My Habari

Over ten people per year ask me which company they should buy their laptops for, and thanks in large part to my personal experience with certain people at Dell (@LionelatDell), and the various blogging efforts they've done, I've been recommending them. Unfortunately, their involvement in the blogosphere says nothing about the quality of their machines, nor the usefulness of their support.

Since purchasing a laptop for my wife from Dell (Order Date: 01/26/2009), we've had nothing but problems. I don't use the machine much, so I haven't really notice them, and with her only using the laptop from time to time, she's just lived with the issues, growing ever more frustrated.

About a month ago, she came to me complaining that her screen was dark, and flashing. The next day, while she was at work, I opened it up, turned it on, and didn't see anything wrong with it. I closed the machine, thinking that it was one of those errors that she'd never be able to replicate with me in the room. (I don't know how that happens.) She was also complaining that when she was typing, the keyboard would do crazy things and that her mouse wouldn't always move correctly. Having used a Dell before, I knew of the poor quality track pads they put in their machines, and constantly tried to tweak the settings for her, never getting it to work correctly.

The next day, while home, she complained of the issue again, and I looked and sure enough, the left hand side of the screen was noticeably darker than the right. It then also began to flicker wildly, going lighter and darker.

I called up Dell technical support, and talked to a nice representative about the issue, and he had me do a variety of software based tests, changes, and even remotely connected into the laptop. Of course, during the time I had him on the phone, the machine, which had been closed and powered off for some time, wouldn't reproduce the issue, and I was casually dismissed.

When it happened again, I had my camera ready and switched it to video mode. Of course, even at 30fps, it couldn't capture how bad it was, but I had video proof. How could they ignore me now? I contacted them, e-mailing the URL of the video. They complained they couldn't open it, but were willing to send a box out to ship the laptop to them.

I did so, making sure to put the URL of the video on the issue sheet, in hope that the technician would have a better suited computer and be able to see the video. I also made mention of the various typing and mouse problems we were having, in hopes that they would fix those as well.

Sending off the laptop, they held onto it for a while, and then I got a call saying they couldn't reproduce the issues I was having. I asked them if they saw the video, and of course, the technician had not. I told him that I had put the URL on the information sheet I sent in, to which he replied that he didn't have that information.

I gave him the URL over the phone, and he said he would check into it. Today, I received a box that contains my wife's laptop. Inside was a repair report. The report said that "after performing numerous functional tests, we have found no faults with your computer".

Here is the video of the screen issue:

Every time I called, I was treated poorly, like I was trying to trick them, or lie to them. Sure, lots of problems are due to users making mistakes, but when I explain that I've built over a dozen desktops and have a degree in Computer Network and Tech Support, I think I can tell when the issue isn't software related, and shouldn't be told to update drivers when half the screen is flickering.

I think it is pretty plain to see what was wrong. It is most likely a loose connection between the base of the laptop and the screen, made worse due to the heat of the machine. Since receiving it only twenty minutes ago, I haven't been able to replicate the screen issue, but the issues with the keyboard and touch pad still remain.

As I am typing, it will randomly act as though I've hit the CTRL key and when you hit Ctrl plus certain other keys like S, you'll get a save dialog box, or make text italic. Sometimes, it will even highlight the current line of text, and so if you are typing at a fast pace, it will delete your writing. This is only made more frustrating because sometimes the mouse pointer won't move, despite trying to move it to the edit and undo.

Most likely there is some kind of short with the keyboard, or issues with the build quality that are leading to these problems. In the end, my wife's laptop acts like it is possessed, and therefore is a lemon. It isn't even a year old, and I feel like an idiot for spending over a thousand dollars on a Dell.

Now, I'll have to find a way to record the issues I am having with the keyboard and track pad, contact Dell again, and see what they say. Not that they even checked out my previous video, as the only video plays, according to Vimeo's statistics, come from those I showed when I first took the video. Pretty sad when even video proof isn't checked by support, technicians, or anyone at Dell.

With the way I am being treated, I doubt I will make that mistake again. Why can't Dell give high quality service and support to non-business customers? If anyone reading this works at Dell, and would like to help set things right, my wife and I would really appreciate that. I want to continue to tell people they can trust Dell because they have products at a reasonable price, but if their support can't handle the brand they are trying to build online, then they'll still fall flat and be unable to compete over the long term.

Update as of August 14th, 2009

So a friend of mine in Dell has said he would help me get a "better" resolution to this issue, and I've been bugging him since then, but haven't heard anything back. I am also going to attempt to contact the support department via the phone again soon to see if I can get a better fix for the issue. I thought things were going to be resolved, but it looks like the fight with Dell continues. Wish me luck...

