How to buy — and use — a new computer

Every three years or so I upgrade my computers. At least one of my kids is usually in dire need of a PC, so off the PCs go to new homes, where they serve honourably and trouble-free for years to come. I buy Apple and Dell computers. They’ve proved to be reliable, with the latest technology, which gives me bragging rights, as in “My new Dell has an eighth-generation i7 processor” running at speeds unheard of three years ago. Along with my 300-gigabit broadband, I know the new Dell is the fastest machine on the planet.

Buying a Dell can be straightforward: You go to the website, find what you want, put it into your cart and check out. But that’s not the best way to buy a Dell. I found that buying one is akin to shopping in a bazaar. So here goes:

The machine I wanted has the latest processor in a top-of-the-line (non-gaming) XPS model, a separate 4-gigabyte video card, both a 1 terabyte solid-state drive and a 1 TB traditional hard drive and 16 gigabytes of RAM. I wanted one of Dell’s UltraSharp monitors, too.

So, off to dell.com, where I built my dream machine, which totalled $1,700, not counting the monitor. Still, after some haggling on their chat line, I wound up paying $1,330. A few days later, Dell was offering a 12 per cent discount, which wasn’t available when I ordered my computer. That would have brought the price down to $1,496. The important thing is to check the Dell website often. Deals pop up regularly but don’t last long. And haggle. I’m sorry, Dell sales staff, but that’s the only way to get a good deal. The 61 centimetre monitor set me back $259 after a 30 per cent discount.

The computer arrived about a week later. Its all-black finish looks great on my desk. The fan is a bit noisier than my old XPS, the CD/DVD tray is flimsy. When is Dell going to offer a Super Drive, in which the DVD is inserted into the drive, rather than loading it in a tray? And the wired keyboard and mouse are insults to consumers who dish out more than a thousand dollars for a PC — they’re wired throwaways. I ordered a dasKeyboard and a Logitech MX Master S2 mouse, which set me back another $230. Ouch. The mouse has a “flow” option that allows a user to copy and paste data from one PC to another. The keyboard is backlit. The Dell comes with one year of onsite hardware-only support, so I bought a two-year Premium support package that covers onsite and software support. List price $169; haggle price $139.

I wish the story ended there, but it doesn’t. From the get-go I had trouble. Numerous calls to offshore tech support failed to solve a BIOS problem that I probably caused. Note to newbies and oldbies alike: Leave the BIOS alone. The BIOS is an internal group of settings that govern the way the computer operates. It’s set up just fine from the factory. And don’t tinker with Windows. I bungled into installing Windows on both my solid-state drive and the traditional drive. That’s a no-no, a tech told me. Things got so bad that a tech ordered a new hard drive, and then the fun really began. The tech who arrived with the new hard drive had a difficult time installing it. At least one loose screw is floating around in the case. The fun continued.

I had paid for Windows 10 Home Edition, but the new hard drive was formatted with Windows 10 Pro, which meant I couldn’t activate it because the license code is on the motherboard. Calls to Microsoft failed to solve the dilemma, so I reinstalled Windows. Meanwhile, one of several Dell techs I talked to said the only way to solve my problems was to exchange computers. At this point, I agreed. My replacement is due to arrive any day now. Once that happens, I promise not to mess with the BIOS or Windows, and just enjoy the fastest consumer PC on the planet.