Alienware letting me down

Hello all,
I just called up Alienware today to talk to them about my m15x troubles. My list of troubles are as follows:
-Broken Hinge ( obviously worst problem )

-Some kind of motherboard/GPU problem ( still not sure but its causing my games to crash everytime I load them )

-The faulty Respawn disc ( they were blank )

There are other little things here and there but not really worth mentioning.
Anyways I knew I wasn't going to get a refund but hey, I figured I would at least ask. He said it was impossible. So i'm shipping it in and they are supposedly fixing it for me and upgrading my HDD as well. I really am regretting my purchase so I'm planning on selling my PC over ebay or some other reliable site. Oh and by the way I have had this system since October 2008. I know this is kind of a rant but I wanted to post a short version of my experience since I never really made a review for it. I loved my m15x at first but now it's really just got me down.

 

Don't worry. You're not the first.

 

one reason i never ordered an alienware system before was because of all the bad reviews a read, and according to consumer reports their rating was a F,

ONLY reason i decided to order the new m17x is because it is being produced and warrentied by Dell which i never had bad experiences with. Here's hoping i didn't spend 6k on a lemon

 

I know I'm not the first and that's the disappointing part. This happens so frequently with Alienware it's almost like they stopped caring. I plan on using the money I get from selling to build my own desktop. Desktops don't have hinges that break ^.^ and it will be cheaper, and I can upgrade it easier.

 

If you're games are crashing, don't overlock your gpu but set them in default. I'm not 100% sure this would help but it stop the constant crashes I had with my games using the mobile 4850.

 

I have never OCed anything. Not really a reason to. I think something is just faulty, or it overheating quickly.

 

Your Alienware is crazily spec'd out like MAD!!!!

 

yes i know whenever i upgrade either a laptop or desktop which is usually about every 3 years i always get the latest and greatest at the time of order

I tried talking myself out of it and dropping some parts but that itch just had to be scratched.

 

Just wait until I post the specs for my desktop muahahahah!

 

my desktop will be upgraded next year, last upgrade was about 2 years ago. QX6700 2.6ghz oc'd to 3.4, Dual 8800 GTX (768's), 6gig ram, 2 10,000rpm HD's in raid, watercooled.

 

The only thing that puzzles me at this point is that Alienware is still selling the 15X.

I understand that sometimes a company gets a lemon and they just hope that it will pass as soon as possible so they don't incur losses from a lawsuit. But they are still selling the 15X and claiming the hinge issue has been resolved.

Their 17" laptops have been exceptional and it appears even more so with the M17X.

 

do you have conclusive proof it hasn't been resolved? we haven't had many "snapped hinge" threads around here the past few months...

 

I supposedly got mine right when the " new batch " of hinges came in.
I don't know how valid the new hinge claim is but you're correct, not a lot of hinge breaking posts lately. I just wish I could get a refund. How do other people get them?? I mean I'm under warranty and all.
I guess I will just wait until I get it back with a formatted HDD and fixed issues and sell it.

 

I didn't say it wasn't resolved. I said they are still selling it and claiming the issue has been resolved.

 

why shouldn't they be selling it if the hinge issue has been resolved?

 

I still have problems with the touch controls. And sometimes my keyboard is completely non-responsive and I have to restart.

 

that's a new one.

 

I can easily say that I am having ALL the EXACT same problems as you. I baught a first M15x in Aug 2008, and at first a very excited little boy (lol..) quickly found some flaws.... The screen creaked when i open it, some of the keys creaked when i pressed them, the touch pads where not very responsive or sensitive for that matter. Eventually.... that one got stolen. We ordered a new replacement one.. thinking i have the worst luck, and that they just sent me a bad computer, luck of the draw... I got the same thing. The key's still creaked, the screen creaked even more and the touch pads were still sketchy. Its been almost a year that I have it now, and the hinge is broken, and it crashes CONSTANTLY when im playing games. I just sent it back today, they said that they would fix the hinge.

Overall, I would NOT recommend the M15X. I don't know about any of the other model's however.
terribad...

