GOT MINE TODAY............not good news..

Well for the second time I tried to save money on a Del refurb Alienware. I have purchased many Dell refurbs (but not Alienwares)

A few weeks ago I received an M15X that had issues withing 30 minutes drive errors on the DVD would not eject a DVD. BT was none existent after 15 minutes, Respawn was not operable and corrupted....

SO I tried again and ordered an M17X with 1 15% off coupon (20% off today BTW) Recieved it 30 minutes ago and it is on the way to UPS return as I write.

Opened the box. All looked good (although no "box candy" as the sales rep promised) Pluged in the beauty and immedialy got a non Dell power supply error...

Pressed F1 to continue ,,,,,,,,NO OPERATING SYSTEM....

I don;t think Dell even starts these things up before they send them out. I was not about to try to reload an OS only to find a host of other issues that were not found.

So although I have had good luck with Dell in the past...I am not sure I can go through this again with them. Their return was easy and took all of 15 minutes, VERY fast. Thats one of the reasons I did not go with Sager or MSI but I think I will have to go in that direction now as I have lost all confidence in the Alienware and I refuse to pay well over $2000 for a new lappy that will be a turtle in two-three years. I paid $1342 delivered for an

i7620. twin 160 raid )/4870/WUXA/ 4GB/ DVD/ Nebula Red...great deal if it actually worked out of the box.....LOL

SO today they throw out a 20% off coupon.....Dare I try again? LOL

Three times a charm?

 

That was a very simple issue to fix as it was a bios update you probably had the old A02 BIOS. You should try again IMO as these systems are phenomenal and not as problem ridden as it may seem. Ppl usually post on forums when there is a problem and not when everything is fine. Give it another go this time if you get the unsupported ac adapter warning try updating the BIOS first. Also, the no operating system found thing is just when the BIOS is Updated or what/not it defaults to factory settings most likely since you have a RAID 0 set up it was just set to AHCI instead of RAID 0.

 

It could've been Raid on off issue. Have you even tried turning on/off Raid in the bios? It's luck of the draw when you buy Dell new or refurb, but sometimes it's the user too.

 

Not to sound rude but, I guess you get what you pay for? I would try again, seeing that you can now get a 20% discount and quite possibly more if you explain that your last system was defective upon receipt?

I have to say, from day one my system has been flawless! I haven't experienced any major problems aside from the minor issues that all PC's have in common. It is true that ppl only post about problems and not about the actual good experience that they forget to mention!!!!

 

I also received my M17x today, when I first booted it up I feared the worst when a message showed up saying I had a non-Dell adapter, but I believe I resolved that through the BIOS. I then got into windows and a warning came up about a missing file csc.exe , finally the battery indicated that it was not charging due to a faulty adapter.

One restart later and everything has gone away on it's own!

Am now loving the system completely.

 

I say try again. I think they were simple fixes and next time if you have issues, call Dell and have them walk you through the issues. Don't be so quick to return it.

 

My friend got an M17x from the outlet this week, and he too had the wrong adapter problem and no operating system found problem. However, it was no big deal, the no operating system problem was solved by making sure the correct drive was first in the boot order, and the adapter was actually the 210w adapter, so one call to dell and two days later new 240w adapter. So while there are problems with any system, you have to give it at least a chance instead of giving up right away the same day you receive it.

 

Great post btw.

This is a prime example of how sometimes, when you encounter a issue patience can be a godsend.

It's great to hear that you solved your issue, and now have a system that your happy with. Also, is your system new or refurb? Specs?

 

System is new, so I was hoping for no real trouble to be honest. Reading some of the stories on here it is easy to start doubting your purchase (especially when it's such a big one) and reading these forums every day for the 3 or so weeks I've been waiting just makes it worse!

The specs as delivered are:
i5 540
Crossfire 5870s
1200P WUXGA RGB LCD

Nothing else too fancy about all that, though I have some upgrading to do. I'm going to throw an i7 in, and also replace the stock HDD with an SSD.

Thinking about replacing the stock thermal compound on the GPU as well, would you recommend OCZ freeze or AS5 for a GPU? I have read that you should go for a thicker one, though I don't know which is thicker! I already have both so it doesn't matter either way.

