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

Also, just as a bit of an observation to Dissidents post-

I believe anyone that had 280's or 4870's goes up to an R2, as they don't list the R1's on the site with anything other than 260's. So unless someone else out there that had 280's or 4870's got a replacement with the same parts recently, I think they're just bumping to R2's. Or at least, I hope so in a very selfishly impish way.

Also, the Q9000 is a brilliant proc. It was what came with mine originally before I bought my QX9300 from Scook and it ran just about everything I threw at it like butter. You know, if you disregarded the stuttering.

 

Some info for those of you that are trying to get a R2 as a replacement for an R1. Dell/Alienware have re-released the R1 and this may be a reason why Dell/Alienware are halting R2's as a system replacement for defective R1's. Also, keep in mind that once Dell/Alienware acknowledge that those of you seeking a R2 as a replacement for a defective R1, once an R2 is approved as an system replacement you will recieve a R2. However you have to be patient as getting upset and impatient only results in a longer waiting period and quite possibly 2-3 different replacements. Just be patient and things will turn out for the best. I can say this because I went through 10 months of Dell to finally recieve my system replacement (It's in my sig) and it is a brand new beautiful machine with no problems. I also recieved complimentary upgrades courtesy of Dell/Alienware for my troubles i.e. 640GB HDD instead of 320GB, and Intel Ultimate WIFI 6300, not to mention a core i working system

 

OK guys,
So i got the email from my corporate rep today. So the offered specs are i7-940xm 8gb 1333mhz 1tb 7200rpm 1 ati mobility radeon 5870 and a RGB 1200p LED screen. i am happy with the specs but i think i should get a crossfire 5870 instead. What do you guys think?

 

Whoa, nice spec beef. They really treated you right....

Now I just hope they do the same for me....STILL haven't heard anything even remotely resembling even the possibility of a replacement...and I've literally been sitting with a useless rig for 6 months...GAR.

But congrats sir. If you can get CF, great, otherwise, still nice.

 

hey praetorian,
yeah i will try for the cf. Wish you luck for your replacement

 

Hey praetorian,
Did you fire off an email to the boss? If you did maybe you could try some "soft-threatening" saying to report it to the authorities or something like that to expedite your process. Good luck. Do keep us updated.

 

Hey guys i have a question. What do they write in the quote they send me if they offer me a crossfire 5870? "1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870" this was written and the quantity was stated as one. I read online saying that the gddr5 only have 512mb of ram on each card, so does this mean i am getting a crossfire? This is really confusing. Any ideas? Thx

 

Ok here is my story

on saterday my area 51 m15x's graphics card fried. so i decided that enough was enough this laptop is just 2 years old and in that time the hinge has broken twice and now the graphics card had gone. I called alienware (UK) and asked for a replacement the guy on the phone straght away gave me an email address ([email protected]) and to state my request in an email and they would deal with it. Today i got an email back saying that they are starting the internal prosess for getting me a replacement


well impressed with alienware as long as the system they offer me is not basic model as mine cost £2143 with the x9000 cpu and 8800 gtx card

 

Hey highfly,
I think you should get a system which has equivalent parts. I do not have any experience with the area 51s, but i do know dell must give you equivalent or better parts. Good luck and do update us.

 

does that mean equal parts as in performance or equal in price such as when i got my laptop the 8800 GTX was the best card i could get so will i get the hd 5850 or a card that performs the same as the 8800 gtx

oh and i will defantly keep you informed

 

i doubt it is price wise. Maybe the pros here can help? i believe you would most probably get the 5850. Just like the gtx 280s get the 5870s. It all boils down to who you get too, i mean which rep.

 

It is equally performing parts. Extreme procs for extremes, 260s SLI were getting 4870s XF and 280s SLI were getting 5870s XF, same size HDDs if available or next size up otherwise, ect. One thing they will not do is give you worse parts performance wise, you may get some parts that might be two steps over what you have but that is normally only if they have a surplus of those parts and no/few of what you should get.

