Dell Retail Sales And Service

[jeffer]

Dell are at last going to be selling retail laptops and desktops in Thailand, starting with select PowerBuy stores. Built to order will be available at some point. They will also have an on site after sales service. The Inspiron 1420, XPS M1330, Inspiron 530 and Inspiron 530s will be the model ranges available. Prices will range from 18,500-50,000 baht.

Edited March 20, 2008 by jeffer

[Arkady]

I recently bought a Dell XPS M1330 laptop built to order from Dell Thailand. I ordered by phone and it was a bit difficult finding out what options were available at what prices because I had to get the information from the sales person and it was a case of having to ask the right question rather than being presented with all the options. www.dell.co.th has no information of any value to potential customers online and the specs available to customers in Thailand are only visible on the sales people's intranet. It took a bit longer that it would have done, if I could have seen all the options in front of me but in the end I was satisfied with the price (about the same as the US and less than in Singapore for a comparable spec) and the service. The computer arrived in 5 working days when they quoted 7-10 and everything was as ordered. I guess they are keeping the retail build to order sales quiet until they have all the resources in place and start advertising. The XPS M1330 is a great machine and I would recommend it.

[Arkady]

I should add that the phone number for sales in Thailand is 02 670 7200. This is not anywhere on their Thai website and I can't remember now how I found it the first time. There is also a toll free number in the US which you obviously have to pay overseas rates rates for. Be patient with the person who takes your details. You will eventually be put through to a reasonably competent sales person. They have secret promotion on Inspirons at the moment. I expect they are saving the publicity for the launch with Power Mall.

[damole]

Any update on this situation? Does anyone know whether the XPS1530 will be available here too?

[Guest Reimar]

If I remember right there is/was an Dell Outlet at the Fortune Town (IT-Mall) on 3. Floor, near to the Net-Cafe in Bangkok.

Cheers.

[Digitalbanana]

They sold a limited supply in IT-Mall a few yrs back and then disappeared. Not a reliable Thai track record methinks.

[jfchandler]

Not seen any Dell presence on the third floor of FortuneTown IT any time lately....

[jeffer]

If anyone finds this topic when searching about Dell then I can advise I saw Dell notebooks for sale at Panthip at a couple of places today. On the third floor, that's the level above the foodcourt, are a number of shops called BigIT (Com7). To find the one that sells notebooks look up and across from the food court for the red Siam Softtech sign. Siam is a corner shop so go down the aisle beside it towards the back of Pantip and the shop you want is on the left, just before all the repair shops.

XPS M1330 with Vista HP was 37,990, Inspirons were also available.

[jfchandler]

Anything about desktops????

[jeffer]

It was the notebooks that caught my eye so I didn't see any Dell desktops but I have a BigIT brochure and they list the Inspiron 530s (16990 +VAT) and the Inspiron 530 (28,900 + VAT) E4500, 19" monitor, 320GB hard disk, Vista basic etc. I think I counted 9 BigIT shops in the same area of Pantip so presumably at least one will have the desktops for sale if you take a walk around. Currently I don't think there will be any other desktop models available unless you go to the Dell website.

[Farma]

Can anyone confirm Dell has a service centre in Thailand. 2 months ago when I looked into buying a Dell laptop all the Fortune shops selling Dell told me they had to be sent to Singapore for repairs.

I ended up buying HP.

[tutsiwarrior]

XPS M1330 with Vista HP was 37,990, Inspirons were also available.

did you notice which processor speed for this machine?...(they got 4 different XPS M1330 models with different specs)

I'm also interested in service availability in Thailand and, indeed, also bought an HP 2 years ago as there was no Thailand in-country based Dell service at the time.

Edited May 22, 2008 by tutsiwarrior

[jeffer]

The Dell listed in the BigIT brochure has the following:

Intel 5450, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, 13.3" WXGA TL, DVDRW, GMA X3100 graphics, 2 mp webcam, Wireless 3945, Vista HP, free light weight case, finger print reader, 1.8 Kg.

37,990 +VAT.

You might want to take a look at the shop because I noticed with another brand they had versions not listed in the their brochure i.e. different processors, RAM and hard disk so they might also have other XPS M1330 with different specs. There is another shop opposite the Siam Softtech shop (across the void) selling Dells but I didn't take note of what they sold. Dell indicated in their original press release there would be service in Thailand but I don't know if it's up and running yet.

[Guest Reimar]

The Website of Dell Thailand: www.dell.co.th/dm Phone: 1800-060-016 and 001-800-601-5616

The phone numbers are toll free.

Dell's Office is located at 22. floor, 195 Sathorn Thai Road, Bangkok 10120

Cheers.

[Arkady]

In addition to my XPS 1330 I bought an Inspiron 1420 from Dell Thailand built to order and had the same happy experience as with the XPS. It arrived on my doorstep from Malaysia in 5 working weeks with everything correct as ordered. They still have no website to order from in Thailand but, if you are patient with the tele sales girls you will get what you want. When I ordered the Inspiron she told they had 3 specs as promotional packages for

Thailand but I quickly found out that by ordering a la carte I could get a higher spec for the same price. Last month they were selling the Inspiron 1420 with DOS only at a good cost saving for those who want to use bootleg windows or Linux et al. (Note that, if you choose XP you will have to find some of the drivers yourself from the manufacturers' websites, so that is not an option for the IT illiterate, although simple enough for the tech savvy.)

Comparing specs I am sure that Dell's Inspiron 1420 and XPS 1330 are significantly cheaper like for like that anything offered here by HP or others. I haven't had to use their tech service but they send some one to your house or office. One year's guarantee comes with the price and an extra two years is available for about B4,000.

