Editorial: The Dell XPS 630

Is Dell's new sub-$2,000 System Reflective of the Price?

Oh Dell, you are such a fickle friend...In November of 1996, my family took a step away from our IBM ways and purchased our first Dell computer. The move was spurred by a plethora of reasons, but the most important was that we were able to get a powerful system for a discount price. When the computer first arrived, there was a strict "no kids" policy put in place by my father which actually meant absolutely nothing. Those were the glory days of Dell. Across the next 8 years, my family and I together purchased 7 Dells and in the past 5 years I have been responsible for 2. Two computers that have put me through my paces: the Dark Ages O' Dell.

Within 2 weeks of receiving my current Dell Dimension 8400, my computer shut down suddenly and would not turn back on. I proceeded to call the infamous and outsourced Dell Customer Support to have a thick accented individual ask me, "Could you please confirm that your power cord is plugged into both your computer and an active power source?" to which I responded, "Are you serious?". 3-minutes later, I was disconnected. I called back and was connected to a new representative 20-minutes later and mentioned my plight. He could not find a record of my previous call and so he began, "Ok, so could you please first confirm that your power cord is plugged into the system and the wall?" And so began the charade.

After a cornucopia of "Could you please repeat that?" and "I don't understand you", I finally proved my case that a on-site technician needed to come by. In the end, after 3-weeks of arguing with the onsite technician, he finally replaced the motherboard and the power supply since they had (obviously) fried. Yay! A working computer! 6 months ago, my power supply an motherboard fried once again, outside of warranty, and so I popped on eBay, broke out the screwdriver, grounded myself, and replaced the two for around $200. *sigh* Fifteen blue screens later, I sat down on April 1st to purchase a new computer. Woe's me! Who to buy, who to buy!

Looking through my options, I quickly eliminated a few. HP didn't have any GREAT gaming rigs, save the Blackbird, but my price range was sub-chop-my-manhood-off. Apple was a consideration using the Windows Beta, but a Mac Pro speced to what I wanted was looking close to $3,000; plus, I would be selling my soul to Steve Jobs and his crack-whore ways. I even checked out Alienware, but my brother reminded me that his Alienware laptop became a $3,000 paperweight after just 1 year and 2 weeks when something broke 2 weeks outside of warranty and Alienware sighed an out-of-this-world, "tough bibbies, Earthling". With all the crap out of the way, I stumbled upon a CNet.com article praising the brand new XPS 630.

Cautiously intruiged, I built out a system totaling ~$2,000 with some pretty impressive specifications: 2.4 GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM, and Dual nVidia GeForce 512MB graphics cards. In the words of the late Steve Irwin, "Isn't she gooooore-geous!". Doing a quick Google search, I came across a discount coupon which brought my total price to ~$1,600. Ooooohhh, I am quite tempted....Then a quick checkand PCWorld.com showed me that the XPS 630 was an Editor's Choice; CNet.com had bestowed the same honor. After a week of mulling and thought, I submitted my credit card.

As I wait for my new system to arrive, I feel as if I have just tossed the dice in a wicked game of chance, yelling at the top of my lungs, "Fortune, please be gentle with me bum!" The bottom line is that purchasing a Dell at this point is a gamble. Michael Dell has stepped back into role as CEO as of January 2007 to improve sales and, from what I read, customer service but Dell is not yet reliving its glory days. My purchase could end up being one of the best or worst purchases I have ever made, and a good deal of this is left to chance.

I have done a few things to improve my chances of success. Firstly, I purchased an XPS which means that I have a devoted customer service team in the United States ready to take any of my technical and customer support related questions. Without this, I would be sunk if an issue arises. I have also invested in the 3-year warranty which is an absolute necessity when buying a computer you are on the fence about. Though I purchased my computer online, I did call a customer service representative and made sure to get his name and direct phone number. This is my last advantage: If I have any customer related issues (like a return), I have someone who I know to be friendly, intelligent, and available to help. I often read people complaining about Dell saying they called multiple times and got different agents. While the Tech Support does not offer direct dial, Customer Support does and so it is important to jot down their information and go to them for all issues.

In order to write a proper review of the system, I intend to spend a few months learning the ins and outs so please stay tuned. In the meantime, you can expect a few new PC reviews on the way. I heard through the grapevine that in a Top 10 Recent Villains editorial, Crysis was named due to it murdering high end systems with impunity. How can I resist such an offer? For all you MMO lovers, please expect a review of EVE Online's recent Trinity release since the graphics were improved. Of course, if you do not hear from me then I fear the worst may have come to fruition. If this be the case, Fortune has stuck something improper in my out and I ask that you pray for my recovery.

Editorial: The Red Ring of Inevitability?

One ring to rule them all...

On Monday, April 7, 2008 at 8:32 pm in downtown Washington, D.C., a certain Xbox 360 celebrated its 2-year anniversary in silent revelry. Over the course of the next 14 minutes while trying to load Call of Duty 2, it contracted typhoid fever, hepatitis, gonorrhea, and a bad case of the Monday’s which concluded in a soundless loss of life. Cause of death: general hardware failure (e.g. Red Ring of Death). Happy anniversary, my love.

On Tuesday morning, my friend (we’ll call him DB) wrote to me in GChat, “hahahahaha” and signed off. When he signed back on, I asked, “Why did you write ‘hahahahaha’ and then sign off?” to which he responded, “Because my freakin’ 360 died! Hahaha”. DB’s lack of disappointment, shock, or fear is not so shocking with the number of 360 general hardware failures rising every day. Microsoft, of course, will not release the specific figures on how many hardware failures they have repaired since the extension of their warranty but all someone has to do is log into a Halo 3 or CoD4 Live game and ask. In a game of 16, the typical response to my question is 12 out of 16; an overwhelming 75%. Note: To gain a more accurate understanding, I have included a poll on the right side of my blog; let’s see where we stand. So instead of logging onto Xbox.com to discover how to get his 360 replaced, DB’s first step was to find his receipt from 2 years ago. Ah yes, to return the console, you might say. Good move, good move. No, DB was more interested in how much time had elapsed between purchase and death. “2 years to the freakin’ hour,” he said, “It’s like it was planned or something”.

The scary truth underlying DB’s reaction is that 360 owners seem to have become complacent to the fact that their 360 has, can, and will die at any time. My own died 6 months ago after just 1 year of loyal companionship and a replacement system was sent just 3 weeks later. Despite having a brand new system post-Microsoft-revelation-that-we-built-an-impractically-designed-system, anytime my 360 hiccups, freezes, or otherwise lays a technical fart, I reboot my system expecting to see a beautiful red ring staring back at me. Shine on you crazy diamond, shine on. Part of me realizes that sending back my system would be a minor issue since Microsoft handled my last replacement beautifully, but another piece of me just knows there is a chance my system will run the way of the phoenix once again.

So could our complacency be a result of Microsoft living up to their warranty extension with flying colors or a simple, but frightening, truth that we have come to terms with the inevitability that our Xbox 360 will not escape the eventual, but peaceful, death? In the words of Michael Jackson, “It don’t matter if your black or white” or Halo 3 version, it looks like your 360 will suffer a common fate and die by the hands of the one ring that will rule them all.

One Ring to rule them all,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all

and in the darkness bind them.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring