*** Official Alienware Notebook System Replacement Thread ***

Here is a thread for people to post about their experiences, ask questions, get help and advice with issues relating to inappropriate system exchanges (i.e. component downgrades, etc.).

Please share your positive experiences as well as your negative ones.

Voting Rules: Only one vote allowed, so make it count. You can change your vote if necessary.

 

Hello Users

After a weeks delay and my motherboard no longer in stock for at least another month Alienware have offered me a system replacement for their failure to deliver an immediate fix.

What is the process with this?
I'm told I'm to receive an email from the exchange department confirming the swap for equal OR better specifications.
Should I request a 980m motherboard with a 240w power supply as I've been over a week now without a fully working system and do believe I'm due an upgrade.

I've requested to keep the 1TB 7200rpm hard drive but may be open to exchanging it too as there is no important data currently on the system.

 

You don't "apply", your rep handling your case decides whether or not you get a replacement or not. Generally after 3 attempts to fix the same problem, or if they are out of parts, they will replace your system.

 

How does one apply for system exchange as they have been ruining my system with many failing repair attempts and I just had it !

They changed my GPU in an an attempt to fix my problem and it didn't, then they changed the motherboard in an attempt to fix my problem and it didn't, tomorrow the guy is supposedly going to change the screen which they believe will fix the problem. But then I already have 2 other problems from the new motherboard that they gave me so after the screen change if the original problem was fixed now I have to change the motherboard again to fix the new problems.

I am a student and university started on 01-Sep and I am without my only study machine because DELL can't seem to do anything right.

And all this on a less than a year old 3,300 $$ machine

 

Yes - The waiting sucks indeed.

Been a full day now and still no word - Luckily the spare family laptop was dropped off last night and no one wanted it so it's now back in my possession. Sony Vaio CW Red Edition. I'm managing to do everything except game.

Hoping Dell will get back today and if so, I'm going to press for the upgrade.

 

sometimes the upgrtade is a trap. They will offer you BGA soldered crap, and then when you realise what you have is only a sham your too late. Like accepting those 17'' laptops they have with soldered on 980M, for instance, they have 40% less cache, and have like half the VRAM and even the GPU is clocked lower , can not be upgraded, and STILL suffers from throttling, doesn't even add up to the power of a 680M from 3 years ago. Big difference between soldered on garbage and the real thing. The 980M that they have soldered on are like having a 770M 870M or like 965M, really. I have hundreds of these cards for sale, after months of trying to get a single one to sell for 1/4th the price they cost - I took them off ebay, because every 3 months the listing just closes anyways without re-listing. Was complete waste of time. I can not even give these away. Yet - Alienware tries and pawns systems with these built in and calls them "THE MOST POWERFUL GAMING LAPTOP" ********.

If graphical and CPU performance do not MATCH or EXCEED the specification you had before, then you keep asking them for the upgrade that does. If this means - you have to ask for an entirely different lineup - then do it., I.e you had a AW17R1 - they are offering you an AW17R2 - ask them for the AW18 instead. because no single AW17R2 config matches the power of the mid-range AW17 they used to offer if it had the 4900/4910MQ or higher CPU and whatever graphic card it came with. NONE. You'd have to get the graphics adapter and a desktop card. There are soo many issues with that - I can not even touch on it right here - but you bought a laptop - not a desktop. You also want LESS issues, not more, the adapter increases issue exponentially. They didn't invent anything with that graphics adapter - they simply redesigned the look of an existing product, where people use either mpci-e xpresscard etc.. slots to hook up a an express laneor two to use a desktop videocard. What DELL and Alienware fail to tell people is, thier graphics adapter has only limitted bandwidth, that if you tried an put a desktop card from next year in there or even a 980 - it suffers horrible loss in power. Meaning, even once again - even the LAPTOP CARD 980M would be as fast or faster and not need that adapter junk to begin with.

I tried it, I compared it, the AW17 with one of my 980M is faster then a AW17R2 maxed out model with a desktop 980 and the graphics adapter. Not only because the CPU is less powerful, but the limitted connection of the shared lanes by the graphics adapter limit the desktop card to about 80% of its capacity. Meaning, there is NO FUTURE FOR IT. Bad implementation. They bought and liscences someone else's technology trying to get a cheap fix. Just like they will be coming out with Skylake CPU only a year later then everyone else, and instead will offer the discarded/refurbished/unused 5th generation i5 (mosttly) and some i7 chips. (albeit, soldered on BGA crap, since they only buy bulk lower tier garbage anyways, to save money)

 

