We're an almost entirely Dell shop where i work, at least for users' workstations. The only reasons are because 1) they're so incredibly cheap for the bare bones models and 2) we do all our own tech support. Our only interaction with Dell is to send them a check and get the boxes the next day. We learned early on that any other interaction with them is a losing proposition.

And even at that, we bought the last round of 6 PCs from Acer instead of Dell, even though they were a couple dollars more. We liked the look of the Acer laptops we have so much that we decided to give them a shot on desktops too.

>>...The power button is shocking him whenever he touches it....

I work in the engineering/manufacturing industry for a major company and that is a huge product liability lawsuit just begging to be born.

I'll bet if management knew they were basically blowing this off, they would probably be fired.

Dell ought to at least send you their bidirectional shipping costs as a value for getting your equipment tested by an electrician. It would cost them at least that, excluding the sunk costs of their 'employees' to take this further on their premises. They are the ones who choose to be a discount mail-order company after all. Generally their products are safe, in my experience. Where they continue to work, they often carry on for a good lifetimes, IMHO. I really don't like their proprietary view of the world. They are another land-fill merchant.

First, try to rule out any of the local environment. Power the PC, monitor and all peripherals from the same ring main of power. If you use a UPS, try to run everything off the same side (battery-monitored or filtered).

Then try to determine what this fault is and why it is that you are able to get the shock when you press the button. Does it occur when you touch it, or with the full action of the pressing down?

If none of the above identifies anything, try to alter the surfaces that the PC is sited on. Perhaps use a food tray under the computer and monitor and any trailing PSUs you might have.

After this, if you are still getting a shock (or if the shock was worse when you used the trays) - I would seriously consider having an electronics safety testing engineer come over to condemn the equipment. Then use that measurement report to either gain customer service or sue Dell.

Try to find out if this is a common problem and report it as a post in as many Dell owner forums as possible. Every machine can be built poorly or have a fault, but the two things here are the fact that power buttons should be the most well isolated devices and customer support should take electrocution via their fresh product very seriously.

If you are worried about your health, given that you haven't been hospitalized yet. Do try to only touch the button with bare hands with the the only path to earth being through your same side leg. If there is a path to earth the path for which goes diagonally across your chest and out through the opposite leg, then your heart could be at risk. Less than a micro-Ampere of current is enough to be a risk, if it can warrant itself a path through that way.

It does sound like the sort of thing that a man made floor surface or shoes could contribute to as a static hazard. However the initial post suggests you've had enough cause to rule this out thus far.

If you try calling Dell again, perhaps call through a recording bureau first. Then you'll have an email copy of this correspondence and the stinking attitude. Using a bureau may aid your case if they blow this off as a hoax complaint. They'll have track of the numbers dialed to reach Dell and the time info.

If you need your computer, leave it on for the time being.

I am on my third (and final) Dell - They used to have a top quality box for a reasonable price with reasonable customer service. Now they make a mediocre box for a reasonable price with the worst customer service in the industry (their downward spiral is mythic!).

Take a look at Shuttle PC's - About the same price as Dell for a much better box - Can't speak to their service but this will most probably be my next machine if I don't build it myself (no Fry's Electronics on the East coast yet - Darn!).

There is a lot to say about having an ATX case with an ATX motherboard and an ATX PSU and ending up having a PC that is as compatible with what you can fix from any donor PC or from a quick trip to the nearest screwdriver-PC builder shop.

OK, so you'll end up paying more for the operating system. Possibly having to suffer with kit that is 3 weeks less current than you'll buy from Dell. By my judgement, that I don't expect anyone else to accept - Dell has a place in the world, it would be worse without them IMHO. But they don't have to be the ones running away with _your_ money.

I always price up against Dell and consider what I'm getting and what I'll end up having to do when the machine is outside the warranty and tired. So far, I've never bought a Dell for myself. I've found their laptops to be OK at each end of the spectrum.

Who is good at customer support? I've heard HP is good in the UK. Great for being there onsite and very good for profit margins for the resellers. I'd only push them if I knew they used standard parts rather than proprietary, and I'm not sure either way. Dell's approach for wiring a standard connector incorrectly is almost sinister in my book. Yet Dell do seem to listen, or make sounds like they are listening and they are very very cheap, even without a double-memory and free shipping promotion.

Computers have never been cheaper. For me, the trouble with self builds is handling the problems and returns. For me, I'd probably buy from a supermarket before I'd buy from Dell. Even though they have the workstation class precision range, I'd probably get a Mac Pro or a Fujitsu-Siemens PC. I'd also expect next to no decent customer service or a truly better quality product from them either. Price has become too important with almost everything we plug in to the wall. Years back, you could still buy things new that were durable and looked it.

HP support used to be fantastic many years ago. Let me see, about 1996 I had a 3c scanner making noise but it still worked ok. The tech heard the noise on the phone and said we will send you another unit and when you receive it put the old unit in the same box and attach the pre filled out shipping label to the box and call the phone number on the instruction sheet for UPS to pick up the box. Done deal. No shipping charges, no nothin. I still use the scanner. The sealing tape for the box was even provided.
JJK

I'm still happy with HP/Compaq support. Fast, competent response from engineers in the U.S. Even realtime chat with competent people to pinpoint difficult problems. Love it!

Fry's? Never again.

Saturday Night Live couldn't come up with what those guys come up with.