Brand new m17xR3 - red pixels all over display, help please!

Just got my 17x in today...and sadly there are thousands of red pixels all over the screen (mostly in the areas where the picture is dark or black). I hope this is fixable!

here's some pics I took of the screen:

http://i.imgur.com/WlrDd.jpg

imgur: the simple image sharer

My m17x has the nvidia 560M gpu and the 1080p display.

I'm assuming that I should update the drivers for the video card?
On Dell's support site there are new nvidia drivers and a new VBIOS. Should I install both of those? And which should I install first?

I would appreciate any help. This is my first gaming laptop and I've never updated drivers on anything before. So I'm a complete noob. And I don't want to make anything worse.
Thanks!

 

I've had this issue with my old Asus laptop. It appeared to be a loose/defective cable between the graphics card and the display.

 

I agree it looks like a loose cable. It happened to my asus g72gx back then but with green pixels. Fixed it by re attaching the display cable to the mobo properly.

 

I would try drivers first. Does it artifact externally to? Could indicate a bad GPU.

 

I've had a loose LCD cable before, not sure where it is located in the R3, but usually you can tell if it is the cable by moving the screen backwards and forwards and seeing whether the pixelation pattern changes at all. Also by tapping the exterior area where the cable/LCD connection is.

Thing is your pixel pattern looks specific to you background image, whereas my pattern was random and mostly white (foggy).

 

I hooked up my alienware to my TV via HDMI and the display on the TV is crystal clear...no red pixels on the TV (but the red pixels remain on my laptop screen).
I opened up BIOS and there are red pixels scattered around the black letters in BIOS.
Tech support is telling me that the LED screen needs to be replaced.

I tried moving the screen around and everything remains stationary. So do you guys think the screen is busted?
I'm not feeling comfortable with opening up my alienware to check the cables lol
Thanks for the suggestions though!

 

Do not deal with a repair this early into owning your brand new laptop. Request a brand new replacement or return/rebuy. It's not worth risking a tech doing furthur damage and then needing to send it off to the depot only to have it come back with another issue (has happened to me in the past with another dell). No matter what the reason is that you give them when it comes back from the depot (or even if they tell you before-hand that you want to return it if not fixed to your standards), it will be outside the return period and they'll state there is "nothing that can be done".

And then you enter the laptop repair paradox that works like this; sure you get the main problem fixed (in your case the lcd), but in return you have to accept all of the minor problems that are directly associated with it (stripped screws, cracked bezels. scratches, dents, cracks, the tech that forgot to hook than GPU fan back up, missing keys on the keyboard).

It is a pain in the behind to convince a Dell (alienware) rep to care about a few dings and/or scratches on a unit that is functioning like it is supposed to, even if the person who caused the dings/scratches were hired/contracted by dell.

/rant

 

Just call tech support they will have a record of you first call. Explain to them you want a replacement it's bran new they will agree. You will keep this one until the replacement arrives. Then ship the broken one back. This is the easiest on you. I have done it several times. Hope this helps.

 

^^^^agreed. get a replacement, don't waste your time trying to fix something that is suppose to work right out of the box.

i recommend calling customer support instead of regular tech support. they get things done much faster when your system is new.

 

okay will do! Thanks so much for the advice!

 

I had this problem when I was trying to install the ati 6970m in my m17x r2. It turned out that the graphics card wasn't set in the connector properly. Reseating the card fixed it for me. I also could connect my laptop to an external monitor and not see the red lines and dots. Weird.

Since your laptop is brand new it is best to get it replaced. Take advantage of that while you still can.