Real World Computing
Speed limits
A couple of weeks ago, I switched it on and noticed a white stripe about an inch wide running down the screen. It was there right from startup and even visible over the BIOS setup screens, so it obviously wasn't a virus, a video driver problem or anything Windows related. Then I plugged in an external monitor and didn't see the problem, so it obviously wasn't a problem with the video card either. Being the kind of person I am, I soon had the machine in bits, re-seating the video card and the flexible cables that connect the LCD to the motherboard, but that didn't fix it. A bit of Googling suggested that it might also be the delicate connections running around the sides of the LCD panel starting to come apart - the general suggestion was to apply pressure at various points around the edge and see if that cures the problem. I tried that, to no effect. It was looking as if the LCD needed replacing, but at £200-300 a pop for a new screen, I didn't think it was worth it. Time to semi-retire the old faithful (I'll probably use it as another node in our network monitoring system where a dodgy screen isn't really going to matter), but obviously I'd need to replace it, so I trundled off to the Dell Outlet to buy a new one.
As I've mentioned before, there are often cracking bargains to be had in the Outlet section of Dell's website, but the best bargains are snapped up very quickly, so you need to pop back regularly to catch the best deals. Anyway, I found an Inspiron 1720, which seemed to be the logical upgrade for my old 9300 (although you'd never guess so from Dell's eccentric model numbering). It has a great spec, so I placed an order and waited a couple of days until Dell emailed me the order confirmation. All seemed fine except for one thing: I could have sworn the machine I ordered contained a mobile broadband card.
There was certainly one such machine on the Outlet site and I'm 95% convinced that it's the one I ordered, but there was no WWAN card listed on the order confirmation, and by the time I received that email the machine had vanished from the site because I'd bought it. So, I emailed Dell to double-check and was told: "Unfortunately, there is no mention of this on our systems at this end, and as far as I know it's not normally an item we would sell with the Dell Outlet systems. Unless you have a screenshot of this transaction, unfortunately, there's nothing I can do." And that's that. I was only 95% sure that I was right, so there's a 5% chance that Dell is right and that there was never supposed to be a WWAN card in this machine. I'm not in a position to force the issue, and I'm never comfortable playing the "Harrumph, don't you know I write for PC Pro..." card.
Nevertheless, once it became obvious that Dell wouldn't budge, I did tell them I'd be printing a tip about buying stuff via the Dell Outlet, and that tip is very simple. If you buy something from Dell's Outlet store, make sure to print and keep a screenshot of the specification of the machine as shown on the site. If you don't you'll have no real proof of the detailed specification of the machine you just ordered - all you get back from Dell is an email with a headline like "1720 CORE 2 DUO T8300 2.40GHz". A printout is the only way to prove exactly what you clicked on to buy.
I think this is a fairly big flaw in the company's purchasing procedures, and hope that it will consider changing it, most simply by including the detailed spec within the order confirmation email. I still think the Outlet is a good place to buy Dell kit, but my recommendation now comes with this huge caveat about keeping a record of what you've bought. Meanwhile, it's off to Ebay to buy a Dell WWAN card for my new laptop. At least on Ebay the listing for anything you've purchased stays visible for a few months...