So previously (Project Ideas: What Should I Work On?), I talked about some domains I owned, and my own plans for them. I've been thinking long and hard about doing some new things that I am passionate about and that I can hopefully build into a small online media and publishing company. Today, I wanted to list some other domains that I own and mention a few of the ideas I've had for them.

AltSciFi.com - This used to be a science fiction blog, in the same vein as a previous one I had. I am a huge fan of science fiction, but I've never been able to maintain a blog for the topic, as I'd rather read posts written by others.

BloggingWeight.com - I've put on a fair bit of weight over the last four years. In part, I am sure, due to being stuck to a computer desk, my office only thirty-feet from my bed. I blogged on here about my efforts in loosing weight, as well as various other related things. I've thought constantly about relaunching this blog, as public scrutiny and accountibility made my weight loss easier.

CellSnoop.com - Maybe a cellular phone blog (like there aren't enough of those in the world?)

CheatBase.com - Cheat code repository (again, super saturated, but something I am interested in)

CSSFuel.com - CSS/Design Gallery with blog. Many people don't know this, but at one point in my career, I was responsible for running one of the first design galleries, CSSVault and the site did rather well with my choices.

FeedSEO.com - Maybe something about RSS feeds and the limited search engine optimization issues surrounding them, or a site about SEO, and how to feed it into your site? Not sure, just felt like a good purchase at the time.

HealthNewsFirst.com - Health site, with news from all over North America. With my wife becoming a nurse, these types of topics interest me more and more, especially from a technology standpoint.

PodCastSponsor.com - A service to bring podcasters and businesses together, to try to come up with sponsorship opportunities.

RootBeerHero.com - Yes, I am a Root Beer fanatic. I've already put a few posts on here. This is just one of those "fun" things.

SolarHype.com - I love the idea of solar technology, and wish the awareness regarding solar was higher. I don't feel like there are many good blogs talking about solar technology exclusively. Usually, solar technology is just tacked onto other alternative energy sites.

TabletWatch.com - Tablet Computer blog, maybe Apple Tablet Rumours.

TheBlogJob.com - Blogging related jobs. I've attempted to do this before, using WordPress as a platform, but I gave up on it way too soon. I'd love to be the reason why people are able to get a job doing what I've loved for the last four years.

For those of you that haven't been following me on Twitter (@brandingdavid), or various other places, you might not know that I am working on my first novel, and much to many people's surprise, it is fiction. The book is called Vanish Effect, and I am posting the unedited version as I write it on VanishEffect.com.

I haven't given away the details of the story anywhere yet other than to the person helping edit the first round draft of the book. I hope to create something worthy of being published before the summer of 2010.

I hope you'll all check out Vanish Effect (and keep up to date via its own Twitter account @VanishEffect), and if you know anyone looking at picking up a writer such as myself, I'd really appreciate it. After I finish Vanish Effect, I am considering applying my years of experience into writing a non-fiction book as one of my greatest passions in life is teaching, something that I am struggling with in my fiction writing, as I continually want to explain plainly, rather than surround people in the world I am creating.

And while I've mentioned it on my Appreciation page on VanishEffect.com, I'd also like to add a few words here thanking both Patrick O’Keefe and Phyl Good for their support and hard work. Patrick spent a lot of time talking to me about his experiences publishing a book, and Phyl is my on-the-go editor that has been helping me keep focused, and continue to push out pages. She is also helping make those pages "work" better and pointing out the times where I tell rather than show the various gadgets that I want to have propagate my society.

I have been thinking more and more about what I want to build out over the coming year as the summer quickly rushes towards the fall, I want to start having something to do when the colder weather hits, other than watching television and playing video games. So I figured I'd put my ideas out there, and you can all let me know your thoughts.

I have over twenty different ideas, and already have the domains to follow through on them. Here are just a handful of project ideas that I think have potential and that I'd enjoy doing. I'll write about more of my ideas in a follow up post.

BuyWPThemes.com - Information on Premium Themes. I would create a gallery of the current theme options available in the premium WordPress theme marketplace, while also tracking changes, updates, news, and maybe even include a few interviews with the creators. I know more than a few of them well, and could put up some interesting details on what they have done, and continue to do. I could also use this as my own personal coupon database for Premium Themes, since I am always spending money on them.

The content would primarily come from the creators of the themes, with my own thoughts, ideas and dedicated posts to fill the gaps. I would also look for people willing to guest post, and pay for some contributions, as there are more thoughts regarding premium themes than just the ones that I have.

