I recently ordered a Dell OptiPlex desktop for my office desk. Though the computer came through a higher education “preferred pricing account” that my university has with Dell, it turned out to be the most expensive computer we ever bought. I tried a similar desktop configuration with Dell Dimension available in Dell Home section and that computer turned out to be $200 cheaper than this *preferred pricing* computer. May be in Dell’s dictionary preferred pricing means higher pricing. Also, my university thinks it is a good deal with this *preferred pricing* from Dell and doesn’t want to deal with any other manufacturer (wasted taxpayers’ $$)…so I had to go ahead and order it anyways. Other than this cost discrepancy, there were other idiotic things that I came across on the website.
Right after I chose a OptiPlex model and click on customize, these options appear for the choice of processor:
What the !? Ok, I am glad you are giving your customers a lot of flexibility in the choice of the processor, but look at the way this information is presented. It’s neither arranged according to increasing or decreasing pricing, nor according to processor speeds. Fortunately, I am a bit literate about some related terminology, but for an average customer, what will this “2×2M?” and “2×1M” mean? (it’s Level 2 cache of 2MB per core; for a dual core processor it’s 2 cores x 2MB cache total 4MB cache). If they want to throw some jargon in the buying process, at least they should link it to someplace where you can find what it means. After reading some information on Intel’s website, I finally decided on Pentium D 945 processor.
Later on, there were some stupid options like this:
I don’t understand why this option is even existing.
And like this:
Nice, pay a buck to “Hide Microsoft Outlook Express” 
. Read the last option “Sets wallpaper to blank”…I am glad they are not charging a buck for doing that. May be Dell thinks university people are really stupid or something (there are stupid people in universities, but let’s talk about them sometime later).
And then there is the issue of warranty. For higher education purchases, Dell slaps a mandatory 3 year warranty at the minimum. This is what makes education purchases from Dell really expensive. I don’t want your “3 year warrant with NBD onsite with 3 year Gold Tech Support”..I just want a plain 1 year warranty! (btw, NBD stands for Next Business Day..more jargon)
What’s going on with Dell?
After going through all that, I was able to get a Pentium D 945 Processor (3.40GHz), 2 GB RAM, 17″ Flat Panel Analog Monitor, 16x DVD+/-RW, and two hard drives - 80 GB each, for around $1180 (no tax for universities). I looked up this deal at Best Buy which has a better configuration than the Dell we ordered and for much cheaper price (may be another $80 for an additional hard drive). Well, looks like we just bought some “preferred” crap from Dell.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m going to laugh if we’re at the same university. The UT mean anything to you? In any case, there is a bit of justification in the slightly higher price and a need for the three year warranty. If you are buying a computer for yourself I’d in no way recommend buying a computer through any type of university “discount” program. I’ve never seen a case where the price was cheaper than a personal purchase using coupons etc.
As far as the higher price goes, there is something to be said for a standardized platform when the tech guys are having to support a few hundred machines. The Optiplex systems are generally a notch above budget level computers in terms of quality of parts, even if they don’t reach the same quality level as home built, high end rigs.
Also as you mentioned a good chunk of the premium you pay goes towards the three year warranty. While this isn’t really necessary for the home user, this is a must have when supporting a lot of machines. And I must say that no one provides the level of support that Dell does when it comes to computer repair. This might not be the case on the consumer level, but time and again Dell’s next business day literally means next business day. Whereas with IBM/Lenovo, Sony, HP, etc turnaround time is generally 4-7 days minimum even though they often claim “projected next business day”.
I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m attacking your opinion (you’re dead on about some of the options being absurd). I just wanted to offer an alternate opinion, especially since I used to share your viewpoint on the price. I’m a very frugal person, and couldn’t believe that the university was spending about $200-$300 “too much” for each computer. But in a large environment it really makes sense, otherwise it’d take twice as many people to support the same number of machines not even taking into consideration the price of replacement hardware when it breaks (if you can even still find the right part 3 years later).
In short (too late isn’t it?) if its a personal computer paid for with you’re own money find the most computer for the least amount of money that gets the job done, regardless of manufacturer. But for medium-large computer environments Dell makes the most sense from a cost effective support viewpoint, and from my experience no one comes close as far as hardware support.
(And no, I don’t work for Dell, they just make my job a lot easier and I cuss them a lot less on a daily basis than all the other computer manufacturers.)
MidnightUT: Yeah, I understand your point of view, thanks to your detailed explanation….but sometimes your boss gives you a budget and tells you “Go buy what you want since you are going to use it”…and if Dell just ties you up with these costs, that won’t feel too good
. The problem is I saw what others are giving in that kind of money and simply didn’t like what I was getting from Dell. That plus the stupid options.
Yeah, fortunately the university is paying so I won’t be cussing Dell forever.
I am just thinking aloud here, if Dell provides thousands of machines to universities (with almost standard configurations), logically those supplies should be cheaper than what it offers to individuals.
At my school, if the university was buying, we had to buy the preferred pricing model. No choice. And I’m with you, if they are supplying thousands of machines, seems like a lower price per unit would be in order. Even though the school was paying, it was still the taxpayers dollar, and I felt like it was fiscally irresponsible to not try to get a better deal. Grrr. There was some collateral damage — I’ve never even looked at a Dell product again, I was so ticked off.
Seems like a waste of money. Personally I won’t buy a dell because every one that I’ve used or seen ahs had problems. But if you have to go a certain way, it doesn’t matter what you think.
This is just like Best Buy and their Geek Squad. They charge $75/hr to install software for you. They also charge $75/hr to install a wireless network in your house. One of the guys I work with was thinking about starting his own “Geek Squad” because if Best Buy can make money doing this, he certainly can charging half the price.
Somehow, I get the feeling you go to the same university that I (and presumably Mr. Midnight above) work at…
Actually, even the name “Midnight” sounds familiar. IT’S eerie, I tell you.
But I wanted to agree with you on the inane array of options that Dell throws at you when trying to order a computer. Argue all you want about Apple prices, software compat., etc… But just take a look at how the fruity-computer store walks you through buying and configuring a computer. Marvel at how Apple’s “Learn more” links actually EXPLAIN what the options mean. Meanwhile, Dell’s “Help Me Choose” link tells you nothing about the difference between the 1707FP and the 1707FPV monitors. Hello!
I betcha that in Hell, there’s a section where bad sys-admins go where they have to endlessly spec out machines using Dell’s site.
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