M17x - Hard Drive Caddy ( secondary Drive)

It should come with all the parts , its not like were asking for a second harddrive for free just the ability to add one later without the grief of having to order a kit to do so.

 

I agree with ya on that. Maybe they corrected that going forward.. I will see when my replacement arrives..

 

Eh see, owners like you know that other owners like you would want this and probably also feel like the majority of owners are like you.

Alienware or Dell (or ASUS.... lol) knows that atleast 51% wont be putting a second drive in there and feels its cheaper to just send it to you. In reality this might not be true though hard to say, paying customer support, and then adding shipping to the additional cost of the part itself would make it seem like its cheaper to just send it with the damn thing.

Thats sadly, how business works, or in the case of modern times, fails. God knows every single drive g50 owner is pissed we cant even get our hands on a second bracket. ASUS's case on my particular model is that they only order 1% more then they need to manufacture the laptops instead of the 60% more to cover the ones that dont and they never have one in stock.

 

Yeah i know Clutch that Asus does not provide a second HD cage and i almost brought them into the fold but again these are not the same companys so what works for one doesnt have to work for the other . Hopefully all of this was an error on Dells part and it will be rectified accordingly .

My W90 thankfully didnt need a second cage as the drives were stacked on top of each other so even though mine came with only one drive i just mounted the other in the same cage and Voila 2 harddrives .

 

WOW... I called and ordered that HD kit yesterday.. Took forever for the order to be placed.. think I was on the phone for 98 minutes while he processed it in tech support.

Wife just called me and said the package just arrived.. Nice!!!

I hope all the parts are in there. xD

 

Woot. The package today had the cradle, interposer, and screws... Finally can put my second hd in there.

 

Did you get all the screws? It didn't matter to me I just borrowed one from the other hard drive and caddy cornered them.

 

So what are the exact part numbers for each?

 

Yes i got all the screws since i specifically asked for them.. Its better if you play dumb and dont give them the kit number... it messes them up..

The kit number is TRDD2.. That has everything you need.

 

One comparable difference between Asus and the new Dell Alienware is that the Asus models don't require an interposer. You're able to connect the hard drive directly. Without that interposer, you're dead in the water.
Also, keep in mind that every Dell representative's ordering system is set to a default quantity of one. They often make the mistake of only sending 1 screw instead of 4. You have to specifically ask them for 4 screws to assure that you get them.

You learn this really fast as a technician. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with a quantity of 1 on every order.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

I got that exact same kit number and there was only one screw in it??? Not that it was a big deal....but one screw? Who took the other 3? LOL

 

While it is silly, you also get 4 screws when you buy a hard drive, unless you got it used or ripped it out of something else, though ripping it out of something else usually has screws and a drive to put back in what you ripped it out of, usually has screws... get my point.

Still silly though isnt it, its been said earlier in the thread by someone, mentioned to make sure they order 4 screws.

 

There are little mail gnomes that jacked them... muhahahaha

 

just called AW. THeir system is "down for emergency maintenance". :<

 

Hrm.. I would call back and check.. I have gotten that as an answer when they were having issues locating my ST.

 

when i bought my seagate 7200.4 (the 500gb 7200rpm 2 platter drive) from dell, they gave me just a drive, nothing else. luckily i had screws from the drive i was replacing, but still.

 

got my cage ordered today. It was easy thanks to you guys.

 

glad to help!

 

guys this was simple to order... i send alienware an email with all my information... and poof i got this the next day!!! (1) screw .. .. heh

 

Explain more please on what you did?

 

you only got 1 screw also!!! LOL !!??

 

we just received word that the secondary HDD’s cage kit for the M17x are available. You are able to contact Dell or Alienware to order one. AW Support's contact number is 1-866-287-6727, option 3, then 1 or email us at [email protected]


i emailed them with my order number phone number address all contact information....

yes 1 F'in Screw

 

Thanks for the Info Beardog i just went ahead and ordered it now so i can have it when the machine comes .

+Rep

 

well with 1 screw, you can put 2 on one drive and 3 on the other. You don't really need 4 screws per drive.

but anyone know how to get these screws?

 

ebay, I picked up a bag of random laptop screws a while ago. Never have to worry about those little screws again.

 

Yeah i have quite a few of those kickin around from all the laptops ive had over the years.

 

This is worth every penny..lol

Haven't had to worry about screws for a LONG time

 

Yep, that's something similar to what I got.

 

Excellent. I am getting this..

I have tons of screws from over the years from all my systems but most are desktop and not laptop oriented.. This is great.

Thanks!!!

 

i put in a email hope i get it

 

put what in a email?

Edit: Never mind, I take it you're talking about the request for the hdd bracket.

 

Well, I tried contacting Alienware about the secondary HDD kit on Friday. The guy transferred me to Dell's spare parts department.

The Dell guy couldn't find the kit until I gave him the TRDD2 part number. He then told me it was unavailable. He tried to see if the individual parts could be gotten separately, but they couldn't. He suggested I try checking again in a month.

I emailed Alienware support regarding the bracket kit. They responded this morning and said that I'd need to call in to Alienware support and that they couldn't find my order number on record.

I called Alienware and spoke to a tech. He said that they should be shipping with the secondary drive bracket. He suggested that I wait until I get the machine, and if it wasn't included to call and request it then.

So... we'll see for sure come Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

Yes I for one have to wait till I have my system delivered and give them the service tag number and they will send it 2nd day shipping for free through Alienware support.

