Intel Press Release - Sandy Bridge Issue - What does this mean for the M17xR3?

John, I'm not calling Dell/Alienware untrustworthy at all, but you'd be nutz to leave your hardware in a machine going back for whatever reason. Yeah, it would be a pain to yank it and slap the stock memory and hard drives back in before you send it off, but think about the even bigger pain you'll have trying to track down your lost hardware if they send you a different unit back. Don't take the chance.

This is turning out to be very interesting, but not unexpected. I'm guessing negotiations with Intel revealed they would not be able to provide replacement chipsets fast enough and in sufficient quantities to satisfy producers, who then pushed to be allowed to ship current orders and fix later, so as not to lose their sales. Maybe I wouldn't lose that money after all, eh WW?

Of course, the proof is in the pudding, we'll see if I do actually get my new laptop before I must send my XPS M1530 back for the Nvidia settlement.

 

Forgive me if this item has already been posted, but those of us that were fearing we wouldn't get our r3's until April can breathe a sigh of relief...

Fixed Intel chip to ship in mid-February | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Seems like they're going to be shipping the 'repaired' chipsets soon. So r3s already on order should start arriving early March then...

 

The way I am reading these articles seems to suggest tht Intel is only letting vendors ship systems that won't be impacted by the flaw. In other words, systems that aren't using the sata 2 ports. Since the optical drive on the R3 uses a sata 2 port, I don't believe Dell will get a green light to ship the R3. Anyone else see this or am I just reading it wrong?

 

My experience is that they request that you to send in the machine with the original parts because they don't want to be responsible if anything gets stolen or damaged. In this case I think they will more than likely send a tech out with a new mobo and you probably wont have to send it in.

 

That last article does read that way, yes. The previous Cnet article that was posted didn't read that way. So now we've got conflicting information on Cnet too.

 

It's funny because I read the original Cnet article that way and this last one seemed to confirm it to me. I'm sure Dell will provide us with a clear answer

 

This can and should be considered as credible information, as I've received it from a US representative, who sourced e-mails from directory regarding the issue with m17x R3 models that are already received by the customers.
I will cut off in parenthesis unnecessary info.
Canceled order yesterday led to call from Dell: they apologized another million times and told me if i call 1 800 xxx i can re-order and it will be delivered faster than usual.
Calling the following number led me to US rep. I explained him my situation (for those unaware of it - canceled yesterday, been waiting for 3 weeks for an r3), he confirmed they are sending back Sandy Bridge processors back to intel (blaming intel more) and that at this point he feels my situation (more to cheer me up) and that at this point there are two options they offer
Opt. #1 turned out to be NOT RE-ORDER of R3, but rather re-order of "classic", I only understood this at the very end of 40 minute conversation, even though to all my swearing about 3 weeks of waiting, best thing they can do is EDD 24 feb. (tho i said i got 5 days deadline)
Opt. #2 wait several months (not less than 3 according to rep.) until they balance manufacturing of r3s again. At this point its not possible to re-order R3, nor order it, maxbet is to wait (which he strongly recommended for my case)
When I asked what are they going to do about those who already received flawed systems, the answer he said was that according to instructions they received today, the only opt. for people who got their systems shipped is to send them back for refund. No additional support, nor exchange for proper working MB. Even he mentioned that if something happens to it (this is only my understanding of rep's words) - should have returned it when had chance.

Conclusions:
No r3 will be released any sooner than several months from now (no earlier than 3 months)
Current canceled orders would have to wait that time, or order M17x classic (good chance to bargain best price)
Current shipped and received orders only got 2 options: stay with your system at own risk
or as highly recommended by Dell reps (and makes sense to me if I had the time to wait) - send it back for refund (takes 30 days to refund I think).

For those of you who doubted my post yesterday, I hope this one makes it clear. Hope this helps anyone
P.S. I would still consider to buy off you guys an R3 as I dont have time to wait and am willing for the risk of flawed MB

 

unbelievable...this is terrible

 

Until Dell releases a statement, anything posted here is spurious at best.

 

I returned my R3 yesterday. The rep was aware of the Intel problem. He stated that many R3s are being returned. He didn't try to sway me in any way to keep it, as tech support people did last week.

Dells approach really made the difference in deciding to return. I own a business, I know what we'd do in a similar case (as many of you would or expect). First word of this issue, get in contact with everyone who has a new product...e-mail everyone (its not like they don't have the email addresses of the purchasers) and issue a statement. Even if you don't know the exact course of action, being proactive is the first step of building trust. Act fast, keep the customer in the loop. Don't make them search for info online in forums. Don't let them speculate. Manage the situation. My calls to tech support were ridiculous and left me with more worry than before calling, no way I wanted to continue going through that crap. End rant.

