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

O yeh it's still under warranty.

I was mainly looking at instead of doing a direct replacement of the screen, they replace it with the upgraded 1080p instead of the 900p screen.

 

Been one day with the new R2m17x and I'm very pleased. The difference between the 260m sli and 4870 XF is very noticeable! My only complaint is that the right gpu fan makes an annoying buzzing noise, but i'll call tech support and have them replace is soon. Thanks again everyone for the great info.

 

I will. Calling them tomorrow. I just don't want to sound nit picky about stuff. Just trying to follow the advice given by techs and see where it all goes. Not really gaming any right now either. Anyone know of any issues that would add to sys by heavy gaming? Like L4D:2, BF2:BC, Borderlands, MLB 2K10.

 

@Stevie - I'll do the testing this evening, got bogged down last night in homework. I am not used to receiving it, but dishing it out.

@Danyune - It can't hurt to ask about an upgraded screen, but expecting it could lead to disappointment. Just ask before they send a tech out to fix your screen.

@Pmassey - I didn't have the R1 stutter so I don't know a specific game to try to really bring out the problem. If you have the games on hand try them out. I have BFBC and it will work your system. If you search for posts by the user Elkay, he wrote quite a few dealing with the stuttering on the R1. Here's one that explains a little bit about the problem:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-m17x-r2-replacement-your-problematic-r1.html
Also you are NOT, I repeat NOT nit-picking. If your system went belly-up today, simply would no longer power on; would you regret anything thus far? Would you do anything differently in regards to your demands of Alienware fixing your system?
I played this same game/dance with them and I too tried very hard not to rock the boat. At some point you have to push. It doesn't mean you have to be an arse, just ask difficult questions and demand the answers. Good luck.

@od37 - Congrats!

 

Just wanted to say I got my replacement R2 in today, and it is just plain sexy! Two wonderful things happened when I plugged it in that never happened consistantly with my R1's. It posted, and booted into windows!

I did not have much time with it, but I fired up a couple graphics benchmarks and OMG. What a difference the two ATI 5870s are compared to the 260M's. I am completely blown away at the performance difference thus far. Thank you to all who offered advice along the way.

 

@Dissident738
CONGRATS!!!!!!! I guess 3rd times the charm, eh?

 

Congrats to both od37 and dissident.

 

Glade to hear you two got good systems and are now happy!
When they work right there is nothing like Alienware

 

pmassey - the stutter on mine was random, you tube, Hulu, in game just about anywhere any time. Even watching a DVD. Believe me you dont want to keep it. Luck

 

One black screen on Int. on 8/24/2010 @ 158PM.

Black screened out of sleep on 8/24/2010 @ 3:47PM.

Have no control of bright or dim feature with the Fn F4/F5 keys. After a restart it comes back.

YouTube videos still choppy, even after full download.

Restarted and enabled discrete again. Cannot turn off SLI. Option is there but can't tick it. Now showing all 3 cards. 8/25/2010 @ 10:00PM

Restarted tonight, Thursday, 8/26/2010 and now I can disable SLI. Running on one card for now.

Plugged in, not charging. Noticed at 1048PM, 8/26/2010. Screen shot.

When connected to external monitor, I always get explorer.exe stopped working msg after applying and exiting nVidia control panel.

Called tech support @ 930AM on 8/27/2010.
Told Mr. Carlos all this and he said (paraphrase)......Need to download Unigine Heaven and test cards.

And what's the deal with the battery? Yes I know a restart will fix it, but you shouldn't have to. C'mon? and they charge $4000 for these machines????

 

Regarding the battery then unplug the power cable, turn off the machine, remove the battery and push the power button(still no power should be cable plugged in) down for like 15 + seconds in order to release the last power from the motherboard and then put the battery back and plug in the power cable and then turn the machine back on. This should fix it. It works for me

Also you say that "YouTube videos still choppy, even after full download."

Does this happen in games as well?

 

I know this. But, back to the car analogy. My car rattles. OK, shut it off. Tighten all the bolts. Change the oil. Service. Then start. Runs great. Point is-it's brand new! It shouldn't rattle! The computer shouldn't have to be shutdown, powe drained, flipped 3 times, face east, say ungalagala-then POOF!!! It should just work. You know????

Just choppy. Video pauses and sound keeps going. Only a split second.

Happens in Command and Conquer really bad. Screen will just lock up for 5-6 seconds with the sound repeating. Wierd.

 

Why are we going over and over the same thing all the time. The system needs to be turned in or a refund. Hashing over what should be will not change the fact of what is.
System dosnt work right, here take it back send another one till you get it right, dont want to do that refund me.
If it dosent work out of the box send it back to them, tell them end of discussion send one that works period, your banging your head against a wall and it must hurt.

