Barring any unforeseen breakdowns, the Dell experience ended up being solid. The estimated delivery date of 30 days was way off. It took 8. I even delayed the courier by a day so I could take delivery. Bear in mind however that apart from upgrading the screen everything else was uncustomised, so perhaps that makes a difference.
One word of warning if interested in this machine. Most reviews talk of high quality noise cancellation ear buds included in the package, as well as an XPS branded CD holder (of less interest). Neither were included in my package, and whilst I will put in a call to see if I can wangle something, I expect to be told that they weren't listed in the quote. Something to ask about up front i'd say.
It does come with a perfectly good sleeve which barely gets a mention as you're encouraged to buy a heavy duty carry case. The sleeve is actually slightly heavier duty than I had expected, although it's not going to be able to carry anything besides the machine itself.
Moving past accessories, lets talk aesthetics. It's a very nice looking laptop. On the inside it looks very much like a Macbook Pro but less bland. I thought i'd have preferred the red option, but now I see the machine in the flesh I think black was a good choice, as the exterior matches the interior trim. None of this is hugely important, but let's not pretend this isn't a factor.
Getting into the detail: I find this screen fantastic. I was scared into upgrading to the higher resolution screen by a post in a forum pointing out that 1200x800 is the widescreen equivalent to 1024x768, which is pretty much the bare minimum resolution acceptable any more. I didn't quite twig that 1920x1200 is significantly higher. Even higher than the resolution i've been using on my 22" desktop display in fact. Everything is very small, but that gives me loads of space. The screen, as pointed out elsewhere, is a little shiny, but I like this.
I'm a little disappointed that the media buttons don't seem to be willing to drive third party software, but I won't admit defeat on that just yet.
The trackpad is smaller than I'm used to, but its only been 3-4 hours and I'm already getting used to it. The keyboard layout is great. I can't recall ever taking to a laptop keyboard as quickly as this one.
First impressions of Vista? I like it. Bear in mind this only refers to time spent setting up, installing a few applications, a bit of browsing the file system and control panel etc. Up to this point, I haven't seen anything that XP did better than this does. Complaints over speed aren't going to be something I can comment on as this is a new and reasonably well specified machine. I can certainly tell i'd have no chance of running it on the machine i'm leaving behind.
It's a nicer looking environment than XP and Ubuntu, more akin to Leopard, whether anybody cares to agree or not. The Alt-Windows-Key task switching method looks great but is more than just eye candy. The mind has an image of the window I want to return to, and this allows me to select it from flying slabs (apart from Winamp which appears in it's unskinned unextended form for some reason). Maybe OS X did this first. I have no idea.
Certainly my original thoughts on perhaps installing XP as the second OS after Ubuntu on this machine are changing. I think I will install Hardy in the next few weeks, but I'm going to keep Vista. I always thought all the hatred for this product seemed to lack substance, so I'm not in the least bit surprised by my own reaction. It was entirely expected.
So, mostly pros so far all around. A few cons:
- I cannot get the fingerprint reader to accept my swipe as being good enough. I am wondering if it works properly, but I don't really need or want to use it, and it would be an enormous ball ache to have to send this back just for that. Hopefully I'll try again with more success.
- The internal speakers are only average, which I was prepared for by many reviews. They are perfectly fine for what they're intended.
Things i'm looking forward to trying:
- HDMI output to an HDTV which I'll eventually buy.
- Playing more with the webcam
- Spending more time not at the desk in my bedroom.
- Figuring out how to have speakers to plug this into in the living room without it looking messy.
So, that's the first impression. Based on almost a day's use, I don't regret buying this machine in the slightest. It cost just over £800 all in. Still quite a bit cheaper than the equivalent Mac.
PS - if anybody knows anything more about the bundle stuff I mentioned earlier, i'd appreciate a comment, cheers.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Facebook Chat, which I haven't used, and Facebook, which i'm still trying to use
I have a theory tonight.
Facebook is nothing like as popular outside it's original demographic as blogosphere pundits were claiming it would be late last year.
I feel this simply because if these people had any real day to day interest in Facebook, SURELY i'd be able to find ONE OTHER POST, ANYWHERE pointing out that EVER SINCE FACEBOOK LAUNCHED CHAT a week ago (which I haven't touched), the entire service BARELY WORKS AT ALL.
This cannot just be me. I wrote an entire diatribe on this two days in, posted it, then erased it because I realised there had been a torrent client running in the background the whole time, and chances are it was strangling my bandwidth. It probably was, but that wasn't the problem, and i'm not running a torrent client tonight...
Currently I have three Firefox tabs at the top of my screen that say "Problem loading page". All three were Facebook.
Why in hell is this not getting any coverage? It's extremely frustrating and a couple of months ago people wanted to bash this service every chance they got. Now, nothing. It's MUCH, MUCH WORSE than the old Myspace "an unexpected error occurred". You wait a lot longer and don't even get an explanation.
Come on.. other people searching for the problem; here's some keywords and phrases - Facebook, broken, not working, outage, timeout, overloaded, untested, scaling problems. Bring me into the loop on this one. How is this just annoying me?
Facebook is nothing like as popular outside it's original demographic as blogosphere pundits were claiming it would be late last year.
I feel this simply because if these people had any real day to day interest in Facebook, SURELY i'd be able to find ONE OTHER POST, ANYWHERE pointing out that EVER SINCE FACEBOOK LAUNCHED CHAT a week ago (which I haven't touched), the entire service BARELY WORKS AT ALL.
This cannot just be me. I wrote an entire diatribe on this two days in, posted it, then erased it because I realised there had been a torrent client running in the background the whole time, and chances are it was strangling my bandwidth. It probably was, but that wasn't the problem, and i'm not running a torrent client tonight...
Currently I have three Firefox tabs at the top of my screen that say "Problem loading page". All three were Facebook.
Why in hell is this not getting any coverage? It's extremely frustrating and a couple of months ago people wanted to bash this service every chance they got. Now, nothing. It's MUCH, MUCH WORSE than the old Myspace "an unexpected error occurred". You wait a lot longer and don't even get an explanation.
Come on.. other people searching for the problem; here's some keywords and phrases - Facebook, broken, not working, outage, timeout, overloaded, untested, scaling problems. Bring me into the loop on this one. How is this just annoying me?
