I love my m9750 buy I hate Alienware......

Last summer I bought my m9750 with XP, Raid0 hard drives 2x100, and a single 7950GTX. The other day I upgraded to 4Gb OCZ ram and two OCZ SSD's. Everything has worked great until today. The Fedex guy delivered my second 7950GTX I had ordered from A.W. last week. I get on the phone with A.W. tech support for the installation of the second graphics card so I don't void the warranty. Once installed, the puter won't post. The tech rep had me unplug the battery for the cmos etc. Nothing worked. Eventually we found out that A.W. had sent me the wrong card. Instead of sending me a "parent", they sent me a "daughter".

So now I have to send the "wrong" card back to A.W. and............also the heat pipe/fan because they don't recommend reusing the old one due to loss of their thermal compound. Okay, 2 day express shipping both ways plus the stated 2 to 3 days turn around time equals 6 to 7 days without a functioning laptop because they sent me the wrong card.

Every time I've called A.W. I get a different answer to the same questions and I've noticed this from other people in other posts as well.

Although I like the M9750 so far, I can't stand the lack of product knowledge I've experienced from A.W. teck support.

I couldn't even get them to through in a copy of 3DMark06 for my trouble.

I am absolutly done with A.W.!

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M9750
XP Pro Sp3
Raid 0-2x32Gb OCZ SSD's
4GB OCZ ram
SLI 7950 GTX.............hopefully.

 

thats not as bad as me. waiting 1 week isnt too bad. so far i've waited 2 weeks. i have the replacement video card they sent me, but not the heat sink and fan so i cant install the video card back into my m15x.

 

Why would they? They made a mistake and they will rectify it, some people have gone through much worse and they haven't received anything for free. Just be patient. Some people have gone through MUCH worse.

 

Ouch, horror stories are back in AW`s backyard.
But yea,you`ll have to wait. I mean, if you would just read some of the topics hear,your hair would stand...poor people...

 

i always thought that they are the same card.

 

I think(just a guess) that it might have to do with the fact that it`s not MXM, but AW proprietary module.
Somebody correct me if I`m wrong on this.

 

How about having your GPU replaced 5 or 6 times over the course of 14 months then finally getting a credit after having a non-working system for that long

 

I think they should have really good knowledgeable people working for them considering on how much your paying for their computers. I mean personally I think they would be better off just getting rid of their CS on the website, they are useless anyways and you get a different answer from each of them. Pretty damn frustrating but at least we know it can't get any worse...

 

that is the main reason you should call roswell if you live in the U.S. im not sure if roswell is available outside the u.s though.

 

Well nbaumann,

They should for 4 reasons:

1. I've shelled out thousands of dollars to them with only basic expectations.
2. I didn't get what was promised due to their incompetance.
3. It makes good business sense to take care of your customer.
4. It's the right thing to do.

I think it's sad that so many people in our society are so used to poor service that they not only accept it, but see it as the norm. But that's your choice. My choice is to let everyone I know to beware of Alienware. I feel sorry for the many others who have gone through far worse. I guess we'll see how long my "1 week" ends up taking.

-Rob

 

While I sympathize with you on the issues you have had, I do not understand why you feel entitled to getting something for free. There is a dramatic difference between making good on a deal and throwing in free software, and if I was a shareholder, I would not want them to. It is money wasted for no reason except to appease one costumer.

Regardless, good luck with your problems. Could the issue have been that the card you recieved was missing the SLi Bridge?

 

It's really more that I feel entitled to what was agreed upon. Even if they eventually "make good" on the deal, I wasn't aware all these problems were going to be part of the deal.

If I was a shareholder, I would make sure the company provided better tech support to avoid unnecessary shipping costs, more time on the phone with tech support, and the time of various shipping and receiving employees. As an added bonus, the one or the many customers will be more likely to purchase again and spread the word of good tech support. $$$

The SLI bridge wasn't missing. If you've got SLI then one of your GPU's is a daughter (as indicated on the card with a "D" on the GPU. And one is a parent (as indicated by a "P").