 

I know how you feel Pmassey, i am still in the middle of the same kinda thing but i have to agree with Wolf, if its causing you that much grief, just get your money back.

Personally, im gonna be on my 4th "brand new out the box experience" and all of them have had problems...yeah its frustrating as hell but if you dont tell them what you expect, then your never gonna get anywhere.

Its harsh, but what you have to do is decide if you have the patience (like i have decided to opt for) of dealing with corporate and hoping for something better or just thhrowing in the towel.

Its only a decision you can make, wether you are willing to stick it out to the bitter end (wich may be sweet) or just cash in your chips and walk away....im in it for thhe long haul as although i have had bad systems, i do believe that AW can offer a really good one....just gotta be patient...tell them your problems...tell them what you expect....if it doesnt meet with your expectations then send it back and walk away.....end of story.

I hope it all goes well for you and dont get too distraught....i had to remind myself at the end of the day.....its just a computer and there are others out there to be bought.

 

I have all the time in the world. Just bothers me they won't admit some obvious problems. Wolf-we've beat that one around too, I know. Here's the latest-----
E-mailed Carlos from yahoo acct @ 1149AM on 8/27/2010.

No reply so I called back @ 855PM. On the phone for 1hr 6min. Ran Heaven benchmark. Single GPU avg FPS-5.3. Score was 131. SLI avg FPS-3.7. Score-95!!!!!!! WHAT!!!!! Said to install new drivers-257.38. Was downloading when I was cut off. Battery issue is still there and will charge for a few but comes back. Up to 14% right now. Seems to be OK for now. Computer actually just shut off completely while talking with tech while on AC. Even I haven't seen it do that. Will update. Instaling new drivers too.
Might just ask for a refund and buy an R2 on Feebay.

 

Return the wreck and ask for a R2 system as this sounds like a faulty R1 system who should never had been shipped out of factory :smile:

Lockups cannot be accepted as well as any latency that interfere with the performance in a visible way.

In other words I agree

 

i called and was on hold for what seemed like an eternity so i hung up

is there a best day/hour to call?

 

You know I like that saying. I will remind myself of that next time I start banging my own head on a wall.
Pmassey - Are you keeping an eye on the gpu temps? Seems a lot like a heat shutdown. At this point the reasons should be irrelevant, it is a faulty system it needs to go back to AW. I have said and Alienwolf has said and Stevie has said and DwarfKing has said... Tell them it's coming back to them, either send one that works or refund me. The R1 has had many issues, stuttering being one that they have yet to fix.
Good luck and keep fighting the good fight.
Dayune - there is no 'good' time. Personally I got the least wait times at night and one weekends. I would assume this is because of business' using the support lines. I don't know for sure. I have just had the worst luck in the morning during weekdays. Nothing more frustrating than waiting forever to the tune of the Alien. OMG if I NEVER hear that song again I will be a very happy person.

 

I always try to(when I can) call early. Think they are available 8AM to midnight. Always busy at night. As you can see from my earlier posts. Usually wait 20 minutes or so. Called 2x Friday though and got through in 1 minute-basically no wait. I think it's just the luck of the draw. Good luck!!!

@Infernia-temps are fine?!?!?!?! 64C is as hot as it got while benchmarking unigine Heaven. Got to 70C while playing Transformers (my son). Anyway, not too hot as I see it.

 

Best luck I had was with the techs in Costa Rica, 1-866-287-6727 try that worked best for me they are not to busy.

 

I second your recommendation of the techs in Costa Rica. They were great and never a big wait time. I am on the East Coast, so maybe when I say I called at night and had no wait time.... I dunno. I think it really is just luck whether you get through quickly or not. Good luck to all.
After installing the Beta video drivers and manually flashing the vbios, my system is running much better. It's finally making me smile... a lot. I'm crossing my fingers for when I get the student versions of Autodesk and Photoshop installed. That's for another day.
I actually have a question for anyone that has the warranty with "Your Tech Team". I don't know exactly how to activate it. I had to call into tech support because my service tag was reporting "invalid". After waiting 30min to talk to someone I finally remembered I had purchased that option for my warranty. I asked the Tech I was on the phone with and he said it meant nothing. That I would get whoever answered the support line not North America. I know that's not true but I was having the hardest time finding the proper way to go about using the "tech team'. I plan to do a thorough search on Dell's site tomorrow but if anyone has experience with this and how to activate it, please advise. Thx.

 

I feel as though I am kinda stuck here. They keep offering me software fixes-drivers, BIOS, Restarts- and seem to not want to face the problem. Am I within reason if I just call and say "give me a replacement"?

