-->*OFFICIAL: Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge*<--

I am I am I am!!!!!
Well I hope, if the price is right! Even more so if I can get it through work

 

I want to see the program actually being offered by dell, not just calling spare parts, and order a part from them.

Not even sure if the part will carry the system warranty, or the spare part warranty if it's purchased from spare parts. Spare part warranty is usually 90 days to a year.

 

Well I'm in Canada.. The video cards hit the website this morning at a cost of $600.00 more then the 8700 SLi Option. I called the sales rep and they knew nothing about an upgrade program. I then called parts and they do not have it listed as a part number yet. The parts person told me that it usually takes 48hours for new parts to get into the system so he was going to call me on Friday and let me know.

I sure hope they have an upgrade program because I can't see it being to easy to sell two 8700M's.. maybe I'm wrong.. but I'd prefer just to ship em back and upgrade.. any more news out there on an upgrade program?

 

When the upgrade program is announced, although Id like them to, I dont think they will take back the 8700's. I mean, what would they do with them? They cant sell them in new laptops, since they are used, and I dont think they sell second hand parts....

I think the reality is, we will have an expensive paper weight. Who is going to buy a 8700 in SLi for the M1730 - considering the 1730 is the only laptop it will fit in. Anyone with a 1730 will either have the 8700's already, or have the new 8800 and wont want to downgrade.

As I said, expensive paperweights....

 

They won't take the old GPU, my only hope is if we do upgrade through parts paying arm and a leg, it carries system warranty, not the spare parts crappy warranty.

 

So, back to my problem. I have talked with the XPS support manager for IR, someone named Conan, he told me to format my system to see if it was XP problem... So I did it, but now there are times when I plug my lan cable or sat receiver and it will give me an error message that the system is rebooting... And of course its still freezing up...

 

Think a bit about it - if the upgrade price for 8800GTX is equal to the price difference between a new XPS setup with 8700GT & a setup with 8800GTX you would not have lost any money buying the upgrade, and will have a free paperweight

Might also be a few people who has bought the budget version of the XPS with the single 8700GT card, they might be interested in a cheap SLI upgrade.

EDIT: might be up to us to haggle an equal upgrade price tho

 

Could you not post images that wide!!! It wrecks the page layout!

Use paint program to cut the areas you're trying to illustrate! - jezz....

 

^^^
I agree!
lol

 

Hey - if lots of people post the same question about updrade prices and routines etc here, maybe we'll get a quicker response??!!
lol
Worth a try

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/01/29/43163.aspx

 

I felt like showing off my new wallpaper XD

 

yay got my replacement dvd drive now everything works

 

I just sent the following email to the XPS manager.

 

Do you have a router/firewall, etc?

It doesn't look like it.

I'm much better at English but to me, that looks like the classic RPC Call Virus known as MSBlast.exe

It's utter madness to use the internet without a decent firewall\router or common sense.

 

^^^
I hope you do, but I dont think you'll get a reply thats any use!
Let us know how you get on

 

I use the firewall in my router, and switch on the Vista firewall just for good measure - oh and avast antivirus is great
Can never be too careful these days.

 

Back to the BluRay drive.........Is it region free??

I notice that for DVDs you can change the region 5 times before it locks, which is normal. But for the BluRay, I cant remember where I saw it now, but in the settings somewhere (may have been in MediaDirect) I saw the BD region codes (A, B and C) and underneath it had the number of changes remaining as '5', but everything is greyed out, so you cant actually make a region change.......

Just wondering if anyone has tried movies from different regions on it?

 

quick search turns out a discussion about that issue here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=202370&page=4

 

The system was fresh and running for 5 minutes, so I didnt even had time to install norton .

I dont think a virus could be causing that. I knew blaster did it, but that was long time ago, and my computer was connected for 2 minutes to the net...

