Dell's Desktop Deals - HOW SO CHEAP??

[gangaskan]

yeah i figured, i'm not all that great in the accounting world, i do understand most of what you're saying tho


edit:

You're right... they are no better than eMachines. I despise Dell's customer support. It's is the most disorganized company I've ever dealt with who doesn't give a hoot about its customers. I know from a TON of experience and hearsay. This coming from an idiot that just bought ANOTHER Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. Yes, yes... I couldn't resist to upgrade my 1.6ghz core2 and 8400M 128mb dell wireless-G... to a 2.2ghz core2 8600M 256mb Intel wireless-N.

you do get what you pay for at work by GSA standards we get on every machine the quality of service is a TON better then talking to someone in india that you can hardly understand, i think most of the support calls we call in for we talk to US residents and we get our parts cross shipped if need be.

 

[Neuromancer]

The reason I questioned is in comparison to the economy 5 years ago, heck even 2-3 years ago.

Back 5 years ago, I could make a nice profit off of building a machine, AND beat Dell's price by a fair margin, AND give quality parts.

2-3 years ago, the margin got a little worse, but still manageable.

Now, I'm F-ed. Unless I can do the convincing of WHY not to shop Dell, I have less sales. Then again, why take more $$ from someone that is on a strict budget, so it's all based on the person's needs. I don't want to screw anyone, but I explain it all.

That's all... I'm not stupid... it's just that this whole "Buy a Dell with pocket change" has gotten worse more recently if you ask me.

I think it has to do with the fact that you don't need top of the line anymore to function correctly. When dual-core first came out, it was needed... now that BUDGET dual-core is a standard low-end system and still does everything you need, it makes things tougher on the market for someone like me.

When the PC community first got started, it was a DIY community. Hardware and software was both EXTREMELY expensive. Once PCs became a common household item thanks to such companies as HP, Packard Bell, IBM and the likes, the supply side increased, thereby lowering the per piece cost. A DIYer could still get the pieces real cheap.

Now that PCs have saturated the market to the point that they are in almost everyhome, the DIYer segment has grown. This is not a good thing however. You mentioned before, how can Best Buy not make money selling 512MB of ram for 100 dollars. Well As long as they are charging a couple dollars less then the upgrade cost would be from dell, they can do that. Most people do not know about froogle and pricewatch. It does not help that the DIYer has become a targetted market not just for upgrades but for complete systems. The price gouging takes effect.

Combine that with a LOT of fud spread on forums, people attached to things that say "gaming" or "extreme" and pay a premium for it, that in turn drives up the value line prices because now manufacturers will shift their focus to creating these "extreme" hardware pieces. (OMG, you can buy a Q6600 new for less then used ones are going for on fleabay WTF is up with that??? This "moron" segment has also driven up the prices for the rest of us...)

Quality is not the only reason not to buy a dell. How well do you think the Dell overclocks The average person is not going to overclock so Dell can get away with only needing cheap *** boards and power supplies. (If you are not overclocking you can get by with a MUCH cheaper PSU). For those of us on Intel boards, until recently you couldnt find a decent board for under a hundred dollars. AMD over the last 5 years though has held the price/performance market not just on CPUs but on supported motherboard chipsets especially.

Also, if your customers are never going to crack open the PC, you do not have to go with an intel. Intel is popular among us, not because it so much out performs AMD at stock, but because they overclock like champs. So we buy them Unfortunately, Intel has closed the gap on the low end, and now there are some good intel boards out for under a hundred. Still if you are building them a "decent" pc that will not be overclocked I would think you could save a larger percentage then the performance drop.

Anyway good luck with your business. Remember the most important thing. People like dealing with people, that is the biggest advantage you have over dell. Another avenue to consider, you can always start a consulting business helping them get and setup their dells and performing any upgrades on them for cheaper then they could get from dell

 

[funnyperson1]

I don't think they deserve the status they have, though... I've seen a lot of foul play on their end.

Even though I still order from them I will always resent them, but it doesn't go to say that I will still recommend Dell to people here and there as it can very will still be a good buy in many occasions.

I don't think they really have "status" though. Most people I know buy them because they are simply the cheapest decent machines you can get. The only PC maker I consider to have "status" is Apple, although I guess companies like Alienware and Falcon NW have a certain level of respect from a different crowd.