 

I suggest a long warranty x). Momentus XT is pretty good/cheap upgrade also, even though I have not tried it on M17x.

 

All of your comments are appreciated and informative. I build desktops so I guess I could have attempted a fix but after the Hardware issues with the M15X I was upset that the machine obviosly had NOT be checked out. No one at Dell booted this machine into Windows. I was afriad of what else I would find. Two issues before even seeing the Windows logo. I knew I could have come here and had the problem resolved but I was so aggravated that no one apppparently booted thie machine up I immediately got an RMA

SOOO I will talk with my sales rep and see what else they hve WITHOUT RAID or jus get the M6500 when a coupn shows up...three year warranty OS STANDARD on those Office side machines. They take the Business enterprise area of things very seriosly.

 

Haha,

is it too late to upgrade the warranty now? Only went for a year when clearly everything is going to break in half in a year and a day! Curse my foolish thriftiness!

 

It's not too late, but it usually costs more when you try to buy them after the purchase. Call them now and see if they can add it while you are w/in the return period. If they refuse to do it, just return it and buy again.

I suggest 3 yr warranty on all dell laptops, and Dell warranty is usually worth it at the end of the day, especially when you get a newer model than your original.

 

Regardless of it being RMA'ed, did you try to change the settings in the bios and give it a go? It did seem like a good deal if you ask me, especially if it was WUXGA RGB, but I'm not sure what you typed on the OP.

 

Ah sounds like a plan, I'll give them a bell in the morning and see what sort of price they can quote me to extend it.

Off topic Question: I am going to clone the original drive over on to my new SSD using acronis true image then remove the original drive and just use the SSD. Do I need to reinstall the drivers or anything or will they be included in the drive cloning? I know it is probably obvious but if it doesn't bring them over then I will download them to a flash drive now!

 

I've read somewhere that cloning HD to SSD doesn't work well. I could be wrong on this though. I usually just fresh install whenver I have a new harddrive.

 

Nice specs! IMO new is better, less problems than refurbs. Many ppl post about issues with the machines and barely mention how much they actually enjoy their beast's.

Before upgrading to ssd's check the threads, I'm sure I read something about issues with performance.

AS5 is good, it just takes a good min to set in. I'm thinking of using either AS5 or shin etsu when I decide to change the stock pads and paste in my spaceship.

 

I agree that dell should boot before shipping, and it's unfortunate that your system arrived like it did.

I heard the M6500 has a great screen and is a straight workhorse.

 

Yeah I did go into BIOs and set default and saved. Rebooted and same two errors. I guess the thing is Dell should have at some time booted into Windows with this machine. I mean they claim they go through them. How do you send a "refurb" out without booting into windows where BOTH issues would have been caught? BIOS setting don;t change in the UPS truck...LOL

When I buy something I don't want to have to mess with it to get it to work. Unless I am building the system myself. But at worse I will pick up another 5% off if I find another. But I still think I should get the M6500. But I will have another look at the M17X I did not see anything there today.

I havenever purchased an extended warranty on anything in my life and never needed one on a Dell notebook....Heck I saved nearly $800 not purchasing them on my last five Dells. Never had an issue. My 8600 is still running.

 

Yeah the M6500 is a monster..3 drive bays plus optical. Warranty 3 years standard On Site for refurbs and ALL American service and support on the business side. It is a different experience there. I bought a desktop from the businss side. The only difference is the quadro cards vs the gaming cards. They run games fine according to NoteBook review. But the video rendering is what I like. The only game I play a lot is Flight SIm X and thats more processor intesive than video card. (hence my choice of the i7 620 and 4850)

Both machines are rock solid in fit and finish. Well the song plays on....8 weeks now of research purchases and more research

 

I had the power adapter error on very first boot btw, and it went away after that. That's why I asked about the RAID thing.

My current M17x is a refurb replacement on my previous system. I had R1 replacement before this and it arrived with a dead battery, defective keyboard/mobo.

It's just a luck of a draw is all.

Anyways, it's not a bad idea to get business sector Dell since most precision work stations come w/ 3 yr standard warranty, and are build to last in my experience.