*Dell-Alienware & AW Legacy Replacement Systems-Warranty Repair Issues*

i agree with rockwell. the difference is much more than $20 if my memory does not fail me.

 

Yeah the prices on Intel's website are almost never followed to a t. The difference between the two x20/x40 series isn't something you're going to notice real world. As everyone else has said they should be there soon but I wouldn't hold your breath or wait, the chances of getting a x40 chip in a replacement system are almost nonexistant even after they're released in the M17x's unless they stop carying x20 cpu's all together.
@Geby-Congrats on the system hope it runs awesome keep us updated.
Oh and just so you all know, I've seen a lot of you saying only the 920/940xm cpu's are the only ones that can be OC'ed. That's not the case anymore, there's threads in the M15x and M17x forums on how to OC the rest of the i5/i7 chips!

 

thx for the heads-up danegrclose. guess i won't be getting my hopes too high. One more thing, do you guys have any idea how they decided which parts to replace with which. for example, if they were to give you a whole unit replacement, how do they decide which processor to give you and which video card to give you and etc

 

I don't know how they do it exactly but I would imagine they have a sheet that tells what the equal parts are between the R1 and R2 models. If you do some looking you can probably find either how they do it or which procs would compare. For example with me the SLI 280s got replaced with the Crossfire 5870s, some people were not as lucky and got the 4870s or a single 5870s it seems. Though maybe as they do more R1 to R2 replacements they refine what replaces what.

This is all speculation on my part, maybe someone else will be able to say how they actually do things.

 

Well, looks like the "big guns" arent firing for me, my corporate rep has got back to me again concerning my replacement....(the replacement was agreed, just the upgrades to be sorted).....and what i was offered was 2gb extra memory and thats it.....nothing more.

I too was looking at more memory and 1 up on cpu....this i would have been happy with but am really gutted about what i have been offered....

Anyone got any advice on where i can go from here?

 

Hey stevie, if it is possible, could you tell us your original specs again?

 

If you can list the specs of your original, the specs of what they're offering you and what you are looking for I will give you an argument. I got everything but the screen upgraded on mine

 

From what my Corp Rep told me, spec's are not up to him. Once approved for a replacement it go's to a build team that then decide on same or better based on parts in stock at the moment. That they have the finally say and he could only give them my wishes. Most of the U.S. replacements are built in Tenn. from supplies for Latin America. The key boards and OS are changed out with U.S. . So the parts and the builds are here not China. Hope that helps.

 

Hence you guys are saying that it is all up to the build team? Is there anything the corp rep can do?

 

Here's my thoughts----OK, so Dell/Alienware has some issues with R1s. But if you buy a warranty, you buy coverage, not free uprgrades. They replaced my system(R1) and maxxed it out except for RAM. Didn't have to. Yeah it sucks having problems, but really. Try this at Walmart, Ford, Chevy...any big name manufacturer/retailer and they will not GIVE you too much of anything. The warranty says it will be repaired or eventually, as we have found out, replaced. If you get any upgrades, it is Dell being nice. They really don't have to at all. Maybe you feel they should, and the time you lose while waiting is bothersome, but in the same respect, if a car has warranty problems-even 2 or 3 times- they WILL NOT replace it. So all in all, if you get a replacement, you come out pretty good.

That's how I feel!

 

pmassey, i totally agree with you, however i think that customer satisfaction should come first especially in a company like dell which is a large MNC. furthermore, since we paid a premium for our rigs, maybe we deserve just a tad better?
this is just my humble opinion.

 

Well, we spend our hard earned monies on these rigs, and they're supposed to work right. When they don't - when people get so many errors that they have to go through multiple machines - and then, they get the runaround? There should be something to make up for that.

My m11x hinge is getting to be in REALLY bad shape now, and I'm afraid it's going to break before the replacement is to arrive. Said replacement that should have come yesterday, but is delayed further because they won't do custom nameplates anymore.

