Help me Obi Dell Kenobi...

[jsbowden]

So, I have this shiny new E4300 for someone here. The machine it's replacing used a PCMCIA/Cardbus card for VZW Mobile Broadband access. This machine has no PCMCIA slot. Fortunately, Dell now ships internal Mobile BB cards for several carriers as an option. Verizon is on that list, so I order the card in question. It came in this morning. I just spent forty minutes on the phone with Dell Tech Support (Gold, NBD...it adds $100 to the machine cost, and is worth every penny) establishing that no, I can't install this card after the fact. The antenna for it lives in the flat panel frame, but it's not installed unless you order the laptop from the factory with the card pre-installed.

This is a shiny new machine, and I have 21 days to tell my Dell rep that no thanks, we don't need it after all, gimme an RMA. The inexpensive and quick way for Dell to make me happy is to replace the frame around the flat panel with one that has the antenna I need, but I guarantee you that their screwed up inflexible policy will force us to return the machine, the VZW BB card, and order an identical machine with the card pre-installed. This will cost Dell at least $1000, since this machine, you know, the one that has zero hardware problems and is less then two weeks old, will be sent to the remanufacture pile to be sold off there. Replacing the frame will cost them parts + shipping.

Guess which way this will go. All to save two cents.

Comments

[tober.livejournal.com]

That's usually the way it is with laptops (this is hardly unique to Dell) with peripherals requiring antennas - gotta be built with 'em. I'm rather surprised that Dell will even sell you a mobile bb card by itself - presumably they're intended as spares only. They probably don't regard the display bezel by itself as an FRU and probably won't/can't sell you just that. It's probably possible for them to sell you an entire replacement upper half but probably not worth it. So, yeah, I think you'll be exchanging the machine.

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

The WLAN antenna is there whether you initially order a card or not. The engineer on the other end was surprised to find that they didn't just ship both. Seriously, Dell can add a dollar to the cost of the laptop and ship the damn antenna by default.