 

Pmassey - You are well within reason to ask for a replacement. BEYOND reason for a replacement. First question: are you dealing with regular tech support or tech you got from that corporate email you sent out? Makes a difference, a big difference

 

Just regular for now. Want to really build a case and document everything. Give them plenty of chances to 'fix' it, you know? I am writing everything down-times of calls and how long, issues, have even done screen shots and videos. When I go corporate, I want my gun FULLY loaded.

 

EXACTLTY - you need to make sure that you are dealing with CORPORATE and not TECH SUPPORT.

Tech support will only offer you what it is in their nature to do....help you fix things....only corporate will be in a position to agree to a replacement. I found this out the hard way with dozens of calls to tech and they could only offer me solutions that may work but NOT ONE of them had the authority to grant my requests, which i had stated on many occasions.

The peope you need to deal with arent tech support as your system seems to beyond help afaik, you are indeed (as Infernia states) STRONGLY ADVISED to ONLY deal with Dell corporate. If it takes more emails to "the boss", then do it....dont hesitiate because the longer you leave it the more they will assume nothings wrong.

Make them aware that your arent happy and also state what you want (within reason becasue they dont hand out replacements like candy). Stay focused on what you DO want, dont be pushy, dont get aggresive, be polite but firm and state your case with the information that you said you have recorded.

IMO, they shouldnt argue the case too much and you should get treated fairly...afterall, they are the LAST STOP in resolution. Thats what they are there for so GO GET 'EM!!!

 

Pmassey - I have to go to class, like 5min ago, but I had to say something first. I dealt with regular tech support for months and their final parting words to me were: "deal with it, we can not help you any more than we have." This is about a laptop that wouldn't boot at all. I went ballistic and customer relations told me "too bad no service tag.... click"
Sooooooo... yeah, don't deal with regular tech support any longer. Had I not found this forum and these people on here I would still have said dead Area51 m17X and been a AW hater the rest of my life. PLEASE contact corporate asap. You have done your time in the trenches. Good luck and I'll check back later tonight.
**EDIT** listen to Stevie he has good advice...

 

I just noticed that one of my USB port is missing the plastic piece. The little tab that guides external devices so it can only go in one way. Wonder how long it's been like that? I haven't had any of my devices show up with a broken tab in them, so I thinking it came that way. Oh, well, gonna shoot corp an e-mail today.

 

I second, third, fourth it all. You need to email ( you know who ) and get the unit replaced. If anything your hurting your case and self by dragging this out. There are problems with the unit that cannt be fixed by tech support and downloads. Do your self a big favor and get a replacement rolling. Luck!

 

Freakin Holy Crap!!!!! E-mailed you know who at around 1000AM and at 200PM EST had a corp rep call me. He said they are sending new graphics cards. Yay for me sort of, right. But, nay. I pressed a little and asked what my other options were? Had he reviewed the notes? Is there a unit w/o integrated graphics. Blah, blah. He said we will discuss further after the cards are replaced. Naturally, I said, OK.

Not an hour later he calls back. Mr., I have reviewed the techs notes and we see there IS an issue with the cards on some of these systems. We are going to be sending you a replacement system-a different revision. Guess what?!?!?! R freakin 2. I am happy for now. No details about the specs or landing date, but I will post when I know.

 

WoW has your energy level changed! Glade to see you so excited about a Alienwae system, good deal. Now ya got something to live for..lol Keep us all posted on the spec's, and I hope it's a winner like ours have been. Infernia and Stevie will be happy for ya!!

 

SEE!!!!!! - thats what you get for going straight to the organ grinder and not the monkey.......im happy for you ! - well done!

 

Well, I hope what happens to you happens to me pmassey. Congrats sir.

I shot off an email to Mr. Top Dog about 2 hours after you did and didn't hear back from them today, but hope to tomorrow. As I mentioned earlier, my rep had emailed me twelve days ago saying she'd bump my case up to a 'Resolutions Expert' who would get back to me ASAP and then I left on vacation. Came back, 12 days later, no email, from ANYONE. So off went the long-winded mail to Escalations complete with attachment of all interaction with Dell up to this point and any and all documenting of problems making my system fundamentally unusable. So.....*fingers crossed*

 

Yesssssssssss!!!! So glad you finally got someone to listen, really listen. And this makes me very happy that you are on your way to resolution. Congrats.

 

I was just thinking of you... how you were one of people still waiting for them to get off their 'duffs'. Hope your vacation was a good one and that corporate gets back with you asap.

 

Guys,

Many thanks for you support during few last weeks - finally my system was swapped with single 5870 GPU with a little better specs (the case tooks ~10 weeks). But I'm happy enough - so far LoL

PS.
special thanks for Infernia and Erawneila - cheers

 

Congrats Maciejka!
Hope you have fun with your system!