The replacement systems are built in Tennessee out of whatever parts they have there, not overseas where the huge part surplus is.

Hope this helps.

 

Wow you ave done well given your original cpu/ram etc....the gpu's could be argued to NOT be a fair upgrade but I would tread careful when asking for more...it cant hurt but just be nice i would say! - they seem to have pulled out ALL the stops for you Beef, its just odd how they do this for some but not for all....i had to fight tooth and nail to get mine spec'd up and even now, its no where near the upgrades you have had!!

Dont know if there is a corporate who deal with the UK and a seperate one for the US or wherever but it does seem to vary massively in what they offer people.

Congrats on the system btw, looks like a "beast" is on its way to your house!

 

You have to bear in mind that legally, as it is a replacement, they cant gve you significantly BETTER than what you had...as others have said, it will be a like for like basis whereby you will get the equivalent or better to what you HAD depending on what the similar is NOW.
Rockwell has put it quite well, dont expect to get 5870's from 260m sli....c/f4870 may be more equivalent (although some sites are no longer offering 4870 so you may get lucky as sli/cf setup would have to be 5870 in that case)

Some people get a good rep who pulls out all the stops (Beef would be a good example of this) and some dont ge much at all.

Guess you need a bit of luck too so here's wishing you lots of it! hope you get a top spec.

 

Beef, on my spec regarding gpu, they made a right mess to start with ... they sent me a spec with one 5870 and originally i had crossfire.

On the spec sheet they mailed me it said "Singular Ati 5870 1gb ddr5"

Now that they realised the error, thhe new spec says:

1 490-12186 GRAPHICS: DUAL CROSSFIRE1GB ATI GDDR5 1

Thats exaclty as it appears on my replacement spec sheet.


BTW are you SURE they are giving you a 940xm??? - that seems a MASSIVE jump from T9600 but im not an expert, just that the 940xm is THE very best mobile cpu at the moment!! - good for you if they have!!!

The single gpu is show as:

1 490-12185 GRAPHICS: SINGLE 1GB ATIGDDR5 MOBILITY 1

hope this helps you out !! - oh, and yeah - if you had 280m sli , you SHOULD get 5870 crossfire no problems if you tell them - like for like remember.....best sli setup for best dual gpu setup.

 

Well I still don't have a reply. Oh well. Maybe instead of having a tech do the repairs I'll just ask them to send me the parts so I can do the repair and maybe this time they'll actually let me do this. I'm pretty sick of playing tango with Dell; I knew I shouldn't have purchased from them. Regardless of these build issues, the m11x is still a pretty good laptop given its size.

 

Just went through the whole Michael Dell email route, and ended up talking to the the resolution center. They're giving me a refurbished R1, which is disappointing in that it's not new, it's not an R2, and it won't fix the stuttering. I guess I'll just have to keep complaining over and over until they get it through their heads that the R1 doesn't work. Also, a note on the whole refurbished thing: the rep at the resolution center told me that after 90 days, all replacements for a computer are refurbs? Is that true? Because from what I've seen on these forums, people have been getting brand new R2 replacements left and right. Rest assured, I'll be keeping at it as long as the stuttering on my laptop persists.

 

hey stevie,
yeah i couldn't believe my eyes at first. however, yes it states there i7-940xm. I am still waiting for the reply from my corporate rep. One more question, What should my warranty be? my previous system has a 3 year premium care and i bought the system last year october. Should my new system have a warranty that is a run on which means 2 years or what should it be? My rep offered me a 1 year premium care warranty.

 

Your replacement is covered under whatever remaining warranty you have. You may be able to extend further for cost though.

