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cindyblu

Jun 11, 2009, 4:32 AM

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Dell Mexico

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Is it possible to buy a Dell Laptop from Dell Mexico that has an entirely English operating system? English OS means that all of the system messages would be in English and NOT in Spanish. I'm aware that you can run Windows in English on a Spanish operating system but I'm not interested in that. I want the laptop to be totally manufactured in English just as if it were manufactured at Dell USA. I would imagine the keyboard made in Mexico might be a little different but that's not a problem for me.

By the way, I live in a non-English speaking Euro Zone country. The only place I could find a Dell Laptop with an English operating system was at Dell Ireland. Fortunately because Ireland is also in the Euro Zone, I did not have to pay any customs duties upon delivery because the Euro Zone is a free trade zone.

I would think NAFTA is also a free-trade zone but from what I read here, apparently, it isn't.

johanson / Moderator

Jun 11, 2009, 9:56 AM

Post #2 of 31 (10209 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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Sure you can. Go to their website, they offer an English operating system if you want one. At least you could the last time I looked.

Jean_S

Jun 11, 2009, 1:49 PM

Post #3 of 31 (10185 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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I wouldn't buy another Dell Laptop if my life depended on it.

I've always had Dell computers.

In 2006 I bought a new one. It lasted 2 years and died. So many things were wrong with it that it was not worth repairing.

In 2008, having been told that Dell was much better now I purchased another laptop. A month before the warranty was to run out things started to go wrong.

So far they have replaced, the AC Adapter, the internal battery, the motherboard, the heat sink and the graphics card. Because of worries about more problems and a month left on the warranty I had to spend $200 to extend the warranty for one more year.

This latest laptop was order online from Dell Mexico and EVERYTHING is in English. They had no problem doing it. If you do buy a dell, buy the extended warranty at time of purchase. It's much cheaper.

Georgia

Jun 12, 2009, 7:23 AM

Post #4 of 31 (10149 views)

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Re: [Jean_S] Dell Mexico

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I second Jean's motion on the Dell. Their marketing may be good, but that's about it. My laptop is an overpriced disaster that hasn't worked properly from day one and is now in the process of losing the screen. Customer service? Nonexistent. My son in law who has been with Dell since the late 80s was stunned by how poor it was when he offered to resolve my problems with the damned thing.

I have a Toshiba laptop that is ancient and runs like a top. Never a problem.

I have a teeny Mexican laptop I purchased through TelMex for travel and it's a gem.

My very old Dell desk top is aok, too.

johanson / Moderator

Jun 12, 2009, 9:26 AM

Post #5 of 31 (10132 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Dell Mexico

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I bought a Dell laptop that was delivered to me in Seattle last June. About 4 months after purchasing my Dell Laptop, I dropped it while in Ajijic and it should have and did break. My three year warrantee includes Mexico. I phoned the Dell office and the next day they came from Guadalajara to Ajijic, and replaced both my motherboard and my hard drive. I have no idea why I got such good service and why you two didn't.

Since then I have had additional hard drive problems while in Seattle, and they over-nighted me a new hard drive with most of my software preloaded thereon. Interestingly the brands of each of the hard drives were different, as I write this I can't remember the names but at least one of them was a Samsung.

Papirex

Jun 12, 2009, 9:33 AM

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Re: [Georgia] Dell Mexico

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I agree on the lack of quality for Dell laptops. I have two dead Dells sitting in a closet. One of them ran for 7 months, the other one was a little better, it ran for 17 months before it died. Customer service and warranty was non-existent. They lose you with voice mail.

Every time you think you have found the answer to your problem and press a number, you are transferred to another voice mail menu. I tried every day for a month to get help for both of those laptops, one time I actually got through to an actual living, breathing, Mark I human being. She spoke perfect English with an American accent. She listened to my problem and was very sympathetic. She told me she would transfer me to someone who would solve my problem.

She transferred me – to another voice mail menu.

My next laptop was a Gateway, it is a pretty good computer, but their warranty service is not. After a few months the DVD stopped working. Their warranty service told me I would need to buy a new codec program at my own expense, while the computer was still under warranty. After paying for 3 different codec programs, the DVD still will not function. One of the program trial versions would never work either. Their service department told me it is just a time limited program anyway, so I could solve the problem by just buying the full program. The DVD is important for me while traveling, so the Gateway now has limited use around the house for me.