 

Whoever controls their shipping is a retard apparently. People are constantly getting shipped the wrong thing.

 

Yeah, when I bought my second card the guy shipped the SLI cable on the same day, but separate from the card and using a different method. It arrived something like four days later than the card.

 

I still don't see why Alienware should give you some free stuff. They sent you the wrong piece, it happens. I don't see mediocre service as the norm, I've only ever had one problem and that was with Dell and it was pretty bad but I never asked or even thought of getting something for free for my suffering. When I deal with Alienware they are efficient and top notch.

 

Meh....in an earlier post you mention that you find it funny that everyone in our society expects poor service, so I respond that I find it funny that a lot of people in our society expect free stuff everytime someone makes a mistake.

I don't care if you spent 100 or 10000 dollars, people should expect good service. However, don't think for a second that companies won't make mistakes. Do you think Ford compensated customers for the 99 mustang cobra (the halo mustang) when it was overrated by 20hp? Nope. They FIXED it. Did they fix it overnight? Nope. Were people upset? Yup. Would they buy again? Most likely. Why? Because the product is good to them.

There is NOTHING indicative in your post that suggests AW is not being responsible here. A 300+ million dollar revenue company will make mistakes. Lately, they are making a lot of them. Do they need restructuring? I think so. Do they need to put some money up in the short-run to make long term return on investment? Yup. But are their shortcomings part of YOUR problem? I don't think so because everyone makes mistakes. I think it is your lofty sense of "entitlement" that is upsetting you because they didn't throw in a free 3dmark06. My guess is if they did that you would not have made this thread. Imagine if everyone of their customers asked for free crap? Lets play this out...
Customer (C): "dude you forgot my hat."
Rep (R): "im sorry we will send that out right away."
C: "Can i get a copy of crysis?"
R: "Sorry we can't do that sir."
C: "I hate AW"

C: "hey my ghost CD is corrupt and I can't reload my original config (happend to me)
R: "Im sorry sir. Unfortunately you would have to send your system in for a full restore to make a new ghost."
C: "I can't afford to be without the computer. Is there anything you can do?"
R: "no. i am sorry. "
C:" That sucks." (but i still bought from them again because they had a good product

This could go on and on. 3dmark 06 is not an entitlement. Customers with downclocking CPU's, GPU's, faulty MB's etc are ENTITLED to have a fix. That is all. THis is a corporate business. This is not mom and pop's family diner where if you don't like your food they will give you a free meal. Computers are a different beast.
end rant.

 

dang dave you really thought that threw LOL. Good post though I agree with you 100%

 

Let's be very clear here Dave, my posts and your posts are little more than opinion which we are all "entitled" to. Nothing more. I am simply sharing my bad experience with others who may wish to know, as many others have before me. On the other hand, I am not trying to critisize anothers opinion like you seem to be.

I respect everyones opinions as different as they may be.

I am now paying a price for a mistake made by A.W. As many others have. So now my legitimate recourse is to share my experience with others, and I will.

You said "I don't care if you spend 100 or 10000 dollars, people should expect good service." That's what I'm doing, trying to expect good service.

Alienware makes some great computers but their tech support is for s***!

Peoples perception of what is to be expected and what is reasonable is very different and I respect everyones opinion equally. Perhaps you could do the same.

-Rob41

 

Well I would have to agree with Rob on some comments and Dave on some others.

But I hate the fact that people forget about customer service. Remember when companies were built on customer sevice and quality. If you think I am joking. Think back and try to remember when Pride in workmanship was explained to you at an early age. "If your going to do something, do it righ the first time". Now all we get is "SHOW ME THE MOTHA F%$KING MONEY CHUMP". This attitide is should not be tolerated, but unfortunetly to many people accept it and walk away. More poeple need to stand firm and let other poeple know what comaonies do this. And this exactly what Rob is stating. And rob I wish you would have told me about AW back in January.