Monday, April 28, 2008
2008 #18 - More Bullets
- Do I really need an extra room? Suddenly managed to fit everything I need into my 1 bed. Even my weight bench. It's in the kitchen!
- In 2005/6 I changed employers (technically anyway). This somehow caused me to underpay income tax by £112, and now the tax man wants it back. They're not asking. Would say they're telling, but they didn't actually tell. Had to ask them why they were taking even more of my money than usual.
- Still hopeful for a real summer, despite talk of La Nina messing it all up this year.
- Twitter fever has now officially reached the point where it's unbearable to read or hear about it, what it means and how it's changing everything. Standard test people: Do you non-tech friends with Facebook accounts have Twitter accounts? None of mine do (EDIT: Kara Swisher makes a similar point a little earlier in the day, and with somewhat more focus). Many of my favorite episodic shows (formerly podcasts) seem to drift on to the topic, acknowledge that it's over-discussed, then continue to talk about it anyway. What then, is the focus of the majority of these conversations? "HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING ME". Some guys have managed to convince supposedly well rounded intelligent people to participate in the myspace friend count war 2.0. The old "Nobody cares what you're doing" argument doesn't even get a look in anymore.
- That last one was really too long to quality as a bullet.
Manifesto Check:
Easy
1. New extended less is more philosophy going well, plus normal goal fine.
2. What annoys me is that I win piddly tournaments against the odds but then suffer bad beat after bad beat at around the prize point where I can finally score enough chips to be playing the game properly again. People are pulling random straights out of their arses everywhere this week using cards that no real player would ever have in a hand in the first place. Goal fine.
3. This week, "In Her Shoes". I'm seeing a lot of chick flicks lately I must say. Big Lebowski tonight. Realistically i'm not going to hit 8. No more Blockbuster subscription. As this goal existed to ensure I wasn't wasting said subscription, i'm going to lay this one to rest this week. Does this mean I won't see enough films? Hope not. I may subscribe to another service in the future. If I realise I'm missing out, I'll introduce a new goal.
4. Okay look. Whenever I take a camera on a night out I can't help but feel I'm being looked upon as annoying camera guy. I did go to a great little club in Birmingham on Saturday named "The Jam House", owned by Jools Holland. Much as I enjoyed it though, I can't imagine what photos I would have taken (without a group situation), and I haven't been anywhere else of note in the last week that would merit photography.
5. Remains good. I'd like to extend this to maybe seeing more people between weekends. This is something I guess I need to make happen.
Harder
1. I really thought this goal was crashing and burning but somehow as rain poured on Leicester midway through Sunday afternoon on the final weekend of the month, I stumbled upon a beautiful little acoustic chord progression, which also inspired a chorus, and recorded it. I may not have managed to make up for failure in March yet, but April has a theme tune!
2. Finally got a date for my annual review - a week tomorrow. Perhaps after that I can get back to just doing my job rather than trying to prove that I do it. Needless to say, very much working towards these goals in doing the above, but this blogged goal may need an update in a few weeks, as knowing the business there will be an obligatory gap during which I have no goals. Then, later, they'll tell me I had a year to work through the ones they did set.
3. With last week in mind I decided to think a little less about direction to see if it made me feel any better. Hard to say, because I'm in a good mood now, but I recall feeling weirdly low on Saturday before I went out and enjoyed myself. I did actually have some thoughts amidst the not thinking. Maybe part of the problem I'm having is my insistence that I'm somehow supposed to be part of this world of tech that I for no clear reason decided to reconnect with a few years back. I'm less interested in the tech blogs I subscribe to than ever, skipping most of the posts most of the time. It's become another inbox clearing ritual for a number of feeds. As usual, no conclusions here, but at least some thoughts.
4. This week is the week I hope to finally be able to say I met this goal. I will swim on Tuesday, I will lift weights on Thursday or Friday, and I will cycle at the weekend. I failed to swim last week due to too many weeknight commitments, but I did go for a ride today. Great to have the weights back in the house, although i'm not going to lift too much too soon. Made that mistake before. Easing back in.
Updated Manifesto:
The Easy Stuff
1. I will stick to my weekday food and drink ethic as set out previously plus consider the portion size of every meal, cutting back where necessary.
2. I will stick to wasting less weekday time playing fake poker.
3. I will take my camera with me whenever I go, or feel i'm likely to go, somewhere i've never been before but only on a night out if there are more than two people involved.
4. I will stay in touch with my friends weekly and start trying to initiate some weeknight activities.
The Challenging Stuff
1. I will continue to write a song each month and make up for missing one in March by writing an extra song before the end of the year.
2. I will continue to work towards my set work goals.
3. I will continue to rethink my career inside and outside my current role weekly.
4. I will find the time to manage a 3 times a week exercise schedule.
- In 2005/6 I changed employers (technically anyway). This somehow caused me to underpay income tax by £112, and now the tax man wants it back. They're not asking. Would say they're telling, but they didn't actually tell. Had to ask them why they were taking even more of my money than usual.
- Still hopeful for a real summer, despite talk of La Nina messing it all up this year.
- Twitter fever has now officially reached the point where it's unbearable to read or hear about it, what it means and how it's changing everything. Standard test people: Do you non-tech friends with Facebook accounts have Twitter accounts? None of mine do (EDIT: Kara Swisher makes a similar point a little earlier in the day, and with somewhat more focus). Many of my favorite episodic shows (formerly podcasts) seem to drift on to the topic, acknowledge that it's over-discussed, then continue to talk about it anyway. What then, is the focus of the majority of these conversations? "HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE FOLLOWING ME". Some guys have managed to convince supposedly well rounded intelligent people to participate in the myspace friend count war 2.0. The old "Nobody cares what you're doing" argument doesn't even get a look in anymore.
- That last one was really too long to quality as a bullet.
Manifesto Check:
Easy
1. New extended less is more philosophy going well, plus normal goal fine.
2. What annoys me is that I win piddly tournaments against the odds but then suffer bad beat after bad beat at around the prize point where I can finally score enough chips to be playing the game properly again. People are pulling random straights out of their arses everywhere this week using cards that no real player would ever have in a hand in the first place. Goal fine.
