New M17x is nonfunctional. LCD screen and graphics card problems

Am I the odd man out, or do these laptops have significant reliability problems straight out of the box? I plunked down almost $4k on an M17X R4 with the following specs and am having too many problems: I7 3840QM processor, 24 GB DDR3 Ram (1600 MHz), 512 GB SSD, Nvidia GTX 680m Graphics card, 1920x1080 120Hz 3d capable screen, and a ZyXEL AeroBeam WHD6215-R Wireless HD Receiver with Internal 60GHz WirelessHD Transmitter.

The very first time I tried to start the computer, I got nothing except keyboard lights and 8 beeps, followed by a continuous sequence of a 2 second pause, and another 8 beeps. My first thought was, ??? But, I shut the system down and then it restarted without any issue. I loaded norton antivirus and attempt to update the drivers with the most current ones using Dell's website. I found this to be futile, and made my first call to customer service who informed me that I already had all of the most current drivers. Cool!

Next, I tried to connect to my LCD flat screen TV using the Zyxel Aerobeam receiver, and couldn't get it to work. Placed my next call to customer support and was told that it should be working fine, and they would get back to me about the problem. So far, nothing, but I've had a few more pressing issues with the computer since then. Incidentally, I tried building the system on Dell's website again, and now there's a message indicating that the Zyxel transmitter/receiver is not compatible with the graphics card that I ordered. This was not something that was brought to my attention when I placed the order for my system... hmmm...

To hell with all of that, I decided to enjoy trying the system's strong suit out with the new XCOM game that I also got for christmas and played for a few hours. Then came the next big issue.... The game began to freeze up. Fortunately, I was able to exit the game and shut the system down. Upon trying to reboot the system, I got the 8 beep sequence again. But after a couple more attempts, I was able to get back into the computer and was even able to play the game for a few more hours before it began to freeze up again. Then I contacted customer support for a 3rd time and the lady remotely connected to my computer and installed and ran some benchmark programs on the machine. Fortunately, the computer seized up while she ran the programs and demonstrated the issue for her. She also got to hear the 8 beep sequence when I attempted to restart the computer. She told me that the LCD screen would need to be replaced and that the graphics card was overheating and also needed to be replaced.

Now, after attempting to start the computer again, it started up, said something about a video driver issue, it attempted to resolve the issue itself, but apparently failed. The next restart went straight to a blue screen that said it had failed to correct the problem, and all subsequent attempts to start the computer resulted in the 8 beep sequence.

Wow! ? A $4k laptop from a premium brand's premium laptop department, and it's nothing more than a paperweight. This is my 4th Dell computer, and 3rd dell laptop, but it might be returned and be my last.

So, 2 questions: Is my experience common, or was I just unlucky? And, what should I do now, return it for a refund, or attempt to transfer my warranty to Germany where I live and try to have it repaired there?

A bit of background on that last question, I have until 21 January to return the system for a full refund. I ordered the computer while I was still in Germany and had it shipped to my mother's house in Ohio where I knew I would be for christmas vacation. I'll be back in Germany on January 2nd. Transfering the warranty, according to the website can take up to 15 days, and then who knows how long it will take to get the computer repaired.

Thanks for any advice or observation.

Chris

 

Hi Chris,
Wow, you unfortunately have a bad one there. It happens. bleeeding edge technology comes with bleeding edge prices and reliability. My first R3 went straight back when it overheated and shut down (or BS'd). You should not have to get involved with part swapping out-of-the-box.

There is obviously some problem with the video sub-system and it could be as simple as a loose connector to the panel, or a failing NV card. The CPU and motherboard are less lightly to be the problem since the intel video is disabled in the 120 hz model but no guarantee. How common this is I have no way of knowing but there have been a few people getting bad machines from day one - depends on just how many dell are shipping?

Now your particular problem - you purchased in the states so to return and reorder will be either quite a bit more expensive in Germany, or you will need to re-order in the US and get your mother to ship (as a personal property item and not liable to import taxes). All takes time, you could be lucky and after a warranty transfer the first attempt at replacing parts could fix it, but since you have already been in touch without a fix I think it's time to cut your losses and get out of this one.

I wouldn't bother with the WiHD unless you have a US TV in Germany or a compatible external unit, as it's a US standard (prob in Canada as well) and has not been adopted anywhere else I am aware of? There are much cheaper options for wireless HDMI anyway although not internal...

Sorry man, all sucks

 

For me it's sorta common. I'm on my 3rd m18x, and I have like 4 m17x r4s before that. Each one came with some sort of imperfection and for this amount of money, I need it to be flawless.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

Well, the more complex it is, the more things it has that can go wrong.

Unfortunate, but this is part of the game.

A BMW 7 series car has a lot more potential for things to go wrong than a BMW 3 series car simply because it has way more features. You can always opt for a HP or Apple that has much less bells & whistles.

But, Dell has excellent customer service. They'll take care of you. Remember, all of the world's electronic toys are being built by extremely low wage Chinese workers.