 

@highfly - when my rep was talking to me about possibilites he said the 9800gt sli set up would probably translate to the 5870crossfire. However I ended up with a refund. So I'm no help to you. Just a few cents to add to your question I guess. I too bought the best gpu's I could when I got the original Area51 m17X and skimped on the RAM and Processor knowing I could upgrade those later myself. I'm not so sure it is price based nor is it completely performance based. It will most likely depend on the rep you get and as Rockwell said, on the surplus of supplies they have on hand. I wish you luck on this.
@beef - congrats on the specs. Very nice. Also as was said earlier, they have to transfer your premium care warranty to the new laptop. Maybe he meant they would add 1 year to your existing warranty, but they can not take the time away from you that you have already paid for. Make sure about that issue because a premium warranty is worth every penny.
@no92stallion - No not all replacements are refurbs. Dwarfking has given some very good info in this very thread where he has stated parts of the Magnuson Moss Act - Lemon law - which applies to computers and cars. It's like for like and they can't change that by making you agree to a limited liability warranty. If you paid for a new laptop then they replace it with a new laptop of equal or better value. If you bought a refurb then don't expect a brand new one as a replacement. If you have suffered from the stuttering of the R1 then I would do a search on the user Elkay since he has posted a couple of threads dealing with this very issue and his argument is pretty air-tight/infallible. Do not give up but be polite and understanding.
When you have an evening to spare, start at the beginning of this thread. You will see some of the issues many people have gone through to get resolution. Also you will find a lot of useful information.
@amodar - I've been MIA, have you emailed them a second time? And still nothing?
@everyone - got my laptop cooler tonight and just started testing out the M17X. Wish me luck. Did I miss anyone?

 

Thanks infernia and everyone else who has helped me.

I went ahead and sent an email just now. So much work for a simple request. With my one week out of town and class starting up at the end of this month, I hope this all pans out well. Plus it's my bday soon and it's be pretty nice to have a replacement by then. In the end all I just want is a response back and I can't even get one lol

 

Good news, guys! After noting my disappointment in that I was receiving a refurbished model, my rep decided to send me a new R2. 820qm, 4870s in crossfire (I'll probably upgrade that later). I'm excited

 

Congrats No92stallion.
As I posted earlier that they would have had a hard time getting away with a refurb in exchange for your 'bought brand new' system. Glad they saw that error and you didn't have to go through any arguments with them. They can send refurb parts to fix your system but not a refurb system. At least you got to avoid all that.
Keep us posted when it comes in. It's nice to hear about resolutions in this thread. Gives those still dealing with their issues a good dose of hope.

 

Hope's about all I've got right now....

Congrats no92stallion- good to know that they are indeed still approving new replacement R2 systems for defective R1's.

Me, I'm still sitting on my defective R1, contemplating writing my third email to Mr. Michael Dell as the current modus operandi for Reps when dealing with me right now is to reply very, very quickly and with several emails within one day telling me all about how 'they'll get right on it and we're sorry for all your problems sir' and then going silent until I shoot off another one to Mr. Dell.

ARGH. And it's Friday tomorrow, so if nothing comes through then, that's another weekend of waiting....oh well. Glad I got back into model building every since the system bricked....gives me something to do.

 

What i found extremely annoying with corporate (the big boss' email) is that whenever i phoned to chase, i could NOT get put thru, they just kept saying "we dont have a number" and "cant transfer your call".

Lost track of the amount of times i tried.

Best case of action i would say is to keep banging away, be polite and succinct and to the point with your issues.....eventually, either they will deal with it or they will get fed up of you constanly harrasing them and then deal with it !!!

Either way, I would say keep on pluggin'.....its worth it in the end.

Remember...patience is a virtue though.