3. This week, "In Her Shoes". I'm seeing a lot of chick flicks lately I must say. Big Lebowski tonight. Realistically i'm not going to hit 8. No more Blockbuster subscription. As this goal existed to ensure I wasn't wasting said subscription, i'm going to lay this one to rest this week. Does this mean I won't see enough films? Hope not. I may subscribe to another service in the future. If I realise I'm missing out, I'll introduce a new goal.
4. Okay look. Whenever I take a camera on a night out I can't help but feel I'm being looked upon as annoying camera guy. I did go to a great little club in Birmingham on Saturday named "The Jam House", owned by Jools Holland. Much as I enjoyed it though, I can't imagine what photos I would have taken (without a group situation), and I haven't been anywhere else of note in the last week that would merit photography.
5. Remains good. I'd like to extend this to maybe seeing more people between weekends. This is something I guess I need to make happen.
Harder
1. I really thought this goal was crashing and burning but somehow as rain poured on Leicester midway through Sunday afternoon on the final weekend of the month, I stumbled upon a beautiful little acoustic chord progression, which also inspired a chorus, and recorded it. I may not have managed to make up for failure in March yet, but April has a theme tune!
2. Finally got a date for my annual review - a week tomorrow. Perhaps after that I can get back to just doing my job rather than trying to prove that I do it. Needless to say, very much working towards these goals in doing the above, but this blogged goal may need an update in a few weeks, as knowing the business there will be an obligatory gap during which I have no goals. Then, later, they'll tell me I had a year to work through the ones they did set.
3. With last week in mind I decided to think a little less about direction to see if it made me feel any better. Hard to say, because I'm in a good mood now, but I recall feeling weirdly low on Saturday before I went out and enjoyed myself. I did actually have some thoughts amidst the not thinking. Maybe part of the problem I'm having is my insistence that I'm somehow supposed to be part of this world of tech that I for no clear reason decided to reconnect with a few years back. I'm less interested in the tech blogs I subscribe to than ever, skipping most of the posts most of the time. It's become another inbox clearing ritual for a number of feeds. As usual, no conclusions here, but at least some thoughts.
4. This week is the week I hope to finally be able to say I met this goal. I will swim on Tuesday, I will lift weights on Thursday or Friday, and I will cycle at the weekend. I failed to swim last week due to too many weeknight commitments, but I did go for a ride today. Great to have the weights back in the house, although i'm not going to lift too much too soon. Made that mistake before. Easing back in.
Updated Manifesto:
The Easy Stuff
1. I will stick to my weekday food and drink ethic as set out previously plus consider the portion size of every meal, cutting back where necessary.
2. I will stick to wasting less weekday time playing fake poker.
3. I will take my camera with me whenever I go, or feel i'm likely to go, somewhere i've never been before but only on a night out if there are more than two people involved.
4. I will stay in touch with my friends weekly and start trying to initiate some weeknight activities.
The Challenging Stuff
1. I will continue to write a song each month and make up for missing one in March by writing an extra song before the end of the year.
2. I will continue to work towards my set work goals.
3. I will continue to rethink my career inside and outside my current role weekly.
4. I will find the time to manage a 3 times a week exercise schedule.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Virgin Media do something slightly positive for a change Shocker!
I have just received an email from my illustrious ISP, Virgin Media (that's to say, NTL), stating that they're cutting the premium rate broadband support line in favour of a free number. About time!
This premium rate support line is definitely something I've complained about before here, in essence because when a knowledgeable person with a good level of computer literacy needs broadband support, it's only ever going to be due to an error or problem on the part of the ISP.
I don't contest that for every one of those people there are probably ten morons who haven't yet tried switching their cable modem off and on again, but to force me to incur a steep charge through no fault of my own when a contractor in a green box on the corner decides the next new customer's cable is more important than the one he just displaced, isn't what I'd call good customer service. Forcing me to sit on hold for 45 minutes and stay home for an engineer in that scenario isn't too good either, but that's not the point here...
It is comforting at least to know that finally after what i'd imagine is about 2-3 years, I should at least be able to inform the company of their mistakes at no expense to myself.
That's one for Virgin Media. Unfortunately, due to their interest in "three strikes" and their lack of interest in net neutrality, they're still very off-putting right now.
If, VM, this is to counter a few weeks of bad press, good job, but you've more than exposed your true colours to your more clued in customers at this point. I'm very curious to see what your next story of note will be about.
This premium rate support line is definitely something I've complained about before here, in essence because when a knowledgeable person with a good level of computer literacy needs broadband support, it's only ever going to be due to an error or problem on the part of the ISP.
I don't contest that for every one of those people there are probably ten morons who haven't yet tried switching their cable modem off and on again, but to force me to incur a steep charge through no fault of my own when a contractor in a green box on the corner decides the next new customer's cable is more important than the one he just displaced, isn't what I'd call good customer service. Forcing me to sit on hold for 45 minutes and stay home for an engineer in that scenario isn't too good either, but that's not the point here...
It is comforting at least to know that finally after what i'd imagine is about 2-3 years, I should at least be able to inform the company of their mistakes at no expense to myself.
That's one for Virgin Media. Unfortunately, due to their interest in "three strikes" and their lack of interest in net neutrality, they're still very off-putting right now.
If, VM, this is to counter a few weeks of bad press, good job, but you've more than exposed your true colours to your more clued in customers at this point. I'm very curious to see what your next story of note will be about.
Scrubs Season 7 Post Writers Strike
This post will appeal to practically nobody but I must say this somewhere because it's annoying the crap out of me.
There is no way in hell that a single episode of Scrubs aired since the writers strike in the US ended was written by any of the same people that wrote it in the past.
It's just not possible. Every character is a shell of their previous self. There is a complete lack of complicated dialogue which the show is so well known for. The scenes, and even the episodes don't end on any kind of a punchline. They shoe-horn in plot reminders with no grace whatsoever.
Despite others protests that this show is past it's best (yawn, it's said constantly about every show that lasts beyond 2 seasons), the writing and humour has been pretty consistent up to and including season 7, all the way up to the strike hiatus. Now, something is definitely wrong.