Best of luck, but I've been without a fully working system for over 8 weeks now and have only been offered a downgraded system. Patience is going to be key and don't get your hopes up. Two years ago I had 4 on-site repairs go totally awry (wrong parts sent, broken parts sent, inexperienced technicians damaging the system more than fixing it, and one technician who got frustrated and ran out of my house mid-repair leaving me to finish the job for him) and was offered a system exchange. It was fairly generous in some regards such as hard drive upgrade and a Blu-Ray drive (I've never used it once, but it was a nice gesture). yet was lacking in the most crucial aspect for me and my work: the CPU. They sent the system despite my protest and eventually I was able to escalate the case again and get a 2nd replacement sent out equivalent to the first offer, but with a CPU about equivalent to my original system. The horror was over....for then

I was holding off posting about my story for this exchange until it's all over (I actually am the one who inquired about creating such a thread), but it isn't looking good so far. I was smart and asked for an escalation after only 3 repairs and a bit over one month this time, but my first offer was a downgraded outlet (refurb, but most likely not even refurbed according to most stories I've heard) AW18. This was about a week after the case was escalated (I was told 2 business days, but apparently that is for them to review the case for escalation and not make an offer). After over 6 weeks at that point I was honestly expecting a slight upgrade again as compensation (like the Blu-Ray last time), but instead was hit with a downgrade. Well, over a week after that offer I've yet to receive a second and have no reason to believe it will be anything reasonable. My current machine is working fine for school work (papers/programming/internet) and I won't be playing games until breaks, so as frustrating as it is, I can wait out on them indefinitely until they offer me something "equal or greater" as the contract states.

 

Just received a call informing me my parts are in store and a technician will be round tomorrow.

Talk about a runaround.

Not in the mood to argue so decided to see if this is the case and look forward to getting my Alienware back up and running.

 

If you haven't ever dealt with a "Dell" technician and on-site service, be wary. They are almost always (possibly always) contractors from a general repair shop, some of which have never seen your model of computer before or have had any training to repair Alienware computers (or even laptops in one case I had). Sit and watch every move the guy makes. If any damage is done to the machine, inform Dell immediately and have it set in your records. I've had them send broken parts or downgraded parts (gfx cards) multiple times. I have yet to have an on-site service leave my computer in a better state than before the service (I think I've done 7 or 8 so far). Best of luck though; maybe the technicians in your area fair better. However, if worst comes to worst and they run out of parts again, you can escalate the case and get a replacement. Good luck!

 

The people that do in home dispatch are all independent contractors. They are the same as the Dell Repair Depot employees, and really all employees everywhere, to the extent that some are very talented, knowledgeable and do an extremely good job and others are about as worthless as chewing gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe. It's probably safe to say that most are average at what they do. There are many that have never even seen an Alienware laptop before and tragic things sometimes do happen. But, there is a first time for everything and a conscientious technician will be careful and try to do a great job. Take pictures before they touch it, watch like a hawk, and intervene if you see any evidence of stupid. If it is a good tech he/she won't mind the company. Remember, most of their customers are idiots or noobs that barely know how to turn on a computer. I have been told more than once that it is refreshing when they encounter customers that are hardcore geeks.

 

Yeah, the problem isn't exactly the tech's. Dell should ensure their contractors are trained at least on some basic level with their machines. Even a really experienced tech that has never worked on a similar machine is going to have some trouble. I've had a couple really awesome techs (those repairs failed because bad parts unfortunately), a lot of mediocre ones that meant well, and that one guy who ran away.

Anyway, back on topic: over a week after I was told "we'll re-escalate the case and you should hear back from us within a week" (8.5 days from when I was told that over the phone, 7.5 from the email stating the same), not a word from Dell. Calling this afternoon would have just been silly, but I'm highly considering calling tomorrow because that'll be 2/3 days over and then the weekend's coming up and I head back to campus where I won't have much time to deal with them. We're getting awfully close to the 2 month mark. Time for stronger measures it may be......

 

So, posting this here for public clarity. My Alienware 18, from the day it arrived, has had serious problems. It came with a yellow PLS display in several areas, and when i tried to reboot into my 780M SLI...black screen. My cards were DOA. Fine, got them sent for repair, the LCD was replaced, the 780Ms were replaced, and apparently the motherboard too and the LCD bezel. LCD was perfect this time All is well. I was playing chivalry for all of 3 days before my system crashed, black screened again and low and behold, the 780Ms were dead again. Fine. Sent to depot, for some reason, they replaced my LCD and the dead 780Ms. Well, the LCD is yellow again in several spots, but at least the 780Ms are working. Went to switch to intel HD 4600 (FN+F5) and.....black screened. Again. Does this constitute a system replacement yet?

