We're going through a not-too-happy support situation with Dell and the
Inspiron 5150. We have about 20 laptops of which four are the Dell Inspiron
5150 model. All four of them have failed within a few weeks of each other.
We typically don't take out extended warranty on non-server equipment as, in
the past, if a desktop or laptop gets through it's first year, it'll carry
on until it's obsolete. So it's more cost effective to pay for repairs or
replacements and not take out the warranty. However, when such a high
percentage fail, this model doesn't work. So it leaves a bit of a bad taste
when told "tough".

But our main gripe is with having to go through Dell's off-source support
centre to try and get these things repaired...

So we're looking to switch vendors for laptops and would appreciate any
comments people have about the other big vendors like IBM, HP and Toshiba.
We're not necessarily looking for the cheapest but the most cost effective
overall solution with UK or Europe based support centres.

Thanks. Rob.

Hi Rob,

I would recommend Asus, they build for Sony and Apple (and others), supply
barebones to bulk manufacturers and design stunning award winning laptops...

http://en.red-dot.org/1290+M5bb7312e7f1.html

You also get with every laptop a 2yr Global warranty, optical mouse and
carry case as standard. Reviews are good as are specs and as they share the
same technology as Sony you are getting a well constructed machine with
X-black equivalent LCDs and ZBD (Zero Bright Dot Pixel Guarantee) on many
models.

If you have any questions please let me know, for some great deals on the
range please check this link...

http://www.red-cloud.co.uk/catalogue...egory&catid=10

If you would like more info on any particular model please let me know.

Thanks

Euan.
RCT

W - www.red-cloud.co.uk




"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:dg3jq4$amu$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

Rob Nicholson wrote:
Some Thinkpads have, or did have, a 3-year warranty built-into the retail
price, and I always found IBM's service/repair team to be excellent.

It would be worth checking out from their website whether they still do
3-year warranties (free) with any of their existing range.

www.ibm.com

Dennis. :-)

IBM is no more, but the two choices to consider are Lenovo (IBM) and
Toshiba.

The economics of extended warranties for laptops are different than for
desktops.


Rob Nicholson wrote:

ASUS has been recommended elsewhere as well so I'll do some investigation.

Thanks, Rob.

"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:dg3jq4$amu$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
Can't really give any recommendation for other manufacturers since I've only had
Dell laptops & have been satisfied with their service. I was just curious though
since these laptops were for business why did your company not go with the
Latitude line instead of the home consumer Inspiron line. Perhaps your support
experience would've been better with their business class machines. Something to
keep in mine with whatever notebook company you decide on.

g'day
youth

the small company I work for leases all the laptops.

"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:dg3jq4$amu$1@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

"RCT" <rct@red-cloud.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4325692d$0$17488$ed2e19e4@ptn-nntp-reader04.plus.net...
99.99% are made by the same two companies, and are then just rebadged to
suit

Hi Rob,

If looking for a competitive quote please let me know, you won't find better
prices or service and we carry the full range too. We also have our own
dedicated Support Site, offering high level aftersales care to ensure you
don't have similar problems that you experienced with your DELLs.

We can also offer leasing terms to keep payments low (plus you get some
excellent tax benefits).

Thanks again

Euan.
RCT

W - www.red-cloud.co.uk




"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message
news:dg4u8d$3nj$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...

X-No-Archive: yes

IBM would probably be more suited to you as they are catered towards
everyday business use whereas although the Asus are very good you would
most likely be paying for features you don't need as Asus is more
suited to the lifestyle/design and multimedia/gaming.

Not necessarily true as a lot of our customers buy for business, they just
wish a bit more features and style along with it.

The Asus range will perform just as well as any IBM and shouldn't be
discounted because they are also designed for multimedia usage too.

HTH

Euan.
RCT


W - www.red-cloud.co.uk



"hans" <hansel_mccoy@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1126604354.933641.75020@g47g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

X-No-Archive: yes

Maybe Asus if you're buying for yourself (business and other stuff).
But if I were to buy laptops for my employees to use, I wouldn't want
to give them a nice stylish Asus to ruin.

RCT wrote:

Ahh Dell tried that one as well "The Inspiron is not for business use". Well
pray tell why when you got to www.dell.co.uk and click on small business
(which means us at < 200 employees) is the Inspiron listed...

How do you investigate a new laptop that only goes faulty after a period of
time? Very hard when it's just released. And Dell changes it's model line so
often that it's very hard to find stability :-)

Cheers, Rob.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing <grin> We've always been a little confused by
this distinction between the Inspiron being a home laptop and the Latitude
being more business aligned. What's that saying? The biggest difference is
of course price with the Latitude being always sold with 3 year warranty
AFAIK.

The Inspiron though is listed as a choice for small business which is what
we are at < 200 employees. It states here:

----cut here---
Dell InspironTM Notebooks
Offers the latest notebook technology at outstanding value. It's designed to
address the requirements of notebook users at every level.
----cut here---

Every level eh? I assume that means business users as well.

But actually our gripe is not with the laptops actually failing and being
out of warranty but the PAIN of trying to get a quote of how much to replace
the motherboard or screen and how we go about getting that procedure
underway via the Indian call centre.

Cheers, Rob.

That is becoming a possible option.

Cheers, Rob.