sadly i am out inthe sticks and very alone in sorting out these problems, which for a small business are a nightmare. i am faced with having to buy another pc and haven't a clue where to start, as i have lost so much confidence having been sold a pup by Dell, who i believed to be reputable, and no idea where to turn now. i almost feel like closing down my business and signing on, what with pcs and HMRC, you begin to wonder why you bother to try to run a small business in the UK - when I was unable to submit my corporation tax form online (now a statutory requirement) HMRC suggested i borrow a PC from someone else or go buy a new one just so i could submit there form! there are times when i wish we went back to pen and paper!

I am at my wits end with Dell also. I made the mistake of buying an Optiplex from them - from the outset it has been troublesome, it overheats, it freezes. It is very slow. it has a service history a mile long. It was purchased in November 2006 and in April 2007 I had my first extra charge - paying them for software support as they claimed the fault is software oriented. Didn't fix the problem. The hard drive has been replaced possible 4 times so far, and the extended warranty i felt forced to take out expires November 2011. Today I was told, yet again, having had about 11 breakdowns so far this year, that it is software not hardware and would i like to pay another £114 so that i can ring them 4 times in a year for support on the software - given the history of this machine i would use that up in a month. No one listens, cares, or gives a whatever. I have spent hours on the phone to call centres, hours when the machine does not work, and it is always the same fault - running slow, freezing/hanging, instability. It has not been fixed in five years of trying!