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    Bittersweet M17x r4 news

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by dandan112988, May 12, 2012.

  1. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    I just got my m17x r4 in today, yay. Sadly something about it is driving me nuts. there are two small greyish marks on the screen visible on a white background. Either dead pixels or dust. Now.. should i try and disassemble to clean if its dust, which it may not be, it may be a stuck pixel. Or demand and exchange? I dont even know if that warrants an exchange. Any one know details on this or had a similar issue? Thanks.
     
    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  2. Xenn0X

    Xenn0X Notebook Evangelist

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    Call dell!
     
    Xenn0X, May 12, 2012
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  3. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    think i should demand an exchange? i kinda fear the new one will have a bigger defect

    should i call them spots or dead pixels when i call tech support
     
    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  4. Brither

    Brither Notebook Geek

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    Send it back while you can if you are not satisfied. Don't disassemble the screen.
     
    Brither, May 12, 2012
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  5. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  6. tetsussaiga

    tetsussaiga Notebook Evangelist

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    I understand how you feel about waiting, but for the amount you paid, you should expect a system that is nothing less than perfect. If I were you I would keep returning them until there was one I was completely satisfied with.
     
    tetsussaiga, May 12, 2012
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  7. Cereallll

    Cereallll Notebook Consultant

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    call on tell them your issue

    I doubt they will ask you to send it back, but instead, hopefully send out a tech to replace your screen at your house. most likely within 1-2 working days

    congrats on the new machine!
     
    Cereallll, May 12, 2012
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  8. Joe85

    Joe85 Notebook Deity

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    This is absolutely spot on. Demand n exchange or a full refund.
     
    Joe85, May 12, 2012
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  9. laptop_guru

    laptop_guru Notebook Enthusiast

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    Getting support on site is better I guess.
     
    laptop_guru, May 12, 2012
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  10. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    yeah id accept an exchange not a tech coming out. I dont want someone ripping apart my new baby. What do you guys think of that pics? Would that annoy you or am i just crazy?
     
    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  11. Blauwhelmpje

    Blauwhelmpje Notebook Guru

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    Well, all i can say is that i got an lcd monitor with a dead pixel and it looks nothing like that, ima guess it's some kind of substantion, perhaps a very little insect, like a fruitfly.(happend to me some time ago as well, the er crawled into my screen and stood there, luckily it moved out at some point, but in this case i believe it's dead..if its an insect at least). Still i dont believe you would be able to dissamble and reassemble it without it being worse then it currently is.

    I'd send it and wait for another/fixed one. Better that then accepting a construction failure.
     
    Blauwhelmpje, May 12, 2012
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  12. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    yeah ive seen dead pixels before.. its a very small black dot.. stuck pixels are some type of color and stay that way.. this one.. its seems bigger then a pixel, and both are grey. kinda looks like a micro mole actually. I would think it would be dust but it doesnt appear to be above the lcd itself, more like built into it.. weird.
     
    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  13. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

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    you want to get an exchange. This is a no brainer. Your laptop is brand new so this needs to get resolved. call dell. They are very good about these types of things

    You want a replacement...you DON'T want them to come to your house to replace the screen because they could be replacing it with refurb parts
     
    SlickDude80, May 12, 2012
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  14. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    ill call tomorrow and see what happen and post what they say. thanks guys. otherwise though.... I'm loving this laptop!! AMD's new graphics switching is a little weird compared to nvidia but at least they finally have it now!
     
    dandan112988, May 12, 2012
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  15. littleone562

    littleone562 Notebook Deity

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    Ask for an exchange, with an upgrade on the cpu for the inconvenience.
     
    littleone562, May 12, 2012
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  16. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    Will they actually agree to that? I ask because I just received my r4. Half the keys on the keyboard are dead, and my battery is loose. Could I push and get some upgrades successfully?

    Sorry for hijacking your thread.. ..

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 12, 2012
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  17. Defengar

    Defengar Notebook Deity

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    yes, if they did that crappy a job you could easily get them to throw in an upgrade or two on return.
     
    Defengar, May 12, 2012
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  18. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    cool, thanks for the advice. The tech support is trying to get somebody it to fix it. Maybe I can get a cpu and vid card upgrade :)
     
    eliteone, May 12, 2012
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  19. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    yeah tomorrow im going to call for the exchange and to ask for an upgrade as well. I feel like its awkward to ask for that but i want it. any recommendations as to what upgrade(s) to ask for? Also, think i can keep my current laptop untill i get the new one?
     
    dandan112988, May 13, 2012
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  20. littleone562

    littleone562 Notebook Deity

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    cpu upgrade is nice.
     
    littleone562, May 13, 2012
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  21. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    I totally agree with you, awkward but on the other hand they shipped us defective units. I would hope we would be able to send the defective laptops back after we receive the new ones.... I need mine for work, mind you with an external keyboard for now. I'm gonna ask for CPU and video card, don't expect to get both.... but worth a try right :) just call customer service? Or is there some kind of "retention" department? Sorry for all the newb Q's but this is my first alienware so I'm kinda in the dark about this stuff.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 13, 2012
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  22. remedy1978

    remedy1978 Notebook Evangelist

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    Maybe it is just me, but asking for CPU and GPU upgrades because of these issues is unwarranted. Call Dell, they will initiate an exchange. End of story. Especially if your only problem is a lose battery and your keyboard. My battery is slightly lose in my M17XR3 and as for the keyboard that is an easy swap.
     