I did order an R2 with RGB LED, but I did so through Dell Small Business. THEY even state the level of service (and warranty service) is better.

 

I just got this in the mail with no prompting:

I'm torn, as I really want this laptop (I got it for a huge discount), but I also want it sooner...

At least now I have received an official and unconfused reply for once.

 

Every person who cancels their order is one less person I'm behind in line when the parts come. *evil grin*

But yeah...seriously sucks if we must wait another month or so. I'm also in the "need a laptop sooner" boat.

 

Can I ask a question... how long does it take for the ports to "degrade over time" ?

P.s thanks for the reply earlier Gryph.

 

I am "lucky" in a sense insofar that had I ordered a day before, I'd already have my laptop. Based on this, I think I might continue my order with the hope that I get it built late Feb.

(Yes, I know the chances are low)

 

No prob.

From what little I've read, they were saying it would affect 'normal' users at a rate of about 5% within 3 years. The actual speed of degredation depends on just how much data throughput the SATA II bus would experience, meaning that a professional user constantly moving large amounts of data across it would be much more likely to experience an issue than the average user.

In our case, where the hard drives are connected to the SATA III bus, only the DvD/Blu-ray and E-Sata are going through the SATA II bus. Unless you're constantly using an E-Sata portable hard drive or watching DvDs, you're probably not going to notice a problem for a while, if at all.

That's my take on the situation, which is why I'm not worried about getting an "affected" chipset initially. If they go ahead and send them out, the problem isn't going to show itself to me before they get around to fixing it for me.

 

Well if that's the case mate I really don't give a toss about the issue lol. I hardly use the blu ray drive other than for installing a few games but most are downloaded. I occasionally use a USB hard drive but I wouldn't call myself a heavy user (just backups really). Within 3 years i'll have a new Alienware laptop or desktop anyway so mehhh. People are overreacting slightly it seems

 

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I download all my games anymore, and haven't used my DvD Rom drive in over a year on my current laptop or desktop excluding installing software when I installed Windows 7.

If they get a laptop in my hands, they can put me at the back of the line for a repair for all I care.

 

I'm loving mine lol, I don't really want to send it back if its going to be such a hassle. Like I said i'll have replaced it by the time the chipset degrades if the above info is correct so, win win.

urrrgh Alienare.co.uk prices make me sick! Just messing around cusomising some m17x r2 systems... An equally built system from Alienware.com is £1000 cheaper. (and thats leaving loads of parts out that i've already got at home) :O

 

My order just got canceled by Dell and i have an email explaining the issues o well i was thinking on returning any way due to all the problems the people are having with this machine

I pass on this one guys just going to wait for a new machine or a refresh all this sandy bridge fiasco change a lot people minds and mine is already changed

 

I got a email today that says

Dear Customer,

On Jan. 31, Intel announced a design issue on its Cougar Point (new Intel 6 Series) chipset that supports the new 2nd Generation Intel Core processors. According to Intel, ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD drives. This announcement affects the system you have ordered.

Due to the above issue, we have several options for you to select from:

Option 1:
Keep the order as it is and when the part is available, your order will be processed and shipped. Intel has stated they will begin providing replacement parts in late February and expects full volume recovery by April.

Should you decide to keep the order on hold until parts are available, please contact Sales at 800-BUY-DELL.

Option 2:
Cancel your current order and select an alternative system. Contact our Sales team at 800-BUY-DELL for assistance in selecting a comparable system.

Option 3:
Cancel the order and you will not be charged. If we do not hear from you within seven (7) days, we will proceed to cancel the order.

 

News from Intel: Intel continues to ship flawed motherboard to PC manufacturer

Now it mentions that HP, Dell and others will get the flawed chipset to continue building their PC that are not affected by the flaw.

I wonder if this will concern the M17X R3 or not.

 

Sigh...still nothing new for me, an EDD of 18 Feb still showing. Like others, I am more than willing to take the chance, although I'm not sure how the ports would work with 2 SSD and a blu-ray drive. If the two SSD go on the SATA 3 and the blu-ray on a SATA 2, I doubt I would ever see an issue, even if I was one of the unlucky 5-15%.

I am curious on a previous post here...how can Dell say they wouldn't fix something under warranty and should have returned when had the chance? If I pay for an extended warranty and laptop fails in that time frame, they will repair it or face class action law suit...no ifs, ands, or buts...