I don't mind getting the same thing. However, if they keep giving me the runaround, one of these days, this thing I'm typing on? Yeah; it will break. And then I'll be out a computer due to their incompetence.

Mine is a minor issue. The rest of you guys pretty much got lemons and should be able to get at least a little better for all the grief you were put through.

 

Thats what im trying to do at the moment - just spent a whole hour on one phone call trying to sort out my mess of a situation....its not rocket science really....i paid alot of money for my system (maybe not as much as others have but its still alot to me) and for it to be a lemon is very disconcerting.

Now, what i expect from such a high end laptop manufacturer such as Alienware is to firstly, acknowledge they have given you a lemon, secondly, arrange for replacement of said lemon and thirdly, give you something worthwhile ON TOP of said replacement to make up for it......

Im not talking about going from an I7 720qm to a 920xm with maxed out specs....something worthwhile having...in my case, given my current spec below, the only real areas that warrant or could be upgraded on would be ram and cpu - the rest really dont bother me (SSD too expensive/low storage for me)

So, what would make my own personal "lemon" better? - lots of opinions maybe but my own would be 1 up on the cpu and 1 up on the ram......then i would be a happy customer as i would feel my "lemon" had been easier to swallow/deal with.

It is the hands of the gods now for me....i have stated to corporate what i would like them to do....the guy that i have been dealing with is great and although initially, i havent been offered what i consider fair, he is going to look into it after talking to him just now.

Makes me wonder, some of you guys have had some really good sweet upgrades for all your problems....am i not entitled to something similar as i too have had a lemon but my lemon is only 3 weeks old?.....should it matter that my lemon is so new? - NO. Do i have to have owned my "lemon" for a long time to deserve better treatment? - NO.....it should come automatically or as standard.

Least thats how i feel a global market leader should treat its "lemon" owners.....

 

This thread is more like therapy for those with problems with alienware/dell. Hope everything works out for you guys.

 

I tell you, i think i need therapy after all this......

 

Heh, I don't even want an upgrade. I just want a computer that doesn't have any problems with it. One I can just swap the harddrive of and head to classes with.

'sides, not much can be upgraded in this. I'd rather have the r1 m11x for the battery life - that way it's good for college. Otherwise? It's RAM. That's all that could also get upgraded...technically the HDD could become an SDD, but I want the extra harddrive space just in case.

 

If you were within your 21 days in the US or 30 days in Canada you can send the notebook back for a refund if you aren't happy with it. If you were having problems right out of the box your should have pushed for a full refund.

If they are replacing your notebook they only have to give you the same or better specs they don't have to upgrade anything for you as long as they don't give you less than what you currently have.

It took me from Dec./09 to May 2010 to get an exchange, this was with hours and hours spent on the phone with tech support, hours and hours of reinstalling drivers, the os and replacment of the mainboard, the video cards, cpu fan replaced before they finally agreed to a replacement. I had dual video cards on my original notebook but they were only giving me one card even after I told them that it was a downgrade because I had 2 cards to begin with, they wouldn't budge on that sent my new system with only one card, I called tech support after I received my replacement and explained the situation they sent out a tech with the 2nd card and installed it.

The only upgrade that I got was from 4gb ram to 8gb which I didn't ask for, I think it all comes down to the rep you are dealing with.

 

True enough about the rep - im not complaining and i was offered a full refund but i wanted to see what both sides of the coin had to offer - basicaly, if i had a refund, to order the same spec again would cost another £280 as i had a deal on a free HDD upgrade. Seems like a no brainer to get my money back only to have to pay more for the same system again.

Hence looking into other avenues of recompense for my issues....large or small, they are still there and are not trivial to me on a $3000+ laptop.

I am dealing with a guy and he is very good, i just hope he looks at things from my view point.....tomorrow i think will be D-Day.....

 

I believe earlier this morning they added the core 2s back, the specs you can choose are limited however.