You can almost detect the embarrassment of the better actors as they read as if from cue cards their out of character sitcom by numbers lines. John C McGinley seems to have hardly any lines at all. He used to dominate every scene he was in, which was most of them.
My only hope is that these are some stock scripts written by cafeteria worker scabs during the strike that NBC insisted were used to fill out the season to it's original length, so that hopefully we can get back to the real Scrubs at some point over the next few weeks. At the moment, it's painful.
There is no way in hell that a single episode of Scrubs aired since the writers strike in the US ended was written by any of the same people that wrote it in the past.
It's just not possible. Every character is a shell of their previous self. There is a complete lack of complicated dialogue which the show is so well known for. The scenes, and even the episodes don't end on any kind of a punchline. They shoe-horn in plot reminders with no grace whatsoever.
Despite others protests that this show is past it's best (yawn, it's said constantly about every show that lasts beyond 2 seasons), the writing and humour has been pretty consistent up to and including season 7, all the way up to the strike hiatus. Now, something is definitely wrong.
You can almost detect the embarrassment of the better actors as they read as if from cue cards their out of character sitcom by numbers lines. John C McGinley seems to have hardly any lines at all. He used to dominate every scene he was in, which was most of them.
My only hope is that these are some stock scripts written by cafeteria worker scabs during the strike that NBC insisted were used to fill out the season to it's original length, so that hopefully we can get back to the real Scrubs at some point over the next few weeks. At the moment, it's painful.
Monday, April 21, 2008
2008 #17 - Grounding/Constants
GROUNDING - something to keep you in touch with reality.
CONSTANT - something to keep you grounded.
On Saturday night I tried badly to explain to a friend that right now I have no one constant in my life that is keeping me grounded. As I said it I realised two things:
1. It this actually quite insulting to my friend and other friends, as they're about the only constant keeping me grounded.
2. Was I really saying anything insightful or was I essentially trying to steal a concept from the best episode of Lost ever (The Constant).
The answers are yes, and yes, but the friend didn't take it as an insult, and Lost has many fantastic ideas. Just wish I could time travel too. That's really all I want.
Quick list review this week - i've written a lot since last Monday for once.
Easy:
1. Honed further. Lunch salad gets worse each day. I may have to start making my own. Main meal portion throttling also now in use. Meals that gave me 2 large portions will now give me 3 either reasonable sized portions or 3 slightly too small portions. A little alternative will be added for variety and to make up the shortfall. This is about health and gluttony more than it's about money.
2. I just cannot win at poker right now. Awful run. Back to 0 chips. Still keeping to the rules though.
3. In the month of April - Something about Mary, We Own the Night, Knocked Up, High Fidelity. One more in the pipe then 3 to hit my target. Could happen. By the way, never saw High Fidelity before - outstanding film.
4. I don't even think I like taking photos. I should have taken it out last weekend though, so theres a fail.
5. Read the start of the post.
Hard
1. I've sat and played, i've hit record to see what happened, but all with very little result. I have something, but it's in no way enough to be considered a song. It might be in 9 days, you never know.
2. First enjoyable day at work today in a while, but no time to work on goals - there's stuff to fix. I like fixing stuff. Is this useful information I should be taking note of?
3. Once again, my mind is consumed by directional issues. I set myself a goal to "consider my career inside and outside of my current role weekly". I'm beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Is it good that i'm spending so much time thinking about this when i'm getting no answers? I can't say no, unfortunately. The box is open and it won't close.
4. Last weeks swim was a nightmare at 4pm with only 3 open lanes marked for speed. Give me the unmarked 8 lane spread any day. Must figure out why i'm so slow at front crawl. Nonetheless, it can't fail to be exercise as long as I go and do it. Who cares if I annoy people. I am also bringing my old weight bench back from my parents house tomorrow evening, although I have nowhere to put it. This can be my second regular activity. Cycling and walking remains the third. Finding somewhere to put the bench will be interesting. These things aren't small.
That wasn't anything like as short as I intended. I'm happier with the last week than I realised. Reviewing things works!
Side bar on buying stuff - do you get the endorphin rush when you confirm the purchase, or when you receive it? I think both, but it's an 80/20 in favour of the receipt i'd say.
CONSTANT - something to keep you grounded.
On Saturday night I tried badly to explain to a friend that right now I have no one constant in my life that is keeping me grounded. As I said it I realised two things:
1. It this actually quite insulting to my friend and other friends, as they're about the only constant keeping me grounded.
2. Was I really saying anything insightful or was I essentially trying to steal a concept from the best episode of Lost ever (The Constant).
The answers are yes, and yes, but the friend didn't take it as an insult, and Lost has many fantastic ideas. Just wish I could time travel too. That's really all I want.
Quick list review this week - i've written a lot since last Monday for once.
Easy:
1. Honed further. Lunch salad gets worse each day. I may have to start making my own. Main meal portion throttling also now in use. Meals that gave me 2 large portions will now give me 3 either reasonable sized portions or 3 slightly too small portions. A little alternative will be added for variety and to make up the shortfall. This is about health and gluttony more than it's about money.
2. I just cannot win at poker right now. Awful run. Back to 0 chips. Still keeping to the rules though.
3. In the month of April - Something about Mary, We Own the Night, Knocked Up, High Fidelity. One more in the pipe then 3 to hit my target. Could happen. By the way, never saw High Fidelity before - outstanding film.
4. I don't even think I like taking photos. I should have taken it out last weekend though, so theres a fail.
5. Read the start of the post.
Hard
1. I've sat and played, i've hit record to see what happened, but all with very little result. I have something, but it's in no way enough to be considered a song. It might be in 9 days, you never know.
2. First enjoyable day at work today in a while, but no time to work on goals - there's stuff to fix. I like fixing stuff. Is this useful information I should be taking note of?
3. Once again, my mind is consumed by directional issues. I set myself a goal to "consider my career inside and outside of my current role weekly". I'm beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Is it good that i'm spending so much time thinking about this when i'm getting no answers? I can't say no, unfortunately. The box is open and it won't close.
