Thanks, Dell. I would not have heard of the site if you hadn't drawn my attention to it.

Gotta love lawyers with their vague threats.

Good for the Consumerist to tell them to pack sand.

Yeah, shame on them for trying to protect confidential things. BTW, what's your social security number so I can post it on the web?

7of7: Yeah, shame on them for trying to protect confidential things.

What in that article could be considered confidential? Please give examples.

7of7: Yeah, shame on them for trying to protect confidential things.

Yea, my racketeering outfit was confidential too, until those pesky stoolies violated my privacy!

She didn't sound like too much of a tool. She even said they could re-post it later if they wanted to.

DUDE! You're getting a lawsuit!!!

here comes The Streisand Effect again....

when will these people learn?

here comes The Streisand Effect again....

This.

Mob tactics no longer work on the internet. Either it brings attention to blogs like this, or if they do take it down, it pops up in 5 other places. See: HD-DVD key.

If Dell is ashamed of the way they do business, maybe they should change how they do business.

I love Consumerist. It's the best site around for rage-porn, bar none. The best part is that no matter how ridiculous the claims they make (what? Best Buy's store policy is to literally anally rape every fourth senior citizen who walks in the door?!) you know at least half of them are true.

It's not, "We're ashamed of how we do business." It's more like, "We don't want competitors to know how we do business."

Dell secret #23:
Learning how to build your own computer is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS better than buying from Dell.

I've always known this to be true. Unless Dell can beat TigerDirect.com on deals for barebones systems AND beat NewEgg on their catalog, you are never going to get a bargain from them.

There was a time-- a year or so ago-- when I felt that maybe the hassle of configuring a new rig was getting too much and that buying from Dell or whoever would be better. Two months ago, when I built my awesome high-end PC for $1000 (24" LCD monitor included) and had it running in an hour, that notion quickly died.

Wow. Another useless list of crap about a company. First Circuit City, now Dell. 27 things I don't need to know... now 22 more things I don't need to know. All of these things are incredibly useless to anyone who has any sense. Here's what my list would look like:

1. Don't buy from Dell.

2. See #1: follow at all times.

A number of the "insider tricks" would most definitely break NDA, especially the specific information on the warranty and discounts. The hope the author of this piece already has a job and/or isn't planning on working in the corporate world. Any employer that sees this would definitely be wary about hiring someone who's willing to break an NDA like he has.

And remember kids: Just because you purchased a 3 year warranty does not mean you have a right to break your laptop on purpose and get a new one. Dell's warranty support is pretty damn good--if people start intentionally abusing it, you'll find that it will quickly go down hill (just look at Costco's return policy on computers/tvs/etc).

I Like Bread:

$1200, 22" widescreen LCD, x1950, C2D E6600, 2GB RAM, Asus P5W mobo, new case, yadda, yadda. Hot stuff considering I built it a year ago, and took about 3 hours to set up (had a 1TB Raid 0 to set up, install the OS, and figure out the new UPS).

Dell's closest machine was $2400. You are spot-on. Dell is a plague.

I Like Bread
Dell secret #23:
Learning how to build your own computer is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS better than buying from Dell.

Agree, I was pricing out systems for my brother in-law and compared what I pieced together through Tiger, and Egg then compared it to what Dell and Best Buy/ Circus City had to offer.

Comparable machines, I had Dell beat by $1400 and BB/CC by almost $3000.

Okay, I'm not a fan of Dell, but this woman was very polite and patient. She did not deserve the snark she got in response to her emails. It's armchair lawyer time: I don't know whether or not Consumerist broke any laws by not taking down the article, but that ex-employee definitely violated a contract.

Wouldn't happen if you bought a Mac.

/flame on

This doesn't make sense - publishing corporate secrets presumably isn't a crime? Obtaining them by fraud is, but they didn't do this. The leak is probably in breach of contract and should have his arse owned as a result, but afaict the site itself didn't do anything wrong.

Folks, none of the information posted in the original article violated the NDA. The author disclosed discounts? ZOMG!!!1!one. Those discounts are disclosed to the customer at the time of purchase. What? The customers can tell about discounts they receive but the employee can't disclose the discounts they give? Not probable.

Email address? Look at any press release emailed by Dell's PR. There's an email attached. Corporate email typically follows a set standard. If Sally Smith's email address is sal­ly_s­mi­thlle­dcom, is it so hard to figure out that John Jones's email is jo­h­n­_­j­on­eslledcom?

Quotas, expected performance? Stop by a kiosk and look at the clipboard stored up by the TVs. They're usually on top of the stack of papers.

Perhaps the author recognized all this before he/she wrote it. Perhaps the author had a level of common sense and knowledge of the NDA that the Dell attorney seems to be overlooking.