When the PC community first got started, it was a DIY community. Hardware and software was both EXTREMELY expensive. Once PCs became a common household item thanks to such companies as HP, Packard Bell, IBM and the likes, the supply side increased, thereby lowering the per piece cost. A DIYer could still get the pieces real cheap.

Now that PCs have saturated the market to the point that they are in almost everyhome, the DIYer segment has grown. This is not a good thing however. You mentioned before, how can Best Buy not make money selling 512MB of ram for 100 dollars. Well As long as they are charging a couple dollars less then the upgrade cost would be from dell, they can do that. Most people do not know about froogle and pricewatch. It does not help that the DIYer has become a targetted market not just for upgrades but for complete systems. The price gouging takes effect.

Combine that with a LOT of fud spread on forums, people attached to things that say "gaming" or "extreme" and pay a premium for it, that in turn drives up the value line prices because now manufacturers will shift their focus to creating these "extreme" hardware pieces. (OMG, you can buy a Q6600 new for less then used ones are going for on fleabay WTF is up with that??? This "moron" segment has also driven up the prices for the rest of us...)

Quality is not the only reason not to buy a dell. How well do you think the Dell overclocks The average person is not going to overclock so Dell can get away with only needing cheap *** boards and power supplies. (If you are not overclocking you can get by with a MUCH cheaper PSU). For those of us on Intel boards, until recently you couldnt find a decent board for under a hundred dollars. AMD over the last 5 years though has held the price/performance market not just on CPUs but on supported motherboard chipsets especially.

Also, if your customers are never going to crack open the PC, you do not have to go with an intel. Intel is popular among us, not because it so much out performs AMD at stock, but because they overclock like champs. So we buy them Unfortunately, Intel has closed the gap on the low end, and now there are some good intel boards out for under a hundred. Still if you are building them a "decent" pc that will not be overclocked I would think you could save a larger percentage then the performance drop.

Anyway good luck with your business. Remember the most important thing. People like dealing with people, that is the biggest advantage you have over dell. Another avenue to consider, you can always start a consulting business helping them get and setup their dells and performing any upgrades on them for cheaper then they could get from dell

I agree with the whole gamer/extreme marketing blitz being to the detriment of the whole consumer base. I see "gamer" network cards and mouse pads going for $100-300.

I disagree that the PSUs/components used by Dell and company are of poor quality. They are low wattage units to be sure, but they are designed to last. These machines are engineered to support a certain hardware configuration, and the cooling system, motherboard, and psu are custom designed or purchased for that purpose. I can't really call that lower quality as long as they serve that purpose for a long time. Sure you could build someone a system with a Corsair PSU, but if they aren't overclocking you just wasted your money. You could have gotten an Earthwatts or 400W Enhance supply and it would have served just as well.

The point about quality of service is an important one. Dell does offer 24/7 support, but that means jack if the 24/7 techs cannot speaky english. If you can offer convenient/knowledgeable tech support during the workday that will be great for a lot of people. This should be a cornerstone of your marketing, and as Neur0mancer pointed out, this could be a service you offer to purchasers of those el-cheapo Dells. Maybe next time these people will come to you when they need a machine.

 

[imposter]

Its funny how the vostros are almost the same design as the HP computers. Same PSU, motherboard heasink. They even use awards bios now . you can always buy those dells and remove all the junk and resell them for a higher price.

 

[JamesXP]

Yeah, I do believe Delta makes quite alot of Dell PSUs

 

[webdevour]

I charge b/c it's part of my profession and b/c it was the ONLY thing that kept me alive when I was in college and didn't have a job. I learned and made money helping people out. I used to charge only like $40 labor for a couple hrs of work diagnosing and fixing people's problems. They'd pay for the part and I'd make a few bucks... either that or they'd have to take it elsewhere and pay at LEAST $150 in profit to another company.

This is exactly what I plan on doing in my surrounding area... Any tips for a flyer? How did you spread your word around?

 

[gangaskan]

This is exactly what I plan on doing in my surrounding area... Any tips for a flyer? How did you spread your word around?

people at work ask me all the time for help. family members, their friends, etc....



i usually never charge for family, however, they insist on giving me $10-$20 bucks

 

[webdevour]

people at work ask me all the time for help. family members, their friends, etc....



i usually never charge for family, however, they insist on giving me $10-$20 bucks

This is what i'm doing for my family's pawn shops... any laptops or computers we get out that aren't working properly, if I can restore them and make them work I get $30. But I'd like to build actual systems for people mainly.