 

yep. I got one screw also. I even told the guy on the phone to give me all 4 screws. Oh well. They shipped it next day. Very nice service. I'll just take one of the screws from the other drive bay!

 

oh, and guys, using what fastlappy posted, I got it done in 5 minutes. Just follow the instructions on Page 1

 

glad I could help!

 

Yep, worked like a charm!!!!

I even ordered more notebook oriented screws from fleabay so I have them on hand.. I have tons and tons for desktops just not notebooks...

 

I haven't gotten my machine yet, but fortunately I found my service tag on the Dell site. I called Alienware support, gave them the service tag, and they're sending me the second drive bracket kit. I guess the service tag is the key ingredient to getting one sent without hassle.

 

I knew it would not be so easy getting the second bracket in the UK.
They said they couldn't send me one for free.

I said I'd like to return the laptop for a full refund

They offered me £200 not to.

Said I'd still wanted to return it, as if I ordered again I could get the nameplate engraved - they have just started doing that in UK, mine came with 'generic nameplate' just says M17x, and I'd get free upgrade to Windows 7

Their final offer was 10% refund - in my case £334 ($549)

This is enough for me to buy the bracket - and another 500Gb HDD and preorder Windows 7 I believe

 

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

It was a good deal.

However they won't sell me a bracket, I was prepared to buy it with another 500Gb drive. Its simply not available for sale.

Rather frustrated, make that VERY frustrated.

Awaiting for a call-back from a supervisor to arrange collection and full refund.

If you are in the UK watch out for my machine in the outlet shop. Be interesting to see how much less it goes for than the £3743 it was listed at.

A week or 2 for the refund and another month for the next order

Edit: Its being collected tomorrow. Pity their system is so screwed up.

 

I decided I wanted to get this, whether I use it or not, I dunno but I felt ripped off when it wasn't provided. I called this morning and after 30 minutes of being on hold and being transferred from customer service to tech support and back numerous times, I hung up. Just called back and now their system is down :/. Luckily the nice man made it seem like I would get this part with ease for free as he kept saying "missing hard drive adapter", him saying missing made it seem like I'd get it for free . He is going to call back later tonight. For any Canadians who want this, I called 1-866-287-6727 and went to tech support (option 4, then 3 I think). Will post the update when he calls me back, if he does.

EDIT: I got them to ship the HDD caddy free of charge. For Canadian's just call the number I posted and go to tech support, explain to them that you were told you could add a 2nd hard drive whenever you wanted, and they should ship it. I even told the guy I wasn't going to by the HDD from dell and he still shipped it!

 

Why do things have to be so difficult in the UK! In order to get a bracket I'm having to return the laptop and order a new one with 2 HDD. It will come with Raid 0 which I don't want and I'll have to waste more time reverting it to 2 single disks.

 

Why not have them put it in RAID 1. At least you won't have to reinstall your OS when you unraid it, then you just wipe the second drive.

 

I already posted this in the order status thread but it belongs here.

I received the laptop today, it came with a second package which contains the 2nd hdd bracket so I don't know if this is normal now or because I ordered it.
The HDD bracket order still shows as pre production though. I'll let you know if the tracking website is updated or if I receive another caddy.

(btw, this is from dell france)

 

I wish the UK had the same options and support as the US - and the prices of course.
These are our only options

160GB (7,200rpm) Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive [Included in Price]
320GB (7,200rpm) Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive [add £60.00 or £1/month1]
500GB (7,200rpm) Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive [add £90.00 or £2/month1]
320GB (7200 RPM) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD - (2x160GB) [add £90.00 or £2/month1]
640GB (7200 RPM) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD - (2x320GB) [add £140.00 or £4/month1]
1TB (7200 RPM) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD - (2x500GB) [add £190.00 or £5/month1]
256GB Solid State SATA Drive [add £350.00 or £10/month1]

This is why I chose to only put a single 500GB drive in originally, it wasn't a cost saving choice. We only have RAID 0 available. Unfortunately by the time the lack of 2nd bracket was discovered it was too late to change or cancel my order. Ordered 15th June, tried to change/cancel on 20th June.

 

There were rumors started by talking to reps over the phone, that they were going to start shipping the second cage with the M17x going forward. I even had a tech tell me that.. I just wouldn't believe it until i seen it or one of you reported it.


You may have gotten it from ordering it. I dunno..
I will be getting my second system hopefully in a week or so and hopefully i can see if it has the bracket.

 

Laptop was all boxed up ready to be collected - started pricing up its replacement with 2 disks and found that there was no equivalent of the 10% discount coupon I used when I originally ordered.
Made a last ditch attempt of calling Alienware tech support. They said they could sell me the kit
Called Dell back and cancelled the collection and requested the 10% refund they offered me yesterday to keep it which they honoured.
Wish I hadn't been given the runaround by Dell but I get to keep my laptop and get £334 refunded.
The moral of this story is don't call Dell call Alienware in the UK if you want the bracket.
Just received confirmation email, price is £10.21 plus Value Added Tax and delivery totaling £19.79

 

in germany they won't give you that kit

they told me i should return the laptop and get my money back and reorder with 2 hdds but they will NOT give me that bracket or even sell it to me

 

Thats exactly what Dell UK told me.

I phoned Alienware instead and spoke to their technical dept who were more than happy to order the part for me. Their telephone number was even a freephone number.

According to http://www.alienware.de/main.aspx you should call 0800 100 5079