M1730 burned up NEW Alienware on the way?

Just got to work and turned my laptop on, everything seemed fine. Proceeded to fire up the flight simulators( I fix Sims for the Navy) when I came back to my desk, laptop screen was black but with power still on. Smelled like burnt rubber and loose electrons..... I immediatly thought the battery was kaput but it was fine. Under the lid for the memory though was a different story, it was melted around where the coppper heat sink tube is for the video card. Called Dell and they didn't even ask any questions they are just replacing it. I hope they make it right this M1730 was a kick butt machine. Any ideas on what they will replace it with??? Has this happened to anybody else.

The Dell dude, says they will have to replace it with an Alienware M17X since they dont' make the M1730 WoW edition anymore. What specs do you think they will put in it?

 

"Lucky" you...

 

A QX9300 and dual 4870'S

I dunno! But you just got an awesome laptop, congrats!!

 

congrats man one thing dell does is they have a stand up warranty replacment for sure the one thing i hate about it is just wait they will take 3 weeks to get you a system wich sucks but atleast they dont give you hasle on it
how ever if they have a wow edition in there outlet store they wills end that to you

 

I just checked they have a bunch of M1730's but no WOW editons and no editions that match my specs......

Intel Core 2 extreme X7900
4 Gig of Ram
2 200 Gig 7200 drives in Raid 0
2 Nvidia 8700M's SLI'd
1920 x 1200 Screen
WOW edition (dont' know if they care about that or not?)

The other thing is there are no M17X's in the Outlet store.......

 

they will replace it with a new M17 same specs or better than your old 1730

 

Not an M17, he should get an M17x. They may try to send you crappy spec at first, call and complain and you should get the upgrades.

Point out that you had an extreme cpu so they should send you the qx9300 (only extreme they support on the M17x) and that you have SLI so you should get at least SLI GTX 260m's if not GTX 280m's. The screen, ram and hdd's should be matched without much trouble.

 

When will ppl realize that M17 is not M17x?

We should have a sticky for newbies with title like "DO NOT ASSUME M17 is M17x", because there is still tons of people in this forum have no idea.

 

You will get amuch better system in the end don't worry

 

Lol! if you really liked your M1730 that much, I have the same the same spec machine here, i'll swap you for your M17x replacement

Actually, I have upgraded to the M17x myself, so your new machine will be much better.

 

I like both my m5550 and m17x (note the lowercase) But had major issues. What they tend to do is send store credit and you can buy a new system with it.

 

Still waiting for my Exchange Order # for my replacement laptop. They sure are taking their time.... everytime I call I get "we have 7 to 21 buisness days to procure your replacemnet." blah blah blah.....

 

Here is what they are replacing my M1730 With.....

1 224-5967 Black Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0819 Intel Core2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-5063 Standard Nameplate
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0381 RSS Feeds,AW
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
1 421-1400 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO
1 468-4639 1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M - SLI Enabled (NB10E-GT1)
1 468-4647 $50 Dell Promo Gift Card - Arrives in 6-8 wks, carries a 90 Day Exp. Dell.com/giftcard

 

not a faster cpu ?

o well i have the same one and its good

 

Merry Christmas! Well done and good on Dell.

 

That should keep you quite happy

 

My friend, my apologies for not noticing this thread sooner. Don't let everyone's enthusiasm fool you - when it comes down to basic fact, you are getting screwed here. While the umbrella lesson here is, "yayyy I'm getting an m17x", the following specs are actual downgrades, if we use your default/prior system as the current standard:

processor
harddrives

You had an x7900, and that is an Extreme processor. That means it can be OC'ed, and it's at the top of the line, like the x9000. Your new processor is a p8600, and while you can overclock that, it's moot because the qx9300 is the top of the line for the current line of processors. You should accept nothing less than a q x9300. Extreme for extreme.

You're also going from 2 x 200 GB drives to 1 250 GB drive. With RAID, your old configuration beats the new one in terms of drive read/write/IO. If for fiscal value alone, you're going from 2 drives to 1 drive = no-go. Don't accept this.

And Moo's point is senseless. Good CPU??? What would qualify for a "bad" CPU option? Is there one? Dell's being cheap on this option, so I push for you negotiating an extreme processor. Don't let Dell skimp on this option. This is literally the brains of your computer. You had a WoW edition computer. That was top of the line at its time, maxxed out configuration. A P8600 is a slap in the face with a damp, moldy glove.

Oh, and that $50 gift card is worthless. That'll get you exactly 1/3 of the way to buying a replacement battery? Dell's pricing schemes are strategic enough to make $50 worthless, and furthermore a way to get you off their system before you actually wake up and realize you're not getting what you're entitled to.

 

As hankaaron57 stated above, you should definitely negotiate for better processor, hard drive and video cards..

keep an eye on this thread. It has a lot of helpful information throughout...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=426693&page=113

 

I just got off the phone with Dell and pushed the CPU and Hard Drive issue and they are upgrading them... to what I don't know.... and they said because I upgraded its going to delay my laptop being shipped. They were kind of peeved about it......

 

It will be worth the wait, don't let them push you around like that

 

I am not senseless

He said it was being upgraded and i left it at that

Software RAID doesn't help much


IF you want to debate pure performance the M17x will indeed smoke the M1730 ANY day in ANY game. going from a x7900 and SLI 8700m gt's to P8600 @ 3.0 ghz and SLI GTXm will be a huge boost.

He does deserve more but its his choice how he proceeds.

Either way he will be getting a better laptop

 

yea i agree with moo.....

 

Okay Dell called ME..... they said if they stop the production of the new laptop I will have to wait an additonal 21 days...... OR I can take delivery of the new system as is.... with the caveat of when I recieve it they will send a tech to the house with a the new extreme CPU and new Hard drive... the reasoning being that this will only take 2 days to do this way vice the 21 days the other way..... So I guess they are working with me here..... Oh and THANKS for all the helpful advice from everybody... I do appreciate it.

 

that sounds good just take the system and wait for the new CPU

 

It's all up to you but they told me the exact same thing to the dot. They said it would take 15 to 21 days blah blah and blah etc etc etc too..
I received my replacement the 21st, so I call them like they said to do once I receive the system, but they don't do anything that day or the next so I keep calling until finally on the 23rd I get them to process a dispatch for the second replacement. In my case I'm going from a t9800 to a qx9300 so they said it would be more convenient to send me a second replacement than to send a tech out to do the swap and make sure everything worked well. Just today I got a order number so in all I’m still waiting for the right configuration today the 28th whereas I could have waited when they gave me the same option they're giving you which was back on the 14th. Just a little FYI on how they work.

 

Did they ask you to send back the M1730 first?
Did they ask you to open the memory door to describe what happened in there?

 

No I still have the M1730, and yes he did ask me to describe what happened under the memory latch. Looks like something really cooked, the rubber insulator between the memory and the motherboard, is melted and the memory latch door underside, is all crinkled.

 

Sounds nasty.

 

UPDATE!! M17X arrived today, called tech support they are sending a tech out with a qx9300 quad extreme processor, and another 250g hard drive. I am a happy camper!!

 

Awesome to hear

Congratz

 

One of the reasons I am such a fan of Dell, they do generally look after you quite well.

 

I wonder if I should do the same thing with my system. I had no real computer for 2 Months. And last repair 2 months. Been 1 month for waiting for a replacement.

My frist system was max out. a core 2 2.33 ghz 667fsb. I spent 6 months not having a system.

Second system I had to spend 5 Months not having a system.

I have not order my system yet.