I bought a new Compaq CQ60 laptop last February at Best Buy in Fairfield, California for $460 US Dollars. It has a 15.6” display and a numeric keypad. It is a great computer, the only wart is that it has the Vista OS. I have tweaked the hell out of it so it now resembles the XP OS, although it will never be the equal of XP.

My first, and best, laptop was a Compaq with the W98 OS. It simply became obsolete with a 366 processor and a 4 GB hard drive. It was still running great after several years when I thought I was upgrading, to my first Dell. I gave that first Compaq to a nephew that was being deployed to Iraq so he could keep in touch with his wife via email.

A reliable warranty is important. Dell doesn't have one.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Rolly

Jun 12, 2009, 11:56 AM

Post #7 of 31 (10116 views)

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Re: [Papirex] Dell Mexico

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Four years ago I bought a top of the line multimedia laptop from Dell USA. I replaced the battery once and learned to deal with the sometimes flaky wireless connection. Overall I have been very pleased with the beast until it needed service.

My new puppy had just learned to jump on the furniture. While I was out of the room, she jumped into my chair and on to the table where she waterboarded my turned on laptop by upsetting a glass of water into the keyboard. When I came back into the room, I found my computer dead as old Dan McGrew.

There followed a flurry of e-mails (which all went unanswered) and phone calls to Dell México and USA. Some of the calls yielded no useful information, others often contained a single tidbit. The advice I got included: it’s out of warrantee so we can’t help you even though you are willing to pay; take it back to the USA; Dell does not have a service center in México. I pressed the guy on that last one until he explained the Dell has three authorized service companies that handle warrantee work. None of these companies has a presence in my area, so I would have to ship the computer to somewhere else, which I was reluctant to do.

Enter my friend/English student Nery. His brother Carlos, who runs the computer lab at the university where Nery attends, is also an intern at a commercial computer service company. “Commercial” in that they only service business and industrial computers, no PCs. Because Carlos is their intern, they agreed to service mine. The replacement mother board is on order from the USA. When it is installed, they will be able to tell if anything else is dead.

This misadventure will end up costing more than a new small laptop, but I don’t want that. I want my fancy one back because I have been very pleased with it.

Carlos, like the rest of his family, is a very talented guy. In addition to being a computer whiz, he teaches judo and practices acupuncture on the side. A couple of years ago he gave me a series of puncture treatments for a pinched nerve in my elbow that had paralyzed most of my right hand and hurt a lot. The treatments were very successful – the pain went away and I regained most of the control on my fingers. It made a believer out of me. But I digress.

Rolly Pirate

Papirex

Jun 12, 2009, 4:09 PM

Post #8 of 31 (10096 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Dell Mexico

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Rolly, I did find this site for Dell laptop repairs: http://www.parts-people.com/ It will probably not be useful for anyone living in México unless they are planning a trip to The US. I think this company is located in Texas.

I took the best of my two Dell laptops with me on a trip I made to California last February with the hope that it could be repaired. If you don't specify what you want replaced, they will analyze it, and send you the price for repairs. It would probably take 2 or 3 weeks to send them the computer and have it returned after the repairs are completed. I was pressed for time, and my wife became very ill here in Cuernavaca, so I did not have the time to send it to The Parts People for repairs.

I found a Compaq laptop on my last day in California for only $460 US Bucks and bought it instead. I had to leave my Dell at my daughters house, since we can only carry one laptop duty free on the airlines. I would like to have the Dell repaired someday on one of my trips NOB. It is big, it is heavy, but man it is capable when it is running. Even with a 2 GB single core processor and 512 MHz of RAM, it outperforms my new Compaq with a 2 GB dual core processor with 2 GB of RAM. The Vista OS uses 1 GB of RAM just to run. At idle when no work is being done, it is using almost 1 GB of RAM.

One of my son-in-laws owns a computer service shop in Napa. He took my Dell to a specialist shop in Oakland. They claimed it needs a new motherboard and none are available for the model I have. The Parts People claim they can replace motherboard components without needing to replace the entire motherboard.