 

Praetorian77 - When you get those emails from corporate have you examined them very closely? The signatures at the bottom of the page that is. USUALLY there is a number to call with an extension of a specific representative. Check carefully and then call. (if there is a # included) I'm glad they are paying you lip service but you need action.
It sounds as though they are having trouble keeping the case notes straight. You started with one problem and while you were away more problems came up. I'm not making excuses but at the same time maybe a verbal conversation will help get you farther. In fact the next time one of them shoots off an email to you, reply back with a request for a phone call or a phone number plus extension so you can call them. And tell them that because your case is complicated that it may be easier to get ahold of you via phone. If nothing else tell them that email access for you is not always guaranteed means of communication.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Glade to see the out come here. And that the PM with you helped. Gratz

 

OK. What's the whole deal with the stutter/power/adapter issue? What I am seeing is when unplugged, it goes into a SLOW mode. Everything is slow. Plugging back in does not resolve it(most of the time-sometimes, it does fix it). I have to restart the comp and then adjust the power settings to Performance.

Other issue is starting up when on just battery. It never fails that I get the warning screen and if I just hit F1, it is sllllooooooooooooow. I have to restart, enter the BIOS, turn off embeded graphics, and then it is fine. I don't play games on battery, but I mean everthing is slow-and choppy-if that makes sense.

Not too big a deal and don't want to sound like a whiner, but it is sure aggravating.

 

Well got a email/phone call this morning. Wasn't able to pick up the phone so I called back later in the day. The guy wanted pics to document my issues so I told him to give me an hour and then he said once he got the email he'd give me a call back. I forwarded him my initial email with all the pictures but he didn't call back.

I'll give him a call back tomorrow morning but I'm about to head out of town for vacation which means if I don't get this resolved tomorrow morning I won't bother calling back until late next week.

 

wonder what they will do since my M17 is kaput almost ...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/494454-power-adaptor-not-recognized.html I have the same problem. Dell sent me a new adaptor but i still get the odd random "hit F1" when its plugged in.....
One of the tech guys said to me that there is a small circuit board for power which may have a bad connection to the motherboard. All i know is I have Bios A06 running, have tried two adaptors and I still get it from time to time.

Everything seems to run at normal speed tho, are you sure you havent activated stealth mode?
You may wanna have a look here at the above thread.

Also, when you start or boot from battery you will ALWAYS get that warning come up. Its built in by Dell to ensure you know that you are on battery power and not the a/c - these systems run far better when power is connected ya see!
If you dont like the message/beep, you can deactivate the warnings in settings by pressing F2 instead of F1, go to power and you will see the options. I personally dont mind the warning but if it does your head in that much, you can always disable it I believe.

 

Yeah. Been through those threads and I understand the issues. I have integrated graphics disabled, and hybrid disabled. So Stealth mode isn't even an option when in the OS. My issue is-as stated above. I understand when I am on battery I get the warning-that's fine. But it will automatically 'dumb' itself down and start with the stuttering and what not. Not too big a deal as I said bc I am usually plugged in. But the other day I took it on the road and watched a movie with the kids. Enabled the integrated GPU and it was OK. Hook it back to power-and stutter. Reboot>BIOS>INT GPU off>works fine. JUST AGGRAVATING like I said.

Kinda was wondering if THAT is what people meant by the stuttering issue. Or am I seeing a new issue?

 

Maybe its just slow whilst running on the integrated gpu until you turn in back on again. Im thinking it would obviously remain in that "mode" until you change it so when you next boot, wether battery or a/c, you would still be using integrated gpu UNTIL you change it back meaning its slower? I take it the issue goes after you have reverted back and reboot from then on?

 

I have the same issue on mine if plug comes out everything slows down BUT if I reconnect power it runs normal. Seems to be a power setting issue. If I have performance on and do it no slowing of videos. The problem isnt enought
for me to bother with since I hardly ever run on battery.
More for a power fail that anything else.

 

ok guys,
So i have received confirmation today on my system. The final specs are astonishing. Specs are:
i7-940xm
8gb 1333mhz
1 tb 7200rpm
1200p RGB LED
Crossfire Dual 1gb DDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 .

The only thing that i was a tad disappointed is with the case color. But i guess i will overlook that. They gave me silver, i guess i can cover it up with a skin or something like that.

