Dell Dimension 8400, Intel P4 3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, DVD Writer, RAID 0 Dual SATA 160GB Disks

Dell Dimension 8400, Intel P4 3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, DVD Writer, RAID 0 Dual SATA 160GB Disks
Manufacturer: Dell
Product Type: Personal Computer

Editorial Review:
Product Description
Brand New Dell Dimension 8400 offered by Dell VAR. Top of the Line RAID system with Pentium 4 3.2 GHz HT Processor, 1GB DDR2 Memory, RAID 0 Dual 160GB SATA Drives, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive, and all the standard Dell goodies.

Average customer rating:

Worst consumer experience I've ever had--my last Dell
This Dell is a great computer
A qualified statement about Dell
Honestly - the worst customer service ever!! DO NOT BUY A DELL
Stay away from Dell

Dell Dimension 8400, Intel P4 3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, DVD Writer, RAID 0 Dual SATA 160GB Disks

Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Personal Computer
Binding: Personal Computers

Dell | Computers Brands | Computers Features | Electronics
Accessories:

IOGEAR GCS62 MiniView Micro KVM Switch
Iogear 2 Port Compact USB KVM Switch (GCS632U)
Networking Cabling Kit For Dummies
Netgear WGR614 54 Mbps 2.4 GHz Cable or DSL Wireless Router
Netgear WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter

Product Features:

Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz HT Processor, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Serial ATA RAID 0 With Dual 160GB Hard Drives, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
128MB PCI Express x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE, Dell Quietkey Keyboard and 2-button Scroll Mouse
Intel Pro 1000 Integrated PCI NIC Card, 56K PCI Data Fax Modem, NO MONITOR
1 Year Limited Warranty, MSRP $1937

ASIN: B00062FFHK

Product Description

Brand New Dell Dimension 8400 offered by Dell VAR. Top of the Line RAID system with Pentium 4 3.2 GHz HT Processor, 1GB DDR2 Memory, RAID 0 Dual 160GB SATA Drives, 16X DVD+/-RW Drive, and all the standard Dell goodies.

Customer Reviews:

Worst consumer experience I've ever had--my last Dell.......2007-06-12

I bought a Dimension 8400 a little over two years ago. Three motherboards and three sets of hard drives later and I'm becoming an expert on backups and recoveries. When I bought this hunk of junk, Dell's website said that I was getting the "Platinum" service contract--a four year in-home service. Within tree months after purchase I needed a service call and nobody at Dell had ever heard of the Platinum deal. It magically became the "Gold" deal. I wish I had a nickel for each hour I spent struggling through Dell's phone menu jungle, repeating endlessly my Service Tag and other Dell numbers, and simply being put on hold while Dell's people are "assisting other customers."
I discovered that, although, the contract promised next day service, the "next day" means after the service representative gets the part from Dell, which has taken up to a week to arrive. So much for corporate integrity!
My last crash was a nightmare. Dell sent me the replacement harddrives and told me that I had to install them myself. The drives went in OK, but when I tried to install Windows, a failure occured. Then, and only then, did Dell dispach an in-home representative. It turned out that the motherboard was defective as well as at least one drive. After Windows booted and the representative was long gone, I discovered that the drivers and utilities I needed were not installed with Windows and that they were on yet another CD. A number of my applications needed extra drivers and utilities and I had to quess which ones they were.I had to go out on the web to download some utilities and drives that weren't on the Dell-supplied CD. The Dell people were usually helpful in this instance, but one guy told me that Dell wasn't responsible for drivers to run non-Dell software. He started to help only after I blew my stack and told him that the mess was really all Dell's fault.
Lately Dell has begun using US-based technical representatives who can better understand my hillbilly accent. This is good, but it would be even better to provide hardware that lasts and utilities and drivers that run actual applications. Amazon needs to create a star system with zero stars. Zero would be an appropriate rating for this Dell monstrosity.