 

hey I just got the Dell E-mail and called to tell them i wanted to continue my order and was told I had 3 options
1) cancel order and money would be refunded within 24 hours

2) cancel order and reorder another computer with comparable stats with free next day shipping

3) Continue with the building of my current M17x-R3 and still be delieverd on my EDD of 14 Feb and then once Dell had new chip sets/mobo to call and have tech come switch out the defective parts with new ones.

I chose option #3 since im in college and hate having to live at the library lol, plus impatient as heck lol

 

guess that was my post. what i said was once u run out of warranty (basic one is 1 year, then there's extended to up to 3 years) you will have that MB degradated and when i asked if will they offer any other solutions they told me no, the only one would be to return it. thats what I was told. apparently a guy couple posts before received different info. this is confusing. both times i called they told me all orders will be canceled. maybe they re-thought again?

 

Well Monday Intell isued a statement that they would still send out the faulty chipsets because of such huge demand. Thus not killing production, for themself and others like dell, hp etc etc, and also giving them time to fully work out a new better chipset to replace it with. i bought the 4 year advanced w/ accident warrenty anyways so i could care less. ill take the 5-15% chance till they get new chip sets

 

Rep's are misinformed, underinformed, and not always the most knowledgeable of people.

They'll tell you whatever to get whatever reaction/decision out of you.

Wait til Dell releases something for finality.

 

Well, the email I received earlier was from "[email protected]" and was on corporate letterhead. I am fairly certain that if anyone receives similar that it is the final decision on the matter for them.

 

I suggest waiting for either an update from Chris (or Lionel) here or on the dell community forum.

IMO (and no offense to you Storm), I take 'the rep said this' or 'I received this' posts with a grain of salt. When its posted on the Dell site, then I consider it a done deal.

Just a thought.

 

I wasn't replying directly to you, just a general reminder for those that choose to hector their reps for updates and information; taking it as gospel is not a good idea.

 

Very good advice. A rep called me today and informed me that the processor in my Alienware was recalled, and asked if I wanted to switch to an "i3" processor instead! Take it with a grain of salt.

 

just to add my bite, when i called second time today (3 hours later) they told me the whole new story, even said i can re-order and it'll take to feb-march and then someone from dell will come to my house to swap motherboard... frankly i think they are just getting new directions all the time, yelling at 3 different people made no diff. for me...

 

So do they cancel without your consent?

+1, I'm in same boat as you. I got a call this morning, about the issue, and that I have the option to cancel, even though I've called in teh past repeatedly to NOT cancel my order, and that I'm willing to wait. In the end, the call was merely a "my bad" call, cuz she eventually said "my mistake" and was actually referencing a duplicate order that was cancelled by the AAFES rep "on my behalf". Musta been a typo which is why he cancelled it. I called AAFES and spoke to the guy, Michael Orabek (Fernandez/Lopez was what the Indian dell csr made it sound like), and he told me that he did not cancel my order. He then told me he'd email his contact at Dell to make sure my order was not cancelled, and will call me later (which he never did).

How come I've never gotten this email. And who is emailing you?

This has happened to me every single day I call. Even when I speak to the same guy, he has a different answer for me.


All in all, I really hope that they'll repair/replace the mobo later on, regardless of expired return period, or expired warranty... I smell class action suit, that's why.

 

Still havnt heard from Dell at all or received any type of statement. According to the phone my laptop should ship on the 11th and be here in 3-5 days. If its not and i here nothing from them by then there will be hell to pay

 

Man, all this hoopla is killling me. Mostly, cuz I've already been charged by aafes, and secondly, because the info and response from anyone I've spoken to at dell is uncoordinated and keeps changing with every call I make, even if I speak to the same guy.

 

im just gunna believe that my order will ship in 3 days and hopefully it will. then i can cure myself of my addiction to this thread lol

 

Same. SEriously, I don't do anything online anymore but read/check/post on these forums, even if I'm posting nonsense or posting the same stuff. I can't help it, this is making me crazy/frustrated, mostly because all the answers I see are all speculation, even on the Dell end. What pisses me the most off is that they say they're gonna call me or email me and they never do. I was also never contacted "before" to give me the option of cancel/hold/refund; I found out about these options/was given these options when I phoned in yesterday... BS. Such BS indeed.

Thx to all Mods, for allowing us to post in these threads, as it's a form of therapy and expressing our feelings... Even though it's just e-expression, it's still helpful

 

Hello everyone,

I also received that very same email that gives me 3 options.

1. Keep the order and wait it out(new mobo)
2. Call them and their sales would help me get a different system.
3. Cancel the order.

They gave me 7 says to answer, failing to reply would mean they'll cancel my order.

