I purchased a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop for $3000. With a 4 year warranty in June. Right out of the box the Dell 17" flat screen monitor was defective. Dell was prompt in sending a new one but sent a REFURBISHED one to replace a $500.00 new monitor. They were prompt to replace the refurbished one with a new one. The port Targus port replicator ordered with my system did not work, right out of the box. Dell was prompt in sending a new one which also did not work. Despite numerous e-mails, letters and calls, this issue was NEVER resolved. My certified letter to Dell headquarters went unanswered.
In February 8 months after receiving the unit, it was so hot the fan ran 24/7 on high. Dell replaced the fan/heat sink assembly (or I should say I did, they shipped the part to me.)
Things were okay until 2 weeks ago. Same overheating problem. I sent an e-mail to Dell tech support. After two days of no response and trying to work with a system that shut down for no reason every 15 minutes, I started calling Dell tech support on the phone. I talked to at least 9 people, most of which I could not understand due to a heavy foreign accent. Some hung on me for no reason or I got disconnected when ey tried to transfer me. I wish to stress that I was, at all times, polite and cordial to each person I tried to talk to. After a frustrating full day wasted doing that, I went online and searched all over the Internet for information regarding the overheating problem on my system.
I found numerous poor reviews not only all over the Internet but on Dell's own Community Forums about the poor design of this 5100 laptop. Too late, I discovered that Dell knows about this design flaw which causes the system to overheat and shut down for no reason. Dell knew of this issue prior to my purchasing my system and let me go ahead and order one anyway. I felt I had done good homework before my purchase and had 5 other Dells that I had had no problems with over the years. Blame myself for having an inherent trust in Dell products.
Today, after waiting 7 days for a response to my initial e-mail, I finally recieved a reply from someone who did not bother to read my request for support. They wanted me to do all kinds of things to my system unrelated to the issue at hand. After advising them of this, and numerous e-mails back and forth, they finally got the message and are sending yet another fan/heatsink unit. I fully expect it will run okay for about 2-3 months and I will have the same problem again. I firmly believe Dell is also aware of this.
I have no real desire to rant and rail here. My sole purpose in posting is to advise that the buyer beware. Dell support (both in customer service and tech support) has declined considerably - I was shocked at the level some of the tech people stooped to in order to pass me off to someone else. They do not pay attention to that you are trying to explain to them and only want to get you passed off to someone else where you have to start all over again.in good conscience, I would not recommend that anyone buy a computer from Dell without the assistance of an attorney and I'm not joking. The way they deal with their customers is so convoluted that only an attorney could understand it all.
I bought this on a small business lease so I have no option but to keep my fingers crossed that the machine will keep running long enough to pay off the lease in June of next year.
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