I've been in contact with @ Alienware-L_Porras, I hope he can help sort this out for good.

 

Well this is turning out to be a hilarious situation.

Technician arrived - Very nice fellow - tried to boot up computer with no sign of life.
Replaced motherboard and fans AND internal power cable and upon reassembly and the literal moment of a second attempt of another failed boot, we receive a phone call for him NOT to attend the site as a replacement is being arranged.

We laughed, asked me to sign a form and I'm now awaiting my replacement.....

After a chase up Phone call to Dell I've been told the replacement has been cancelled?!

I bought from an independent retailer and aren't the original owner, despite the item being brand new.
In order to receive a replacement I would have to send back to seller, let them replace it, then receive it again.

Needless to say I'm not going through that route and have already emailed the management team demanding an alternative solution.

This has been a tiresome ordeal and a great disappointment to me personally using Alienware support.

If this issue is not corrected by next week, then I will simply sell off the Alienware after however long it takes to fix and be done with Alienware for good. Patience has all but expired waiting for tech to just simply do as intended and work.

 

Just received this after yet another chase up.

Dear customer.


Thank you for bringing this case to our attention.


I have reviewed the details of your case and at the first place I would like to apologies for caused complications by late check of ownership details.


Unfortunately as we do not have a direct sales contract with you, we are not able to provide you with replacement of the system.


At this point we are either able to provide you with the list of repairs that you can use to claim alternative solution from person / company you purchased the system from, or to continue with the repair option and collect your system to our repair facility for complex diagnostics to narrow down component causing this issue over remote diagnostics.


Please reply to my email which of these options is more acceptable for you, so we can take necessary steps to provide you with solution as soon as possible.


I will be looking forward to hear from you soon.


Thank you for understanding.

Kind regards,



Disappointed for yet another wait....

 

Has the service tag and warranty been transferred to you? If so, I'd say try another repair and if you don't seem to be getting anywhere that route, contact the re-seller. Just make sure to back up all your data if you can before sending it into a repair center.

 

Service tag and warranty are in my name.
The entire motherboard was replaced so I really don't want to waste anymore time trying to get a result using the same procedure.

Ultimately I was given the options of

A) Return to reseller with a dell certified list of problems to be correct/ refunded.

B) Ship to depot for repairs.

Needless to say I chose B and are now awaiting my UPS shipment box today.
If it weren't for the sheer luck of being able to fix my ancient Vaio Laptop (Which is although temperamental, still a nice laptop) I would be considerably more irritated than I am. Just feel disappointed with the delay and having to chase Dell up at every corner.
Been a Dell customer for years on both the Alienware and Dell systems front.

Upon reflection I've had very good service but at the same time have always required the service.

M11x - Had an issue with cheap hinges breaking apart
M14x - i7 Turbo mode overheated the system
M17x R3 - Slow performance resulted in a new motherboard and GPU.
Alienware 15 - Burning hot keyboard during normal use
Alienware 17 - Simply just won't work at all

There's always been something wrong with any Alienware laptop I've owned.
It hasn't bothered me until now as the service was incredibly fast in the past.
This massive delay is causing headache and something that would have put me off Alienware had I had this experience earlier.

 

I have had this story happen to me, still can't believe it would be handled this way.

So I originally bought my AW m18x r2 in my homecountry and used it for 2 years without having any issues whatsoever. Back then I was techically a giant noob, being afraid to even pull out a ribbon cable. So after two years, this summer, I have noticed that the laptop started heating up pretty quick and one day in June it has finally broken. An explosive sound, as if a capacitor has blown up, happened and immediately I had felt this smell of something fried. Needless to say, I was pretty scared, but fortunately the warranty was still active. Thank god I bought a 3 year warranty license for that!

Now at that point I moved to Germany and I didn't know about the transferring the licence from one country to another, so like a dumbass I contacted the company in my homecountry that officially repairs the Dell computers under an active warranty licence. I sent my laptop to them and eagerly waited for their response.Of course I did not take any diagnostics or at least taking the pics of the inside. And wouldn't you know it, this company told me that since there was a physical defect in the RAM panel that could ONLY occur by opening the laptop and mishandling the whole thing, the repairment would not be covered by my warranty therefore 780€ for the new motherboard, repairment costs, sending back etc on the table, please. Of course I was not going to pay anything, I told that I did not open, because a student has better things to do, rather than opening extremely expensive laptops with an active warranty. They wanted to hear none of that and played dumb, without explaining anything. What I did is contacting the local consumer rights' departement and telling the company that either they repair it for free or we would meet in a court. In two days I had received an answer that Dell supposedely decided to cover the motherboard for free. Yeah right.

