Dell Ineptitude 8100

Yes it’s quick, but it doesn’t support Aero in Vista. And then there is the font rendering. WTF… Related Content:Font FunTweak Flash Player SettingsHate My Font?Gnoming ServersThe Sniffle ShuffleGetting New GlassesFix Windows Vista’s Fonts!Dell Ineptitude 8100DOS FontsOur Linksys Problems

If and when you receive your I8100, don't forget to contact Dell within the first 30 days from the date of invoice for a “price protection” check as explained below:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/messages/message_view.asp?name=csfaq&id=zzztr
Since your system shipped on the 10th, you'd want to contact them for this possible refund by Feb 10 to fall within this 30-day window. The trick is to hold out until near the end of the deadline, keeping your fingers crossed that prices have dropped enough to qualify. In my case, I received $150 off my I8100 last year using this little-know rebate. Good Luck!
“Hubble Space Telescope Wallpaper for your Inspiron”
http://images.lunarpages.com/

Is that YOUR site?!

Dell or the HST Wallpaper site?!
I wish I owned the Dell site but I can only honestly lay claim to the wallpaper one. I got tired of looking for a quality wallpaper site that could really show off the impressive UXGA screen of my Inspiron 8100, so I came up with one of my own!

Rich, is that deal just for systems? I ordered a hard drive off dell.com (with coupons) and it should be ariving tuesday. If the price lowers, can I still get in on this rebate thing?

Give it a shot, dude.

Nope. The “total satisfaction' policy only applies to system orders:
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/messages/frame_message_view.asp?name=credit_return&id=zzjel&bandwidth=fra

Damn. Thanks for the info.

Chris,
I purchased a Dell 8100 for Christmas with a 1.7 processor and 512 of the new RDRAM and added a few extras from my older 500Mhz system. I have to say that this is the best system I have ever worked with. I used to work as a Network Admin and Help Desk troubleshooter at the University at Buffalo for two years and had the opp. to work on a variety of machines. I think that if you are patient you will be quite pleased. Of course, I will admit that the monitor arrived 3 days after the PC, but I chaulked that up to the holidays and of course, UPS. Good Luck!
Might as well make a plug for myself…
http//:www.datatronics.net

I had a similar situation with Dell about 4 months ago when a monitor that was ordered as part of a system disappeared in transit. The sales rep that likes taking my orders absolutely refused to get involved with tracking it down. They apparently are trained to take orders and do nothing else. I told him and his supervisor that it was poor customer service but I guess they don't care. When they finally figured out that it was my monitor that was returned to them damaged by UPS they sent me a credit. Never called or emailed to see about re-shipping. I had to call them to re-order. Meanwhile a new machine sat here in my office waiting 3 weeks for a monitor.

Is it still true that DELL products have a nonstandard pinout on the connector between their motherboard and power supply [aka proprietary ATX power connector]?
[This means if you replace either one with standard unit, you blow both out.]
See Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs, 13th edition, pages 1124-1126. Probably also found on his site http://www.upgradingandrepairingpcs.com
If so, this might well be added to the list of DELL discontents [not to mention Steve ;-)].
Another way to look at this is to stop paying high prices for nonexistant service, and consider such as emachines, where you *assume* their service and support is nonexistant [do a google search and see for yourself].
I don't know how many users here would settle for this, but we bought an emachine for my Mom [a new XPerience for us all, for Xmas]: this saved money, and I know in advance I'm on my own if the machine has problems beyond the 30 day Frye's “satisfaction guarantee.” We burned it in for two weeks, and all is fine. 900 MHz Celeron, 20 GB disk, 128 MB RAM [soon to add another 128 chip], clear 17 inch monitor, entry level Lexmark printer, modem, XP, $400. The only complaint was I had to download the Lexmark driver, and the 77 MB+ download took hours! Turned off the audio announcements. Later used Windows Update and breaking info on MO1-059 to plug the OS/IE holes. Used a free copy of InoculateIT Professional 5.2 for AV, having read that it is compatable with XP and detects very well, just does not have real time detection on XP. Turned on the furnished personal firewall, trust it is good enough. Added free programs NoteTab Lite, and IrfanView [zip support came with the OS and Real Player and Microsoft Works came with the emachine loader], and she is good to go at a great price. [If one wanted an emachine with built in burner, the price was about $100 more.]

I had my own problem with Dell last Dec. I bought a Dimension 8200. It was returned by UPS by their mistake. After getting with Dell to reorder, the sales agent could not find out about the reorder and went on vacation until 7 Jan without letting us know about status. Calling on 24 Dec we spend over an hour trying to find somebody to help us. I also sent emails to anybody that I could asking for help. After near 2 weeks of asking and demanding help and sending email of how mad I was, we were received a possible shipping date. On 7 Jan Dell told us it would be shipped with next day delivery since UPS's mistake. Well, it was not delivered until 10 Jan because Dell shipped it by a third party to Reno, NV where it was given to UPS delivery. We had to call or email Dell to find status, they never contacted on their own even though they knew we were mad.

All you need to know about Michael Dell is that he has allowed a tracking/ID chip to be placed in his son's body!