Even by Third World standards, pay isn't commensurate with the level of product they are EXPECTED to produce.

Now, if these companies were to start paying them 10x the local average salary, I'd bet the farm that all of these QA issues would be gone in the next quarter.

If you were offered 10x your salary, wouldn't you do everything in your power to do a good job so you can keep your job?

But that's never going to happen with American companies who outsource to China, because our culture is about entitlement and greed.

That's also why Japan has a reputation for building quality products. Their culture limits what a CEO can make based on a locked multiple of what the lowest worker in the company makes. So, if the CEO wants to make more money, he/she has to improve the working salary and condition of the lowest paid worker in the company.

That is why the Japanese are usually far ahead of other countries as far as quality built products go.

 

If the warranty is in the US you can get service there and if you are planning to go back to Germany then you will need to change it to Germany. The video card seems to be the one failing. I would try fixing it 1st and then return it for a refund if that does not work but it depends on the country laws and the specific contract pertaining to your order.

 

I transferred the warranty and brought it to Germany where Dell sent out a repairman who got it working. Turned out to be the motherboard.

The WiHD still doesn't work, but I can live with that. The customer service gets a B- from me. The endless transfers and disconnects are a pain, but ultimately they got the job done.

 

Excellent news. It can be a pain but at least they come through!

I'm intrigued with the WiHD thing. What are you trying to hook it to?

 

Glad you got your rig working again, go kill some noobs!!

 

My 680M failed on me 2 weeks in

Everybody has these issues, glad yours are sorted but wow those were some bad problems. I for one could not be happier with my laptop hope you love it !

 

Don't forget they also have a reputation for some of the slowest tech adoption in the world. That's what happens when you give people raises based on how long they've been with the company ( their entire lives ). 80 year old salary men don't make great innovators and you can't hire new engineers when the ones you have won't leave.

Not everything here is perfect.

 

MickyD,

I apologize. After posting the update, I never came back to check on further comments until now. Didn't mean to be rude. I never really tried to get the wireless HD to work again. I'll try to look into it again for you. I'm guessing that it's incompatible with my GPU, but I'll do a search and maybe even try the device out again to see if I can get it to do anything. I guess I should have tried to return the WiHD for a refund on my money, but after the initial hassle and eventual resolution with Dell's customer service, I just stopped fussing with them and tried to enjoy my new laptop, and enjoy it I have!

Since I posted some pretty negative stuff about Dell and my new at the time laptop, I'd like to follow up a bit on my experiences with the M17x R4. I'm not a big gamer, but I just had to see what the system was capable of, and I was very satisfied with its performance on Crysis 3. That was one of the most demanding games ever, and I was able to play it nearly maxed out with excellent frame rates.

It's been over a year now since I purchased it, and I am still extremely happy with it. I suppose in hindsight, I might have been better off with an AMD GPU. I gave up the use of the integrated intel graphics, and the related power savings that would be helpful when using the system on battery. Also, I've only used the 3D screen for playing Crysis once or twice, but I do not really regret the Nvidia 680m. I've been told that the AMDs are capable of faster video editing, but even so, I have to say that I've been really impressed with how fast this laptop can render 1080p MP4 videos with Cyberlink Power Director 11 (64 bit). Whereas, I used to leave my old Dell Latitude D830 C2D to render video while I slept, and crossed my fingers in the morning that there wasn't a catastrophic glitch so I wouldn't have to start over again. By comparison to the old business laptop, the Alienware CRUSHES the video rendering. Relatively few glitches during the editing, and the 1080p MP4 vids take only a little over 1/3 of the actual video's length to render. That's amazing! To put that in perspective, the Latitude used to take 4-6 hours to render a 30 minute video. I guess that's not a fair comparison since the D830 couldn't use the hardware accelerator and I used to render in WMV, but even rendering that way, it's still a night and day difference. All the extra RAM, 24GB worth, also means I can even do some significant multitasking while editing and surprisingly during rendering, as well.

Happiest of all, I can also say that I haven't had even one problem with the computer since that old motherboard replacement. Since that day the computer has run flawlessly. It's a delight really! I'm hoping and believing that it will last me a long time, and I love the fact that the GPU is an easy swap. I'm sure I'll feel differently when it's pushing 5 years like the D830 it replaced was. Sure, it's been a year, they've released a new generation of CPUs and GPUs, and it may not be on "the bleeding edge" as you phrased it, earlier in this thread. However, I actually feel like the latest gen CPUs/GPUs are not much of an improvement in terms of performance. It still feels like the M17x R4 can still party with the best of 'em.

Thanks for your help/comments last year. I'll follow up if I have any success with WiHD or with any information that I may learn.

Chris

 

Hey Chris, no problem, I thought it case closed

Great to hear you've enjoyed the experience! As for giving up the on-board GPU, I hear from a lot of people that even if you are not using 3D the display is much crisper, so you're still onto a winner there.

Good Luck