After that I brought my laptop back to Germany and in TWO weeks and it has broken again. To be more specific, the RAM slot has apparently been corrupted or something and every time I sticked my RAM card into the slot, I kept getting 4 beeps. This is where the german customer surprised me. Not only I didn't have to do any warranty's transfering, which would last for like 14 days, not only I was told that the technician could come in any time, but I also got the repairment without any kind of analysis - the friendly and quite gregarious technician simply came and replaced the motherboard in an hour or so.

 

Ouch - Sounds like that was a nightmare to go through.

I agree. The in home service has also been on my part simply amazing.
I'm just getting tired of having to use it - These very expensive systems should just simply work. You pay a premium.
Therefore you expect nothing but the best.

Today the UPS have now collected my laptop.

Now I wait and see whether this is a straight forward procedure or yet another hurdle I've got to jump.

 

So Thursday night my representative got back to me with an interesting proposition: the highest base config AW18. This kind of left me in shock, but I quickly realized it also meant Windows 8.1 and not 8.1 Pro (I had spent the extra money on 7 Ultimate and this being my primary work machine I'd like to be able to defer updates in W10). I shot back an email thanking the representative and saying I'll accept the machine. I reported some further problems that have developed with the current machine (either all my components are dying at the same time or my mobo is actually damaged) for their records and asked if I would be able to just transfer my current Windows 10 Ultimate license (upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate) and send them the 8.1 license back. I hope I'm not pushing it or sounding ungrateful, because it was a very generous offer. I can just shell out the cash for W10 Pro if worst comes to worst. I re-iterated at the end of the email that either way I accept the replacement offer - I really don't want the shipping to be delayed for this. Now I just am waiting for a response.....

EDIT: Was changed to 8.1 Pro and estimated shipping date is 11-14 business days. Did Dell get a change of management or did I receive a guardian angel?

 

I'll just leave this here.........it's funny how things come around, isn't it?

Alienware's superb warranty and excellent customer service - Details inside - Post your experiences

Oh, and as for my own warranty and/or replacement experience, please see this post which pretty much sums up my own terrible experience with Dell. Plenty of links in there if anyone wanted to read the full story:

My own Dell nightmare

 

Haha. Are you still butt hurt by that?
That post is ancient.

Things do change Stevie.
Their service was exceptional back for myself back then and rightfully deserved the praise.

If I recall correctly your bad experience actually concluded with a full refund of several thousand pounds on a system you had owned for years.
That is VERY good in terms of outcome therefore the criticism you faced from several forum members over your whining that you didnt receive an exchange for a vastly superior and great deal more valuable system was rightly deserved.
You also purchased another Alienware afterwards if I followed right which means you clearly knew you get great service.
Unfortunately you attempted to take advantage of the situation in what could only be perceived as getting something extra for nothing extra....

As I mentioned before, the service WAS good and did keep me loyal.
However after seeing how other family members and colleagues were using great systems without any requirement for fixes I started to ask myself why I was tolerating fixes, albeit as good as they were, on a 'premium' brand.

Now with this latest fiasco I can say I've also experienced bad service.
Whether or not it will be concluded to my satisfaction has yet to play out.

 

Nah, I'm not hurt by it at all - I just spotted your posts on this thread and thought how uncanny it was that you were experiencing issues.

As for me, I bought a second hand £600 AW14 off Ebay - hardly an act of brand loyalty. I bought Alienware again more so because I needed something to at least game on to some degree and I liked the design, not because of 'great service'. The only reason I have an 18 now is down to a burglary and the 14 was stolen - insurance paid out enough to get a decent machine once more - again, used off Ebay.

I'm not going to get into the 'detail' of my experience as I have linked to it and if anyone wants to read about it, they can - no point in cluttering up this thread.

I like Alienware machines, but I certainly would not buy a brand new one from Dell ever again. I have 3 years warranty on this machine, and fortunately, I've not had to use it yet. I'm sure that when I do need to, I'll get the run around all over again.

Oh, and as for trying to take 'advantage' of the situation when one is in the unfortunate position of machine failure, what's this all about? - people in glass houses springs to mind....

 

Why are posts deleted?
Are my views that are shared with 33% of the voters thus far deemed not relevant?!

I specifically defended myself against his comment about glass houses as well as his post about a thread that is years old...

I've asked for public opinion on whether requesting an upgrade is reasonable. I haven't demanded yet.

I've already gone through the channel of in home repairs and now the same problem persists.
The depot staff are now going through the exact same procedure which means a further waiting period for myself.

I'm giving experience information which is what I thought the purpose of this thread was.....