 

Did you mention that your games crash constantly? If you haven't you should they can test your hardware for you and fix it. ( supposedly )

 

If Dell is to AW what Bentley is to VW then most consumers will be overwhelmed with the results. Nevertheless, I'll withhold my enthusiasm until after more reviews are in.

Contrary to what some might think, I will as happy as anyone to hear they're doing better.

 

though their CS is not really any better... they have my system right now (m15x) for hinge repair and some other misc problems... All I've heard from them for THREE WEEKS is that they're waiting on the mfr to send out a shipment for "Panel A", so they can complete the repairs.

I'm downright ready to B***** them right into a corner... I'm furious.

 

How do you plan to go about putting them in a corner? I would love to help.

 

Yeh, my m15x is only a couple of weeks, possibly months old. The hinges arent cracking as fast as other people seemed to have said, but about two weeks ago, I realized the plastic around my hinges began cracking. I have horrid temp probs, and all sorts of other fun little things that don't work with my machine.

I'd make a thread about it, but why bother. I know there are 400 of the same out there on this site anyway.

 

they removed what I wanted to say... but more or less "Complain"

frankly, this whole nonsense about "the order hasn't come in" for three weeks is BS, imo. I've lost over a month because of this repair already with no end in sight. at this rate, I'll be lucky to get it back to head back to school with...

As far as I'm concerned, the part-on-order excuse only works for about a week, after that, they need to think up something better... 'cause if the part has been on-order for a week, and it hasn't come in, there's something seriously wrong with their supply chain.

someone over there needs to get a tounge lashing, big time, and I think I know who...

not the persons name, but more, who they are... namely the purchasing agent responsible for their Quanta account (it is Quanta right?)

anyways. I'm mostly blowing steam. I just want my system back... less the stupid flaws.

 

Well I don't know what people do to achieve a refund but I sure wish I knew what it was. As soon as I get it back fixed im selling it on Ebay before my warranty runs out and im screwed. I don't plan on spending anymore money to cover it for longer. It's just not worth it to me anymore.

 

I think its mad that they aren't offering refunds on a system clearly faulted on their behalf. I got my M17 back in March 09 and the second it came out of the box I had problems, since then its been in the depot more than at home. Ordered on the 3th March, returned to them for refund 15th June.

I basically said I wasn't taking this off of them, I'm not sure how people aren't getting their refunds, but I am dealing with AW EU. I told them my options and that it wasn't exceptable to be selling a machine with flaws (they obviously won't admit this). I've posted this before, but I don't know it helps anyone with refunds.

To be honest in my case they had no other choice in the end for me, on the final repair return the blu-ray drive was out of the laptop and they broke the headphone jack, no way I was waiting 3 more weeks for a repair they botched.

Don't be fooled by them, they are aware of the problems, but they won't admit them, you have to just keep pressing them, through phone and email. Until they really just give you complete bull in the end -> the last fix attempt for me was to turn off the lighting in my machine which = more bull.

However I don't want to destroy their name, when the M17 ran fine, it ran like a beast and not to forgot I own a desktop by them which is a mean machine

EDIT: Really the only thing I think of it is the date you ordered, other than that I have no idea. Mainly because as you say, you're still under warrenty and you didn't do any modding or anything that would void that, it just seems like they are trying to avoiding a loss of money, which they really shouldn't considering the case.

 

In my opinion, it is a bit overhyped, all of this Alienware horror story stuff. Yes, there ARE horror stories, but there are likely hundreds of satisfied people for every horror story. I hope that's the truth at least.

When it does come down to a bad situation though it really isn't acceptable...but provided their laptops work, they are amazing machines.

So far my M17 hasn't had any problems...

My friend's getting an i7 desktop. He's overclocking the 2.66 to 3.8 on air...he's going to need a really nice power supply because that's like 200W, lol. He's also getting a 4890 and 2000MHz RAM...._.

Still he can't exactly take his desktop around every time he wants to go to a LAN party or use it away from home.