 

You are most welcome. Don't forget to put that replacement system through its paces, just to be sure it's up to par. Congrats!

 

Was starting to wonder where everyone had gone..Glade to see another happy person.

 

Quick update for you all on my situation:

4th replacement since my original brand new order landed on 21st June....(yes ...4th)...its "work in progress" as of today.
Im hoping this time around, it works 100% right out the box....not much to ask for a £3000 laptop really.

Lets see......

 

Good for you we hope. Mine was airmailed out today. Should get it Friday as I have next day service in warranty. Guess it took them a few days toput it together. It's kinda consoling that I have had 2 more black screens and some stutter while plaing Transformers since my last post. Makes me feel less like of a------well----a complainer.

 

Don't think that you are..that is what R1's are known for when bad. Youll have beter luck with the R2 I did.
Did they send you spec's on new one? I would think I7 920xm? duel 5870 or 4870?

 

Pmassey - You are not a whiner/complainer. Enjoy the replacement.
Stevie - Got my fingers crossed for you.
Alienwolf - it had gotten very quiet on this thread, and that can be a GOOD thing. Unless of course you are waiting for word on a replacement. Still there are dwindling numbers of people having major issues.

 

Negative on the specs, but I would think comparable to the R1 I had, which was pretty much spec'ed out but for the RAM. And BD burner.

 

So, update- sent a third email to the top, and of course, got an immediate reply- but not from Corp. Oh no, I think they just take sadistic pleasure in using my e-mails to them to force my normal rep to talk to me, because after two weeks of silence, I get one e-mail from her, asking when I'll be back in the States and for how long.

I reply, saying "I'll be back in less than a week and will be there for 2-3 months, can you now PLEASE tell me what is going on?" So far, the answer I've received? Nothing. Nothing at all. And that was the beginning of this week. So 4 business days without any update at all. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO WRITE AN EMAIL!??!?!??!!?

Anyway, problems continue to escalate, which I thought really couldn't happen on a system which is basically unusable anyway. So yay me! Oh well. Congrats to everyone else who is getting their stuff fixed, or at least having replacement after replacement sent to them... .

 

Praetorian why dont you copy your last post and add as posted on alienware forums and state I request a new Rep or a refund. They dont like seeing as posted on alienware forums and my fellow owners advised me to say this. gets a rise out of them

 

Do exactly what alienwolf said. I would add in the latest correspondence between yourself and your rep as well. The dates on the emails should speak for themselves.
It will end, it seems your ordeal is on the long side but it will end. At this point you may seriously consider a refund as the best option. Demand it, the usual polite but immovable way. You are better off having the original funds spent on your laptop than playing email tag with a rep who is not responding in a timely manner.

 

Well, got a call today from my rep. Good news and badsort of. Story is, my original purchase was a refurb. Then a replacement for that one that was a refurb. When he called today, he said they could not find a refurbed R2 with similar specs so they would have to give me a NEW one. That's the good. Only bad I see is the waiting. He said it may not shipp till the 10th or later. And no word on the specs either. Just said it would be equal or better. Soooooo, I wait patiently. Not going anywhere.
Just can't really do anything with this one as I will have to transfer and start over when I get the new one. No big deal..........

 

My god ....there is NO bad news in that!!!! - man, you have waited long enough anyway and for you to be getting a BRAND NEW R2 instead of a refurb is absolutlely fantastic news for you (if it were me in your shoes, id be jumping for joy at a NEW machine over a refurb.....)

Lets face it, they are doing very well by you and if all you have to worry about is manufacture time, we all have to deal with that when buying brand new....i suggest you stop moaning and be grateful without sounding rude.

 

Pmassey - you are on that road to resolution you waited so long for. You are allowed to be happy about it. As Stevie said, considering the original was a refurb, a new R2 is a definite upgrade. You do have to deal with ghostly specs almost until it arrives, unless you get lucky and bug your rep into checking on them over the next few weeks. Still, you will have a brand new laptop on its way. What is a couple of weeks compared to what you have already been through? Congrats.

 

I totally agree. I wasn't complaining Stevie. I was just saying that IF i HAD to find a negative, it would be the waiting. And I'm not even worried about that. Did you not see the part in that post that said-Not going anywhere. I wait patiently? I don't care if it takes a month. Or if they send me a refurb. I just want it fixed. I don't think I have 'complained' any in this thread. Just stated facts. Oh well. There's my rant.

Anyway, Infernia, Very happy to be getting any system-'specially a new one.

Thanks for staightening me out Stevie. I know you mean well and I know how you could read something into what I said. Peace