 

So I got my R2 this morning, can't really say much other then the RGB screen is amazing since I have been trying to reinstall everything after removing the RAID. For some reason the system will not POST if I install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager. So I want to know if this thing is even needed if I am not going to be using RAID? From what I read on Intel's site it should work for any drive setup, single, RAID, and non-RAID multiples. Going to not bother installing it this time around just so I can have my R2 working rather then this R1 but if it is useful I'd like to have it.

 

I dont know about what your asking but yeah, isnt that RGB just amazing...its the best screen ive ever seen on a laptop....gotta give Dell credit for that one at least....congrats on arrival of your new "beast"

 

OK, not saying it's wrong to WANT something for your trouble, just don't EXPECT it. They don't HAVE to give it to you. And, I'll admit-probably easier for me to swallow this pill since when they did my replacement, they did max it out pretty much. I hope you all get what you are going for, but, they don't have to give you what you want just bc you're mad, or upset, or won't buy again. But it's not wrong to aim high, huh?

Like the old story goes---
A boy is outside with his BB gun and is shooting at the moon. After watching a while, his dad comes out and asks him, "Son, what are you doing?" The boy replies, "Shooting at the moon". The dad says, "Don't you know you'll never hit it"? And the boy says "Maybe not. But I'm coming closer than you are". Soooooo, aim high. Who knows?

 

I dont think its about "wanting" or "being offered lots of upgrades" - basically, i think that people in trouble with their systems, through no fault of thier own deserve respect and for Dell to acknoweldge them.
This does not necessarily mean by maxing out specs and handing out new machines like confetti, it just means that they SHOULD do their very best to ensure that whatever the individual case entails, the owner of said system should be made to feel accomodated, valued and in safe hands ensuring they have complete peace of mind that they WILL have their issues resolved to a mutual degree of satisfaction.
All alienware customers are of the same ilk - we all purcased our high end laptops based on the premise that we are buying into a "dream" in a sense - that dream doesnt come cheap but nonetheless, we trust Dell to provide us with excellence and when they dont quite meet that high standard, when that "dream" we all bought into turns into a "nightmare", due attention SHOULD be paid to take care of its client base and enusure its EXISTING customer base is NOT left without support or have to jump through hoops and battle like mad to try and rectify thier own issues - this should be automatically done BY DELL for US.

This is only good business practice and by doing "the right thing" by its customers, its not costing Dell anything because in the same breath, what they are doing is ensuring future business from customers who have had problems, but becasue they HAVE or HAD been treated correctly, they will again purchase Alienware.

My own story is based on a failing 3 week old laptop, others have longer stories with older laptops - issues still remain for us all......to get to the point where i am now with my own issues, I have had to fight like mad just to get in touch with the relevant people who COULD help me out....i shouldnt have to do this - Dell should make it alot easier for people to raise issues and find help when they need it most. Sometimes, on my road to resolution, i have felt that all that i was valued for was the "sale" of my machine when i was treated like royalty....after that point, its all been downhill but light is at the end of my own personal tunnel and i hope that many of you starting out on your roads will get satisfactory results as THE bottom line is....WE ALL DESERVE BETTER.

Thats how things should be - its not always the case - but that is how a customer focused organisation should treat its market base.

 

With all the problems they seem to have i think Dell not Alienware in the future will lock these systems down like the other companies. I have seen to many system screwed up by people trying to follow the Benchmark or gaming people and mess things up and scream and cry its all Dell fault. Now Iam not talking about you guys only seen a couple come thu this post. But if you have read the forum you now what I mean. I love it when they ask how to do a fresh install I say don't no bloat here. Then they do it and get mad cause it didnt work and dell is to blame. What you guys think?

