<<"Why do I need to pay twice as much to get the same features from Dell, et al?" >>
Not to mention that. Dell does not even use standard hardware. I bought a Dell computer 2 years and 8 months ago exactly. I spent over $2,800 then. It came with only 32 RAM. And last Sunday I saw Best Buy sell PNY 32mgb SD RAM for $30 after rebate. So I bought one. But then when I tried to install it, it fits the slot, however, just won't show up in system memory when I rebooted the machine. After several try, I went back to Best Buy, and the technician there could not help me either, and told me I will have to get it through Dell. And their 32 SD RAM costs more than $100. This really sucks. Luckily, Best Buy let me return it without charging me the 15% restocking fee. If I bought it in CompUSA, they will charge me 15% restocking fee.
I learned my lessons, never buy Dell again. I did measure the two RAM chips, Dell's original (made in Korea) is a quarter inch higher than PNY ones (made in Japan). I figured that must be the reason why the machine won't take it. |