One thing I didn't like is that Dell uses all the four available drives on Windows. Apart from the C drive, one is used for Media Direct, one as a recovery partition and one as a small diagnostics drive. I did clean intalls of Windows on both machines so that I could have a separate D drive for my data. On my machine I nuked all three of Dell's partitions which are useless in my opinion but that turned the Media Direct button into a self destruct button that will prevent the system from booting. On my gf's Inspiron I thought a self destruct button would be too dangerous so I left the Media Direct drive intact, even though it is inconveniently located at the start of the drive which can slow things down a bit. Media Direct allows you to play disks without booting up the OS and is only a very minor advantage. The recovery partition is to help Dell's tech staff, as they can just get customers over the phone to use it to restore factory settings to get the computer working again, although all their data and programs will be wiped out. Not something you want to do, if you have an ounce of IT gumption.

Finally, I would not recommend Windows HP as it doesn't have one of Vista's best features which is PC recovery that works pretty well. For that you need to use Vista Business or Ultimate. Business is only about B1,000 more.

[adimn]

In addition to my XPS 1330 I bought an Inspiron 1420 from Dell Thailand built to order and had the same happy experience as with the XPS. It arrived on my doorstep from Malaysia in 5 working weeks with everything correct as ordered. They still have no website to order from in Thailand but, if you are patient with the tele sales girls you will get what you want. When I ordered the Inspiron she told they had 3 specs as promotional packages for

Thailand but I quickly found out that by ordering a la carte I could get a higher spec for the same price. Last month they were selling the Inspiron 1420 with DOS only at a good cost saving for those who want to use bootleg windows or Linux et al. (Note that, if you choose XP you will have to find some of the drivers yourself from the manufacturers' websites, so that is not an option for the IT illiterate, although simple enough for the tech savvy.)

Comparing specs I am sure that Dell's Inspiron 1420 and XPS 1330 are significantly cheaper like for like that anything offered here by HP or others. I haven't had to use their tech service but they send some one to your house or office. One year's guarantee comes with the price and an extra two years is available for about B4,000.

One thing I didn't like is that Dell uses all the four available drives on Windows. Apart from the C drive, one is used for Media Direct, one as a recovery partition and one as a small diagnostics drive. I did clean intalls of Windows on both machines so that I could have a separate D drive for my data. On my machine I nuked all three of Dell's partitions which are useless in my opinion but that turned the Media Direct button into a self destruct button that will prevent the system from booting. On my gf's Inspiron I thought a self destruct button would be too dangerous so I left the Media Direct drive intact, even though it is inconveniently located at the start of the drive which can slow things down a bit. Media Direct allows you to play disks without booting up the OS and is only a very minor advantage. The recovery partition is to help Dell's tech staff, as they can just get customers over the phone to use it to restore factory settings to get the computer working again, although all their data and programs will be wiped out. Not something you want to do, if you have an ounce of IT gumption.

Finally, I would not recommend Windows HP as it doesn't have one of Vista's best features which is PC recovery that works pretty well. For that you need to use Vista Business or Ultimate. Business is only about B1,000 more.

My dad's visiting Bangkok in next week. I've been trying to get a dell inspiron 1420 ordered from us, but i want to confirm if laptops are cheaper in Bangkok?

If thats so, i'd rather ask my dad to bring it.

Can someone give a round figure of how much a laptop with config like in http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...;l=en&s=dhs cost in bangkok?

Also, does getting a laptop with just DOS and not windows make it cheap?

[jeffer]

You would assume a Dell from the US would be cheaper as most computer hardware is. Not having Windows pre-installed will reduce the price of the notebook, however if you're going to install Windows yourself it will be more expensive to buy your own copy as companies like Dell are buying millions of licenses and will get a better deal. The downside is most companies install a lot of extra programs for which they get a commission. If you want all the programs then that's fine but many people find them annoying. If I thought there wasn't a lot to be saved I'd install my own license and set it up the way I wanted to but then you might not have the restore feature from a hidden partition a lot of pre-built computers have.

The link you posted, checked the brochure I have and these were the closest I could find:

#R560265 T7250, 2GB RAM, 160Gb HD, 14.1", 128MB GF8400 GS, VHP, 2.4kg @35990 +VAT

#R560264 T5550, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, 14.1", GMA X3100, VHB, 2.4kg @29,990 +VAT

(seems to be the $799 model?)

Incidentally Dell are getting more involved in the local market. I visited Zeer yesterday and on the third floor JIB have a brand new shop just for notebooks and prominent on display were Dell. Several other JIB shops had Dells on their shelves also. Seemed to be the same models I saw at BigIT so if 2 large vendors are stocking Dell then you have to think service is available because they wouldn't sell them if there wasn't.

[bkkguy1970]

re Dell service:

Court Finds Dell Guilty of Fraud

"Dell was found guilty on Tuesday of fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices and abusive debt collection practices in a case brought by the New York attorney general."

and my experiences with Dell "service" in Thailand years ago were a disaster

bkkguy

[danfred]

Dell Servers, Notebooks and Monitors sold in Thailand...

http://bangkokwebhosting.com/dell.htm

[rinkrat]

I need some assistance. am presently on my way to Bangkok from US. have a Dell XPS M1210 which is about 1 1/2 years old.have blue screen of death on plane and ran diagnostics - seems to be hard drive failure but I cannot be certain as I do not have MS Vista Ultimate disk with me.tried callin Dell numbers in Thailand but all do not seem accesible from outside (am in airline loung in Tokyo). tried US but they say to call Bangkok.they tell me I should be able to get support there but only a new hard drive and probably not software loaded as they did in US when this happened before.I will be in Bangkok late tonight (Monday) to this Saturday night the 20th. want to try to fix on Tuesday.can anyone help or provide advice?using PDA for email right now.thank you.