 

@alienwolf - I thought they already did lock the systems down other than the XM (920 & probably 940 as well). I would guess that they did that for the reason you are speaking of. If you pay the extra 1k for the processor that can be OC'ed then you get to play. I do understand what you are talking about, but most of the people seem to have throttling, stuttering, or nasty Xfire problems with the lines creeping up the screens. Sometimes they are hardware problems where something has failed and taken other components with it.
@Stevie - I said this many many pages back. We are buying the top of the line gaming laptop, like buying a Porsche in car terms.
In my experience when you pay high prices for vehicles the people bend over backwards to help and make you feel good about your purchase. It is not so with the Alienware line. And that is sad. It did take A LOT to get to the point where our cases are resolved. I wouldn't mind the effort if I had been treated with respect throughout the process. I wasn't and I KNOW many others were not treated with respect either. That is their most serious customer service issue. I can't tell you how many times I was told 'tough luck it is the best we can do' and that was after giving me a replacement worth LESS than my current hardware.
I can attest to the fact that if you buy a lemon car, rare in terms of Porsches but not impossible, that you will get a brand new one and the dealership will throw in some minor extras for your trouble. They won't upgrade you a model or anything major, but they will make you feel respected and wanted as a customer. Sooooo.... to make this short-er. I concur.

 

You guys may find this funny. I had sent my laptop back and got an email from Dell stating they received it on Tuesday. On Thursday morning I received it back, with note saying "After extensive testing" we have repaired your computer by replacing the video card.

So I chuckle at the less then 24 hour extensive testing, and turn it on. Insta freeze before it loads the BIOS. I chuckle again, and reboot. It loads into windows and then insta freezes again. I turned it off, shook my head, and put it back in the box!

I would be really pissed about this except the other rep I have been working with has already gotten approval for a replacement system for me!

 

@dissident - Tuesday it checks in and Thursday you receive it? Do you live right next to the repair facility? That is fast, very fast, too fast.
Glad you have a good sense of humor and have already been taken care of. If only they could ship out their new orders so fast.

 

Well so far I must say this R2 is absolutely amazing. The speed compared to even my R1 with the qx9300 is just mind blowing. Still trying to calibrate this RGB screen so it looks more natural, seems my Spyder3 doesn't do so well with it as it does with the CCFL of the R1. The 5870s perform worse then the 280s of my R1 but I suppose that will be resolved when they decide to come out with decent drivers. This is also my first time with ATI cards so trying to get use to the CCC, talk about horribly designed compared to NVIDIAs control panel. Still messing around with it and hoping nothing comes up within the next few days. Also after some reading trying to decide if I should keep my old R1s Delta a/c or go with the Flextronics one that came with my R2. I've never experienced any issues with the Delta but so far the Flextronics one seems fine.

I had to call and have a waybill sent so I can send my R1 to Dell, but I wasn't provided any instructions as to what I send back. So I just pack-up the R1 and a/c or do I need to dig out all the other things that came with it and send those along as well?

 

Rockwell - When I packed mine up I was told to keep the hat and velvet cover, as well as the leather-ish owner's whatever that thing is called that holds the recovery disc's.
I should have kept my nameplate but wasn't sure if they would get mad at me or hold up my refund. For that you may want to check with a rep and see what they say. Important stuff is the battery, laptop, and ac adaptor.

 

Okay things got more interesting. I just received another laptop, a refurbished R1. It is a bit of an upgrade over my current crappy R1. It has a quad core instead of the dual core. It has 8gb of 1066 DDR3, my old one has 6gb of 1333 DDR3, and this one has dual NVIDIA GTX 260Ms, where my old one had a single.

However, the display on the new one is apprently bad. There are green funky lines all through the display once it boots into windows. Looks like static in the background?

 

wow Dissident738 got to be a comedy of error's
Glade your in good humor about it.

 

Changed my mind about posting what i just wrote......

 

Would anyone happen to know what would cause the green static on the display? I did update the bios (still had A02) and the video drivers. Think it is one of the GPUs or the monitor itself? Anyone else ever had this error?

 

I just hooked it up to an external display, and it worked fine without the green static so i am guessing it is the actual display.

 

@dissident - I did a quick search and this thread is a pretty good match to your problems:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/426164-m17-video-card-problems.html
Seems to be a video card issue or your display... just saw your 2nd post.

 

Can anyone decipher the difference in these two displays?