4. Last weeks swim was a nightmare at 4pm with only 3 open lanes marked for speed. Give me the unmarked 8 lane spread any day. Must figure out why i'm so slow at front crawl. Nonetheless, it can't fail to be exercise as long as I go and do it. Who cares if I annoy people. I am also bringing my old weight bench back from my parents house tomorrow evening, although I have nowhere to put it. This can be my second regular activity. Cycling and walking remains the third. Finding somewhere to put the bench will be interesting. These things aren't small.
That wasn't anything like as short as I intended. I'm happier with the last week than I realised. Reviewing things works!
Side bar on buying stuff - do you get the endorphin rush when you confirm the purchase, or when you receive it? I think both, but it's an 80/20 in favour of the receipt i'd say.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Talking to India on a Sunday afternoon - the DELL experience
Everyone has an opinion on India based call centres for western companies. Most people have the same opinion in my experience, and they get it way off. The phrase "I can't understand a word she's saying" is rarely something I can relate to, and has very little to do with the problem.
On the phone to a company it's vital to be understood. The frustration comes from not being understood. I don't mind if I don't understand, because i'll insist on labouring the point until I do.
I have just had a ten minute conversation with Priyanka of Dell, originally calling to query how delivery worked, but eventually agreeing to a quote. which i'll get to briefly at the end.
When I gave my address, I explained that it was Flat 1, House 36 Oxford Street. I wouldn't normally be so explicit, but I wanted to be SURE I HAD BEEN UNDERSTOOD.
A little later in the call it was quoted back to me as "Flat 1 3 6". Ambiguous. She could have meant "Flat 1, 36", or she could have meant "Flat 136". To clarify, I restated, "Flat 1, House 36". I was given an "ok" as if to communicate understanding.
After the call ends, my quote arrives. The line in question reads:
"flat1 oxford street"
The problem is, now this issue has been exposed, all confidence is shattered. I simply can't trust this person to handle my business in any way. The irony is she insisted that it would be a personal experience. One person, beginning to end. This is a risky promise to make until you're sure somebody respects your abilities.
The mistake is too fundamental, and the most troubling element of the miscommunication is the false expression of understanding. "House 36" was obviously heard twice by Priyanka, but she somehow chose to discard it entirely, as if any part of an address a person is giving could possibly be irrelevant!
The Quote
I was talked into this quote because if I order over the phone I can allegedly specify that I require a call 24 hours before delivery to ensure I can be home. If I order online, this is not possible. I find this almost impossible to believe. One against Dell.
The quote itself was for exactly the same price, down to the last penny, of the online quotation system. I was given some bullshit that seemed to suggest the customer service element over the phone might be worth a little extra money. After this, at least that turned out to be false. One for Dell, but not really.
I was also told in this phone call that Dell 10% discount coupons appear once in a blue moon. This is the first time I haven't been able to find a valid one, and the last one that could have knocked my £730 down to £640 expired just 4 days ago. I can see other coupons from early April, March and Feb. I'll take that as a lie. One against Dell.
One more thing. The estimated delivery date if I order TODAY is 30 days from today. I had heard Dell was having speed issues these days but that's a long wait. A friend managed to get a new Inspiron in 3 days in the recent past. I want an XPS. Perhaps if you want to pay more for the better machine you're not a priority because you must already be hooked. How very Apple of Dell.
Wrapping Up
- Flat 1, 36 Oxford Street is not my real address dummy. I wouldn't post that. Priyanka knows the truth, but I think she'd be risking her job posting it here, and hey, I'm still not convinced I have any readers.
- Talking to Dell on a Sunday was a polite but ultimately fruitless experience. I really want an XPS M1530, but I don't think I can stomach a months wait and having to deal with this company. This is pretty much what i'll tell Priyanka when she calls me back tomorrow afternoon to aggressively close the deal.
Unwrapping to Rewrap
I could retain dignity by not amending this post, but I'd really rather not. The address issue was actually explainable, and I managed to get a requote showing my correct address. Although I am terrified that I may have an even more negative Dell story to tell in the near future, I just really wanted this laptop. I'm going to hope for a painless transaction. Just in case it isn't clear by now, I was talked into it. My change of heart was partly how well the phone call this evening went and partly looking at the piles of dreggy non-competitively priced alternatives at John Lewis in Solihull this lunchtime. I walked past the Apple store. I'm not ready for that just yet. Maybe in 5 years.
Side bar on the Macbook Air - total victim of it's own hype. If you haven't actually physically picked one up yet I urge you to do so. The first thing you'll think is how much heavier it is than you expected. The second is that it's not as thin as it looked in pictures. Photoshop?
NOTE: The full name of the Dell salesperson has been removed as a) she had a good explanation and didn't deserve the original bashing even half as much as I thought - i won't remove it - i'd rather just explain it, and of course b) The fate of my new laptop is at least partly in her hands.
I haven't managed to pay for it yet as my credit card was declined. First time i'd used it in ages and a reasonable amount triggers fraud protection. Inconvenient and delayed things by a day, but It's very comforting to know that if this thing had fallen into the wrong hands it wouldn't have been much use.
If you're keeping score, Dell just got one and HSBC did too.
Right, on to the next post.
On the phone to a company it's vital to be understood. The frustration comes from not being understood. I don't mind if I don't understand, because i'll insist on labouring the point until I do.
I have just had a ten minute conversation with Priyanka of Dell, originally calling to query how delivery worked, but eventually agreeing to a quote. which i'll get to briefly at the end.
When I gave my address, I explained that it was Flat 1, House 36 Oxford Street. I wouldn't normally be so explicit, but I wanted to be SURE I HAD BEEN UNDERSTOOD.
A little later in the call it was quoted back to me as "Flat 1 3 6". Ambiguous. She could have meant "Flat 1, 36", or she could have meant "Flat 136". To clarify, I restated, "Flat 1, House 36". I was given an "ok" as if to communicate understanding.
After the call ends, my quote arrives. The line in question reads:
"flat1 oxford street"
The problem is, now this issue has been exposed, all confidence is shattered. I simply can't trust this person to handle my business in any way. The irony is she insisted that it would be a personal experience. One person, beginning to end. This is a risky promise to make until you're sure somebody respects your abilities.
The mistake is too fundamental, and the most troubling element of the miscommunication is the false expression of understanding. "House 36" was obviously heard twice by Priyanka, but she somehow chose to discard it entirely, as if any part of an address a person is giving could possibly be irrelevant!
