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

Bout to do it. Wish me luck. If I go silent for a day or so, you all know why.

 

Well, sent an email to Michael Dell this morning and a few hours ago I got a call while I was in class AND an email from a Corporate executive wanting to resolve my issue!

Can't call them til tomorrow cuz they work 9-5 hours :/

 

Praetorian - Take pictures of your laptop before you pack it up, just in case. Was reading a thread in another forum and a user got their laptop back from AW/Dell depot with lots of scratches and dings of the paint. NOT THAT THIS IS NORMAL; but it's best if you take a few simple precautions before hand. The depot as stated by others is better equipped to deal with problems than the on-site techs. My laptop came back to me from Miami and though everything had been replaced and the condition was great it still died on me by overheating a couple of days later. I read where another user had two master 5870's A00 cards and it failed to boot, only to receive back their laptop with the crossfire cable disconnected and of course the master card booted the system up just fine, but the problem had not obviously been solved.
You could potentially get a perfectly good system back from depot i was just wanting to warn you to take precautions.
Superkyol - congrats
Pmassey - good lick/luck disabling RAID
DeltaWing - good to hear they got back to you so quickly good luck with the process. And of course keep us posted.

 

anyone here got a replacement and requested one of the ALX desktop? i have a maxed out m17x r1 and they just opened a ticket to have my system returned for a new one. just waiting for them to call me about the config, but im thinking of requesting an aurora ALX.

 

Issey - long ago in a post very very far back in the thread someone else asked that very question. I don't think their efforts were successful. I guess it can't hurt to ask but.... they are most likely going to force you to either get a replacement laptop or if you are lucky maybe they will offer a refund. Lucky in the sense that you want the money to buy the desktop instead of another laptop. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

If it is setup Raid 0, I did not think you can disable it, you would have to do a fresh install on one drive. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

You must be. Cause I killed it. No Respawn now. Who cares? Hardly would ever use it anyway. Doing a fresh install as I type(obviously on a different computer).

Still would be nice to have the Respawn partition if anyone knows how to do that.

 

Flynnaz - pretty sure you are correct. From what I understand Raid 0 stores a file across both disks basically making said file impossible to recover if you lose a drive. It is used most often to boost performance and not to aid in reliability and recovery. When I lost my laptop i stared at two SSD's in Raid 0 terrified I would never get the data back. I will give cred to AW in Miami facility for doing a partial recovery to a new install.

Pmassey there was a post on the main forum of AW with the exact instructions on how to do that. I will try to hunt it up but we are talking from the last two weeks or so. Same reasons as you for trying to recreate the partition. If I find it I'll edit my post or PM you. Maybe you can hunt it down before me.

**EDIT 01*** Here's one of the threads to check out.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/470061-deleted-dell-recovery-partition-image.html

 

Should not be a problem if it is backed up to a spare HD or flash then use that to reinstall from. A mirror image of your drive easy to do, I have a couple on different storage devices. You can also get all the Alienware wallpaper and login screen changer from different places on the forum.

 

Nice find Infernia just what I was thinking of. Great link

 

Yeah. Branding not a big deal. Just thought someone might know how to get the whole system restore partition back.

 

I just remembered this one too and it works for other laptops but you really need to read through the thread. At least the first couple of pages. It's awesome that you can fit this on a USB;
but I promise when I get a chance tomorrow I'll keep looking. I know I saw it somewhere darn it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/472940-guide-m11x-creating-recovery-usb-key.html

 

Hi,

Dell are giving me an exchange and have only given a reference number and no specs.

Is there any way to indentify the specs using the reference number they provide?

TIA

 

Keep checking the status of the reference number. Once it's shipped, it MIGHT say it's service tag on shipping information if it's a refurbished system. You can check the spec of the system with the service tag.

 

Thanks. Do Dell give refurbs in place of refurbs?

Not sure if I want that!

 

Either way. Whatever you will get for replacement, check it carefully for its overall build quality and performance as you might expect it, at best case you should not be able to tell the difference at all. That's what i think, and if you get something less you should invoke and tell them that's not what you payed for.

 

You need to give more info spec's of old system, why its being exchanged,and who you have been in contact at dell a Rep or service tech.

 

What were your old specs? We can play "What Replacement Parts to I get?" game... hehe

 

It's getting replaced because of some nasty scratches on the screen. I have a 920XM, XFire 5870, 6GB Ram and 256GB SSD, Blu Ray burner (even though the spec listed as BD Rom).

I want at least those specs obviously (or better! )

I was in touch with Dell rep from India and just got the email that they are processing the exchange last night.

 

Those are usally LCD replacement, not a system replacement.

Did the rep say it's going to be a system replacement? I would think chances are low on that one, or did your new system arrive with the nasty scratch?

 

They are doing the replacement as far as the emails are concerned. It was in a pretty bad state.

So I guess I will have to wait for it to happen and report back when I know the specs. I will chase them up with another email.

If it is less than I think I will hold out for the same at least.

Thanks

 

Three days since replacement status change, apparently the parts are still being ordered. Some reps have told me the system has shipped out already, others say it is still being built. Ah well, I will update whenever I get some information.

 

Superkol check your dell account site, if it is shipped it will post there before anywhere else.

 

^^^^^Yep! And like I said before, I actually called and they gave me an order # to check.

 

This makes no sense. If it was just the screen, they should just be able to send you a new screen... seems counter-productive to replace the entire system...

