It is time to say Thanks

I’ve been lurking here for quite some time. I was afraid of getting an Alienware machine because I had heard of some unhappy customers. I hung out for some time and learned that it is important to have that Dell extended warrantee in place if you want some peace in your life with the Alien. So I placed my order. I checked my estimated delivery date every day. One day before the estimated delivery date it suddenly moved back 21 days. I had hung out on the delivery thread so I knew to expect a first contact who just wanted to get me off the phone and then a second contact who might provide some help. So I played the game and got off the phone with the first guy quickly and got a call the next day. I was very calm and just asked questions. There was no anger in my voice. The next day my estimated delivery date was moved up to 5 days out! I tracked the delivery as it moved from Georgia over to Texas. My second level dude called me 2 hours after the delivery of “MegaMachine” and said that he had altered things for me. I expected to get a machine from Austin but if it got here sooner, I’ll take one from Georgia.

Then, out of nowhere my new MegaMachine rebooted. This is bad. I am not a gamer. I want 32GB of RAM (when it comes down in price) and a fast processor with support from Dell. I am sure this machine will do fine with Diablo II. I run VM Ware and I set up environments for each of my clients. I can’t have a machine reboot suddenly and mess up my work. I hung out on the forum again and read all about the BSOD issues. I ran some tests. I bought a laptop cooler. I monitored temperatures. I did everything I could and nothing changed so I gave up and called Alienware for help. Luis helped me by running diagnostics remotely and we messed around with the power setting. The machine seemed stable. Then, MegaMachine became Mega Maid (from Spaceballs) because this machine really sucked. Luis looked at the video performance and we decided that I probably need a new video card. I took the opportunity to move from my original 4GB of RAM up to 16GB on the same call. I checked my emails and I saw that the video card was delivered last Monday in El Paso. Well, since I am close to Dallas this is a mystery. Does the technician live all the way in El Paso and they are going to drive to Dallas? Then I got my RAM on Wednesday. I awaited a call. The call came from the Dell Robot Lady who told me that my parts were on back order. This is bad. She called on Friday. So, a full week has gone by with my machine just sitting in another room so I don’t have to look at it. I took a moment and remembered that some folks get fixed by applying the updates to drivers. So I found the updated driver for the NVIDIA card on the Dell site and ran it. No good. I still got a reboot. The problem is that it is so fast that nothing is written to the log files. After a couple of hours I remember that there is some bad RAM out there and perhaps that is my issue. I swapped out my 4GB of RAM for 8 of the 16 I have on hand for the technician. I turned the machine on. MegaMachine has returned. The machine has not been turned off since 4:30 on Friday afternoon.

So, all the things that guided me to the right solution came from this forum. Mr. Fox offers the best of help to all who listen. Stories of the Fed-X dude who changed his route on Alienware Delivery Day entertained me. Even the long thread of some college student who needs a new backpack (must be smaller on the outside than it is on the inside, be fully padded and lightweight, be well made and durable and yet inexpensive) were food for thought as my machine awaited help, parts or the inevitable brain implant. I’ve got to say thanks to the members of the forum. I’d be struggling along with some dumb HP if not for the folks here. Besides, I like the lights!

 

Hah crazy story. Sorry that things have been so rough for you, but glad you've been able to overcome most of them. The people on this forum are really great and helpful individuals.

 

^^Ditto.

And I think the college student-to-be is me

If all else fails with csrs, ask for their supervisors, and demand that you speak to them asap. And always get names and telephone extensions and emails.