Dell.com [Dell4me.com] - A Positive Shopping Experience and No Sales Tax
Written: Sep 15 '02
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When my friend decided to buy a new PC, I suggested Dell. I have had good experience with Dell computers in the past and saw them as being less problematic than other brands in Consumer Reports. I use two Dell computers at work and have had no problems whatsoever.
Dell sells their computers online only through dell.com website. So we headed there and got a new Dimension 4500 with 2GHz P4, 512Mb RAM, 40Gb HDD and Windows XP Home.
Site Problems
The site is easy to use and employs nice color scheme. They also feature different promotions from time to time - BMW-a-day giveaway, etc. They have free shipping today and $50 off - all special offers are highlighted in red and are clearly visible.
However, when we tried to place an order, the things turned ugly. The site would be slow on transitions between pages and sometimes would inform us that the error has occured. After which it would forget all the choices we made on the previous screen. It would even forget the product we wanted to buy and ask us about its "e-Value code". Fortunately I wrote down this code in the beginning.
After several attempts to get the the last page, the PC was ordered.
Options
The site offers multitude of options for configuring your computer, choosing extended warranties, software, accessories, delivery and installation options. All options include description of the price change that will happen should you choose the option. For example, "80GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive [add $70]"
Among available options are even things like Palm Pilot PDA, digital cameras and power protection. There are too many choices in some areas for people with less technical expertise, but the default selections should be OK for most people. Except we got more RAM, because 256Mb is too little for Windows XP.
Among options for our Dell Dimension 4500 was 6 free months of AOL or MSN internet access. We selected AOL, even though I dislike it and tried to convince my friend to get MSN.
Payment
We bough the Dimension 4500 and paid by credit card. But there is an option to set up a "Dell Preferred Account" and finance the price, even with 90-day no-payment feature for "well qualified customers". Our computer cost $980 and would have cost us $30 if we were using this feature.
Sales Tax
There is no sales tax on the purchase, since Dell has no retail stores. At least not in our state of California. It is very nice not to have to pay sales tax - it saved us $82.
Delivery
The Shipping options include Next Business Day delivery ($160 in our case), 2nd Business Day delivery ($120) or 3-5 day Ground delivery (usually $99, currently free). At the time we bought the computer, Ground shipping was $99, so we chose 2nd Business day for $120 and got the PC on time.
Bottom Line
The Dell.com web site is easy to use, well-designed and functional. Although we experienced some cases of slow page loading and error messages, it seems to have been an isolated occurence and the site seems to be stable now. With no other way to get a Dell computer, I highly recommend this site. And keep in mind, you save by not paying sales tax!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
 - Top 10 |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 849
Trusted by: 523 members
About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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