 

True! Unless they have made previous repairs. Get to 3 and they'll most likely replace. Not sure if he's had other work done before.

 

I am officially getting a free replacement with potential upgrades for parts that aren't readily available in stock.

 

What is a free replacement? They are giving you one without your old one back?

 

Um, they aren't charging you to replace your current system but you have to send it back when you get the new one.

 

That's the normal procedure. I've never heard of "free" replacement before.

 

Ok I think he was just a little excited, we all know he means a replacement. No need for sarcasm, be helpful

 

so its official...they are sending me a new m17x r2. i just spoke to the dell rep who will be assisting me during this transition. from our convo, i should get an i7 940xm, crossfireX 5870, UXGA, 6GB, i requested a 128GB ssd, but i have a feeling i may get my old set up. BR burner, and intel wifi N.

 

Gratz thats a pretty maxed out unit hope all go's well with the testing. enjoy

 

Congrats all on the replacements/specs.

Sidenote: Dell/AW being counter productive? Never. At least they didn't try to replace the mobo first. And some of you will know exactly what I mean.
Cheers all

 

Yep, and the video cards twice.

 

I don't know what I would do if they thought replacing a mobo the 5th time would do anything positive 0_0

 

oh they did replace the mobo and both hd's, but failed to fix the problem and still wanted to send a 3rd tech to my place. i finally said no and told them give me a replacement or i will contact mr dell. i was put on hold for almost an hour and a new manager came on the phone to tell me they will send me a new system.

 

Hehe - that was my point guys. They are constantly counter productive. The mobo replacement is almost always done no matter what the issues.
When the user - Tman100 said his LCD was all scratched up and they were doing a system replacement and others were saying how counter productive it was to replace the entire system. It's true we don't know just how many replacements this user has had ... With Tman100 I figured they may try a mobo replacement just in case <-- sarcasm
Well as I have said before it's all about luck of who you talk to as to what happens. I had multiple issues, multiple fixes(far more than 3 replacements on more than one part) And I had to fight for 6 months before they would even consider a replacement. Others... boom... replacement. As serious as this thread gets and as such many emotions are negative in here due to the stress. I just wanted to put a funny/sadly ironic post in. I'll wager most in here HAVE had their mobo replaced tho'

 

yeah, i got very lucky. and my original problem was the battery not charging and followed by blue screen. i still dont know what caused it but im just glad that im getting a new system.
good luck to everyone else with their prob. hope it gets fixed or replaced.

 

Okay so laptop is sent in to the depot and hopefully something happens in the next week. Took pictures of the thing inside and out and now I get to wait. Whoo-hoo!

Gratz to all getting their replacements! And I will be back in a week or so with an update hopefully.

 

Talked to my rep again today. And like I said, happy with the 4870s but the reason he couldn't get me 5870s is bc the 280s are 1Gb GDDR3 and the 4870s are 1Gb GDDR3-a match. Whereas the 5870s are GDDR5-not really sure what that means, but I'm still very happy and the RGB LED is freakin' awesome.

 

Im still not so sure thats like for like......but as long as your happy, thats the main thing! Congratulations!

 

I do agree, but seeing where I came from......a refurb'd R1 that had Q9000, 1440x900 LCD, 4Gb 1066, 500Gb HDD, DVDRW, 260M Sli......to my sig.....to my current. I have ZERO complaints!!

@stevie. You ever get yours all the way taken care of?

 

Pmassey - that my friend is the key to why people get confused. The replacement is based on the spec's of the first system, not the second or third. They are not going to give you better that the 260 1st system just because they were nice and gave you an upgrade to 280's. They are building these spec's on what supply they have and the 4870's win. I for one am glade to see you have the mature since to enjoy the new system and not hung up on gota have this or. enjoy

 

Totally agree and very good point. It is 'like for like' on the original system purchased. And Pmassey... CONGRATS! You will be enjoying that system soon.

Still have to get Praetorian in that same boat. With a working system and a smile on his face. He's the last long time holdout. Well not exactly a holdout but he got unlucky and has been at it for months now.
Everyone else in the thread seems to be getting taken care of.
Cheers all.

 

Well ... just got in on that "replacement" wagon too. My R1 was pwning me hard.
Throttle/stutter issues , random voltage/power spikes ... whole load of performance issues. Now I'm here, waiting for the "dispatch number" to go through ... - what ever the heck that suppose to mean.

Also, can someone plz give me an idea of what should I be expecting based on my current config, as all I was able to hear from my tech support specialist was that: " we will do a match to the best of our ability"

 

digital, is the system in your profile your original order? I believe your replacement specs would be reflected upon your original specs.

 

Anodize,

Yes it is.
Also, whenever they do these kind of the replacements, are those brand new systems , or its a possibility that I may be hanging around with a refurbished Joe ?

Its just the very first time when I have an entire laptop swap

 

Does anyone know how much a 3-Year Extended warrenty would be on my M17X R2, Specs in Sig. I have hade it since 6/21/10. SquareTrade is Quoting me $249.99 for 3-Year

 

new/refurbished depends on their decision. They often give better specs on refurbs.

I believe you will get:

920xm or 940xm
cf 4870 or cf 5870
same mem
same hdd
possible RGB upgrade

How does square trade warranty work? I've known their existence for years now, but never bothered to use them. $250 for 3 yrs sounds really cheap compared to what Dell is offering.