Dell customer support ? Yeah right

Man, I know the feeling. Compaq is the exact same way. When I got my laptop from them, it came with a Phoenix BIOS (get used to that; all Compaq boxen come with a Phoenix BIOS). If you've never worked with the Phoenix BIOS, count yourself lucky. It's an out-and-out piece of sh|t.

In any event, the Compaq laptop has an APM implementation that is not-quite-compatible with Linux. The Phoenix NoteBIOS is no doubt to blame. I called Compaq tech support to b|tch at them and got the same response you got. I was rather annoyed, and pointed out, "What if I wanted to upgrade to Win2K?"

Response: "Well, we can't really support that either..."

Bastards!

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

I thas nothing to do with Dell, their hands are tied. Aureal made those drivers. Aureal died before they finished their Win2K drivers. Only the buggy beta version was released. Then Creative bought Aureals assets, including software and licences, and refuses to release them to developers. Creative is hoping that by not releasing the drivers, Aureal cards will be replaced with SB Live cards, and their probably right. Thousands of suckers bought Live cards because their Aureal cards would not work in their new systems. It would be unlawfull for Dell to develope drivers for the card as Creative holds the licence. Dell's hands are tied.

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

Im aware of the death of Aureal. However, I disagree on your statement about Dell. First of all, at the very least they should make these beta drivers available for the "Dell" version of this aureal card.

Secondly, they shouldnt have changed a thing about that card in the first place. The only result of this Dell version of almost-standard oem cards, is that you either get no drivers, or you get them 6 months later.

If you check USR/3com and look for drivers for the "Dell" windmodem, they explicitely refer to Dell for tech support & drivers. Same with Turtle Beach. Howver, Dell doesnt provide this support, and they made sure you cannot use the support/drivers of the original versions. Its not Dell's hands that are tied, its my hands.

---- Owner of the only Dell computer with a AMD chip

have you tried the Turtle Beach drivers?
most of my Dell hardware works with the regular drivers.
Compaq, however, seems to screw with every piece of hardware in their systems.

----------------------
Independant thought is good.
It won't hurt for long.

so does dell... beleive me i know, i tell at least three people every day that we cannot support there machines. usually because they changed their OS.

but, unfortunatley, dell can't support you even the tech wanted to, because of our contract with microsoft, we are only alound to provide support for our machines running the OS we sold.

sad but true.

is this reality... i thought it would more realistic.

Read Mukey's post. Legal issues, with both Creative AND Microcrap. And Dell would never want to release a "buggy" Beta driver anyway, as it would have a negative affect on their reputation. If they release a driver that doesn't work, it's their responsability. If they do not release the driver that doesn't work, it becomes your responsibility for changing OS's. Want to sell that card?

Cast not thine pearls before the swine

Turtle Beach doesn't even make drivers for win2K. Why would Dell? You changed the OS and why should Dell support that? If you wanted Win2K in the first place then it would be configured to run with its hardware. My Dad and father inlaw have bought Dells and have had great results and support. Don't blame Dell for your woes and accept some responsibility for your actions. Just go out and pay $40 bucks for a SB Live value. You've already paid $120.00 for the operating system right?..you did pay for Win 2K didn't you?

Zoom

There is something inherently wrong in your assumptions. The guy states the system is 2.5 years old. Obviously, win2k was not yet out. So is what you saying that if you buy a premade computer one should never have the option to upgrade his OS in the future? Everytime a new MS OS comes out what? you have to buy a new computer? Personally I think that is a load of crap. The whole premise of buying premade is the support, what do they have to offer is this is non-existant? Dell, ( and compaq for that matter) took things into there own hands when they modified the design of the sound card IMHO. Once they made it a "customized aureall for Dell only" they took the responsibility of providing support for said product. Perhaps if they left it alone and allowed it to use generic OEM drivers they might have a leg to stand on, but when they altered it and made it a "Dell" sound card they took the responsibilty of providing support for that piece of hardware.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Not many companies warrenty thier products once they've been altered or tampered with and i'm not just talking computers. If you want to upgrade then that's your right. But then you change the configuration of your PC that you bought. If you read this warrenty info from Dells website they are basically saying that you don't get to change the operating system and still get their support on the new OS;
From Dells website;