This Dell is a great computer.......2007-05-09

I've owned the Dell Dimension 8400 computer since about November 2005 and have never had any problems with it. I admit that I didn't like the noise of the CD-ROM drive, so I replaced it with a better drive by a different manufacturer. I use this computer for my home business and run Adobe's CS 2 suite on it, which demands a lot from the system. I only have 1.5 MB RAM, but the computer has been able to keep up with all the latest software programs.

The key thing with Dell computers (as with any big name manufacturer) is that you have to remove programs you don't like right away and make sure you're not trying to run software that is incompatible with your OS and hardware. The one thing that disappoints me about Dell computers is that they make the hard drives proprietary by using their own Dell interface to the motherboard. You can get around this, but it's a pain.

I know this machine will last me at least two or more years, giving me a total of at least 4 years with one machine, and that's about all you can expect with the way software applications and operating systems keep bloating.

A qualified statement about Dell.......2007-03-13

I work with computers for a living. I have to deal with all sorts of networking and technical problems.

Of all computers I have worked with personally I have the least problems with Dells. They last the longest and work the best hands down from what I've seen. Gateway, E-machines Compaq, etc. all fail to compare... except probably toshiba, they are pretty solid too. I have to repair an average of around 10 computers each work day, thats around 2500 computers a year.

I have been using my current dell laptop for three years and its still runs like new and boots up completely in about thirty seconds. (Granted I can tweak with computers more than most people). My parents have a Dell they have used for 5 years and its still going ok... it needs to be replaced but by point is that its functioned for five whole years with minor problems that were easily fixed.

One thing the lot of you may have overlooked: If you are not buying directly from Dell you are takign a risk! Of all the computers I saw with problems I think around 75% of the Dells were not bought directly. Anytime you do not buy directly from the main source you are opening doors for trouble. For all you know they could have swapped the hard drive and other parts in the computer... its not unheard of. This is a steal for a reason, very seldom can you find an exceptional deal for a computer that does not have some sort of catch. The fact is that you gotta pay money for a decent computer, if you try to cut corners you may be dissapointed. By the sound of this deal it probably would be best to not buy it... but the choice if yours. If all it needs is a new $100 hard drive than its still pretty nice deal... granted not everyone knows how to install hardware to computers and you will have to pay someone else to do it.

I work only with windows so I can't speak for macs, but from what I hear they might be the best in terms of stability, ive just never been able to make the switch.

All im saying is that you can't assume its Dell 100% of the time causeing problems, it can also be an unliscenced distributing partner.

Don't give thumbs down for a Dell unless you know what your talking about please, and Dell is not the only computer company that outsources tech-support... luckily for me I am tech support for myself :)

Honestly - the worst customer service ever!! DO NOT BUY A DELL.......2007-01-05

I would give this product negative stars if I could. My advice, buy an Apple, their customer service is unmatched by any other I have experienced.

I have 3 Dells, nearly all the same system. My problems started with the last one purchased. From the moment of setting it up, it NEVER worked properly. We called the tech support - and the nightmare began!!

Now I have issue with any company who makes a majority of their money in an American market, whose entire sales staff is all American, or at least speaks without accents, and then suddenly when you call tech support with your valid issues you are only speaking to foreigners with such heavy accents and very little regard for American customs and ways of life.

Dell out-sources all of their tech support to India and now the Philippines, which are two countries that are far more economically depressed than ours. This becomes an apparent issue when you are trying to solve a serious tech problem and you are met with the attitude of being a spoiled and ungrateful American, and treated as if your valid problem is trivial. I chalk this up to the fact that what you spend on your computer as one purchase takes them a huge amount of time to earn. I could be wrong, but after dealing with the tech support for over two years, I feel as if I am experienced enough to make that call.

