Am I entitled to a replacement M17x R2?

I just don't know what else to do so I'm just asking around to see if I am the only person who finds my situation ridiculous.

I just want it to be known from that start that I am not intending this to be a derogatory post against Alienware or Alienware users. When I purchased my system I did so under the impression that there would likely be some minor problems with it. At this point in time though, I feel like these "minor problems" are no longer acceptable on any level; this is especially true when it comes to a major corporation such as Dell.

I purchased a M17x R2 from the Dell Outlet January 6th, 2011. The first time I ever turned it on the OS was corrupted, and I had to return it so they could repair it. They actually got it back to me relatively quickly and I received it on January 20th, 2011.

I turn on the computer and kind of notice a weird red coloring on the Alienware logo. I thought it looked kind of interesting but besides that I didn't take any notice. Then I started to notice that everything on my screen that should have been black always had these "fuzzy" red lines running through them. I call up Dell and they don't know what it could possibly be so I have to get repair parts sent out (a new display and GPU).

Now my monitor is fixed and everything looks fairly normal. I play a few games and notice that the frame rate is surprisingly low considering I have 5870 CF (This is playing Battlefield 2). I do some research and find out that my GPU won't enable crossfire. I get on the Alien Contact support device, and they try everything to no avail. Now, at this point, I'm getting kind of pissed. It have been around 2 months since I have received my "gaming laptop," and I have yet to actually play games effectively on it. Whatever, they send out an onsite technician who replaces my GPU.

So, at this point, my GPU is fully functional, and I'm ready to play some games. Now, with crossfire enabled my display is constantly flickering, shaking, and "scrolling" on my screen. There is also I black line running down the side of my screen. I get on the Alien Contact support device and they make sure I have the newest ATI drivers installed. The problem appears to be fixed.

The next thing that happened I don't really understand, but for some reason the newest ATI driver updates aren't supported by Dell so it causes my entire system to crash when I play games. I get on the Alien Contact support device, and they tell me that the last technician was wrong, and I can only install "Dell supported" driver updates. The most recent of which was released on September 9, 2010. They install these drivers instead to solve the problem.

Now I have the old drivers so the problem involving the screen shaking and flickering is back. I call up Dell and they send out an onsite technician to replace my GPU again. At this point I have my service tag memorized (along with the Dell phonetic all there support agents use), and I am on a first name basis with my onsite technician (I live in a rather underpopulated area in northern Michigan).

Surprise! My computer actually works for two weeks at this point! Completely functional as far as I can tell! But it doesn't take long before a catastrophic failure. The motherboard fails which causes everything else to fail too. The only parts that are salvaged are the display, keyboard, hard drive and case. They get everything replaced again.

And now we come to today. The problems I had with my GPU before are back again. The screen shakes and flickers and Dell wants to just send another replacement GPU.

(The preceding information all took place between January 6th and May 1st. My laptop was only fully functional for a two week period during those months)

I just want to ask you if my case is extreme enough to make a replacement a viable option? Do you think that I should just keep getting repairs because as far as I can tell it isn't doing anything to solve my situation. Or am I just overreacting?

Please, if you know anything about the Alienware policy in this sort of situation, can you help me out? The problem is that I have an M17x r2 which are no longer made and settling for a replacement M17x r3 (if they would even allow it) would force me into a GPU downgrade, a display downgrade and a relative build quality downgrade. I guess in the end, I just want to know what my options are because the Alienware customer support just has me running in circles. Ex: I called up technical support about this, and they told me to contact customer support who then proceeded to tell me to call technical support.

A few things to keep in mind are the fact that it is a Dell Outlet computer. I don't think this should have much bearing on if I get a replacement though because the Dell refurbished "guarantee" was obviously not true in my case. Second, customer support keeps saying that I can't get a replacement because there is a 21 day replacement policy; is there no way around this? Third, I am not interested in a return.

Again. I don't hate Alienware; I just want to emphasize the apparent severity of my situation. Thank you in advance for any advice or guidance you can offer me.

 

Have you tried unresolved issues?
https://support.dell.com/support/to...care/outstanding_issues?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Have you asked your case to be escalated to upper support level? I have had less troublesome issue in the past and have the computer replaced but that was when DELL was still building the R2. DELL even extended my warranty because of the time it took to resolve my issue.
Being persistent help. Just don't start yelling into the phone. Sorry I can't provide any better help.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...placement-systems-warranty-repair-issues.html