Five Things Apple Could Learn From Dell
I’m a Mac switcher. All my computers at work had been Dell branded. But, then a 17″ MacBook Pro entered our department for testing purposes and I kind of adopted it. I’ll admit I was drawn to it by its looks at first. The display is spacious and gorgeous. The all silver appearance with that glowing Apple logo is just plain cool looking. The trackpad is so much better than any other I’ve used. The keyboard that lights up in dark – brilliant. But, what really won my over was OS X. A *nix terminal at my fingertips was the biggest selling point for me. So, I released my Dell D630 back into the pool and made the MBP my primary machine at work. But, a few years later down the road, there are some things I miss.
Dell Complete Care
Dell, from the admittedly very little research I’ve done, seems to be the only major player to offer a comprehensive warranty. They have “Complete Care” which covers accidental damage. If someone looses one of the little rubber feet on the bottom of their laptop, Dell will replace it. If someone drops their notebook and cracks the display, busts a few keys off the keyboard, and mangles the outer plastics Dell will replace it. Most of the support reps aren’t stingy at all about it. They’ll even ask if there’s anything else wrong with the machine that needs to be replaced even if its cosmetic.
Shortly after adopting my MBP, I was riding the train home and a strap on my backpack broke. Much to my relief, my Mac still worked just fine but the ugly dent on the side is a stinging reminder of the incident. I’m not sure how to spin this. On the one hand, it’s nice that it was tough enough to survive the fall. On the other hand, does Apple really want people going around with scratched and dented MBPs? I’m almost certain that part of the reason Dell offers to repair cosmetic damage is that they don’t want people (potential customers) seeing Dell notebooks in bad repair. You’d think that Apple, with their seeming obsession with appearance, would be all over this.
There are a couple of things I should point out. I’m sure the Apple fan boys are hyperventilating over the fact the Dell equipment tends to require more repairs than their Apple counterparts. There. I said it. You can relax now.
While Dell technical support reps are usually very happy to get the repair set up for you, I absolutely dread making the phone call. I know I’ll be on the phone for a minimum of 30 minutes while the tech troubleshoots with you for a while, determines what (if anything) needs to be replaced and – this is the part I hate – repeatedly put you on hold while they get the repair set up. Note: If you don’t buy the Gold support, expect to talk to someone overseas.
Update:
One of my co-workers sent his MBP in for repair since it had a faulty DVD drive. The LCD panel had some problems, it looks like it had been subjected to some pressure. As it turns out, if you get a piece of equipment serviced with AppleCare, they won't do a partial repair. They were not going to replace the defective SuperDrive without getting paid to replace the LCD panel. They ended up replacing everything at no cost anyway since the repair had got off to rough start. (FedEx delivered the shipping box to the Apple Store instead of our office. The Apple Store lost the box.) I believe our Apple sales rep got involved and pushed it through.
On-Site Service
Dell offers next-day on-site service. If one of our Macs needs repair, it has to be shipped in for service and you’re down a machine for a week or more. If one of our field people drops their Dell and busts the display, Dell will send a tech out to fix it on-site usually the next day.Apple, why can’t you offer something like this? We asked our sales rep this very question. His suggestion is that we get some of our staff Apple repair certified. So, I’ll give that a shot and that might work out for our people in the office, but our field people are still out a computer for a few days.
Modular Hardware
Another nice thing about the Dell notebooks is that they’re modular. Need to replace a hard drive? Two screws release the hard drive and four more screws free it from the bracket. I replaced the hard drive in my MBP (it’s out of AppleCare coverage by now anyway) and it was like minor surgery. DVD drives are hot-swappable and can be swapped out for an extra battery. If the Superdrive in your MBP breaks, you have to ship it away for repair.
While maybe not “modular”, Dell notebooks have the option of internal cellular broadband cards that are accessible either under the keyboard or via an access panel on the bottom. On my MBP, I have a USB modem that hangs off the side. I just know one day it’s going to get snapped off by someone sitting next to me on the bus. It’s clunky.
Complete Keyboards
While I really enjoy the feel of the keyboard on my MBP, it’s far from perfect. If I want to use the home, page up, page down, end, or forward delete keys, I have to hold down the “fn” key. Dell keyboards (and probably the rest of the world) has discrete keys for these functions. If I’m running a Windows VM and happen to need the Insert key… I guess I’m out of luck. Apple keyboards only have the “crtl” and “alt/option” keys on one side of the keyboard. And what’s with the separate “enter” and “return” keys? It must be a throwback to days of yore like the scroll lock key on PC keyboards. I have yet to find a use for it. Steve was all for scrapping the Firewire port, but has to hang on to the “enter” key?
Consistent Function Keys
Every time a new version of the MBP comes out, Apple has to switch around what the F-keys do. Make up your mind! How on earth is switching these around all the time improving usability? On a Dell, Fn-F8 has toggled the display mode for as long as I can remember. Enough said.