Training customers

A friend was talking about comps today, just gotta share a rough transcript of the conversation.

Him: Yeah, I'm thinking of buying a new sys soon. Mine can't handle alotta games...

Me: ... and ya want me to build one for you right?

Him: Nah, just wanted to ask you to look at this ad. -passes me ad of emachine form bestbuy-

Me: -reads emachine brand then starts staring at him-

Him: What do you think? Well... Why are you staring at me like that?

Me: -continues staring-

Him: Your gonna say I'm a 'tard, aren't you?

Me: Yep.

Him: OK, how much do you want to build a sys for me?

Love it that I've got this one trained.

I'll take a custom system built by a chimp over any Retail computer.(I can fix the chimps mistakes)

[quote]Originally posted by LagMonster:
<strong>I'll take a custom system built by a chimp over any Retail computer.(I can fix the chimps mistakes)</strong><hr></blockquote>
hey I take ofenses to that I will have you know that my mistakes are all due to error and not because I am a chimp

Damn skippy!

When you want a real system, the last thing I want to hear is "Dude, you're getting a Dell!!" I will tell people who go and buy a 799.00 POS Dell and they want to Play Counter-Strike, UT, Q3A, RTCW, do video editing...etc.. "If you wanna get on the internet and do email, chat and Office apps, fine, a ______is fine, just fine **and smile while i say it** , but don't expect a chevette to perform like a Corvette." *This IS chevy land here so i have to use an analogy the folks here will get* :p

I'll take a Dell over any machine put together by joeoutofbusiness-in-6-months inc. Sure anyone can claim that they are a Rock solid company, blah blah blah. I would sure love to talk to the guy who put together these machines for a company I know but he and his business are nowhere to be found.
You gonna fly across the country to fix something under warranty that goes wrong? Do you offer to replace a defective part(including labor) for free for 3 years or do you plan to charge after 90 days or even a year? What you personally don't need a warranty? Good for you.
And put together by Retail company or Joe Schmo I don't care, components go bad that is just the way it is.
All I know is I have a Dell laptop, cracked the left click on the pad (dropped it). Phoned Dell asked if they were going to send the replacement. Response: No you are under 3 year warranty we will send someone there.
Next day: Tech comes in fixes. Results from this: Since I could work on other things, I am out the door to see my sweetheart at 6 pm.

And a Ho made server? HA Anyone to recommend that for a company that plans on being around for a while would be, well deceiving.

Now without trying to offend those that can build machines I will say this: If it is your computer for personal use, your server that you are going to be around to service, or if it is a close friend then yeah it would be prudent and save you some $ for a faster system.

But............As I said If you don't know them and you are depending on these systems for a while stay away and go with a company that will be around for a while. Sure Dell could go out of business tomorrow but not likely.

And no I don't work for Dell ;)

Got to agree. I tell everyone to go Dell or Gateway. Usually Dell, since they have the next day on site repair. Yes, I know a lot of people have a beef with Gateway, but I have one as well as half my family and all the problems are because of other things. I tell people to stick with someone with a good warranty that they feel they can trust. Sure, I could probably build a better machine for less, but I am not going to do the repair for them either.

[quote]Originally posted by Wyckyd1:
<strong>I'll take a Dell over any machine put together by joeoutofbusiness-in-6-months inc. Sure anyone can claim that they are a Rock solid company, blah blah blah. I would sure love to talk to the guy who put together these machines for a company I know but he and his business are nowhere to be found.
You gonna fly across the country to fix something under warranty that goes wrong? Do you offer to replace a defective part(including labor) for free for 3 years or do you plan to charge after 90 days or even a year? What you personally don't need a warranty? Good for you.
And put together by Retail company or Joe Schmo I don't care, components go bad that is just the way it is.
All I know is I have a Dell laptop, cracked the left click on the pad (dropped it). Phoned Dell asked if they were going to send the replacement. Response: No you are under 3 year warranty we will send someone there.
Next day: Tech comes in fixes. Results from this: Since I could work on other things, I am out the door to see my sweetheart at 6 pm.

And a Ho made server? HA Anyone to recommend that for a company that plans on being around for a while would be, well deceiving.

Now without trying to offend those that can build machines I will say this: If it is your computer for personal use, your server that you are going to be around to service, or if it is a close friend then yeah it would be prudent and save you some $ for a faster system.

But............As I said If you don't know them and you are depending on these systems for a while stay away and go with a company that will be around for a while. Sure Dell could go out of business tomorrow but not likely.

And no I don't work for Dell ;) </strong><hr></blockquote>Thank you, I totaly agree. Lets face it Dell makes a great machine. To use the car comparison would the average user want to have a brand new Mustang or a build your own kit car? Most consumers like to have the item ready for them. I understand that many need special machines, and that many of these consumer machines suck but to go after dell is just wrong. Lets face it the average first time user wants a machine under 1000 and just want web access anything else is over kill. I understand this is how you make a living but if you knew anything about Dell you would know it started as a small comapny and built itself up to this huge world power and has always prided itself on quality.

I didn't say Dell wasn't good, but its too easy to void the waranty on retail equipment.
I am constantly testing new hardware. And It would be best for me..like I said earlier..not everyone else to get a home made one. I do not own a company.

Plus..he stated emachines...I think custom is better than emachines. As for going out of business in 6 months, That would be a bad owner. As over 50% of companies in america lose money their first two years of bussiness. That is expected.

As for repair, Ma and Pa shops don't sell accross the states so, yes they can have on site help, same day. You guys must have some crappy service in your neighborhood.

I prefer "white box" PCs, but I'd have to think hard and long about building instead of buying a critical server. I need AT LEAST 2 butts if not more in the sling when a critical server goes down!

[quote]Originally posted by LagMonster:
<strong>I didn't say Dell wasn't good, but its too easy to void the waranty on retail equipment.
I am constantly testing new hardware. And It would be best for me..like I said earlier..not everyone else to get a home made one. </strong><hr></blockquote>Yeah that is a big draw back on a dell but there again what every I get I am going to crack open and play with. I agree with both side. I think that the average user get intimidated by too many choices and fear tech's in genral. Lets face it how would you feel if you walked into a mechnic with a car problem and they tell you that your car is crap and they could have made you a beter one. That's never a good feeling. I understand both points but at the end of the day you have to respect the larger companies (even "gulp" Packard Bell) who have found a area in the market and produced a product that consumers like and feel they need. The smaller shops do provide a great service and make wonderful machines but when I go in one I always feel I am being made fun off. This anger's me since I have a server room whihc would put most of them into shock and belive it or not I kind of know what I am talking about. The bottom line is that well informed consumers is always good while badgering a consumer into buying from you out of fear of not impressing you is just plain wrong.

Friend of mine was bragging about this "great deal" he got for a system on E-bay. Went on for about two weeks about it. Then when he got it, the chatter turned into b**ching about how screwed he got and all the way they did it to him. I just kept smiling at him beginning to end.

:) < Good reference to the smile he got from me!