I hope maybe this link will be useful for someone.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

joaquinx

Jun 12, 2009, 6:05 PM

Post #9 of 31 (10079 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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In Reply To

_______
My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.

cindyblu

Jun 13, 2009, 1:12 AM

Post #10 of 31 (10053 views)

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Re: [Papirex] Dell Mexico

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Thanks to everyone for the comments on Dell. I have been out of the country (USA) for nine years and I did not know that the Dell product and service had declined because I have a Dell laptop that I bought in February 2002 from Dell Ireland and it's still as tough as a tank. After five years, it needed a new hard-drive but I have not had to replace anything else so far. I did learn recently that Dell's online help forum is no longer operating. I guess it's time to consider buying another brand while I'm in Mexico, as long as it has an English operating system. Suggestions?

johanson / Moderator

Jun 13, 2009, 10:11 AM

Post #11 of 31 (10035 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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You wrote, " I did learn recently that Dell's online help forum is no longer operating". I hardly ever use the on-line service. I prefer phoning an 800. I have spent many hours talking to Dell Support for laptop problems over the past year, and mostly over the past several weeks. I have phoned said # from Mexico and from the US. They have massive support centers. Sometimes from here in Seattle, when I have phoned one of their several 800 numbers, I end up talking to someone in Canada, and I believe in the US, but most often in the Philippines or India.

Their support call system is so large that sometimes you spend several minutes being transferred from office to office until you get the right person, and then depending on what is wrong, in my case it was a hard drive, they could spend hours with you walking you through re-installing your drivers, op system etc, etc. In my case, I needed a new hard drive. To makes a long story short, they over-nighted me a new hard drive, which I installed which didn't work either, so they insisted that I send the laptop back to them, they send it back agreeing that the hard drive didn't work and then from another office, I was over-nighted another hard drive, this one with all of the software, that I had originally ordered already loaded. Coincidentally, the brand name of each of the hard drives was different. the last one being Samsung, if I remember correctly.

When I have phoned from Mexico, often the call center was in Panama. You could choose English or Spanish

sparks

Jun 13, 2009, 11:48 AM

Post #12 of 31 (10025 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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Back when working on a college campus in Seattle I used to buy 65 computers at a time. 30 per classroom and a few extra to replace Admin machines. That's when you really find out if the quality and service are going down hill. We went from old Compaq to HP to Gateway and finally to Dell .... and each change was due to quality and service. Seems like they all go thru those periods ... but luckily we had few laptops

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

prmjcm

Jun 13, 2009, 4:58 PM

Post #13 of 31 (10003 views)

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Re: [sparks] Dell Mexico

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Are there any other computers that one can purchase in mexico set up completely in english and if so where can one purchase one online.

thanks Pat Moore

toucantango

Jun 23, 2009, 11:44 AM

Post #14 of 31 (9938 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Dell Mexico

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My wife and I have had a dozen Dell laptops. Our experience has been very good. After 4 years in a marine environment we lost a hard drive on an Inspiron 8000 and we lost a motherboard on an Inspiron 9200 after I doused the keyboard with a full cup of coffee. It actually ran fine for about a year after that but eventually gave up the ghost. When the tech opened it up the evidence was all there! We had internationaly warranties on all of these and always have had good service from them. In fact, in the case of the 9200, the tech came from mainland Malaysia to the island of Langkawi to repair it. No complaints here. The trick is to make sure that you have an international warranty and that it is "next day, in home service".

http://www.toucantango.ca

johanson / Moderator

Jun 23, 2009, 7:09 PM

Post #15 of 31 (9914 views)

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Re: [toucantango] Dell Mexico

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I too, have had some serious problems with my Dell laptops. Because I have a 3 year guarantee, it didn't matter whether I was on Vancouver Island, Seattle or Ajijic. I had great support. I have spent many hours trying to find out what was wrong. After sending me a second hard drive, the problem was solved.

They lost money on me and I spent maybe ten hours on the phone but everything is working well again. Why did my hard drive die? The first time because I dropped my new laptop on the floor. The second time, I do not know, but Dell came through because I had the right type of international coverage, not just US coverage.

frosti

Jun 26, 2009, 6:07 PM

Post #16 of 31 (9854 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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As a C# windows programmer I really depend on my computer. I bought my first Dell two years ago and right out of the box it started crashing on me. After calling the 1-800 number and trying to tell the guy from India the problem they kept telling me to reinstall the OS. I tried four times just like they told me and finally gave up. I found a lot of blogs where people are suing Dell and problems with a lot of different models, mine included. It was a poorly designed mother board. My new HP works great!

frosti

RickS

Jun 27, 2009, 9:41 AM

Post #17 of 31 (9823 views)

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Re: [frosti] Dell Mexico

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I guess I got lucky.... bought one (tower) about 5 years ago and have had absolutely no problems with it in daily use. It is about time to replace it I guess but I think I'll just let it start failing before I act. Also bought a Toshiba laptop 2.5 years ago and have had zero problems with it either.

frosti

Jun 27, 2009, 10:59 AM

Post #18 of 31 (9816 views)