R610K Liquid Crystal Display, 17WUXGA2CCFL, True Life, Samsung (My Old System)

and

K001R Liquid Crystal Display, 17 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array, Alienware M17X (The refurb they sent)

 

Looked at that, but my problem is instant as soon as u load windows, and the temps are 37c on the GPUs. Also since the extrernal display does not produce the same problem I am guessing maybe it is a display issue.

By the way it says GPU 1 is at 42c and GPU 2 is at 37c. Wonder why a 5 degree difference? Also any idea which side is GPU 1 and which is the other, left/right?

 

I read some where that the slave's temp is always lighter.
Not sure about the side think left looking at keyboard but sure you tube have it.

 

When my slave 280 was replaced it was the one on the right when looking at the computer normally from the keyboard.

 

Ok.....so has any one got any ideas how to pursue issues FURTHER than Dell's executive customer support team?????????????

 

This video shows what you need
YouTube - M17x Teardown Video1 of 2 **READ SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRIOR TO REPLACING PARTS** (Official Video)
and answer to your question after Corp..legal action thats all that would be left.

 

Is there no one higher than corp, i mean how do you get past them to speak to the next rung up the ladder....

 

Sorry there is none thats it.As high as they will (let) you go.
Higher would be CEO or the Board or Vic Pres. That why they got Corp. I hate to say but your out of options. You played it all the way, only other route is refund or BBB, Lawyer.

 

@dissident - I saw in that thread that someone suggested making sure everything was seated properly - master, slave gpu's, sli cable, and the connector for the LCD screen as well. I think you are right, I posted that right after you said you had connected it to an external display. I only saw your post after mine. Considering your external has no artifacts or lines it would seem that the problem is between the gpu's and the LCD. BUT that is just my guess.
I would check all the connections and then .... call tech support.
@stevie - Sorry but Alienwolf is right. Believe me, I checked and rechecked when I couldn't get an answer with just days to return my system or else eat the 4900 dollars. I was desperate when they finally pulled through and offered me the refund. Lemon law applies to computer and the BBB. I posted Alienware info with the BBB many pages back but a quick search of this thread should take you there.
Now while I only had 3days left I re-emailed corp in a desperate attempt to have someone contact me and give me an answer. If I were you, I would email corp again. This time put together a very well thought out email, summarizing all that has happened since your first email. Let them know how you feel as a customer, in terms that they should pay attention to. WARNING: Don't mention lawyer unless you are seriously considering retaining one because at that point they no longer communicate with you but through their legal dept.
Explain your disappointment and that you thought you would be getting better treatment after spending so much. ETC.
That's just me. It got me somewhere. You may simply get a refund and nothing more. You always have that option and you can do with that whatever you want. You may even come up with a better price a 2nd time around, especially if your corp representative puts you in contact with a sales rep that has been breifed on your case. I got +20% discount because of that. Only my opinion. As I said before my choices were limited while you may have many. Good luck and keep posting.

 

You got 20% discount why you dirty dog you..no pun intented..I didnt get that..

 

Thanks for the feedback Infernia,

I dont think i would have a case at a legal stage as Dell have offered me a replacement and what i deem to be a very small upgrade in way of compensation (i know some of you would say cut n run at this stage) but basically, i dont feel that it is sufficient. They have offered me a new system and 2gb ram up on my 4gb...(that cost £180 on UK site)

Now where i do get frustrated is that apart from my physical problems with the machine itself, i also have issues about information given to me to entice me to order...

When I placed my order (2nd June) it was under the belief that after much questioning and emailing to my sales rep that nothing new or imminent was happening with the M17x in terms of new components.....so i placed my order (now i know that things change rapidly but not this rapildy)

So, having placed my order on 2nd June, i got it on 21st June.....the physical problems were apparant within days but UK customers only get 7 days to return and i was over that but not by much.

