Laptops

[Slipperduke]

I've just finally lost my sense of humour with Dell. I placed an order for a laptop five days ago and heard nothing.

I received a phone call yesterday telling me that the order was on hold because it had been placed by a 'Mrs S Currie'.

"That's not right," I said. "It was placed by me."

"No, it wasn't," said the woman on the crackly phone line in Delhi. "Our records show that it was placed by Mrs S Currie."

"I don't know a Mrs S Currie, crackly Delhi-based call-centre woman, and I assure you that I placed the order."

"We'll get back to you," she crackled and vanished.

This morning she got back to me to ask me where I lived. When I told her, she insisted that I lived somewhere else. Then she told me that she couldn't process the order because Dell didn't have any graphics cards.

"Enough!" I wailed. "Enough. These last five days have been characterised by failure and misinformation. Please cancel my order!"

She hung up. I hope she cancelled the order.

Now, the important point. Where am I going to get a 2gb RAM, 1.83mhz laptop that runs Windows XP?

Not PC World. Those ***** ripped me right off in 2000.

 

[Cheltenham Shrimper]

Good luck finding anywhere now which still have Windows XP. Got my laptop about a month ago and it's go Windows Vista on.

 

[Slipperduke]

I hate Windows Vista so much. Not least for the fact that it won't let me play Civilization 2 or CM93/94

Yes, I know exactly what I am.

 

[londonblue]

A friend's father in law has his own PC business, and is based in Iford if you're interested. He may well be able to help you out. I just bought a new PC from him.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Make sure you get something to Dell in writing - at the very least, an email - confirming your cancellation of the order and the generally sh*te service you've received.

Unless you put it in an email, you can be darn sure that a laptop with a 10" screen and Vista is on its way to you right now...

:thump:

 

[Cheltenham Shrimper]

I hate Windows Vista so much. Not least for the fact that it won't let me play Civilization 2 or CM93/94

Yes, I know exactly what I am.

Well with mine, I couldnt install Office XP on it, because is was an old version for Vista, so had to install Office 2007 instead. Yet the other half got a desktop computer with Vista on and had no problems installing the XP version.

It did take a bit of getting used to, but i'm fine with it now.

 

[Mr. Benedict]

Hmm.
2GB RAM is going to be a problem, but ebuyer have a Hewlett-Packard Laptop with a 1.83ghz processor that runs XP Pro.

 

[Jam_Man]

I use www.dabs.com a lot and they do laptops with XP.

As for operating systems I use Vista at home and love it, but its also a pain in the backside at the moment.

My advice would be to go with Vista, put up with the niggles if they arent show stoppers and wait for the patches.

If you definitely need XP then stick with it and you can always upgrade to Vista later...

 

[MK Shrimper]

I just bought a new PC from Ebuyer, and had no problems.

PM me and I'll give you a legit copy of XP that I no longer need.

 

[Slipperduke]

A friend's father in law has his own PC business, and is based in Iford if you're interested. He may well be able to help you out. I just bought a new PC from him.

Has he got a website?

 

[Cricko2]

You can try these Slipper I have always got on rearly well with them.

Ask to Speak to Mark he is the owner.

http://www.calliduscomputercentre.com/

 

[loz]

I hate Windows Vista so much. Not least for the fact that it won't let me play Civilization 2 or CM93/94

Yes, I know exactly what I am.

see, now that's the kind of information consumers need. Who the hell would design an operating system that can't play CIV2? :confused:

 

[Slipperduke]

see, now that's the kind of information consumers need. Who the hell would design an operating system that can't play CIV2? :confused:

Lunacy, isn't it?

 

[londonblue]

Has he got a website?

I don't think so...

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I've just finally lost my sense of humour with Dell. I placed an order for a laptop five days ago and heard nothing.

Have you got the volume turned up:D

 

[jstallan]

Did you get a confirmation email regarding your order ? If so, they normally nominate an Account Manager that you can contact (not in India).

Have they taken to money from your card ? If not stop it.

If it does get delivered, then just phone up to say you are not happy with it and they generally give a 10% discount for you to keep it..

What model did you get ? Some are now end-of-life (Inspiron 640m is one), others are due to follow shortly.

There's a another source of Dell kit here http://www.mcscom.co.uk/section.php?xSec=51

If you want an account manager contact just to try and sort the order, message me and I'll provide one ;-)

John

 

[CSBLUE]

[FONT=&quot]Try Mesh Computers. Very reasonable for some pretty powerful PC’s also give a standard 3 warranty[/FONT]

 

[the_forgotten_man]

I hate Windows Vista so much. Not least for the fact that it won't let me play Civilization 2 or CM93/94

Yes, I know exactly what I am.

Mate, just update to Civ 3 and 4 - both the best games I have played (at the time of playing them obviously).

Although, you're not wrong, Civ2 is a classic:D.

Also, while we're on the topic of laptops, what's the deal with 'reconditioned' laptops? I realise they once were faulty, but they presumably work now, they have excellent spec, much cheaper, and come with a 12 month warantee...

Am I missing something?

 

[Slipperduke]

Did you get a confirmation email regarding your order ? If so, they normally nominate an Account Manager that you can contact (not in India).

Have they taken to money from your card ? If not stop it.

If it does get delivered, then just phone up to say you are not happy with it and they generally give a 10% discount for you to keep it..

What model did you get ? Some are now end-of-life (Inspiron 640m is one), others are due to follow shortly.

There's a another source of Dell kit here http://www.mcscom.co.uk/section.php?xSec=51

If you want an account manager contact just to try and sort the order, message me and I'll provide one ;-)

John

I got an order acknowledgment and then it all went wrong. I never got as far as an order confirmation.

I've emailed the people who mucked me about and Dell Customer Services explaining what happened. I'm not holding out hope of anyone getting back to me though!

It was an Inspiron 6400 that I'd pimped up with extra RAM and what not.

I'll give 'em 24 hours to get their act together and I might take you up on your offer actually.

I really wanted that computer.

I went to Currys at lunch and haggled the manager into giving me something not quite as good (1.6mhz, 2gig RAM) for £700, but then told him that I'd think about it.

I just want Dell to get back to me and do it properly. Then I get what I want for a decent price. Ah well.

Cheers for your help though!

 

[Slipperduke]

Mate, just update to Civ 3 and 4 - both the best games I have played (at the time of playing them obviously).

Although, you're not wrong, Civ2 is a classic:D.

Also, while we're on the topic of laptops, what's the deal with 'reconditioned' laptops? I realise they once were faulty, but they presumably work now, they have excellent spec, much cheaper, and come with a 12 month warantee...

Am I missing something?

CIV 2 was just the perfect game. It was so well balanced, you couldn't actually do anything to improve it. The AI was spot on.

CIV 3 was very impressive, but a simplistic in certain areas.

I switched on CIV4 for the first time at 7pm on a Friday night (yes, I know what I am) a few weeks ago and it was 1am before I realised that I hadn't eaten, my throat had dried up and my eyes could no longer focus. It's quite good that.