-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well after struggling for weeks and weeks with the original Dell Dimension 8400 that I got 2 months ago, I finally got a replacement PC this past week.In the interim, Dell had shipped me another replacement PC that hadincorrect, and cheaper components than the original one that I had purchased. After hours of arguing with several people that could barely speak English and more hours of being on hold, Dell finally reluctantly agreed to send me a suitable replacement that is similar to the one that I had originally ordered. In the mean time, since they agreed to ship this latest creation oftheirs, my original PC has stabilized and seems to be running OK .Anyway, since I had the new one, I figured that I might as well goahead and swap it, since the first one could always start acting upagain, since it has done that many times already. This evening , I decided tostart loading stuff on the new Dell. The first thing I did was to run Live Update on Norton Internet Security, since they asked me to do that in the install menu. Then I rebooted, again because I was instructed to do so, and then to run a full scan.. So far so good, I hit the button to start the full scan and " Crash" The Norton Program crashes with the all too familiar window that says that they are going to let Bill Gates know that something is not right with Norton. I try it again , about 1/2 dozen times and the same result. Now I am back on the Tech support line to India, and after 1/2 hour Iget another lady that can't speak English, can't understand English,and is thick as a brick. I tell her my problem, and she says .. " Areyou connected to the Internet?... I said , sure, I always have my DSLon when I run Norton, and no problem.... She tells me that " You can'trun a virus program while you are on the Internet." I tell her that Ido it all the time, up until trying it with this piece of @3@6# thatthey shipped me, I have never had a problem" Anyway she guarantees methat if I disconnect from the DSL, Norton will run fine. I do, andCRASH!!!!!! Norton crashes again.. Now she tells me to run Norton in the safe Mode. OK, I boot the PC upin the Safe mode, try and turn Norton , and it tells me that NortonCannot be run in the safe mode>>> I tell Swami on the phone what themessage says, and she tells me I need to talk to someone else . I tellher I am not going to be on hold for another 1 1/2 hours, ( I havealready spent the equivalent of a least a 40 hour work week on thephone with Dell non-support since I got my original 8400 2 monthsago) and That hat I am putting this pile of junk back in the box thatit came in , and sending it back to Dell so they can wrestle with itand try and get it to work. Now she tells me that before I do that I need to speak to someone elsethat is more technical, but that they will have to "charge me" to talkto me..... They won't do it for free.. I tell her that I am not payingone red cent, and I will just ship this PC back and never buy anotherDell. Anyway, she talks me into letting her transfer the call tosomeone else, and the latest dim bulb I talk to ( after another 1.2hour on hold) tells me that Dell only makes the PC, and not any ofthe software, so if the software crashes and doesn't work right out ofthe box, it's tuff luck ... as far as Dell is concerned . I hung up the phone, this pile of Junk Dimension 8400 goes back tothem Monday morning, and I am going to try and see if a lawyer canhelp me return the original PC so that I won't have to pay them forit. Oh by the way, I sent Dell Headquarters in Austin Texas, anovernight registered letter about 3 weeks ago telling them theproblems that I had, and they never responded to the letter. Would I recommend buying a Dell......??? Yes, to my worst enemy._________________ Bob

I hear you, i wonder how many costumers actually survive one hour on the phone with them :-lol. I had an experience like yours with them, i promised my self that if i ever saw that techsupport woman on my property i would gun her down for trespassing ;).Ole Nielsen

You should be happy even to be able to get in contact with them. I would guess they outsource their support to india like everyone else and went for the cheapest bidder ;)One other reason never to buy a Dell. If anything get screwed they will take every chance to screw you more. It

Hi, Let me tell you how to avoid all this on line thing , By the way I had one I live here in southern calif and had to call anumber that I was told was in Santa Monica we I got Bomb bay. Any way I have been buying computers the same way since the 80's as I used to buy Stereo components. I walked into a local computer seller who puts together whatever you tell him you want (he only deals in INTEL and I pick it up a few days later and the real beauty is that when anything happens I just put it all in a box and bring it to him and he puts it all back together again FOR NO CHARGE !NOW THATS GOOD SERVICE !!!!sure you pay for that kind of service but you get what you pay for .GOOD LUCK TONY

Yes however I have done it once and that store filed for bank ruptsy one year later :D.Have happened to every single other guy that have done it too no kidding :).Me if I get some serious issues I can

Dell makes very good computers. They have 1/3 of the market share. Now, Norton virus Scan is junk. I suspect your problem was likely the Norton and not the computer. You should have uninstalled it and installed another scanner. Odds are your problems would have ended right there.

Dell is the cheapest and thus have 1/3 of the market share ;). The support and components and such are the price you pay for buying a Dell.

>Dell makes very good computers. They have 1/3 of the market>share. Now, Norton virus Scan is junk. I suspect your>problem was likely the Norton and not the computer. You>should have uninstalled it and installed another scanner. Odds>are your problems would have ended right there.I have had multiple problems with 2 different Dells ( same model), both new. A coworker has had problems even running MS Outlook, ( he can't run it ) Dell 8400, same as mine, 1 1/2 months old.A friend in New York has already replaced the mother board on his 2 month old Dell ( not sure of the model number).Forum on Dell web site is full of complaints on crashing and locking up problems of new Dell computers. ( check that for yourself).Yup , great machines and reliable!!! ;)

>Dell makes very good computers. They have 1/3 of the market>share. Now, Norton virus Scan is junk. I suspect your>problem was likely the Norton and not the computer. You>should have uninstalled it and installed another scanner. Odds>are your problems would have ended right there.Im not a huge fan of Dell, but they do build decent computers, Norton is most likely your problem. Norton is crap, I used it once and never again. AVG for Anti-virus for me.