To compound my frustration, it is now apparent that newer cpu's are available on the m17x (as the australia web site shows clearly you can opt for an I7 x40 series cpu as opposed to I7 x20). I had consistently asked my rep about new things and was told "no, nothing...be safe to order"

Now, this gets a bit more complex when you look at when Bios A06 was released on 7th July which provided support for these new cpu's.....this is days after i got my system yet i was told nothing about it. It was obvious that dell were going to introduce newer cpu's into the line up prior to this as it would have taken some time to create the bios support for these chips.

I feel misled and lied to about this ON TOP of the real physical problems my system has and i really do feel that their suggested 2gb upgrade to compensate me for all of this is.

I have tried battling this out but am getting nowhere fast.

Another issue is that when my corporate rep is calulating the cost of a new machine for me, he is not including the original free HDD upgrade i got at time of purchase, meaning i am also losing out on that when he looks at the total cost of a replacement. They say there is no record of my HDD offer on my order but i ask you, would dell give me £280 off the list price for no reason??? - NO, its because of my initial HDD upgrade which was worth a few hundred pounds off the price for me.....

So, when they are looking at compensatory upgrades, what they are doing is looking it as if they are also upgrading my HDD becasue they cant see it was ALREADY upgraded upon purchase. - thats why they are saying that they can only stretch to the 2gb.

Tried phoning my sales rep but he said he had no record of my HDD upgrade....I asked him if finance dept would hand out discounts of over 10% when palcing an initial order or for any other reason....he laughed at me and said no way...this is alienware, we dont discuss discounts that high......meaning that the only way i DID get that price was with the HDD offer i got...

I know im not insane and i know what deal i struck at the time, but becasue they cant see it, they are saying their hands are tied as to what they can offer me....

My head is hurting from trying to expalin to them that my original HDD upgrade shoudnt even come into it but they dont apply it to the cost of a new system so it looks to thhem like they have to pay alot more to provide me with a slighty higher spec replacement.

Complex i know, but i can see it plain as day.....

 

Thanks again for the help guys. Wanted to ask once more in-case anyone missed it...

Can anyone decipher the difference in these two displays?

R610K Liquid Crystal Display, 17WUXGA2CCFL, True Life, Samsung (My Old System)

and

K001R Liquid Crystal Display, 17 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array, Alienware M17X (The refurb they sent)

They are both 17WUXGAs and both 1900X1200...just curious if one is better/different then the other.

 

@Alienwolf - I guess our avatars are both 'dogs' of a sort. Hey I didn't expect it, I just said there is a student discount of 15% he knew I had been through hellfire and back for 6months and I begged him to up it and I'd pull the trigger on both. BOOM. So yeah aside from the fact I was promised no new releases of hardware - not true (740,840,940xm) - I am very happy.
@Stevie - so you have a spec sheet listing your hardware that will come up to about 280pounds more than what you paid. Then they are saying they can only upgrade the replacement based on the amount of money you paid and not based on your spec sheet/hardware. That is a bit aggravating.
Do you happen to know if you have the Spend-more-pay-less 5,10,15% discount promo on your country's site?
If so you could get more with what you paid for the original. Also do you qualify for EPP? College students, college alumni, faculty, staff, plus certain businesses. For specifics on that one there is a great thread I'm sure you have seen already on saving money when purchasing.
Still I wonder if you might get a better deal by getting a refund and reordering what you have in the laptop, considering all the deals. I wouldn't know since I am in the US.
@dissident - I searched and all I came up with is the WUXGA LCD I know the ccfl was the old version before they did the backlit LED. I will keep looking if time permits.

 

Thanks, so far I can't find any info distinguishing the two.

 

@dissident - I found the thread with the only info on the types of WUXGA screens and at the very last post I saw your name... I can't offer you anymore. Sorry but every time I found a reference to that screen, it was in a spec sheet and of no help, even on other websites. Hope someone with real knowledge answers you.
@stevie - I don't know if it would help with your decision replace or refund but I did go on the uk site and saw a 350 pound discount plus a free shipping code for the M17X. Definitely not as good as the sale here in the states. Good luck