When companies start to think what Shareholders care about, then companies slowly lose sight of thier customer base. AW needs to get back to providing nothing but the best for it's customers, and forget about the shareholders for once. In the end you can't make money without people paying.

AW is need of a serious revamp from top to bottom. And I would think that is comimg by the way Dell has been directing lately. Like Dell or not you have to give them credit. They have become a global BRAND NAME in the computer industry, and it didn't happen by luck.

 

Okay! so? besides the SLI card how are those SSD's. Did it ran like bullet or did you also had problems installing OS/Drivers? etc? Thinking about getting SSD's too for my OS!

 

SSD's are not worth it.

 

not necessarily; depends on your usage. that said, it's not common to have a usage pattern where one doesn't need much space but also wants high-performance (usually people seeking high-performance will need the capacity to hold their games, etc)

 

The install of the SSD's was a no brainer. There was nothing special to do or any drivers to install and the XP install went very quickly.

Startup to windows takes only 34 seconds now. I did notice how quiet it was without spinning platters.

So far my A.W. laptop has been on a half dozen planes, a chopper, a ship, small water craft and several points in the middle east. I've had no problems with it but really wanted the added reliability of the SSD's. I know I'll never use platter drives "in" a laptop again.

As soon as I get my parts from A.W. I will be able to use my puter again and I'll run some benchmarks and post them here.

Prices are starting to fall and capacity and performance are going up. I remember the same thing happening with film cameras vs. digital cameras a while back. Deja vu.

-Rob

Right now the capacity isn't optimal so my movies, music and pictures go on my two external drives I made from the two hard drives I pulled out. At least they weren't wasted.

 

@Rob - I think next year or 2 years will be the time to buy a SSD. Right now, you are paying way too much for 1. My laptop in my sig is carried to colorado, california, to school every other day in my backpack, etc. and I haven't seen any problems with my 160GB HD that I paid ~500 - 1000 less for

 

Hey Stone825,

I absolutly agree with you. They havn't made the mainstream "yet". I think right now they're best suited for early adopters. I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of their proliferation in years to come. I've seen them for years in govt. computers that demand unequaled ruggedness for harsh environments and physical abuse.

Folks I've talked to in the field who have used them for years said they've experienced none of the corrupted files or data loss due to the so-called lack of write cycles many have expressed concern about. Then again I've never had problems with conventional platter drives either.

BTW I paid $549. for each of the two 32GB OCZ SSD's. Still expensive but the prices are coming down.

-Rob41

 

Hey Rob how long have you had your system?

And I agree the SSD's are slowly dropping price. Also have you seen these.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/23/video-intel-launching-80gb-1-8-and-2-5-inch-ssds-in-q3/

Might help drive those prices down fast.

This also makes a simple and cheap SSD.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/22/video-centurys-compact-flash-ssd-sata-adapter-reviewed/

 

Hey newfiejudd,

I've had my system almost a year now and I've had zero problems with the computer itself. I think in a couple of years SSD's will outnumber mechanical drives at least in new laptop sales. In the last six months alone the prices have basically been cut in half. Even my midrange OCZ SSD's totally spank the two 7200RPM drives I replaced them with. I think in one year you'll be able to get faster SSD's with greater capacity for half the price they are now.

Hope you get your M15X back soon!

M9750
XP Pro SP3
SLI 7950 GTX's (hopefully by next week)
4 gigs OCZ
twin OCZ SSD's Raid 0

 

Yeah me too. But you know if it comes back the same. I am going with the new 15.4' Clevo. Or migt even try and dabble in the new Mac Book Pros.

I am glad your enjoying your AW. What business are you in to be travelling that much. Or are you the military.

 

I'm ex-military and now I work for the Dept. of Defense. Hazardous duty pay took care of the upgrades to my puter.

I hope your puter comes back 100%. We've all put a lot on the line for these things.

-Rob