Are you happy with your Inspiron?

Okay, so I really just want to know, for those of you who have received your Inspiron (any module), are you happy with it? I'm on the verge of canceling my order, but I still think it's a good notebook... I'm just scared after hearing all the negative stuff and wondering if there is something else out there around the same price range, or if I should just cross my fingers and wait?

 

You still have not received your notebook, correct Pwnstar?

I think you should wait it out. Don't listen to all the OPINIONATED posts on the laptop. SEE what the deal is for YOURSELF in YOUR hands. Only than should you be able to make such a decision on returning your long awaited laptop.

It's like running 4.5 miles and quitting before the 5th mile..just hang in there.

 

I really do hope dell's cleaned up their act. Everyone's heard terrible things about them. Build quality on their notebooks was horrible... everyone I knew with a dell has had a horrible experience with them. Like, 6 out of 7 consumers- my friends, family, their Dells have terrible issues. I only know one person with a functioning, no problems dell and that's still pretty iffy since it's new. The dell desktops at work are all breaking down constantly. Same goes for a lot of other people out there. Everyone is warned by their friends/coworkers/whatever to stay away from dell.

Still, there is absolutely nothing out there that touches the deal we got on these inspirons/vostros. You just can't get these components anywhere for this price, not even close, from anything but a dell. But damn... I'm waiting for my vostro and I'm scared too. I hope it doesn't let me down. I might dump it for a thinkpad t60 but I am definately going to wait it out and see. I can't afford the same features and specs, downgrade from the t7300 to the t2500, downgrade the 8600gt to an x1400, but if it comes to that, at least I'll know it's going to be reliable and well built.

 

Grrr, this is almost like having a baby. Not that I'd know anything about that, but it's like you've been waiting so long, but every mother at the hospital you're at has a retarded baby, and you're scared you're gonna get a retarded baby too!! But maybe it isn't!! Just missing some fingers and toes... nothing important.

 

ROFL PWNSTAR!

Though, that analogy was a little "rough", as I have 2 babies and don't remember hoping they were not retarded or anything..I get your point. lol.

 

It seems to me dell has been lowering the quality a bit since the e1705. On the other hand, the e1705 was a pretty solid laptop, so I'm not there is reason for panic just yet.

 

As a Dell user for nearly a decade, I can attest that Dell's quality has consistently gone up over the past few years. The D830 I just purchased is of a significantly better build quality than the 500m I bought in 2003 which in turn is of a significantly better build quality than the CpT I got in 1999.

Personally I think the 1x20/1x21 and Vostro buyers have nothing to worry about... sure there are complaints, but for ever one complaint heard here there are probably many more satisfied users out there...

 

How do you know that? I would've thought the build quality to be the same on all the last gen inspirons. Maybe the e1705 guys just took better care of them? They are desktop replacements so they'll be treated more easily. I hope they were good though, and you're not basing it off that other guys comment that he's had one since November.... not much of a test since that's not even 1 year... I have a bag of potato chips that lasted that long.

I hope mine will be alright. I'm not nearly as anal as a bunch of the computer nerds here. I don't care about scratched stickers, or a grainy screen unless it's bad enough I can't make out faces in movies, and I can't even hear the apparent whining sound some are complaining about when I listened to that video.

 

I completely empathize with your concerns about whether your laptop will be ok when it finally ships. I do find it odd that you didn't get your 1520 yet since I ordered my 1720 on like the same day you did. May want to take that as a positive sign that you may indeed receive it sooner than later- I dunno, with Dell NOONE knows.

During the wait, it is definitely easy to get sucked into all the issues you see floating around these threads which will have you second guessing yourself to the brink of insanity. But what what it's worth, while I like so many others, have had a PHENOMENALLY bad customer service experience with Dell, other than the lack of a remote (which is truthfully beyond the span of control for the Reps to solve as their system simply isn't configured to be able to order it for us unbundled) my actual PC is just fantastic- better than I had hoped in fact. I'd be cautiously optimistic you'll have the same experience. Having used Dell's business line of laptops for 12 yrs now and then IBM Thinkpads b4 that (which I HATED) this was the first 'consumer' laptop I've purchased and while it's obviously way to early to make a judgement until I've had it for a year, I gotta tell ya- this is one solid machine. It's cool, a great desktop replacement in my case and just a joy to use.

