Dell.com: What Online Shopping Should Be!
Written: Feb 02 '05
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I have personally never purchased a Dell computer. In the past, I’ve gone with Compaq (now Hewlett Packard) and I must say that I’ve always been happy with their product. However, whenever it’s time to upgrade, I always check out Dell.com just to see what they are offering. Well, finally I put the website to work and bought something. A new notebook? Nope! A plasma TV? Sadly, no. A MP3 player? Bingo!
NAVIGATION
The navigation at Dell.com is very simple. You are initially greeted by a menu that allows you to select from four separate searching options, “Home & Home Office,” “Small Business,” “Medium & Large Business,” and “Government, Education & Healthcare.” I can only vouch for the “Home & Home Office” section, but I assume that the navigation is the same throughout. Once you have selected “Home & Home Office” you’re able to select products from the following categories:
Desktops, Notebooks, Printers, TVs, Monitors, Handhelds, MP3 Players, Electronics & Accessories and Dell Outlet Store
Just click on one and search away for you product. It’s that easy.
SELECTION
The selection at Dell.com is quite extensive, but it’s also important to point out that almost only Dell products are available. It should seem obvious, but I wanted to mention it to alleviate any possible disappointment or anger. There are a few other brands offered throughout the site, but not very many. For many of their products, like desktop computers and notebook computers, the selection is virtually endless. Because the concept of Dell is personalization, you can create a computer specific to your needs. The other items offered are a little more limited. As an example, they only offer a couple of different MP3 players and televisions. Although those selections may be limited, they do offer plenty of accessories for those products.
SHIPPING
Dell.com does make it a little difficult to determine the shipping costs. However, it’s confusing in a good way. Confusing in a good way, how can that be? Well, they offer so many “free shipping” deals that a lot of the time, shipping is a moot point (or moo point for those Friends fans out there). If they don’t have a special going on, I would suggest waiting a few days for one to develop. Otherwise, you’re going to drop anywhere from $100-$300 on shipping depending on the size or your order. Smaller orders like handhelds and MP3 players do have different/lower shipping rates. Three different shipping options are available: next day, 2nd day and 3-5 day. I can’t guarantee this would happen in every case, by my MP3 player and case were ordered on Thursday morning and I received them Monday, even with them being shipped from two different locations.
ORDERING
The ordering process is simple, but confusing at times. After you have put together your computer’s options or other product’s, it’s a simple “select and click” process to add items to you shopping cart. This is all pretty standard stuff. However, once you are ready to check out, some confusion can arise. Dell is very eager to offer financing for their purchases, so you will be given a couple of different opportunities to apply for financing. This isn’t inherently bad, but the fact that the specific interest rate isn’t mentioned is what I don’t like. Also, there is no guarantee that you’ll be approved. If you’re not, your credit report is going to get dinged and that’s a bad thing. If you initially turn down the financing, they also may offer you a discount. In my case, it was 2% off the purchase price. That’s not a big discount, so I turned it down. Of course, I didn’t purchase a complete computer system, just a MP3 player.
While you are checking out at Dell.com, the website will also offer plenty of “suggested” purchases. If you are buying a handheld, it might suggest a case or a stylus. This is a good feature in case you happen to forget something while navigating around the site.
THOUGHTS
One of the main things you need to be aware of when order from Dell.com is that the prices can be misleading. They always list the base price for their products. However, once you start adding accessories, upgrades, warranties and software, invariably the price increases. They make is so easy to just click here and click there to add that neat game or monitor upgrade that it’s easy to get sucked in (stupid marketing experts!). It’s not something I would discourage the company from doing as it’s obviously a moneymaker, but I would caution you to be careful. But, this is your purchase, so you ought to buy the exact product that you want.
Another nice thing is that any time you have a problem on the website you can call a toll free phone number and get quick access to a person who can walk you through the selections and make suggestions. My father is far from web savvy, but did give it a shot. Well, he crashed and burned, but was easily saved by a helpful Dell order specialist.
Dell Computers clearly has a solid reputation in the computer industry and that’s important because so much of their customer base orders online or via the telephone. You must have that trust in order for people to order when they aren’t able to see the item or touch it with their hands. That is one of the drawbacks of the website. You must trust the company and the products they offer. If you aren’t willing to purchase an item based on reputation and recommendations, then Dell.com probably isn’t a good choice for you.
I was extremely pleased with my specific experience on the site. I purchased a Pocket DJ and it was a breeze. There aren’t a whole lot of options to choose from, so my ordering process was relatively quick. The only accessory that I wanted to purchase was an arm band/belt clip and it was easily available as I was completing my order. I also received free 3-5 day shipping and it easily arrived during that time frame. I couldn’t have been happier with my shopping experience. Let’s just hope the Pocket DJ is as good as advertised (Be on the lookout for my epinion on the product as soon as I have put it through the gauntlet).
OVERALL
Dell.com is clearly a leader in computer products, as well as online purchasing. The website is clear, concise and extremely easy to use. Shipping, upgrade, accessory and peripheral deals are continuously offered, so if you aren’t in a hurry, you might want to wait a bit for an offer to materialize that might be advantageous to you. The shipping time is also as advertised. I would highly recommend using Dell.com for any of your computer and even selected electronics purchases in the future.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Pocket DJ
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