 

Which is exactly what I was doing some time back, yet some people sought fit to disregard the facts of my case and cast aspersions on my reason for taking my issue public. The fact that a thread you started is several years old is irrelevant - I think we both know the reason you started that thread and it was off the back of you derailing my own documented experiences about warranty support. The fact that I dug your thread up was merely to point out that not everything is always peachy - it's easy to preach about great service when you haven't had bad service like I had received. I thought it somewhat ironic and that's why I posted. It IS relevant as it goes to show the good and bad, and just because someone perhaps has never had an issue in the past, it does not mean they won't in the present or future - kind of like what you are going through now..........

Now, I'm not going to make light of your issues - it's never nice to have a problem beyond your control. It's at times like these that people on the forum should come together to help each other - not malign a member because of the plight they are going through.

I wish you the best of luck getting a resolution you deem fit, just wished you could have done the same for me, but you didn't. End of.

 

It's not nice to go through bad service. No one attacked you on that.
People and myself included, criticised you over how you took a complete refund as a disappointment. You wanted the latest model at the time despite having only purchased an earlier edition. Like for like means performance wise NOT what is best put currently out on the market.
Granted Dell attempted to shaft you with some of their suggested exchanges but this aside you were pushing for a system replacement that vastly outclassed the model you had purchased. If I'm not mistaken it wasn't even the same revision.

I took it upon myself to review that thread and it's not the one that people challenged you on.

Having multiple folk criticise you over the same thing meant you were at fault in your endeavour to take advantage of an exchange.

On the contrary I have asked for opinion on what my next step should be and whether or not I should even request an upgrade.

 

Firstly, your understanding on how Alienware warranty works is completely wrong. Your comment below is completely incorrect - read my reasons why below. It does not matter if you have an older revision machine, nor does it matter if that machine is several years old - if it is no longer available, it is no longer available. That is not the customers fault, and a new revision from what is currently being offered from Dell is the next best thing. THEN, and only then, is performance of hardware assessed. Please try and understand how Dell warranty works before making comments that are incorrect and misleading to others.

To be fair, I can understand your perspective over a refund on a machine I had for some time - I can appreciate the usage that I had from it, however, that is NOT how warranty replacement works. Let me explain one or two things to you so that you understand how it does work (or at least should do going by the many replacement cases I have read and heard about over my 6 years here on the Alienware forums reading and assisting anyone in need of replacement advice.

Firstly, Dell can attempt to repair your machine by replacing faulty hardware - they generally have three attempts at resolving the issue within a reasonable time frame, and if that is exhausted and the machine is still faulty or in need of further repairs, then at their discretion, they can open up the avenue to replace the entire machine.

If your machine is beyond economical repair, or at Dell's discretion even if if an economic repair was viable, Dell can choose to offer a new replacement which should be (i) as close as equal to the machine specification that is being replaced. (ii) if the outgoing specification is no longer available, the replacement should be as close to equivalent from what is currently available, regardless of revision.

Let me give you the scenario of someone owning an M17x R2 that had five years complete care.......what do they expect to get if their machine fails? - another M17x R2 five years after the've stopped being produced? - nope. They get what is currently the closest to what they had - regardless of revision and/or if the base model of said revision blows their old machine out of the water.

Basically, it does not matter if one purchased a machine 5 years ago and their machine fails right at the end of their warranty, they have the right - under warranty - to have their machine replaced with whatever is closest to their original specification from what is currently available from Dell. If that means a new iteration of machine, then so be it. That machine may very well be a base model of what is currently available, and that base model performance may seriously outstrip the old configuration, but that's just how it works. Trust me, I've seen enough cases to know what I'm talking about here. People having 4-5 year old machines getting a replacement from Today's lineup that is far superior to what they originally purchased.

What I wanted was a like for like replacement. Exact like for like was no longer available as the M18x R1 had been E.O.L'd and the R2 was its successor. Not my fault an R1 was not available. Warranty states that if like for like is no longer available, better will be offered as the only viable option.

Dell did NOT offer me 'better', they skirted around things and elected to offer me a refund instead. What Dell offered me, machine wise, was a serious downgrade in ALL performance respects - GPU, CPU, WiFi etc. I was not about to accept a base Ivy CPU coming from an Extreme Sandy, nor was I going to bend over and take a single 675m (rebranded 580m) when I already had DUAL 580m's.

Sure, a refund could be seen as a good outcome, but when it comes to buying what a true like for like replacement would cost ME, the refund did NOT cover the cost of a true like for like machine - this difference should have been catered for under my warranty regardless - as that is what warranty is there for, but Dell cheaped out on me and offered a refund meaning I could not even afford to buy myself a like for like machine from Dell - this was the main cause of my anger.

