop soon.

[RoyGBiv]

4. Find a local dealer ...

Find someone local who has his own shop and builds his own computers. Go in and strike up a conversation. Tell the people that work there what you want out of your computer and ask them to make some suggestions. If they give you a hard-sell routine, say thanks and find another dealer. You'll eventually find one that has a clue and will serve your needs.

You'll more than likely end up with a better machine built by a person or small team rather than on an assembly line, and you'll almost certainly get much better customer service, particularly if there are any problems down the road.

[NuttyFluffers]

17. another great way to learn is Egghead website.

the website format and the info is easy to find and the comments and boards are very friendly and educational.

[SKKY]

5. You should just "roll your own", so to speak...

You can get so much more machine for your buck. DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!! IT'S NOT THAT HARD AT ALL!

[qnr]

14. Absolutely. n/t

[SKKY]

6. If you were in SoCal, I'd do it for you for free...

...just to teach someone else how easy it is.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. i'll add my voice

to those calling for you to build your own, or go local.

[Helga Scow Stern]

11. Is there any way to do this w/ a laptop? n/t

[DavidMS]

15. Yes...

Haven't done it... but I understand that Asus and a few others sell white box notebooks. Basicaly you buy the LCD, Keyboard, casing mainboard, etc from them and then add the CPU, hard drive, Mini-PCI card (for wireless), CD/DVD drive and RAM.

I work for a company that does service and support on IBM and HP/Compaq desktops and notebooks in adition to whatever else we get in the shop. I do not recomend working on notebooks unless you are patient and have lots of light. They can be hard to work on sometimes.

Its a great place to learn and is a much better place to get started in IT than working on a help desk.

[RoyGBiv]

16. Laptops ...

I had an old laptop lying around that someone had fried with Dr. Pepper and given to me for no particular reason. I'd never even bothered with it, but I got bored at some point and decided to open it up. I was amazed that I really could take it apart piece by piece and mess with it. I ended up replacing/cleaning the affected parts, and it works now. It has an OLD CPU in it and is good for very little, but still.

The hardest thing, ISTM, is how tiny the parts are. No space for fingers.

[Helga Scow Stern]

12. Is Alienware morally correct? How would I check?