    remedy1978, May 13, 2012
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  23. dandan112988

    dandan112988 Notebook Deity

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    they make plenty of money and this is a major bummer after waiting so long. Whats wrong with being compensated? @ eliteone what graphics card and cpu do you have now? I have the base cpu with the 7970. so all id need is maybe a bump in the cpu, or maybe another hard drive or something
     
    dandan112988, May 13, 2012
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  24. Mark4germantank

    Mark4germantank Notebook Consultant

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    You pay top dollar for these laptops expect to get what you pay for just to get a defective unit due to poor quality control. Now some need these laptops for work so they lose money and time sending them back so why not ask for some upgrade for your time and troubles.
    Dell just needs better qc
    I'm on the fence about getting a new m17xr4 and m18xr2 right now because of their poor qc. They are awesome computers when built right I love my m15x no problems with it ever

    Good luck and hope you guys get something for your troubles.
     
    Mark4germantank, May 13, 2012
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  25. TMoney

    TMoney Notebook Enthusiast

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    Good luck with your request, but I most sincerely doubt dell will give you anything other than a sincere apology. Let us know if anything comes out of it.
     
    TMoney, May 13, 2012
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  26. darkdomino

    darkdomino Notebook Deity

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    Demanding upgrades for a few dead pixels? Wow. I think I've heard it all now.
     
    darkdomino, May 13, 2012
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  27. remedy1978

    remedy1978 Notebook Evangelist

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    Thank you. I know I am not that far off base. They best you can hope for might be an increase in ram or HDD. I went through the same issues as you when I ordered my first R3 last year. After getting in contact with someone from the executive relations team, they offered 6gb of ram instead of 4 and a 600gb hdd. This was for a mis-aligned lid and several dead/stuck pixels.

    Why you feel you are entitled to a new CPU/GPU is beyond me. Yes quality control could be better, but I haven't seen a product yet that I have purchased (iPhone, Galaxy Nexus etc.) that I haven't had to exchange or replace due to defects. If they make thousands of these laptops there are bound to be a few bad apples that make it out the door.
     
    remedy1978, May 13, 2012
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  28. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    It's easy to understand - Americans as a whole seem to have a really skewed and inflated sense of entitlement. As long as they send the new one before receiving the defective one, the buyers is not really very inconvenienced, and Dell has fulfilled their obligation.

    That said, it doesn't hurt to try. Try and expect are very different things :)
     
    Tapakidney, May 13, 2012
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  29. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    You are right...... try and expect are VERY different things. And like I said before, this is my first alienware so I came in here asking an honest question, I expect nothing but what I paid for. Which is a high end lappy with a working keyboard and a battery that doesn't wobble around in its frame. I was told, and the fella that started this thread was told we should be able to get some upgrades for our inconvenience, and now I'm an over demanding American? Firstly I never said I was going to demand anything, secondly I'm not even American. I'm a stereotypical apologetic Canadian but thanks for pushing you're stereotypes on me.

    Sorry for the rant..... that post just got me going a little....

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 13, 2012
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  30. SkittlesXD

    SkittlesXD Notebook Consultant

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    Your technically still an American as you live on the continent of North America :p but yeah lets not start judging people based on nationality...
     
    SkittlesXD, May 13, 2012
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  31. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    Hah hah :) very astute ;)

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 13, 2012
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  32. Bartlett

    Bartlett The Prophet

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    All I believe you are entitled to is a replacement in a timely manner. That's it. It is a brand new computer out of the box and that in itself shouldn't warrant any fixing, but rather replacing. Call Dell and keep pushing the issue until you get the customer support you are entitled to.
     
    Bartlett, May 13, 2012
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  33. HopelesslyFaithful

    HopelesslyFaithful Notebook Virtuoso

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    that looks like a defect on the glass not the pixels....like a chip in the glass
     
    HopelesslyFaithful, May 13, 2012
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  34. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    Did I direct my post at you specifically? Nope. I know you didn't talk about demanding. Others did, though. I think you just took what I said as an attack towards you. Not intended.

    As for replacements, what I WOULD demand is that they send the new one with fast shipping and don't make you return the defective one till you get the new one.
     
    Tapakidney, May 13, 2012
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  35. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    Hah, sorry I'm a little touchy today :) wife's getting on my nerves and I'm a little quick to bite ..... but that is exactly what I will be happy with. A quick turn around an a fully working system. No harm in asking though right?

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 13, 2012
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  36. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh, don't get me wrong, I would definitely still ask! My wife gets on my case for trying stuff like that, but I've had some nice little bonuses in life from just trying, even if it seemed unlikely.
     
    Tapakidney, May 13, 2012
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  37. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    Well, the verdict is in! Got a CPU upgrade an msata drive and fast shipping. Now that's customer service :)

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    eliteone, May 14, 2012
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  38. TMoney

    TMoney Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm impressed. Congrats!
     
    TMoney, May 14, 2012
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  39. Tapakidney

    Tapakidney Notebook Evangelist

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    Awesome. I wonder if they're more willing to play ball when you've paid more for it. Did you pay full price?
     
    Tapakidney, May 14, 2012
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  40. eliteone

    eliteone Notebook Guru

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    That could be the case actually, I paid full price. I ordered it before I found this awesome site, and read about all the discounts you guys are getting here. I guess overpaying worked out in the end ;)
     
    eliteone, May 14, 2012
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