Oh and they were nice to include a belkin 17 inch messenger bag which i most probably don't need.

i am really happy now. estimated ship date is 08-24

 

Hi Beef,

That truly is an amazing system they have offered you....big congratulations!
Hope you dont mind but have dropped you a PM about somthing.....

 

Holy Crap!!!!! NIce!!! I have a black one if that's the color you're looking for. Wanna trade???? Hahahahahah

 

Just wanted to chime in that Refurbished R1's can be good or bad. My XPS1730 toasted it's video cards and Dell promised a new M17x R2. Got a refurbished M17x R1 that had very similar specs to my old 1730. Frame-rates and performance were about the same. The only problem was that it was constantly locking up with blue screens, black screens, and distorted screens.

Spent many hours with Alienware on the phone and they sent out a replacement motherboard. Dell Tech was a really nice guy, but he broke connector on the indicator panel above the keyboard. Machine became more erratic.

Spent many more hours on the phone with Alienware. They decide to send a new R2 as a replacement. This is the 4th time I was told "New" R2. Under my customer number, a New M17x R2 order appears. Then a refurbished machine ships. Guess which order Dell / Alienware cancels? Yep - the new one got canceled.

Second R1 arrives with the 1440x900 panel. Since I am certified to work on Precisions and Latitudes, they allow me to swap the 1920x1200 panel from the old one to the new one. Along the way I fix some of the screwups made by the Dell tech on the old one. I ghosted the hard drives and low and behold, this second R1 is completely stable.

So the OS load was exactly the same and no issues. The only hardware change was the new one had the Q9000 2.0ghz quad while the old one had a P8700 2.53ghz duo. They both had the G3C59 Nividia 260M single video card. My only guess is that someone may have overclocked the first one and damaged the processor or gpu.

As far as I am concerned, I am done with swapping. I did not end up with an R2, but this second R1 is faster overall than the XPS1730 it replaced and it games with very similar frame rates. Most importantly, it is stable and not showing any issues. I can watch movies or play games for hours with no issues. Hopefully it will stay that way.

When it comes time to replace this system with a new one, I will check out the options out there. Dell / Alienware had their chance to make sure I stayed loyal with my next purchase and dropped the ball. They should had parts to fix my flawed 1730. They should have properly testing the first R1 they sent before it left Tennessee. They should have gotten the specs right on the second R1. They should have never told me they were sending an R2 4 separate times if they did not intend to follow through on it. I can still log in and see the canceled R2 order and it makes me angry.

 

I think the main problem here is that since Dell accquired Alienware, i think that it (Alienware) has become less of an enthusiast system in terms of how they build them and the care and attention that was paid prior to their "takeover"

I dont have personal experience of Alienware prior to this (2006 i think) but i assume its safe to say that as a huge mainstream congolomerate, Dell's acquisition of Alienware was to bolster a flagging niche market that they thought they could tap into....its a shame to say that Dell doesnt seem to share the passion about quality that came prior to this point.

Think of it like this, a huge corporate takes over a little fledgling and what happens....quality goes out the window because its sales sales sales.

I think Dell should pay more attention to Alienware customers specifically becasue we are the ones who lash out thousands on what is supposed to be the very best state of the art machines in the world.....

C'mon Dell...when are you gonna realise this?? - people who buy Alienware ARE enthusiasts and not just run of the mill PC owners.....we demand (and quite rightly so for the price tags) perfection and when it comes to this, Dell are found seriously wanting.

Anyone else agree?

