Business vs. Home

I have asked this on a dell forum, but received no answer, so here I ask on a second one..

First of all, I am sure this has been asked a thousand times, but I could not find a definite answer.. so sorry about asking the thousand and first time but .... anyways.

I was considering buying a really nice laptop and was thinking about the 17 inch XPS home one, with 3 gig graphics etc, that costs around 850 pounds (yeah I am British).

But then I saw the more or less same thing for 650 in the business side.. so well...

Q1: Do I have to have a small business or something to buy it? I.e. is it legal etc. for a student to buy it?

Q2: What is the difference between these two, why such a huge difference, I mean 200 quid is a lot, especially if it is 650... Is the software very different? the quality or something?

Q3: Would you guys recommend the cheaper business offer, or not?


Please btw. guys, don't answer unless you are sure. I don't want to seem ungrateful or anything, but I want a definite answer.


Thanks in advance...

 

Are you saying you saw the XPS 17 in Dell Business or a similar laptop (Vostro 3470?) for less?

Either way, it's most definitely legal to buy from the business side, whether you're a business owner or not. I've bought several laptops in the past for personal use from Dell Business. Just fill in your name where they ask for the business name. Many people operate in a self employed manner to make a living, I do. Maybe you've made money using your computer or used it for work related stuff, there you go -- you're a business user. And even if you're not, Dell Business is still happy to sell to you. Funny story, the Dell Home and Dell Business units are treated separately by the company and they actually compete with each other on deals.

You generally get better support as a business customer too, and that's a good thing, so there's no explanation for the 200 pounds difference other than different marketing being used by each group. Go for the business offer.

 

Andrew, please can you explain how and why Dell business users get better support?

I have had an incredibly poor experience of Dell home following a purchase of an XPS L702x which shipped with several problems, develop several more. It would seem that the Home support team are designed to waste time and fob people off until they give up. If I didn't have a 25 year background with computers and keen attention to detail, they would have misled me on multiple occassions. I would strongly recommend against Dell Home based upon my overall support experience of the XPS L702x which has not been resolved.

 

Lordofdeath,

Thank you for your question. You do not have to be a business owner to buy from the Dell Business line of products. The reason the same products are priced differently is because the pre-configurations are different. Although most of our products can be customized, sometimes our customers want a unit configured for their use (home, business, large enterprise, etc). The main differences usually include RAM, hard drive, processing speed, etc.

Here are personal/home starting points for XPS 17: Dell XPS 17 3D Laptop Details | Dell UK

For business:
Dell XPS 17 Laptop Details | Dell UK

If you have any further questions on the best fit for you I would chat with a sales representative. They will be able to tell you the specifications of the build.

Let me know if you have any other questions I can help you with

Thanks,
Mourin@Dell

 

I've always had a good experience with Dell Business support. Often times their warranty is a base line 3-years. I don't know if that's the case for the XPS 17. I don't have inside knowledge on how Dell Home Vs. Business support is different, it's based on past experiences and so is only anecdotal evidence from one person. In general though, if you buy from a channel that's focused on selling to business customers you can expect better support because they make better margins selling to business buyers rather than consumers. Business buyers are less cost sensitive.

Mourin works for the Dell Business side of things, the fact that she's reaching out here shows that Dell Business cares and wants to serve you right IMHO.

 

Dells business site quotes prices without VAT. Are you sure you've taken this into account?

That said there are often better deals on the business site and I've bought from it before. Just make sure you compare the deals carefully.

 

I've also gotten much better support on the business side. Dell usually does NBD on site warranties on their business line in the US instead of mail in repairs, on all but the lowest end models.

 

I also had much better support from the Buisness side.