The potential for profit might not be very high, but that depends on how many premium WordPress theme affiliate companies I sign up for, and then how many themes I sell through it. Also, if premium theme authors found my site to be decent, some may even purchase advertising.

CelebReader.com - I think of this as being a PopURLS for Celebrity sites, focusing in on the niche, and showing off a handful of the most popular sites latest post titles, images from various sources, and video links from a few popular sources. It would mostly be automated and wouldn't need much interaction from me besides setting it up, and constantly expanding and improving it.

With content growth next to nothing, since it will be close to a single page site, with no archive, Celebreader might not do well on search engines and whatnot, but could become highly viral if I pick the right blogs, images and videos to put in one place. I worry though that this niche is highly saturated, and those seeking this information will be savvy enough to use an RSS reader or have all of their own personal favourite sites bookmarked already. Growth might be slow, and as such, potential for profit through ad sales on the page would be low, especially in the short term.

LifeSnips.com - I used to own LifeSpy.com, a site I really enjoyed owning and managing. I am a sucker for lifestyle tips, tricks and answering questions. I've even already had a design done for this site by James McDonald, the designer that did this blog as well as Blogging Pro. I haven't yet had the design coded, but it does look amazing.

Content would come from myself, quoted from other similar blogs, and from a stable of bloggers that I'd hire to keep it flowing fast. This niche is also very saturated, but I enjoy it, and I think that because of my passion, it could do very well.

With the expense of hiring bloggers, I feel that potential profit would be very low, but over the long term, the possibilities with this site look very promising.

OneBigCanada.com - Another PopURLs style site, but focusing solely on Canadian content and news. With sections for each province and territory, OneBigCanada.com would cover the country from coast to coast pointing out the popular blogs, services, and news publications available for each area. It would be part directory/index and part start-page for someone wanting to read all about everything going on in Canada. I might separate each area into its own page, with its own focus. I haven't thought user interface out yet, but I think there is a strong need for Canadians to promote their own country more, and I hope that is what this site would do.

Competition would be fierce, but this is one project where I wouldn't be looking for major growth, more as just a service for myself and those that find there is a need for such a thing.

TenTopBlogs.com - TenTopBlogs is really my own realization that certain sites list FAR too many blogs to be useful. I've focused in on Geek topics thus far, and the site is already built. It needs a design, logo, and branding, as well as some code refinement, and of course it needs all the categories filled out. TenTopBlogs is highly subjective to me, the person running it, but I think that with a proper submission form, I could add blogs that are highly requested, either filling out the TenTopBlogs list for that niche, or pushing out a blog that people don't feel belongs.

Each section shows off the five latest posts from the ten top blogs in any given niche. I will probably stick to tech and geek topics as they are what I am most passionate about, and what I feel resonates the most with the tech savvy audience I hope to attract.

Direct ad sales to products and services, not blogs would be the source of revenue once traffic was high enough to appeal to advertisers. Profit would be low, but as this is another project I am passionate and personally invested in (custom coded by me), I think it has potential.

WebHostReality.com - This was a project I was originally going to do with someone else. It was to be a blog and site focusing in on the reality of hosting with various companies. Giving tips, tricks, ideas, coupons, and more regarding various services. I've re-launched it already to test out the Gravity Forms WordPress extension. I've used dozens of different hosting companies since joining the world wide web.

Content would come from submissions, my own writing, as well as some freelance writers. Potential for profit, if I can bust through the high level of saturation in the market, would be medium to high. The hardest part about running such a site is to not promote solely based on the potential income of the affiliate programs. Some of the biggest payouts are by some of the worst web hosts, and some of the best web hosts, do not have an affiliate program. I'd have to use user feedback to make sure various writings are held in check.

So that's it for this post. Please let me know what you think of them, and while it might seem crazy to you, ideas come easily to me, it is filtering those ideas down to a point where I have only a few projects to work on so I am not overwhelmed that is hard for me. Also, I really enjoy launching new projects, but get frustrated with longer term maintenance of those projects (though I've been getting better about sticking with things over the long term).

Note: I don't plan to build and maintain all of these, they are just ideas that I have domains for. Some have been started, some have not.

Now it is your turn, let me know what you think in the comments below.

For those of you that have been annoyed that I haven't been posting my thoughts often here, I have decided to purchase, and run a new forum that will, hopefully, bring what I had hoped to do with my private membership forum to the forefront. I have bought EarnersTalk.com, and am now working on porting some content from Branding David Members over to EarnersTalk.com. I will also be releasing my e-books for free there to registered members, and I hope you'll all come, sign up, and interact with the community, as I work on growing it out, hopefully to the benefit of everyone involved.