Lifetime* Installation and Configuration Support
Dell provides free telephone assistance for installation and configuration of Dell factory-installed Microsoft® operating systems and Dell factory-installed applications software (for example, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), excluding Custom Factory Integration items, for as long as you own or lease your system. Operating systems included in this offering are, Microsoft Windows®, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT® , Windows for WorkgroupsTM , Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium. Lifetime installation and configuration support also covers Service Packs, Components, Supplements Updates and Patches for factory-installed operating systems (Windows 9x, Windows NT and Windows 2000), as well as future releases downloaded from the Microsoft web site that Dell also distributes. Installation and configuration is defined as "restoration to factory configuration." Support for operating system defects is limited to commercially available fixes from the manufacturer.

Read here.."Dell factory-installed operating systems" So thats it then, you have to read the small print! He should of read his warrenty and called Dell before upgrading to ask about compatibility.
He's about due for an upgrade anyway. Maybe he'll build his own with everyones support here.
 
ZooM

"You changed the OS and why should Dell support that?"

No. But they should support their hardware, and release drivers for mainstream OSs, or allow their customers to use oem drivers.

"If you wanted Win2K in the first place then it would be configured to run with its hardware"

Windows 2000 wasnt out yet, when I bought the computer. I had bought it with Win2K in mind, but at the time it was just 98 that was available (or NT, but that was not an option, since it didnt support USB and DirectX).

I did buy a *computer* from Dell, and not a Win98-only box. Windows 2000 is also a pretty mainstream OS.. I dont see why I should not be allowed to upgrade the OS.

"Don't blame Dell for your woes and accept some responsibility for your actions. "

I dont blame Dell for the fact that Aureal has gone tits-up. However, I do blame them for selling slightly modified hardware, that doesnt work with oem drivers, and then not releasing drivers for it themselves. Like my modem, wich is a total waste; no drivers from dell, and the USR/3com drivers dont work.

Now, modems and soundcards are fairly cheap. Its not like I'll go bankrupt from buying new ones, but I still find the principle unacceptable. Who knows, maybe if you order a top of the line HP inkjet from Dell, it wont work with the HP drivers.. then you are pretty screwed up if you want to change your OS in a few years. What would you say then ? Buy a new printer ?

"just go out and pay $40 bucks for a SB Live value."

Too bad a SB Live doesnt come close in soundquality to a TB Montego II... but its probably what I'll have to do anyway.

"You've already paid $120.00 for the operating system right?..you did pay for Win 2K didn't you?"

I dont see what this has to do with the issue. But yes, I did pay about $160 for the OS (here its more expensive), and I bought a $80 new USR external modem, and now I'll buy a new decent 5.1 soundcard for $100.. Pretty expensive upgrade, dont you think ? But now at least I'll have a soundcard and modem that will be supported when I want to change to WinXP, or Windows 2004



---- Owner of the only Dell computer with a AMD chip

"He's about due for an upgrade anyway. Maybe he'll build his own with everyones support here."

You may have missed my sig.. I did upgrade, in fact I changed about everything except for the soundcard, harddisk and monitor (very nice 19"). I now have a Dell case with a MSI k7T Turbo Raid and a Duron600@933. I dont expect Dell to support this ;-) But they should support *their* soundcards and modems by releasing drivers for them.


---- Owner of the only Dell computer with a AMD chip

I ditched my dell for a amd setup too, nice mons and cases but that is about it. Good thing I just went with the onboard sound  

I use to have a Dell system too. I also run into trouble When I try to upgrade it's OS. I try to upgade from Windows 95 to Windows NT I cannot use the ATI's driver I download from ATI's web site and Dell did not have an driver for NT. I know some of my friend run into same problem with system other company.

It is not only hard too upgrade the OS it is also hard for you to upgade the hardware. My friend owns an Compaq computer he have problem upgrade the CPU since Compaq did not provide him any infomation on the motherboard. The computer is an Pentium III 500 and it does not even have an AGP port. So he have get an PCI graphic card which is less powerful and more expensive than an AGP one.

I think it is generally a bad idea to buy a computer from an large manufacture if you plan to upgrade the system later.