The Quote
I was talked into this quote because if I order over the phone I can allegedly specify that I require a call 24 hours before delivery to ensure I can be home. If I order online, this is not possible. I find this almost impossible to believe. One against Dell.
The quote itself was for exactly the same price, down to the last penny, of the online quotation system. I was given some bullshit that seemed to suggest the customer service element over the phone might be worth a little extra money. After this, at least that turned out to be false. One for Dell, but not really.
I was also told in this phone call that Dell 10% discount coupons appear once in a blue moon. This is the first time I haven't been able to find a valid one, and the last one that could have knocked my £730 down to £640 expired just 4 days ago. I can see other coupons from early April, March and Feb. I'll take that as a lie. One against Dell.
One more thing. The estimated delivery date if I order TODAY is 30 days from today. I had heard Dell was having speed issues these days but that's a long wait. A friend managed to get a new Inspiron in 3 days in the recent past. I want an XPS. Perhaps if you want to pay more for the better machine you're not a priority because you must already be hooked. How very Apple of Dell.
Wrapping Up
- Flat 1, 36 Oxford Street is not my real address dummy. I wouldn't post that. Priyanka knows the truth, but I think she'd be risking her job posting it here, and hey, I'm still not convinced I have any readers.
- Talking to Dell on a Sunday was a polite but ultimately fruitless experience. I really want an XPS M1530, but I don't think I can stomach a months wait and having to deal with this company. This is pretty much what i'll tell Priyanka when she calls me back tomorrow afternoon to aggressively close the deal.
Unwrapping to Rewrap
I could retain dignity by not amending this post, but I'd really rather not. The address issue was actually explainable, and I managed to get a requote showing my correct address. Although I am terrified that I may have an even more negative Dell story to tell in the near future, I just really wanted this laptop. I'm going to hope for a painless transaction. Just in case it isn't clear by now, I was talked into it. My change of heart was partly how well the phone call this evening went and partly looking at the piles of dreggy non-competitively priced alternatives at John Lewis in Solihull this lunchtime. I walked past the Apple store. I'm not ready for that just yet. Maybe in 5 years.
Side bar on the Macbook Air - total victim of it's own hype. If you haven't actually physically picked one up yet I urge you to do so. The first thing you'll think is how much heavier it is than you expected. The second is that it's not as thin as it looked in pictures. Photoshop?
NOTE: The full name of the Dell salesperson has been removed as a) she had a good explanation and didn't deserve the original bashing even half as much as I thought - i won't remove it - i'd rather just explain it, and of course b) The fate of my new laptop is at least partly in her hands.
I haven't managed to pay for it yet as my credit card was declined. First time i'd used it in ages and a reasonable amount triggers fraud protection. Inconvenient and delayed things by a day, but It's very comforting to know that if this thing had fallen into the wrong hands it wouldn't have been much use.
If you're keeping score, Dell just got one and HSBC did too.
Right, on to the next post.
Friday, April 18, 2008
BLOCKBUSTER.CO.UK - Even in Parting you FAIL!
Today I initiated the cancellation process with Blockbuster as I have been threatening to do for a while. They naturally ask you three times if you really wish to cancel before actually accepting it, but they also ask for a 2000 character maximum feedback on why.
By the time I was ready to post it, the session had expired and I was unable to. I was actually entirely expecting this to happen, and waiting to jump on it and call them on one last failure.
To Blockbuster: When I can predict how you will screw up, your problems are a lot worse than you are capable of understanding. It is widely expected that you will go under in the next few years, lock stock, and I will be right there cheering when you do.
To anybody else thinking about using this service, I'm not saying don't. I'm saying, be prepared to look forward to seeing films you have asked for that they will never deliver.
Here is my cancellation feedback:
I didn't manage to put a very good cap on it as I ran out of characters and didn't really want to remove anything i'd already said.
Anyway, thats £15 a month to re-purpose for a while until such a time as I once again find myself nodding along to people discussing films. Whatever I do, Blockbuster won't see another penny. To illustrate i'm true to my word, please note that I haven't been inside PC World since that Nokia N800 fiasco last year. Then again who am I kidding. Why would I ever have gone near that place anyway? Blockbuster - same applies. Huge goodbye fuck you.
By the time I was ready to post it, the session had expired and I was unable to. I was actually entirely expecting this to happen, and waiting to jump on it and call them on one last failure.
To Blockbuster: When I can predict how you will screw up, your problems are a lot worse than you are capable of understanding. It is widely expected that you will go under in the next few years, lock stock, and I will be right there cheering when you do.
To anybody else thinking about using this service, I'm not saying don't. I'm saying, be prepared to look forward to seeing films you have asked for that they will never deliver.
Here is my cancellation feedback:
One of two things have happened recently:
1. You have ignored my complaints - this would obviously be inexcusable.
2. Your help system doesn't work properly. Each question listed lets me send you a message. You have previously ignored (said you never received - not my problem) messages I sent to you relating to the question along the lines of "Where are my Discs", but eventually responded to a "How do I Cancel" related message. My two most recent complaints were again posted related to the former question. If you didn't get them, you have only yourself to blame for maintaining your system so poorly as to allow customer service to be this severely degraded.
I was VERY clear about my intention to cancel in response to my recent complaints, centered on having a list of what I consider enough titles alongside your inability to send me any of them.
Ironically after admittedly bleeding you a little dry early on I have lately become the kind of customer you'd probably like to retain, unable to manage watching as many films as I previously have, but still liking the option to do so as and when I please. Unfortunately you have an issue you are unwilling to even acknowledge much less resolve whereby certain titles you seemingly have zero copies of are listed in your catalogue. If you're curious which, look at the 10 or more items left in my list.
Over the 2+ years I can't say it's been an entirely bad experience, but in the 4-5 times i've needed to contact you, usually on this same issue, the experience has ALWAYS been awful. This is the main reason I am cancelling, and you have most certainly lost a customer that you would have otherwise retained to one of your competitors.
I will be taking my own payment holiday for a while and then I'll have a look at Amazon, which I was yesterday surprised to learn has a much larger market share in this space than you do, even before buying what I'd think would be the third best known competitor over the last few days.