Another issue that is painfully apparent when dealing with the out-sourced tech support is that the accents are so heavy that it is very hard to understand what they want you to do, and when you repeatedly ask them to repeat themselves, they take offense. I often find myself telling them my phone has an awful connection and to please spell what they are saying. I never want to offend anyone, and usually on the phone with tech support I often feel as if my valid requests of speaking slowly and loudly and spelling do indeed offend them, and thus the quality of service dramatically decreases. I become frustrated, as do they. I don't blame the innocent support staff, they are just doing their job to the best of their ability and are human. I blame Dell for not providing the proper training for these people, if they are to troubleshoot the American market, perhaps not only computer classes are relevant, but to ease the stress of their staff, accent reducing classes would be appropriate. I have heard they may have begun that, but for this product loyal consumer it is a bit too late.

Honestly, that is just the tip of the iceberg, more a point of frustration. And if you purchase a Dell and it has any sort of issue, you will end up feeling as if you are on the Titanic and are slowly sinking to the demise of your pocketbook and sanity.

To make an extremely long story short, we bought a Dell that never worked properly, and were told that if trouble-shooting did not work that we could return it. While talking to tech support we were treated as if we didn't know how to turn it on, and were talked down to on well over 100 phone calls with tech support. Out drama began on the first day of setup and has not ended, and our warranty expired 3 months ago with the same case number as the first day of setup. Ridiculous. We were lied to, made false promises, told a million different things, insulted, and we spent about $1500 for the privilege.

We were told that there was nothing wrong with it, that it was us, 4 months and 30 phone calls later it was diagnosed with a bad motherboard. Still didn't work, again we were told firmly that it was not the computer but rather the user, 2 more months and at least 30 more phone calls it was diagnosed as a bad hard drive. Still never worked properly and ever since they replaced the hard drive they will not do anything else, claiming that the motherboard and hard drive are the computer and that there couldn't be anything else wrong - except for the user. I reminded them that they repeatedly told us that if the troubleshooting was not successful we could return the unit - and they had the audacity to tell us we were over our time and that returns need to be within the first 14 days, when we made the original complaint we were well within it!! Talk about pissed off!! We gave them the benefit of the doubt and did as they asked, we were treated as if our heads were firmly planted up our rear ends, we were told that someone would get back to us - and they never did (we heard this at least 75 times). We escalated the case - twice and were met with worse service.

Having the same case number since before my warranty expired allows the warranty to continue coverage - but no one will call back, as our issue is so great that they send us to several different departments. As soon as the warranty expired on all other issues, they stopped responding to the same one we have had since the very first day. The last week of October I left no less than 20 messages via email and voice mail with 3 different people and to date have still not received a phone call back, and most were with the people that the case had been escalated to, who are supposed to be professional and extremely qualified. My warranty expired on October 26th while actively dealing with the original issue. I have written letters, I have made phone calls, I have done as much as I have he time to do - and they have never replied. AWFUL!!

If you purchase a Dell and it has any kind of issue, you are in for a world of frustration. Like I said, we have 3, and the last one was a horrible experience, the first two never had a problem. I would never purchase another product by Dell. If I could afford to take out a full page ad in the New York Times for a year, I would do it to warn others of this horrible company.

If I had been paid a modest wage for the time I wasted dealing with tech support over this computer, I could have easily afforded to purchase a brand new, fully loaded, all the bells and whistles, wonderful customer service with an Apple computer, and still had money left over for a spa day and shopping spree. Plus I wouldn't have pissed away the original $1500 on the doorstop that Dell provided me.

RUN! RUN! RUN!

Honestly, the worst experience with any company ever.

Stay away from Dell.......2006-12-23

2 year old Dell 8400, ...paid top dollars, ... nothing but trouble, ..now I can not get the thing to work, ... Did everything Tech support asked me to do, ..nothing. I get that solid amber light on the power button, and I am not sure if mobo is out or cpu is out. Try to get tech people to help is almost impossible, ..that's if you can get anyone to talk to you first. It is frustrating as this was my first Dell, and my previous computers were never a problem. I know Dell people know about this problem as I see lot of people with similar prolbem trying to fix their Dell without much success (sometimes cpu, sometimes mobo). They keep this up, they will lose customers and become like Tandy, Commadore or one of those, .... I am not a happy customer Dell!

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