Doctor Hooey: Wouldn't happen if you bought a Mac.

Yeah, when you buy a Mac you KNOW you're paying the most you possibly can

nein: It's not, "We're ashamed of how we do business." It's more like, "We don't want competitors consumers to know how we do business."

FTFY

Christoff: No, I had it correct. I don't think Dell would be disturbed so much at consumers knowing about discounts, because that has the potential of attracting more sales. What would bother them is distributing information on how their sellers notify the customers of the various discounts. It's a form of marketing strategy: Step 1) entice them with discount A. Step 2) if that doesn't work, entice them with discount B. Step 3) mention warranty stuff.

If a customer came up and asked about certain discounts, that's not a problem. If someone comes up and asks in what manner they offer the discounts, I doubt that would be cool to disclose.

Out of curiosity, all of you people who have major companies beat by thousands of dollars on making a machine, why exactly don't you sell them?

It would seem if you can do something for $1000+ cheaper than Dell in 1 - 3 hours of work, you should become a very rich person, very quickly.

Yeah after learning how to build a computer I will never buy a dell.

When my harddrive crashed I saw that Dell had a great deal on them in the small business section. I already had a pretty good idea of what a HD should cost so I made up a business right then. The HD went on backorder and after a few calls to some Indians I finally got a domestic guy. He upgraded me and gave me an additional discount. I ended up with an outstanding deal but it was extremely frustrating getting to that point. I wouldn't recommend it.

Cathaleon: Out of curiosity, all of you people who have major companies beat by thousands of dollars on making a machine, why exactly don't you sell them?

Well, silly, then you'd have to include the cost of things like the Operating System, warranty, support, etc.

Straight HW to HW, Dell is not a deal. But if you want thigns like a legit Operating System, then Dell isn't a wholely bad option. But if you want to always be the guy your family calls to do tech support for their computers for them, better to recommend a Dell than to build it for them.

But if you want to always be the guy your family calls to do tech support for their computers for them, better to recommend a Dell than to build it for them.

And that is precisely why my folks have a shiney new Dell sitting in their study :-)

OSULugan

I just enjoy watching people in forums pretend that hardware cost is the only thing that goes into a purchase.

I know you caught that point though. :)

By the way, from a business perspective, a few hundred (hell, sometimes even a grand) difference in a computer price is far worth the difference you save in doing it yourself. In fact, I showed with relative assurance that a previous employee of my main employer had cost the company 5 digits by "SAVING US 500 A PIECE BY BUILDING THE COMPUTERS MYSELF!!!!"

Dell, for whatever their problems, isn't stupid, nor are they just lecherous money grubbing idiots.

And, FWIW, as long as you get out of their home programs (especially if you on with a Gold Team), their support is actually really damned good.

But, as you say, I have absolutely no desire to support my friends, family or coworkers' computer problems off-hours, so I most certainly would always recommend they buy from a manufacturer, unless they have a 17 year old in the basement for free labor.

palladiate: I Like Bread:

$1200, 22" widescreen LCD, x1950, C2D E6600, 2GB RAM, Asus P5W mobo, new case, yadda, yadda. Hot stuff considering I built it a year ago, and took about 3 hours to set up (had a 1TB Raid 0 to set up, install the OS, and figure out the new UPS).

Dell's closest machine was $2400. You are spot-on. Dell is a plague.

For desktops sure, but if you are looking for a laptop it becomes a whole different story. Trying to build your own laptop just isn't worth it compared to buying a pre-built one. I'd never buy a desktop pre-built from anyone but for laptops I will.

Trying to build your own laptop just isn't worth it compared to buying a pre-built one.

Is it even possible? I've never seen a laptop built entirely from commodity components.

palladiate

had a 1TB Raid 0 to set up

You do know that RAID0 provides no redundancy, right? And that the loss of one drive == loss of everything?

Entropic_Existence

Building a PDA is even worse ;)

Englebert Slaptyback

You do know that RAID0 provides no redundancy, right? And that the loss of one drive == loss of everything?

But it provides higher bandwidth!!!11!11!1eleventy!1

//Had a sales management type suggest I replace a RAID5 array with RAID 0 based on a news article

You do know that RAID0 provides no redundancy, right? And that the loss of one drive == loss of everything?

It improves performance for disk intensive applications such as web servers though, which I'm sure is what's going on here.

The comments section on that article is scary. They're as bad as Farkers, except you know they're all serious.

Oh, well, sure. If I have to buy PCs for 50 coworkers/family members or do tech support for them, you can be damn sure I'm calling up Dell or Gateway or Apple. It's a different story when it's someone ELSE's money vs. YOUR time.