When you've seen people being offered the 'latest and greatest' replacement machines coming from machines that are several years old, and in some cases, a good few revisions old, was simply unacceptable behaviour from Dell toward myself - refund or not. A refund was not going to put me in the position that warranty should have done as it had done for many more people before me.

I was NOT pushing for a free upgrade, nor was I chasing the next revision to get better hardware - what I was seeking and expecting was the same treatment as others had been afforded, however Dell chose not to do so.

It seems I can try and explain to you how warranty works until I am blue in the face, but your own perspective on it is coloured by what you THINK warranty covers. May I kindly suggest that you ask Mr. Fox or any other long time member on the Alienware forums about how Alienware warranty actually works before deciding to tear someone else down with your lack of knowledge on the subject. Mr. Fox will probably tell you that even if you had an old Extreme CPU from years ago, and top level dual GPU's - regarding a replacement, you should get the top CPU and GPU from a replacement, regardless of how outdated or old your original machine was. Ask him yourself. I was not seeking this kind of resolution, just what was equivalent from what WAS available - not an R2 with the very best hardware, just what was closest to my R1.

I don't mean to be aggressive, but you simply do not comprehend the workings of warranty, and on that basis, you chose to call me out as trying to get something over and above what I was entitled to - something which I was not doing. I was merely seeking warranty treatment that is afforded to most everyone else.

 

No one wanted you to get a "lesser system" and you were absolutely correct in chasing up Dell to gain a system that surpassed or as a minimum matched the spec of your laptop.

This was quite a while ago, and if memory serves, you were offered several systems prior to the refund. All of which you were unhappy with.
Did they not also offer depot repair?!

I'm not going over the same ground, you were rightly criticized for the way you demanded Dell despite their offerings (Some of which were exceptional, hence the full refund for a several year old machine).

Dells service at the time was also exceptional for myself and I created that thread to obtain views from a much larger audience.

However things do change, and Dell, whilst lowering the overall cost of machines (Not by a justifiable amount to reflect the lower quality) have released systems that are now soldered (Major Problem for some).

Regarding my own case, Dells service has also been riddled with delays and chase ups. Despite this I've taken what they have offered in terms of depot repair and are now awaiting my laptop to be returned....after the same repair....which was previously already attempted by an in home technician...

One point I've observed is whenever there is progress on the repair procedure, you are unable to view the status online for at least a day.

 

My cousin is still waiting for my aw18 replacement.

Order was created on the 25th of August. It is now october 3rd the laptop is still in pre production.. What gives??

 

What config? There have been a few reports of lower configs being delayed until November because they "aren't released yet". I still don't have an EDD, but I went into production a few days ago

 

m18, 4910MQ and Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M graphics with 12 GB total (2x 6GB) GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI® Enabled

 

Yup, I suspect it is the 970M that is holding these models back from production. I guess it makes more sense why they gave me such a high config. It's be kind of ridiculous if this repair/replacement debacle went into a 4th month.

 

Aaaaannnd we're back to diagnostics for the past several days......

 

I was just given an estimated shipping date of 10/8/2015 for my replacement (980m SLI + 4940MX). Now I just have to hope my university processes it before the weekend or I'll be waiting until next Monday. It'd be nice to see how it handles the upcoming Battlefront beta this weekend.

 

I'm informed that my system has in fact now been repaired and is on it's way back to me.

It's due for delivery tomorrow. Will update on my experience and the results soon.

 

how long did you wait for this?

 

I initially contacted support back in June. After waiting around for non-existant 780m's for a while, and having a few botched repairs with 880m's, my case was escalated August 25. The escalation was approved August 27. I received the first offer (a downgraded system) on September 1. The next offer was September 17. I approved this and it was changed to Windows 8.1 Pro and the order made on September 21. As of yet, I am still listed as in production, but I was told it would ship today. I'll update here and on the order thread when it ships.

I should note that it was like pulling teeth to get even a diagnosis in the beginning, Nevermind a dispatch out. The first couple months of this process were slow hell. Eventually I got a very good and patient escalation specialist (our email chain is 30 deep right now) and after the initial downgraded offer, Dell pulled a total 180 on me. In my experience, this is a pattern with them. First, you get a ton of reps who treat you like crap or lie to you and nothing gets done, you get botched repairs and go through hell. Eventually you have a long enough horror story that you get an escalation or a better rep or somehow someone does something to try to retain any ounce of customer loyalty and then suddenly they offer you everything and are super helpful. It's really strange, because nobody really wins. If they just repaired my machine correctly in a timely manner, it wouldn't have cost them much money or me much pain. Instead, they put you through hell and then compensate heavily for it. At the end of the day, you can't complain about an upgrade like I got, but that doesn't erase the lies and horrible service nor the massive downtime of your machine. They just kind of cover your misery in absolute bliss.