Well, he called me this afternoon and we agreed to try the formating thing, he said he would be calling tomorrow, hopefully with a solution. Hopefully the upgrade to 8800GTX . After all the issues I have had, I think I disserve it, and moreover when the SLi is outperformed by the replaced Quadro FX2500M

Router is firewalled, and XP SP2 firewall is on. That stupid problem only happens when you attach a network device(Lan, wifi, usbwifi, sat reciver), and not allways, which makes no sense whatsoever,if it was a virus it would happen 100% of the times...

Maybe im missing something.

 

It's the user thing Sergiop, my XPS does out perform M90 I have.

 

This may not be the right place to post, but since the last couple of drivers (I'm on 167.51 now) BF2 won't load?

It just spins the CD up and then goes back to desktop. Any ideas please? It's the onlg game my effing 1730 will play at a reasonable rate?



Thanks...

 

Yeah? Well, I guess it depends much on the use you give the system. In my case, most of the games I play wont let me choose 1920x1200 because of memory not being enough, ag tiger woods, PES 2k8...

In other 3d aplications I will see how the system only uses 1 graphics card.

And when working on battery, with the m90 I could work for 2h or more and this xps locks up the moment you unplug it from the mains, its a joke...

In general I was very satisfied with my m90 and I hate the xps m1730, at least the replacements ones I have owned.

I am not really a fan boy or a technician , but my overall impression is that this system is worse than the M90 I had.

 

^^^^

Yup, some people just don't seem too savy with computers and blame the companies bad hardware or software (drivers) for the problem.

I had/have zero issues with my XPS M1730, I'm just returning it because the people at Dell Customer Service are dense. Had a really bad experience with them this afternoon. They almost seemed annoyed at what I was asking for.

Just another warning to anyone considering the SSD...stay the hell away from it. Not only is it a complete waste of money and you'll want to replace it, but customer service won't allow you to exchange it and be reimbursed the difference.

If you want SSD buy aftermarket and install yourself, the mtron is cheaper and 4x as fast.

 

In my case I have had 3 months of problems, It all started when my m90 suddenly died and I accepted the xps exchange... I wish I could return it and buy something else... but its a replacement from a non working system.

 

M90 will not perform at high level if it's not plugged in, and M1730 would be about 2x worst than the M90. You are asking for too much if you expect it to perform like it does w/ power plugged in.

Try to format the system yourself, install the beta driver from nvidia, and see where that brings you.

I thought my system was a bust when I first got it, seeked help from XPS support who had no clue how to make the SLI perform as it should - Bastard claimed since there is a check/dot mark on SLI mode, it is working lol and I was getting half the 3dmark than I was supposed to.

I formatted, and googled for drivers, and it works pretty darn well right now.

 

XD... I know, all thanks to the 1kg powerbrick

Well thats what I did 4h ago, but the dell techs keep saying for me to put the september 27th drivers, bc they are the original ones.

Trust me when I say I wish this XPS system outperformed my old M90, the truth is, is not... The memory shortage = 256mb is only coming now on games, the native resolution will just appear blocked, when in the m90 will appear as an option.

In the future when I install vista and make bigger renders the 256mb are not going to work...

They sold me the system as a system having 2 graphics cards that would work as 1 with 512 megabytes of ram.

Truth is they lyed.

 

Dude, try to run COD4 or STALKER on the M90, 1900x1200 settings all settings @ high except AA.

The XPS does out perform the M90, trust me.

I tried the drivers from Dell after formatting, SLI was on, but did not work like it was on. Try Nvidia beta driver 167.51 (not sure if this will work for XP though).

 

Normal apps run fine on battery but dont expect to play games on it. These gfx cards of today need stupid amounts of power to run (just look at some of the desktop versions needing 2x 6 pin and the very new cards needing 2x 8pin plugs!!) Even these cut down mobile enhanced gfx chips still need a lot of power to run, something a battery just cannot provide which is the reason you're getting arse performance.

You might get away with some of the old crap games on battery but don't expect ever to run anything newish unless you plug it into the wall or carry a small generator around with you

tom

 

I cant try because Its dead... It might outperform the m90 at low resolutions 1440x900 or less, but at native resolution the Sli thing it would simply not work on the games I play as its not an option anymore.