And as far as that nagging remote control fiasco, mark my words- WE WILL get our remotes. I'm working on it. Will take a little bit of time until Dell gets their act together and configures a new SKU for the Reps to be able to order separately- But it WILL happen.

So don't get all torn up about it. Statistically speaking, you're likely to get a great PC when your wait is finally over.

 

Off-Topic Alert..

Thanks to steve jobs for paying for your laptop? what?

edit** do you have stock or something judging by the graph that allowed you to sell and get your laptop free?

 

Yep- doubled my money in less than a year and use the proceeds to get my kick-ass Dell-woot! Someday down the road I'll likely go with a MBP, but I've done alot of research comparing the 2 lines and Dell definitely is a better PC for the money. Beyond the 'cool factor' the Apple line still isn't all that great on a relative basis. It WILL BE though. Remember, Jobs is a marketing genius when it comes to staged product roll-outs and feeding new technology in a way to keep people upgrading / buying (exactly what they did with the iPod). Anyone buying a MBP now is going to be kicking themselves in the not too distant future when you see the next gen Macs. They will simply blow you away and redefine the entire PC market- think of things like applying Apple's patents in touchscreen technology to a conventional PC and then KEEP GOING. Within the next 5 years you'll see a laptop that doesn't even look like what it is now.

Very, very cool stuff, but point is, now's NOT the time to go MBP. Apple is just biding it's time especially considering Q2 sales increased 27% with their existing high priced / high margin PC's while Dell's decreased 10%. Dell is the way to go for now. Premature to jump into the Apple pool yet...

Now... BACK TO TOPIC!

 

So I finally hauled out the wait and my 1520 has been shipped. Except, it shows I will recieve it in 5-7 days, even though my shipping is Next Business Day. Doesn't surprise me at this point, but adds to my disappointment.

I know, you have heard it all before, everyones been complaining and yadda yadda yadda... I am really starting to worry about how long this laptop will last me based on all the poor reviews.

 

Depends what you have come from I guess. I am coming from a $600 Toshiba 2.8GHz Celeron which battery life was about 40mins...and integrated graphics.

With my new dell I am extremely happy and the performance is amazing!! I have practically given up using my desktop to play on the laptop because it looks great!

 

^ I say you relax, and try to reach deep down inside to find that anticipation and hope you had the day you ordered the new inspiron. I want to bet 10-1 that you will like the laptop and will be glad you took some of our advice to wait it out.

 

What day did you order yours?

I ordered mine on 7/7

 

Original order date: 6/28
Original ship date: 7/16
Original delivery date: 7/17

On 7/16, I get an e-mail notice telling my order would be delayed a week for no reason.

New ship date: 7/23
New delivery date: 7/24

On 7/20, I get a call saying my order has been shipped. I never recall it being in testing or boxing stage from website order status page.

I check the tracking number: product not found. Carrier not available.

I check my online order status. It says it's been shipped. But looks like the shipping isn't next business day like they LIED to me...

 

It's not worth waiting these many days for 1520. Sony vaio FZ ships in less than a week. Actually I ordered it tuesday night and it shipped on friday evening.

 

ok cool guy, i'm pretty sure that vaio fz is not the same spec of a high-end dell 1520. Also someone early said that you can't get the same hardware from anywhere else? well i suggest those people to look over to asus and compal.

Back to topic. I wouldn't sweat it pwnstar. if you happen to not like your dell when it arrives then you do have the 30 days money back offer. so just return it. i think you are actually very lucky for having your laptop "shipped" for me i got too frustrated with the payment department that i just canceled my order.

 

VERY HAPPY DELL Customer here. My DELL (laptop) was back in 1995 (Latitude). I just received my f'ing Inspiron 1420 three days ago. VERY HAPPY with it. Fast and light. I also owned DELL Dimension workstation and f'ing 24-in LCD screen from DELL. I use DELL workstation (and monitors) at work, too.

