Since Dell built the system and it had such a lame excuse for a power supply I looked on the Dell web site for a video card with a slim form factor. I found several costing between $39 and $60 on the Dell web site that should meet his needs, but since I had recommended he buy the POS to begin with, I had lost my confidence and didn't want to recommend which one would work on this system. Instead, since Best Buy didn't have a clue or know what they were doing, I recommended he contact Dell Support and ask them which card he should get. He did as I recommended (see Support Chat Session below).
Well, since I'm writing this Dell obviously failed to come through and has tried to take advantage of my son. Based on the chat session below, Tech support identified a card meeting his needs at 1:41:11 which was a P/N 2542453 for $ 55.99. When he was transferred to Sales, low and behold they told him "Oh no, that's not the right card. You need a a A2418153 (aka GeForce 9500 GT) with a TV tuner and 1 GB of video memory for $99. In addition he needed a mysterious $10 cable to install this card in his system. Now don't get me wrong, this card is awesome, but with the statement on the side of the box, "POWER SUPPLY ADVISORY NVIDIA MINIMUM POWER SUPPLY REQUIREMENTS - Minimum 400W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 18A). Yeh, this card that Dell sales managed to convince my son to buy would probably work for a week, a month, or maybe even several months while the power supply fries itself and the system overheats. How dare Dell take advantage of my son's innocence, naivete and inexperience to sell him a card that exceeds what he needs and will eventually damage his system as it approaches it's end of warranty period.
On my son's behalf I will contact Dell first and the Colorado Attorney Generals office if I am not satisfied with their response. I don't like the idea of some sleazeball salesman taking advantage of my family.
+---- My Son's Dell Support Chat Session ----+
| This is an automated email sent from Dell Chat. The following information is a log of your session. Please save the log for your records. Your session ID for this incident is 29324473. | ||
| Time | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| 08/03/2009 01:12:49PM | System: "Thanks for choosing chat for your technical support needs. A chat agent will be with you shortly. Just so you know, you can also visit our website at support.dell.com to get technical help." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:14:49PM | System: "Thanks so much for your patience. Chat agents are eager to help you with your troubleshooting needs, so stay on line and the next available representative will assist you." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:17:54PM | Session Transferred to Agent (Jaswant _110991) | |
| 08/03/2009 01:18:07PM | Session Started with Agent (Jaswant _110991) | |
| 08/03/2009 01:18:16PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Im having trouble finding a Video card for the inspiron 530s i have is there anything I find that is good enough for under $50" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:18:19PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Welcome to Dell's Technical Support Chat! My name is Jaswant. How may I assist you today?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:18:54PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Im having trouble finding a Video card for the inspiron 530s i have is there anything I find that is good enough for under $50" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:19:24PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "I apologize that you had to wait too long to reach us, we have been experiencing high chat volumes today and are working on it. Let me understand the issue we’re facing with the computer right now so that I can assist you right away." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:20:22PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "You want to upgrade the video card. Is that correct?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:20:30PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Yes" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:20:52PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "May I know do you want to install any specific card?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:21:59PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Well Im not sure I bought a game for my son and it says the video card needs to be better im at a 3.0 rating and needs to be a 4.0" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:22:29PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "I understand your concern and I will personally attend to the issue. I assure you that I will do my best to provide you quality service. Please give me a minute to pull up your account information." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:22:52PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Thanks" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:23:59PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:25:15PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "I am checking the video card which are under $ 50." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:27:22PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "May I know the name of the game which you ant to play?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:27:51PM | Brian Xxxxx: "The Witcher" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:28:02PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Thank you for the information." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:29:08PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "I tried to find a video card lesser than $ 50 and I am afraid that I was not able to find any card in that range which will be compatible with this game and can also give you a rating of 4.0 I will recommend that you may contact our sales department to ge" | |
| t less expensive card. | ||
| 08/03/2009 01:29:26PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "The best people to assist you with regards to purchasing the card would be the Dell Spare parts Department. For ‘Home & Home Office’ customers, they are available daily between 7A.M. and 11P.M. CST at 800-357-3355, extension is 72-69938. They would be abl" | |
| e to recommend the correct part, considering your requirements. Our Spare parts representatives would be happy to assist you and provide any additional information that you might need. | ||
| 08/03/2009 01:30:13PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "I will be happy to help you order a card which is $ 55.99 excluding taxes and shipping." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:31:11PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Yeah thats fine if it will get me to the 4.0 and fit in this slim box" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:32:42PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "May I know the address at which you want to get this card?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:33:26PM | Brian Xxxxx: "xxx S. Xxxxx St. Xxxxxxxx Co. xxxxxx" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:33:52PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "May I know from where did you order this computer?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:34:17PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Bought it at Best Buy" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:34:44PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "According to our records, this system is still registered under the name of Best buy. Would you like me to transfer the ownership on your behalf so that you don’t face any issues in availing technical support in future?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:35:59PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Yeah I thought I had registered it and also I accidentally gave you the wrong zip code" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:36:28PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "May I have the name, telephone number, complete address and e-mail of the owner?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:38:00PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Brian Xxxxx 303 xxx-xxxx xxx S. Pierce St. Xxxxx Colorado xxxx Brian@ourdomain.dom" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:38:25PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Thank you for the information." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:38:37PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Could you please stay online for 2-3 minutes while I transfer the computer under your name?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:38:47PM | Brian Xxxxx: "No problem" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:40:07PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience. In order to place an order for this card I will recommend that you may contact our sales department as they will be happy to assist you and also let you know if a also expensive card is available." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:40:27PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "They are available daily between 7A.M. and 11P.M. CST at 800-357-3355, extension is 72-69938." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:41:11PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "The Dell part number of the compatible card which is $ 55.99 is A 2542453." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:41:40PM | Brian Xxxxx "Ok Great thanks for the help" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:42:17PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "You are most welcome. You will get our chat transcript in your E-Mail box for future reference so that have the part number and phone number handy." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:42:35PM | Brian Xxxxx: "Thanks again" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:42:58PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "You are most welcome." | |
| 08/03/2009 01:43:03PM | Agent (Jaswant _110991): "Is there any other DELL hardware related issue that I may assist you with?" | |
| 08/03/2009 01:43:04PM | Session Ended | |
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