I didn't manage to put a very good cap on it as I ran out of characters and didn't really want to remove anything i'd already said.
Anyway, thats £15 a month to re-purpose for a while until such a time as I once again find myself nodding along to people discussing films. Whatever I do, Blockbuster won't see another penny. To illustrate i'm true to my word, please note that I haven't been inside PC World since that Nokia N800 fiasco last year. Then again who am I kidding. Why would I ever have gone near that place anyway? Blockbuster - same applies. Huge goodbye fuck you.
Monday, April 14, 2008
2008 #16 - Bullets
- WHAT'S SO GREAT about the prime minister stating his sole focus is the economy? Aren't you supposed to be focusing on everything?
- I REALLY HOPE the line the Virgin Media (NTL) CEO came out with yesterday has consequences for the individual. If you don't know what i'm talking about, it's a shame. Search Google for Virgin and "load of bollocks". I wish I had some faith in DSL. Any real competition this would be more than enough to make me switch.
- I HAVE UNSUBSCRIBED from a few RSS feeds over the last week. Anything I read from Scobie (not interested in vanity searchs this time) now will have to be good enough to hit TechMeme (he'll like that). MediaGuardian also gone. Way too much, nowhere near enough good. My Slashdot click through must now be in the region of 1 story a week, but I can't bring myself to kill it. It was where it all began for me. What it is I have no idea.
- HERE ARE A FEW thoughts on my easy goal list.
1. Slight food slip this week. More wrongly past their best salad items discarded in favour of Revels. Odd to discover that the peanuts have been replaced by raisins. Guess someone must have died from an allergic reaction. I also seem to have gained a bit of weight, which is a shame since I didn't gain any when I was doing no exercise. I think it's pasta related. Gonna keep this in check. I cannot be a fat guy. I refuse.
3. Chances are i'll miss my film quota for April due to my dispute with Blockbuster. I'm no longer convinced that they receive the mails I send through the route I take, but if that is the case, thats just one of several final nails anyway. I am definitely cancelling the account just before the next payment (they won't refund any days, naturally). Trying to milk a few more likely to show up discs in before then. I'll try to find an alternative source to top up a bit. I need 6 more to hit the target.
- NOW FOR A LOOK at the harder part of the list.
1. Song writing is to be firmed up in the latter half of this week as I take a well deserved break from work. No definite idea to work on, but plenty to evolve.
2. Wasting hours on end at work this week trying to build a file of evidence to prove that I am corely competent, even though chances are the two people that will ultimately decide have already decided. Nevermind. It's your money (until it's my money), and raking up positive experiences isn't such a bad thing.
3. Maybe the solution is to knock someone up and have to support a child? Perhaps then i'd be able to derive some meaning from working hard on a job that I feel no passion for in a company that I find questionable. Or, perhaps i'd start hating life rather than just not liking my job. Probably not a great idea. If I throw out a thought a week about career maybe one of them will make some sense.
4. Still swimming. Other swimmers annoy the crap out of me. I must be hands down the slowest front crawler ever. Breast stroke swimmers are faster than me. I can and do ignore them and their occasional "you're in my way" looks, but truth be told I wish just once I could have a lane to myself for an hour. I do seem to swim for longer and with fewer breaks (actually, no breaks anymore), which gives me a slight feeling of superiority. Another crappy weather week has kept me off my bike, but I have managed another brisk walk. These walks make me like Leicester more.
MY REASON FOR STAYING in Leicester however, is almost certainly misguided. I wish I could figure out how i'd feel about staying around with a conclusion on the reason. How suddenly something that wasn't really anything for over 2 years, and still isn't, suddenly needs concluding is also beyond my comprehension. I'm gonna go listen to that Hoobastank song. Hey, he's not a perfect person either!
- I REALLY HOPE the line the Virgin Media (NTL) CEO came out with yesterday has consequences for the individual. If you don't know what i'm talking about, it's a shame. Search Google for Virgin and "load of bollocks". I wish I had some faith in DSL. Any real competition this would be more than enough to make me switch.
- I HAVE UNSUBSCRIBED from a few RSS feeds over the last week. Anything I read from Scobie (not interested in vanity searchs this time) now will have to be good enough to hit TechMeme (he'll like that). MediaGuardian also gone. Way too much, nowhere near enough good. My Slashdot click through must now be in the region of 1 story a week, but I can't bring myself to kill it. It was where it all began for me. What it is I have no idea.
- HERE ARE A FEW thoughts on my easy goal list.
1. Slight food slip this week. More wrongly past their best salad items discarded in favour of Revels. Odd to discover that the peanuts have been replaced by raisins. Guess someone must have died from an allergic reaction. I also seem to have gained a bit of weight, which is a shame since I didn't gain any when I was doing no exercise. I think it's pasta related. Gonna keep this in check. I cannot be a fat guy. I refuse.
3. Chances are i'll miss my film quota for April due to my dispute with Blockbuster. I'm no longer convinced that they receive the mails I send through the route I take, but if that is the case, thats just one of several final nails anyway. I am definitely cancelling the account just before the next payment (they won't refund any days, naturally). Trying to milk a few more likely to show up discs in before then. I'll try to find an alternative source to top up a bit. I need 6 more to hit the target.
- NOW FOR A LOOK at the harder part of the list.
1. Song writing is to be firmed up in the latter half of this week as I take a well deserved break from work. No definite idea to work on, but plenty to evolve.
2. Wasting hours on end at work this week trying to build a file of evidence to prove that I am corely competent, even though chances are the two people that will ultimately decide have already decided. Nevermind. It's your money (until it's my money), and raking up positive experiences isn't such a bad thing.
3. Maybe the solution is to knock someone up and have to support a child? Perhaps then i'd be able to derive some meaning from working hard on a job that I feel no passion for in a company that I find questionable. Or, perhaps i'd start hating life rather than just not liking my job. Probably not a great idea. If I throw out a thought a week about career maybe one of them will make some sense.