Be patient and your dream machine will arrive soon...

 

Do I like my brand new inspiron 1520... HECK YES! This thing rocks. Ignore the haters. The screen is fine. The dvd burner is fine (assuming you use software that closes the session), the headphone jack is fine (tested with dvd, cd, mp3), no creaks, no squeels, no complaints. This thing is awesome.
Once you get yours, you just might agree...

Best Wishes,

SXO792

 

I'm one of those haters. U got a problem with haters? lol jk. But okay, past all those problems and stuff I still do like the inspiron. I do have a bunch of problems that i overlook, like the headphones port, the grainy screen, some noises. It's alright, and quit fretting over the insprion, i keep on reading a topic about (pwnstar) asking about switching computers, asking if ppl like it. Comeon just wait till u get it, if u dont like it, or if theres a problem just return it -_-. IM pretty sure ur gonna like it anyway. Remember.....like i said Billions of times.. Dell has a good ratio of performance over value.

 

lol.. this is the like the 10th thread PwnStar has made about cancelling the 1520 for another computer

 

only thing i dont like about it is the graphics card. i donno whats the deal on the graphics(gddr2 or gddr3). i just called few minutes ago and asked if the graphics card is gddr or gddr3 and she confused that with ram. i was disappointed so i had to cancel my order. on the website, the 1520's nivdia card is gddr2 while the 1420's 8400gs is gddr3. i am going to wait until someone clarify that its gddr3 on the 1420's 8400gs. =D

 

I received my 1420 a couple days ago. Here's my impression.

PROS
There is no flex. The build is solid.
The battery life for the 9cell is pretty freakin amazing...something like 5:15.
The screen is SHARP and at high settings is more than bright enough (I got the WXGA+)
The keyboard and touchpad are solidly built. The mouse buttons are not like a toy (if you ever used a HP 2000 series then you know what im talking about)
The performance reflects what you configured, so I won't delve into that topic

CONS
The battery isn't locked in place very well. It moves just a little bit when I pick the laptop up and such. Maybe this is just the 9-cell.
The DVD-RW drive also feels like theres about a 1mm spacing between it and the rest of the laptop casing so it feels a little loose there. It really isn't loose, I mean you can't pull anything out, but it's not "perfectly" flush.

As far as what specs you get for the money , kind of like GMC always talking about their cars getting "initial quality" rating, the inspiron is very very good.
Also taking into account the price, this is a good value (especially with the dedicated video card). 2 years down the line, that's when it really matters. I for one got the warranty. It's kind of like buying a car. All new cars are gonna be pretty damn good (provided its not a KIA or something). It's after a couple years of driving that the true value/quality of the product stands out. I know there are a lot of dell bashers around here, and I've seen a few friends have problems with dell hardware, but I for one have a Dell desktop from 2001 that runs 24/7 for 6 years straight, and I have never had to replace anything in it.

EDIT: For everyone who doesn't know what GDDR2 and GDDR3 and all the technical terms are.... WIKI it. How do you think everyone else knows about it? They don't all work for nVidia or ATI or are electrical engineers. Just find out for yourself. It takes about..... 1 minute. GO.

 

Just wait it out. I'm waiting for my 1520 and am way too excited to recieve it. If it really has all these problems then I will return mine too, but alot of it is just personal opinion.

As for the dell customer service, I have had horrible experiences with them, but that doesn't affect the laptop quality!

 

I forgot one thing. Sony doesn't get as many orders like dell. That's the reason for the long wait too. Anyway I hope my vostro will be built in 10 days or less. So did get ur laptop then?

 

What everyone is saying is true - Don't worry about it. This post kind of got me thinking about that fact that I have owned 3 Dell computers 2 Dimensions, 1 Latitude and have never had a problem with any of them other than I didn't spend enough money on the upgrades. I also use a latitude every day for work. They all ran beautifully until they I outgrew their capacity.

If you think about it...most "unprofessional" reviews on any web site are usually pretty bad. At least from my experience...