 

@ stevie - agreed but this dead nag has been beaten to a pulp. Unless someone from Dell/Alienware is reading this thread it is not going to get us anywhere.
I started to reply to Bokeh today and deleted. I was sad. The situation is sad. I know big corporations hire people to write policy. Alienware is the flagship of Dell. Aside from thier professional machines they are the most costly. Things go wrong with new technology, hence I am not upset over drivers until it takes months to update, then... My point is that Alienware tries to balance on the cutting edge and sometimes they fall. Most times it is software, driver, bios related. I expect this. But when individual laptops fail in a big way, they are not treating their customers with respect on a consistent basis.
It wouldn't be hard to have a policy where X amount of repairs on Y amount of components = replacement or even X amount of time spent on repairs should = replacement. It wouldn't be that difficult to keep a spreadsheet updated to reflect the replacement of parts deemed equal or greater value to the originals.
In fact like most corporations they have the manpower and the resources but, like the issue with laptops made before service tags, no one is updating the database it's not their job.
Change in policy could keep the reps on task as far as what they offer as a replacement. Instead as it stands it is certainly luck of the draw as to the specs and treatment a customer receives.
I love my laptops. I wouldn't trade them. I know Dell warranty is better than most. But I refuse to accept that they are remotely adequate when something major goes wrong. Even though my issues were resolved in the end;I went longer than 6 months without a working laptop, I lost sleep, I cried, I stressed night and day, I panicked that I had just days until the warranty ran out and no one would extend it nor give me an answer. Some here have had worse things happen due to delays in repairs, faulty repairs, faulty replacements, etc. It's not right. But what are we to do?
Beef you are a lucky one and I am very happy for you. Bokeh I am sorry that your expertise is the only thing that has kept your last replacement from being sent back for them to replace the screen.
I guess the only thing we can do to help change this is to keep them on task. Keep the other users that come to this thread, informed. Refuse to accept less than what is fair for both parties and hope that the Dell/Alienware merger growing pains will someday end.

 

Infernia - nice post agree hole heartily. As most large companies Dell seems to be improving. We as a group have learned a lot in how to handle the extreme repair problems.
We have some insight into how the Rep structure works, and how to move ahead with in it. I agree with we need to explore the options of getting things fixed and not so much this is how you take Dell for all you can get. They may do alot of what they do in fear everyone is out for upgrades. Name one just one company that will give you a better than you had upgraded system, because we inconvenienced you sorry,ya right. Hope we can share more on the positives with customer support.

 

Quick question for you guys: I had the 1200p CCFL on my R1, so I presume I'll be getting the 1200p RGBLED for my new R2 replacement? I forgot to ask him...I guess I could just call and check on Monday, but that's too long to wait

 

1200p for 1200p

The only option for the R2 is the RGB LED in that category.

 

Sent an email to the big man last night asking for a replacement. We'll see how it goes.

 

@ Infernia & Alienwolf,

Agreed!!!

 

Sorry to change topic briefly here.

Has anyone noticed that they are no longer getting email notifications to subscribed threads or PM's???

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sit...nts/507563-not-getting-nbr-notifications.html

I noticed I stopped getting mine the other day and I dont know why!

 

My only fear is that someone will now buy that defective notebook that I sent back to Dell/Alienware from the Dell Outlet. I just hope someone at the turnaround site does their job and actually tests the components and figures out what was wrong with it. Otherwise the chain will continue. It was someone's problem and they sent it back. It was my problem for 2 weeks. Now it will likely be someone else's problem soon. I should have written "lemon" under the battery or something.

 

I know exactly what you mean....for a time, i thought i had got someones lemon and i was thinking of marking mine with UV markers in inconspicuous places to ensure i didnt get the same system back .... how paranoid is that!

 

Funny you guys say that. First when I sent mine in I was making sure I got the same one back so I marked it up in various places. Then they told me they replaced everything and sure enough none of my parts came back to me.
Then when I sent it in for the refund I really considered writing a message inside but didn't. I was too afraid I would mess up my refund.
Still funny that I wasn't the only one considering it.
I would recommend that people mark their original before sending it in. That way you 'know' for sure what has been done. Just in case.

 

Yeah, if youre gonna use ultra violet markers, make sure you know where youve marked and maybe a video of "you" marking the machine.....its a sorry state of affairs that i would consider going to these lengths but who knows what you may or may not get shipped back to you eh?