4. Still swimming. Other swimmers annoy the crap out of me. I must be hands down the slowest front crawler ever. Breast stroke swimmers are faster than me. I can and do ignore them and their occasional "you're in my way" looks, but truth be told I wish just once I could have a lane to myself for an hour. I do seem to swim for longer and with fewer breaks (actually, no breaks anymore), which gives me a slight feeling of superiority. Another crappy weather week has kept me off my bike, but I have managed another brisk walk. These walks make me like Leicester more.
MY REASON FOR STAYING in Leicester however, is almost certainly misguided. I wish I could figure out how i'd feel about staying around with a conclusion on the reason. How suddenly something that wasn't really anything for over 2 years, and still isn't, suddenly needs concluding is also beyond my comprehension. I'm gonna go listen to that Hoobastank song. Hey, he's not a perfect person either!
Monday, April 07, 2008
2008 #15 - Resonation: A type of vibration.
It's great to go back, read an old post and have it resonate. I don't get that feeling on Facebook. Often my writing feels too formal to be on a Facebook wall. Most of the posts I write here and Twitter I'll like now and later.
I actually Blame Facebook for the formality. This week I tried to explain to a friend what Twitter was in reasonably short form, and ended up with an advert pasted on to the bottom for Twitter. I could have turned it off, but I only realised this later. Many wouldn't even notice it was being posted.
From this I take away one thing: People aren't going to be comfortable advertising products simply because they're endorsing them to friends. Telling my friend about Twitter was a positive gesture. She may one day join. Having this positive gesture turned into an advert makes me feel like a tool of someone or something. Could be the advertising medium, or it could be the advertiser. Either way, it left a bad vibe. Didn't resonate. No sir.
Easy Street
3. This weeks films - nothing from Blockbuster. I finally saw Something About Mary on Sky One last night. Quite enjoyed it. Nothing wrong with a RomCom every now and again. Blockbuster are now ignoring my complaints. I strongly suspect this is now my final month with this bullshit terrible company - please feel free to quote me on it.
5. Had a great Saturday night of down and desperate UK binge drinking. Serious problem. Must be stopped. Who are we to decide what's good for us and what we enjoy? Please listen to Free Talk Live. Did I just list binge drinking as success in one of my goals? No, the point was there were people around and that was good. Been a lonely March round here.
Hard Boulevard
1. Having great times with my new acoustic. This thing sounds fantastic. Some ideas for an April song are forming. Maybe the March song will cross the line late too. Check back.
2. Procrastinating on finding all the evidence to back up my claim that I am corely competent, so to speak. Give me a date for my review and i'm sure i'll get it done. Still confident, but uninterested.
3. I've noticed lately that many of the paths I've always liked the look of are really long shots. Love music, lack talent, want to engineer? Recorded music may be dying. Like radio? Want to engineer? Radio doesn't hire anymore - it fires. This is the excuse based whining you've come to know. It's not about quitting a job and earning less. It's far more about not quitting a job because of being scared you could end up earning nothing, and eventually end up back at the bottom of the same ladder you spent.. x years climbing. I may have just described a lot of people and their feelings, and again it fits the dice metaphor mentioned recently, but where is the wisdom that makes this problem go away? The successful are convinced things just work out with hard work. I wish I could find something I really felt the drive to work hard at, but even if I did, I wouldn't be immediately convinced i'd solved the problem. As you can see, goal met here.
4. Better week for the body. Swimming continued with a cramp free fairly continuous mile, and a luke-warm evening cycle down to and around the Abbey area was fairly enjoyable. Hopefully do something similar this week too.
Ready for a break from work. I missed the fact that it's been 3 months since my time off at Christmas. Ready for another trip to the south coast. Wondering if this style of writing is irritating. Will decide when I read it back in RSS reader later. Later.
I actually Blame Facebook for the formality. This week I tried to explain to a friend what Twitter was in reasonably short form, and ended up with an advert pasted on to the bottom for Twitter. I could have turned it off, but I only realised this later. Many wouldn't even notice it was being posted.
From this I take away one thing: People aren't going to be comfortable advertising products simply because they're endorsing them to friends. Telling my friend about Twitter was a positive gesture. She may one day join. Having this positive gesture turned into an advert makes me feel like a tool of someone or something. Could be the advertising medium, or it could be the advertiser. Either way, it left a bad vibe. Didn't resonate. No sir.
Easy Street
3. This weeks films - nothing from Blockbuster. I finally saw Something About Mary on Sky One last night. Quite enjoyed it. Nothing wrong with a RomCom every now and again. Blockbuster are now ignoring my complaints. I strongly suspect this is now my final month with this bullshit terrible company - please feel free to quote me on it.
5. Had a great Saturday night of down and desperate UK binge drinking. Serious problem. Must be stopped. Who are we to decide what's good for us and what we enjoy? Please listen to Free Talk Live. Did I just list binge drinking as success in one of my goals? No, the point was there were people around and that was good. Been a lonely March round here.
Hard Boulevard
1. Having great times with my new acoustic. This thing sounds fantastic. Some ideas for an April song are forming. Maybe the March song will cross the line late too. Check back.
2. Procrastinating on finding all the evidence to back up my claim that I am corely competent, so to speak. Give me a date for my review and i'm sure i'll get it done. Still confident, but uninterested.
3. I've noticed lately that many of the paths I've always liked the look of are really long shots. Love music, lack talent, want to engineer? Recorded music may be dying. Like radio? Want to engineer? Radio doesn't hire anymore - it fires. This is the excuse based whining you've come to know. It's not about quitting a job and earning less. It's far more about not quitting a job because of being scared you could end up earning nothing, and eventually end up back at the bottom of the same ladder you spent.. x years climbing. I may have just described a lot of people and their feelings, and again it fits the dice metaphor mentioned recently, but where is the wisdom that makes this problem go away? The successful are convinced things just work out with hard work. I wish I could find something I really felt the drive to work hard at, but even if I did, I wouldn't be immediately convinced i'd solved the problem. As you can see, goal met here.
4. Better week for the body. Swimming continued with a cramp free fairly continuous mile, and a luke-warm evening cycle down to and around the Abbey area was fairly enjoyable. Hopefully do something similar this week too.
Ready for a break from work. I missed the fact that it's been 3 months since my time off at Christmas. Ready for another trip to the south coast. Wondering if this style of writing is irritating. Will decide when I read it back in RSS reader later. Later.
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