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Re: [RickS] Dell Mexico

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The tower I bought from Dell only had two slots on the motherboard, there were no details on the literature and almost all motherboards have at least 5 slots. I'll not make that mistake again. Their way of cutting cost to pay for all those beautiful sales brochures they print out, someone has to pay for them.

frosti

johanson / Moderator

Jun 27, 2009, 1:32 PM

Post #19 of 31 (9800 views)

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Re: [frosti] Dell Mexico

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I'm really sorry you guys had such bad luck. It took me four weeks to get my one year old Dell Laptop working again. Part of it's my fault. I kept on suggesting that maybe I had Malware, and by the time they figured out over the phone that the problem was the hard drive, several weeks had passed. Well they sent me a new hard drive and it failed. This time they didn't believe me and asked me to send the laptop back to them, hard drive installed. Well it was the hard drive. They sent me the laptop back to include the hard drive which they had taken out, but without the four little screws one needed to re-install it. And told me that another location would send me another hard drive When the new hard drive came, of course it came without the four screws. I complained and they overnited me the four screws.

Well everything is working fine again but what a hassle.

Marlene

Jun 27, 2009, 9:34 PM

Post #20 of 31 (9776 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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We currently have three Dells (Mexico) in our household (one PC and two laptops) plus another rebuilt (several times) PC. The Dell PC is a pleasant surprise. It's over 5 years old and has had no issues to date. Our other more expensive brand name PC caved in a long ago, hense the rebuild.

I ordered my Dell laptop to spec in English, delivered to our doorstep, and have been using it for 2 years. I quite like it. If you are near the ocean, buy the extended warranty. Salt raises heck on electronics.

cindyblu

Jun 28, 2009, 3:10 AM

Post #21 of 31 (9764 views)

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Re: [Marlene] Dell Mexico

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Hi Marlene, I live two blocks from the Adriatic Sea (which is saltier than the Ocean) and my Dell laptop is seven years old and still running fine. WOW, what they won't do or say to sell you that extra warranty. "Salt wrecks havoc on electronics". Now that is funny. But they could never con me.

bournemouth

Jun 28, 2009, 6:33 AM

Post #22 of 31 (9757 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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You're lucky Cindyblu, that everything has gone well for you so close to the Adriatic. At beach homes we've had here, we've watched the refrigerators, lamp shades and anything metal rust through in short order. Computers have the same problems and prefer to live in an air conditioned atmosphere for long life. May you continue to have the same luck.

Marlene

Jun 28, 2009, 8:36 AM

Post #23 of 31 (9746 views)

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Re: [cindyblu] Dell Mexico

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Quote

WOW, what they won't do or say to sell you that extra warranty. "Salt wrecks havoc on electronics". Now that is funny. But they could never con me.

Not that funny. It's expensive. Things get rusty very quickly here, as Bournemouth mentioned. Buying the warranty was my advice, after the fact. As I think I mentioned in my post, we purchased it online with Dell, so there was no saleman to even attempt to pursuade us. I saw the inside of my husband's corroded pc after a few months of using it for his work, which is really near the ocean. He made sure to buy a 3 year warrant for his replacement laptop. The technician tried to save it, but couldn't, and confirmed that this was a common problem.

(This post was edited by Marlene on Jun 28, 2009, 8:37 AM)

johanson / Moderator

Jun 28, 2009, 9:51 AM

Post #24 of 31 (9740 views)

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Re: [Marlene] Dell Mexico

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When I pose this question, it is not to challenge any of you, because I believe you. But having lived in Seattle where there's high humidity from the rain and perhaps evaporation off Puget Sound or the surrounding lakes, and we don't have that kind of problem.

The humidity along your part of the Pacific Ocean must be very high. I had no idea that you would have this type of problem. Could you please help me better understand why you have such a rust problem?

Thanks

cindyblu

Jun 28, 2009, 10:18 AM

Post #25 of 31 (9737 views)

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Re: [johanson] Dell Mexico

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I was born and raised on the East Coast where it's humid but also cold (conditions for rust). We had a lot of snow in winter and the roads were often treated with salt. I owned a Datsun which was actually manufactured for the California buyer's market and it's floor board totally rusted through after several East Coast winters.

However, when I moved to Central Texas, I never saw salt on the roads again and never saw an inch of rust anywhere -- on anything.

I simply cannot believe that salt air from the Pacific ocean could cause electronic equipment to rust because conditions for rust should not exist in that part of the country.

Personally, I think the poster has been hoodwinked by Dell, possibly because they had a concern themselves about living near an ocean.

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