 

I was reading this thread ot of curiosity and what a load of bullcrap in one post.

But Saying that a 680m is more powerful than a 980m is just a straight out lie. Even a Geforce 970M is surpassing a desktop 680GTX which is 30~40% faster than the mobile version.

Also with a faster CPU with the 680M combnation is not even near as fast. Stop spreading straight out lies. The soldered on GPU's finally makes it possible though to buy high performance laptops that are at least fairly portable.

 

And here we go. My first time on this thread. I spilled a drink on my Alienware 18 and got it back within a couple of days. Problem is, it could not provide SLI (I have 2 X 880M). I do have the 4 years warranty accidental replacement plan. They are supposed to call me tomorrow or on Wednesday to have a tech come check (I'm in Toronto if anybody can comment on the service) to replace the bridge cable. Crossing my fingers. With the amount spent, there is no reason for me not to push for dual 980m if they can not fix it. I'm fine so far with the 880m though

 

I can almost guarantee you that Dell still has 880m's in stock, so if the cards are in some way faulty, they will be replaced with 880m's first. More than likely it is the bridge or motherboard than a faulty second card (can you dedicate it to PhysX?). However, if this goes far enough and eventually you need a replacement system, they most likely do not have a dual 880m system refurbished lying around (or at least they didn't throughout the end of August and first half of September while I was waiting for one). If they do, you'll get that. If they don't, it is pretty valid to argue the 980m as "like-for-like" since the 970m only has 6GB of VRAM (although, it still outperforms the 880m everywhere as far as I know).

Hopefully you don't get dragged into a long process of repairs and replacement and it is simply a loose bridge or something. But if you do, you aren't instantly privileged to 980m's in some magical way.

 

Just don't entertain the idea of allowing them downgrade you to a BGA turdbook, even with the highest specs available. That is a massive downgrade in every way. Also, beware of offers of the eGPU with a desktop 980M. That would still be a performance downgrade, and to make matters worse I know of at least one person ( @Daniel1983) that was promised this as a replacement for his AW18 with 880M SLI and never received what he was promised. He even has it from them in writing, but they refuse to honor their word. They said the eGPU had to ship separately, but as soon as he took delivery of the crippled 17 R2 they changed their mind and insist they cannot and will not do what they already promised, in writing, they would do.

 

Again, though...now that the 18 is back, an 18 should be exchanged with an 18. While it is a limited edition haven't stopped selling them to new customers, so they still have stock.

 

Absolutely correct. But, they don't always do what is right. The possibility of being offered one of the grossly inferior machines as a system exchange is a very real one, and some of the people handling the system exchanges don't know what they are doing, and don't have a good understanding of the product line. They can sometimes be extremely stubborn and inflexible, and trying to reason with them is like talking to a fence post.

 

So I've received my system back the day I was due to leave for a 4 day trip to London.
I'm impressed that there are no marks received on the unit and it was well packaged for its return trip.

It boots up and will be testing gameplay performance soon.

Fingers crossed this is my headache over.

 

My order has been cancelled on me and I recieved my shipping label for the old system. I hope the cancellation is actually just a order number change, but I can't tell because the original order did not show up from my account (only if I searched by order number) and no order shows on my account currently...

EDIT: I got the new order number and everything's OK. They just put it through again to "expedite" it. Not sure what that means if they don't have the parts.

 

Ok so on my replacement Alienware 18, tech arrived 2 days ago to replace bridge. Replaced bridge and called me (I was at work, my wife was home with him). He had no idea what SLI was, didnt know how to activate it. I had to guide him over the phone how to do it. After even sending a youtube link, he just told me he would call Dell to troubleshoot. So right now, still no SLI, option isnt even there in the Nvidia Control panel. They scheduled a call back for me tonight at 5pm to troubleshoot some more. What else could they possibly do over the phone? This looks like the beginning of a long process. I'll probably have to escalate. Does anybody have any recommendations?

 

Dear Mr. faiz23,


As discussed over the phone we have reviewed and approved your replacement computer request. Here are some key points of the process:

1. We are going to send a replacement unit with the same specs of the one you currently have unless a piece/part is no longer available, in which case we will provide the next best option.


2. If there is any significant change on the configuration for the replacement unit, we are going to send you an e-mail within 2-3 business days. Please review the specs and reply the email with your approval within 48 hours in order to request the shipment of the unit.