I want to put the latest 169.xx driver, but dell said to put the 156, and hey, its their call, Im tired of going from tech to tech explaining my issues and getting no answers...

Hopefully the manager can help me further....

Like I said, 720p would work on battery on the m90, and it wouldnt on the xps...

I even unlocked the powermizer limiter, and I was able to play for 1h at max performance, and 2h at medium, being for example pro evolution soccer 6 at 1920x1200 everything to high would work at 60fps on battery...

In this system 1920x1200 doesnt even appear when plugged in to the mains...


I know is not the right threat to criticize the xps m1730. But thats the way im seeing it.

 

I dont understand this part ?

tom

 

Just checked the Irish dell site, and no sign of 8800M's...

Also the base config starts off at €2279...
($2399 @ US Site = €1614)

looks like the Rip-Off Republic is still alive and kicking!
Wan****s!!!

Maybe I should order from the states could any one offer to send it on to Ireland?

Still I guess when I do order it'll be a good hammer to hit the rep over the head with to get a discount.

About discounts, what are the best rates that people have gotten and why military/student/certain professions/etc? Any tips pre-ordering would be greatly appreciated!


72oo

 

I'm sure people will be selling them on ebay in no time 72, and for cheaper then what dell is offering them at.

 

I ment that I could play 1920x1200 on battery on my old m90 getting 60fps, and on the xps plug to the mains the highest res i would get is 1280x800... Like there is no opcion to choose 1920x1200... I managed once to get it, dont ask me how, but as soon as i clicked on it, it said that the amount of graphics ram was to low... so it didnt work...

 

Clearly, no battery is going to supply as much power as the huge power brick that Dell uses for the m1730, so if you want to game on a battery, this thing has no chance

 

There we are, finally!

As promised, my account manager contacted me with an 8800M GTX SLI offer (it is not online yet, but usually it takes 1 week or so from the time it is available for order on the phone).

• Xtreme Processor
• 8800M GTX SLI
• 4GB RAM
• Bluray

And he made an unbeatable deal as far as the price is concerned.

As cheap as ebay but with the 14 days return policy. ebay doesn't cover panel issues when they are not defect, I would never order from ebay because of that. The Dell Guarranty does not solve the issue when it comes to panels because lower quality panels are not technically defect. You really need the 14 days (or 7 days in some countries) return policy.

 

Buying from Ebay doesn't mean you can't ask for replacement in 2x day grace period.

You just have to make sure the system was shipped w/in the period, and ask for system replacement w/in the period is all.

 

I strongly advise against ordering on ebay unless you don't mind panels with clouding issues. Those won't get replaced under the Dell guarranty (it is in the nature of LCD displays to have "some" clouding, but "some" ranges from virtually inexistant to very pronounced depending on the model built into your system), so you really want the Dell 7/14 days refund policy.

A new system from Dell has about 60-70% chance of having a clouding-plagued panel. A new system on ebay at least the same...

Besides with good negotiation skills you can get Dell to align on the ebay price or get close enough to it.

 

The Dell refund policy is not transferable. Only the guarranty is.

Good esellers will accept to check your system and send it back if there are clouding issues, but none of them will do this repeatedly.

I had to get my Dell 1710 replaced 5 times to get a good panel from Dell! This thread showed some 200 pages earlier that the XPS 1730 has the same issues with panel quality.

 

that's a good question. I'm probably the least gamer here... I wouldn't mind having it though. For my personal purposes, I will probably get an Mtron SSD and newer processor this year. the 8800s sound dam good too!

 

60-70% chance of clouding? If it's such a big issue why is the defect rate so high?

Can you explain exactly what you mean by cloudiness? I'm curious.

 

That's what I was explaining. This is not considered a defect...but it is very bothersome when you pay 4000 EUR for a brand new laptop to endure this everyday.

Check this thread for the reported clouding issues. I started a discussion on this many pages ago, pictures have been posted from many early purchasers.

You want an LG panel in your Dell. The (most widely used) Samsung has clouding issues that vary from minor to significant). The Shap panel is less bright.