As for the IT department's rig: "You see sir, I ordered the GeForce 8800GTX because I need the graphical power to run multiple desktops from the server and Remote Assistance. I also need a 15k SCSI drive in the event that I have to restore someone's entire PC."

I Like Bread

Hahahaha. I need to try that one. Ironically, as a head IT chap, I have the slowest computer in the entire company.

//I think it's because I don't biatch enough. :D

pjc51

It improves performance for disk intensive applications such as web servers though, which I'm sure is what's going on here.

Note the x1950 he listed; who puts a high-end ATI graphics card/3D accelerator in a web server, along with a 22" LCD?

I gathered this was a high-end desktop, not a server.

Cathaleon

Englebert Slaptyback

You do know that RAID0 provides no redundancy, right? And that the loss of one drive == loss of everything?

But it provides higher bandwidth!!!11!11!1eleventy!1

//Had a sales management type suggest I replace a RAID5 array with RAID 0 based on a news article

You administered the required groinpunch to the sales droid, yes?

Wabash: What in that article could be considered confidential? Please give examples.

I don't know, whatever Dell considered confidential. It's not my letter to the Consumerist. I'm just saying that any company or individual has a right to protest when information they deem confidential is posted in a public place. The person who posted it can choose not to take it down, but it's stupid to pretend that Dell doesn't have a right to at least protest. No one was biatching when that high school pole vaulter got mad that her picture was online. No one said she "did something incredibly stupid" by not wanting her picture online.

It is up to each entity to determine what they feel is confidential and it is their right to protest when that material is disseminated publicly.

Dell can kiss my butt. DO YOU HEAR ME, DELL?!?! BUTT. KISS IT.

Am I the only one that considered the fact that this whole thing could be a blatant attempt by dell to increase sales in the wake of it recent troubles? Nothing on the entire list is damning to Dell in any way. The two largest complaints about Dell are their non-english speaking tech support, and their overpriced equipment. Then entire article stunk of a sales pitch targeted directly at these two complaints in order to advertise better discounts as well as a sales pitch to get you to use the Kiosks. The letter from Dell's lawyers itself is a half-hearted form letter.

Now I may be just being paranoid here, but it seems to me that someone at Dell thought of a brilliant plan to outline saving money by buying dell, pretending it's an ex-dell employee so people read it without thinking it's a sales pitch, and then have a lawyer-type form-letter sent to the blog so everyone and their mother reads it because of the ensuing wave of consumer activists complaining.

I love the Consumerist, and the poster who said Dell is a plague is right.

Dell used to be known for bland, but good quality, products. My grandmother has a Dell from 2001 that will probably outlive her.

Sometime in the last four or five years, though, the quality disappeared. Outsourced tech support only made the problem worse.

DIAF, Dell, you don't sell any computers worth buying.

Dear Root88,
Here is a complimentary laptop because you are so friggin' cool. Oh yeah, if you have a minute could you take down that article for us? We're not digging it at all.

Lovingly yours,
Dell

Dear Dell,

Done!

Thanks homeskillets,
root88

I was a buyer for a wholesale outfit and we built computers to order and did low end white box desktops. The building and selling was not the problem, its the RMA and tech support that cost more than anything. We gave a 3 year across the board warranty but we encouraged them to contact the manufacturer directly for faster RMA. Typically it took us 2+ months for most RMA's depending on manufacturer. And no, we did not use stock for RMA replacements because often the manufacturers would either repair or send refurbished which we could not sell as new.

If a part had a high RMA rate it got dropped promptly from the builds.

At the time, keyboard and mouse=$4
mb=40
case=19
80gb HD=39
2x 256mb sticks=22
speakers=3
OS=78
processor AMD2800=35
selling price 275-350

of course we would hammer the shipping adding at least an extra 10$ above the actual cost. Parts sold for 10-20% above our cost, more if it was an in demand item or hard to procure. The FX-55 was one of those items, we had orders for 20 but could only get 2
Needless to say my systems were built at cost plus a few bucks. Usually saving me about $2000

I Like Bread
Dell secret #23:
Learning how to build your own computer is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS better than buying from Dell...Unless the system is for a relative, in which case, it's better to go with a Dell so you don't get tech support calls everytime solitaire won't load, the printer won't print, etc.


FTFY

/Replaced my Aunt's homebuilt w/a Dell
//For less than it would've cost me to upgrade everything
///No support calls FTW

Cathaleon:
Building a PDA is even worse ;)

Nonetheless, I did that once. Incidentally, with a Dell Axim. Bought one, which turned out to be defective. They sent me a replacement unit, which /also/ was defective. So I ripped both of them apart, assembled one working PDA, and sent them the left-over shards. Amazingly enough, they were cool with that.

ignite ice: now 22 more things I don't need to know.

I only found 7. Where are the others?