@dookie
I feel you bro, worst part is you got charged already. I was also hoping that they were gonna release our systems and just replace the mobo via tech deployment.

 

I've gotten no such email, which is pissing me off. Not even correspondence from the Dell rep @ aafes.

 

Btw i been charged too. Charge is still there and not a peep from Dell. Im gunna laugh wen i get my 1st bill and still no laptop >_< ....or cry lol

 

I'm surely gonna cry. My cc bill is due 2/24. EDD for the R3 is 2/16. AND as corny fellas say, "to add insult to injury," it takes "3 days for Dell to refund", and who knows how long it'll take for aafes to receive that refund, which they'll take some more time to refund us, the purchasers.... :[

 

It would be nice of Dell to release a statement, wouldn't it? I find it frustrating that they don't, especially since a lot of people (some from this forum) have already been charged for their systems.
I received this e-mail from Dell today, though, that seemed to contradict the article over at CNET... Here's the e-mail verbatim...

Dear Customer,

On Jan. 31, Intel announced a design issue on its Cougar Point (new Intel 6 Series) chipset that supports the new 2nd Generation Intel Core processors. According to Intel, ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD drives. This announcement affects the system you have ordered.

Due to the above issue, we have several options for you to select from:

Option 1:
Keep the order as it is and when the part is available, your order will be processed and shipped. Intel has stated they will begin providing replacement parts in late February and expects full volume recovery by April.

For more information please see: Solution for the Intel Series 6 Chipset Design Error

Should you decide to keep the order on hold until parts are available, please contact Sales at 800-BUY-DELL.

Option 2:
Cancel your current order and select an alternative system. Contact our Sales team at 800-BUY-DELL for assistance in selecting a comparable system.

Option 3:
Cancel the order and you will not be charged. If we do not hear from you within seven (7) days, we will proceed to cancel the order.

Sincerely,
Dell Customer Service.

It's irritating that they don't come out and officially say what they're going to do. At this point I don't think people care if they wait to ship out unaffected motherboards or if they choose to continue to ship out systems with the affected motherboards... I think I speak for most when I say, I just wanna know (without a doubt) one way or the other. I certainly didn't see my first Alienware purchase going this way...

 

Who at dell, that we can speak to as purchasers, can make the decision to continue production? Do we have to speak to a csr's manager? Or is it out of their hands? The various csrs I spoke to said it's out of their hands, and its the department which actually builds the units that does it, and there's not really a way to speak to them. Would it be feasible to get in touch with a US csr instead? Or same result?

Please advise.

 

I wouldnt count on that lol... I have mine already and am still checking daily to see what Dell is going to do about the Mobos...

If they would just release a statement that they will send techs out with new mobos to replace the 'flawed' ones thatd be great.

 

Question about these techs. Are they geeksquad dudes from BB? Or are they dispatched from some Dell office that we've never seen irl (in real life)? Jw lolz.

 

I've only had 1 experience with a Dell repair tech (I think they are local contractors or whatnot) when my GFs precision broke.

He was nice and professional, seemed to know what he was doing. Tried a couple different things and figured out the video card had died (it was in the batch of the dead nvidia cards that just had that class action lawsuit). They didnt have any more of them to replace the broken precision so the tech talked to Dell and got a XPS m1730 as a replacement with a slightly better gfx card.

 

How long did the whole process (replacement lappy) take? Also, local contractor just comes to your house, does he have a badge or something showing proof? Seems fishy to have some random dude come to my house.

 

I don't think there is anyone you can talk to in order to get them to continue to build your unit. Dell would either have to decide to continue building all of the units or wait. The thing is... they haven't said anything yet. Everything thus far has been hearsay and conjecture. I feel for ya, Duke... If I were in your shoes, I'd be having trouble getting my head around the entire thing as well... Do you cancel your order, wait about a week for a refund only to find out that if you'd held out a bit longer, they would have shipped your laptop? Or do you keep holding out while being kept in the dark by Dell, only to find out (when it's too late) that you're gonna be waiting months and paying for something you don't physically have? I hope we both find out something soon... Guess I'll call tomorrow and respond to that e-mail to keep my order on hold. Not much else I can do until Dell decides to crawl out of their hole and say something...

 

Ditto on that, my good man. I'd rep ya, but for some reason I've run out of reps for the day lolz.

Btw, did you order through aafes?

Who else ordered through aafes?

 

There's always tomorrow... Guess that's the same motto Dell is living by right now too. =P

 

And to answer your question, no... I didn't order through AAFES, I'm just really really impatient. lol.