Want to Buy XPS - BUT.....

Hey All,

I am planning on buying a NEW Laptop and it is between the Dell XPS and the HP Envy. However, I have been reading a LOT of bad press regarding Dell computers, to include their XPS line. Everything from people receiving used units, which were suppose to be NEW. People having issues and getting horrible Tech Support, etc, etc, etc...

So prior to writing them off, I figured I would come here and ask you all what you have experienced. So, if you had to do it all over again, Right Now, what would you do????????????????????????????

Thanks!

Gunny

 

All depends on what you want to achieve and your budget.

I'd try filling out this form in the What Notebook Should I Buy subforum.

My personal recommendation is to only buy business oriented laptops. Consumer ones have always been built worse, parts are expensive and after just a few years out of production are hard to find, and business warranties are much better than consumer ones.

 

I'd still get my XPS 15. Only problem was a stuck pixel which was an easy fix, but other than that it's been a flawless unit. This is the 6th Dell laptop I've owned over the years and I've never had a bad one yet.

I've only had to deal with Dell's support arm to try and get some missing software, and the 3 or 4 people I had contact with lived up to their rep of being completely and utterly incompetent.

 

Never had any problem with my XPS, its working perfectly and I am thinking to buy another one after this.

Customer support here in EU has been excellent with me, they also sent me (when I said I disperately need it) and extra AC cable with no charge.

 

You have to figure that for every bad experience there are countless good ones that go unreported. Dell is just very popular so of course there's more people talking.

If you look for mass user reviews (where there are >100 individual reviews) they are consistently high.

 

The getting a used system thing was like one person...

As for the tech support, Dell's is better than most. They are still idiots sometimes, but overall they are decent. Other manufacturers (HP included) are far worse.

The XPS is a very good system, there are some bad reviews on it, but usually only those with trouble post anything. Dell has sold hundreds of thousands of these units, and there are a handful of people with real issues. Most of us here love our XPS systems, I know I love my XPS 17!

 

Thanks for the postings guys. I have another quick add on question:

What is the difference between an XPS 15 (2nd Gen) and the XPS 15z?

Thanks! ~~ Gunny

 

Don't get this POS, it's been nothing but problems for me and many others. The 1080p screen is not worth it. I'd say check into Asus or Sager

 

XPS 15 R2 (L502x) utilizes the same chassis as XPS 15 R1 (L501x) but offers 500 series GPU's and Sandy Bridge processors. Very minimal differences.

15z is Dell's attempt at Macbook Pro styled notebook. There are reported build quality issues with it.

 

It's great, buy it!

Very constructive, no?

 

Dell tech support is as horrible as you hear about..at least based on my experience a couple years ago (I'm in the UK and I'm talking about the India-based tech support). I only consider Dells now because of the full-refund-return period. If anything is even slightly wrong, I'll return it no questions asked - there is no way I'll ever bother dealing with their tech support again. Which is exactly what I did when I ordered a Dell last year. It had the noisy fan issue and was on its way back to the factory the next day, order cancelled.

 

I used to feel the same way about their support. It seems they have stepped it up at least for me.

 

Make sure, that if you get the XPS 15, that you get the 1920x1080 display. Never buy an XPS 15 with 1366x768.

 

I like the XPS15 a lot. Not as solidly built (many creaks) as I'd like. But with the specs it has you wont find a lower price. As for customer support, it may take a while for you to get what you want (3 hour phone call). But if you are nice to these people you always get what you want in my experience.

 

+1 for me, they are doing a great job here in EU for my experience.

 

Dell's tech support is pretty good. If you use the live chat they can resolve many of the issues or send a tech to you to fix the issue. I did however have one issue with the tech support guy deleting one of my drivers then trying to transfer me to software support to charge me for a service to reinstate it =\.

 

i've had great experiences with dell lately. i purchased an l401x, an l702x, and an m17x r3 from them with no hassles. the l401x has been flawless. my l702x had some heat issues, and they replaced it with a flawless version within a week. my m17x runs great outside of some serious keyboard flex.

 

Dell's support is better than most companies, say Asus or HP or others. I've had bad experiences with all of them, but Dell will ultimately get it right. The others just leave you hanging.

That said, Dell support was way better about 10 years ago...