Until yesterday, I was a satisfied customer who had purchased four Dell systems in the past. A month ago, I ran Dell's PC Doctor/Dell Support Center and discovered that my Dell/Samsung internal hard drive had failed two crucial tests. A quick visit to several online forums indicated that I needed to replace the hard drive. I phoned Dell Sales and ordered a new Seagate Barracuda 7200 500 GB drive for $121.00. Although I could have purchased this same drive for approximately $70.00 from a number of suppliers, I ordered it from Dell because they had answered my questions and assured me that this drive was fully compatible with my Dell Inspiron 530 and its system. I received the new drive promptly, but when I opened the box there were no instructions, SATA cables, shoulder screws, or software. These I had to purchase separately from a local computer store. When I installed the new hard drive, the computer instantly recognized it in both the BIOS and device manager. BUT, I was unable to format or initialize the new drive using Microsoft's Computer Management Tool. When I phoned Dell, my call was transferred to their Software Support Department. The first question asked by their customer service representative was did I have my credit card available! My response was simple and direct: Dell had sold me the Seagate drive at TWICE THE MARKET PRICE with NO INSTRUCTIONS, HARDWARE, or SOFTWARE, and now wanted to charge me to troubleshoot why I could not format the drive. The customer service representative held the line on payment and I ended the phone call a very dissatisfied customer.
In this instance, Dell did not support the peripherals it sold. On another note: I downloaded Seagate's software [the software that should have been included by Dell, especially since I paid a premium price] and the new drive works perfectly. After having purchased four Dell systems, I now have little or choice but to purchase from another computer-maker. Since I am very pleased with my new iPad, a Mac Book may be my next platform.
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