 

Puremind thats nonsense about ebay. I got mine from ebay and the panel was the slightly darker Sharp panel. I called XPS tech and they sent someone out next day to switch it for the LG one.

If you have something your not happy with then get it fixed and moan like a mofo till it is (out of interest I didn't have to moan the xps tech just said fine someone will be out tomorrow with a new panel.)

tom

 

I moaned like a mofo and got full system replacements. The XPS Techs I had ALL refused. I am based in Germany but posts from UK buyers yielded the same echo.

Did you have dead pixels or did you just say my screen is dim, change it?

I can tell you you were very lucky because in all forums I read, no one (me included) got their screen replaced because of that. Actually one managed to get it done, after much hassle (but the replacing parts were in many cases Samsung panels with clouding issues).

Personally I woulnd't take that chance. Why order on ebay when you can play it safe with Dell. It is no secret that ebay prices are negotiated Dell prices (usually someone who has a good relationship with an account manager). I don't need an ebay seller to achieve a good deal ;-)

 

I had brand new replacements buying from Ebay members. Like I said, only thing you have to make sure is that you are w/ in the 2x days of shipping. After the ownership transfer, you can ask for brand new replacement.

I wouldn't suggest saying stuff like "I bought from Ebay" though.

I told the CSR that I got it through a IT guy, and I got the replacement, no questions asked.

 

EDIT: Ahh I see what you mean. You are talking about in case you want full refund.

I never tried to get refund after paying third party made the purchase. I wouldn't want to know how much they paid for it anyways considering the mark ups.

 

I got 2 replacement LCDs, 3 sets of replacement speakers, a new motherboard, new hinge cover. After 3 technician visits. I made no phone calls to dell. the XPS support guys called me after I emailed them.
Anyway I've been waiting for the 8800 GTX to come out for it so I can see if they will compensate me, the technicians here are butchers and have broken clips so the case doesn't hold together properly and they chipped paint off it and put screws in the wrong place. I found bits of broken plastic inside the laptop when I pulled it apart, so a replacement case won't cut it... I will request a replacement system with 8800GTX SLI, and I will see if they can give it to me for free (i doubt it) or for a discount.
Only problem is that they haven't got the option for the 8800GTX sli in Australia yet, hopefully it should be up soon.

 

When you talk to the XPS support, make sure to mention about extra parts to ship since MOST FIELD TECHs tend to scratch hell out of the system that's not their own.

Whenever I got my M1330 parts replaced, they bring extra media panels, and I tell them to replace the part anyways.

 

Good luck getting upgrades on an exchange. When I had my exchange done last December - they wouldn't even let me pay more for an upgrade processor... wouldn't let me upgrade to a bluray burner... wouldn't let me change the HD config either... They said it's in the system as XYZ, so they have to ship me XYZ... if I wanted too, since it was so new, I could have done a return and repurchased it - but it would have taken weeks to get the credit back on my card, so I could purchase it again.

If they were smart - they'd make the exchange customizable... IF.

 

Anyways,

Yeah ok pure, I know what you're talking about with regards to clouding. I've read every post on this thread, people weren't calling it clouding, that's why I didn't understand what you were talking about.

If I receive a samsung monitor with this issue I guarantee I'll get a new none-samsung one put in. Why? Because it's my right as a customer. If I'm not 100% satisfied with my purchase I'll simply send it back within the 30day return period (in canada).

I've returned one laptop, I certainly don't mind sending back 20 if need be. Meanwhile I use the laptop within that 30 day perior while they build my new one.

It's in Dell's best interest to replace the monitor. So they will.

To go back, I was suggesting people buy the gfx cards off ebay, not the actually laptop. You can already buy xps m1730 hardare on there, you just have to look for it. The new 8800M GTX is no exception.

Wherever there's a buck to be made people will exploit it. Dell charges us $1000 per card, but some joe blow buys 1000 of these cards at $300/unit and turns around and sells them on ebay for $750.

 

How do you check which panel do you have installed?