3. This type of replacement is an in-warranty service. Please be aware that the same/current warranty contract will be transferred to the replacement unit once delivered.


4. The entire process usually takes from 7 – 10 business days. We will keep track of the entire process; if a delay occurs we will inform you.


Remember that all the follow up and updates about this process will be send to you by e-mail. If you have any questions you can reply to this email or send an email to [email protected]


We have made available an Exchange Status Chat Portal during the process for you as well in case you have any concern or if you need any details about this process (The hours of operation of this chat portal are from 9am to 9pm MST Monday to Friday). You can find the portal in the following location:





I hope you have a wonderful day.



Dell | Alienware Technical Support Specialist

 

Wonder what specs laptop I will get?

My laptop just bit the dust (8 beeps) and I am on windows 7. I did go to windows 10 for couple days like a month ago and then back to 7 for a month. I loaded up the latest Nvidia Game Ready drivers and was playing GTA V for 2-3 hours. I did not have Samsung Magician but I did have EVGA Precision X through Steam. Not sure what caused it but my system was already on its way for system exchange.

They sent my computer to the depot twice and replaced pretty much every component in there. Now it died and Alienware finally wised up and decided to replace the computer instead of wasting time and money repairing a lemon. They took a lower model config and frankensteined it to meet my original specs as a system exchange.

This lemon has never been right from day 1 since dell used the original 765m heatsinks with upgraded 780m video cards. I told them multiple times which part number to send but it took them 1 year to send the right part and get the temps down. Glad I have a 4 year warranty but their support is a miss most of the times. Packed the laptop up in the same depot box it has been in twice...lol

Dear Mr. faiz23,


As discussed over the phone we have reviewed and approved your replacement computer request. Here are some key points of the process:

1. We are going to send a replacement unit with the same specs of the one you currently have unless a piece/part is no longer available, in which case we will provide the next best option.


2. If there is any significant change on the configuration for the replacement unit, we are going to send you an e-mail within 2-3 business days. Please review the specs and reply the email with your approval within 48 hours in order to request the shipment of the unit.



3. This type of replacement is an in-warranty service. Please be aware that the same/current warranty contract will be transferred to the replacement unit once delivered.


4. The entire process usually takes from 7 – 10 business days. We will keep track of the entire process; if a delay occurs we will inform you.


Remember that all the follow up and updates about this process will be send to you by e-mail. If you have any questions you can reply to this email or send an email to [email protected]


We have made available an Exchange Status Chat Portal during the process for you as well in case you have any concern or if you need any details about this process (The hours of operation of this chat portal are from 9am to 9pm MST Monday to Friday). You can find the portal in the following location:





I hope you have a wonderful day.



Dell | Alienware Technical Support Specialist

 

I've been waiting going on 2 months since I got the same email. So you can forget the 7 to 10 business days.

 

You should have never accepted a Frankensteined machine (good term for it though). They offered me the same, and I shot it down over and over until they finally caved and offered me a new 18. Joke's on me I guess, because Dell apparently has just a couple more of those than they do unicorns. Anyway, so many people with 780m's or even lower are getting replaced with top end 4940MX and 980m sli machines. So there shouldn't be much reason they don't do the same for you, especially with all the hell it sounds like they've put you through (although, that seems to be a standard procedure with them).

 

hahaha...i was rolling over when I read 7 - 10 days the first time. I don't expect 2 months but at this point it does not matter. It's been over a year that I had a computer that could game. I played on it for 3 hours and the next day...kaput

I never fully accepted the frankensteined machined. I held onto my old laptop and for a year and they didn't transfer the warranty on the new machine. So for a year I did not get support since my advanced resolution rep was worthless. He was the one who sent the frankensteined machine. Freaking nameplate has 765m but inside are two 780m cards. Dell outsourced support is crap crap crap and ruining the crappy Dell name.

Ya. I hope they give me a nice upgrade to make up for the BS I've had to put up with. When I was younger, i would tear them a new one and have them give me fancy machines to make up for wasting my time. Now days I don't have the energy but this time I will take time out to rip them 3 new ones. I haven't been able to game on this Alienware 18 for a year now. Each time they send a tech it ends up being a waste. Either I get wrong parts or the parts don't solve anything. I told them a million times to replace it but they kept wanting to fix it. Seriously....I am listing the parts that have been replaced

LCD - 2 times
1 LCD Bezel
1 Video Card - twice
2 Heat sinks 765
1 heat sink 780m
1 heat sink 765m
finally 2 heatsinks 780m
1 motherboard - twice
LCD Cover
Keyboard
Palmrest
Bottom Chassis
other ----- WTF is other. Dell put that on my repair ticket