1 year owner of Dell XPS M 1330

Is there any? who have a Dell XPS M 1330, 8400, more than 1 year who are still without problems?
None of overheating or other problems?

 

They aren't that old yet are they?

 

they actually are.... released last june, first users shoudl be ~ july

 

Excellent question - I was just thinking to ask the same!
All you here is the bad news - it is the nature of a forum - but it would be nice to hear from the silent majoity( I hope!!)
Both my M1330 and M1530 were delivered ahead of schedule-both less that 10 days-everything works great from the first time I pushed the power on button.
I only had a few aesthetic problems with the M1330 that had a depression on the palmrest - tech support came out and replaced the entire palmrest (as it turned out it was an overtighted screw that I could have fixed in 5 seconds had I Known) and a slight hump in the keyboard. Dell overnighted a new keyboard - never installed it (lazy) but when the tech replaced the palmrest the hump when away as he routed the wires properly.

 

I've had mine since last august. I've only had to have a tech come over twice, once for a motherboard replacement after it suddenly burned out and then once more since the webcam cable was loose and didn't work. Then I had another fiasco where vista started calling me a pirate and I ended up doing a restore after four hours of calls to dell and microsoft reps mostly in India .
It might just be all in my head, but I remember my m1330 always being cool to the touch with the fan barely coming on, only when I'm gaming. Now I have the gpu underclocking itself..

 

My motherboard/GPU took a dive, but fortunately ( if that can be said under the circumstance ) nothing else. I still think it runs hot. I still think the GPU is at risk due to thermal issues, but I've owned mine since Sept and nothing else to complain about. If it wasn't for the GPU overheating issue, I'd have no complaints about everything else with the M1330.

 

next week it will be one year. Since i had bought my xps, dell replaced my motherboard and gfk 3 times. Is there anyone who had bought his xps after april 2008.

 

Not looking good for reliabilty is it ?

 

No problems here, been over four months and she purrs like a kitten!

 

I have mine since august 07, and dell already has replaced the DVD drive, and a few months ago they replaced the motherboard (graphics card problem)

 

1 yr, 2 mb replacements so far

 

1 year and 3 months...
1 laptop replacement, 1 mobo replacement, 1 Heatsing replacement, 1 Central control cover replacement, 3 battery replacements, 2 ODD replacements, 2 Palmrest replacements, 1 HDD replacement, 1 Keyboard replacement (and I could be forgetting something..)

I still like this thing, if only for Dell's no hassles customer support.. That, and the 5 hour battery life..

 

No graphics problems here, though some pixels went dead on the original CMO screen, which has since been replaced. Other than that, it's been heaven with my 1330!

 

stigvig asked for people who had their m1330 for over a year and did NOT have problems, probably with the hope that there will be some replies saying "sure". Hah haa... Looks like everyone who replied here has gone through number of motherboard replacements. Not looking good indeed

 

Same here. Got the first replacement because of the dead GPU, and then another one because of overheating issues.

 

Bought the laptop last Oct. Had the mobo/GPU replaced due to overheating. Now temps are hovering under 75C. Still worried that anytime it will give out again.

Either than that, everything is fine. Btw, I don't even game.

 

Got mine in August 07. I got 3 exchanges because of the CPU whine and the last replacement I got was in Jan. The CPU is quieter but the Southbridge is louder... Got tired of asking for an exchange due to school work and stuff and so I decided to keep it. Other than that the machine is still working well... except I found a dead pixel recently =\

This is my first laptop. I like the power, design and portability. But my next laptop will not be a Dell. =[

 

I experienced the crapping of the GPU exactly after 1 year expired warranty, bought this last August 07, tried BIOS and Video update which worked for a while then after several weeks, maybe it's 90% going dead now.
Dell HK don't have any idea or don't want to acknowledge the issue.
So, I just resorted to ordering a new MB (U8042), then I will apply the Copper Mod. I hope it can serve me some good years...

 

Can you order a new MB from Dell directly?

 

I've had mine since August 07 with no problems at all!
Still running perfectly <3

 

I tried because I have no other choice, I am in other country where I bought the laptop now. If you're out of warranty and Dell's tech support don't want to help you except for their billable service, you'll try anything for your beloved laptop.

 

4 months only, mobo replaced once!
dell xps 1330.

 

do the ones with the 8400 card fail more??

 

Yes, much more. Most problems are related to the nVidia GPU getting too hot, the intel chip does not suffer from this problem.

And to add to the thread,
I got my M1330 yesterday and this Friday I'm getting my first mobo and HDD replacements. Updating the rev of the mobo and the HDD seem to have corrupt sections.

 

Had mine since March 08. Motherboard replaced, DVD drive replaced, & hard drive replaced due to screeching noise. The Mobo and drive probably failed due to heat issues. The left palm rest is bloody warm. I've been using laptops primarily since 2000 and never had such a hot laptop.

Why does Dell keep replacing toasted hardware in these 1330s instead of just introducing a copper mod fix? It must cost Dell a fortune in service calls and replacement parts.

 

I actually have a technician coming tonight to replace the LED screen of one of the m1330s we have... The person I spoke to last week was "pre-programmed": as soon as he heard "green bars on the screen", he said, your GPU is gone, I'll send a new motherboard.

I had to "convince" him that it was the screen not the GPU. Because, I can make the bars appear if I press on the bezel next to DELL logo and make them disappear if I press the same area in the back of the bezel. Besides, the bars dont show up on the projected screen if I connect another monitor, but stays on laptop's screen.

Even after this he is sending the motherboard with the new screen "just in case". If after the screen is replaced and the bars still show up, the technician will replace the motherboard.

When I asked him, he told me that the new motherboards are coming with "fixed" GPUs (yeah right!) and this problem has cost DELL millions of dollars (his words).

Other than this, both m1330s have been stable and without any problems for the last 9 months of ownership. I got the CMO screens replaced with Samsungs as soon as I received them, and the Camera was replaced in one of them so far... We dont use these computers for games or any processor intensive applications.

 

That's the second time we hear about the fixed GPUs around here. Maybe they really did get their hands on nondefective nVidia GPUs. I hope so, calling tech support tomorrow to see if it has reached Sweden, I definitely want one of those new mobos.

 

pretty much exactly a year since i have had mine....a "boom" now i am having issues with the GPU i think....i have called dell twice and they seem to have no idea of what is going on.....the screen is going funky and freezing the system at times......it is happening in vista and xp......am i right in believing that my gpu or mobo is going????

 

The tech came to replace the LED screen, but the idiots in XPS "premier" service center ordered the wrong kind (non-LED)! Unfortunately, he already took apart everything before checking the replacement screen. Now I learned my lesson: have the tech check the part first before touching the computer.

By the way, this guy was literally "the tech from hell". He was so careless with the computer, I am lucky that it is still functioning. He had few physical disabilities that made me wonder how in the hell he was able to see what he was doing... Anyways, I called back and scheduled the second service with the right part to my work location to avoid this guy.

Man, DELL reps REALLY want to replace my motherboard. When I called back to order the right screen, the second rep also said "let's replace the motherboard as well". I dont want that major surgery -yet- while knowing that the problem is the LCD, not the GPU on this computer. I guess, when I want the mobo replaced, I'll just call and say "m1330....screen....green bars"; that should trigger the mobo replacement outcome

 

I've had mine 5 - 6 months and had it replaced in the beginning because of a build issue. Other than that, I'm keeping my fingers crossed about my motherboard.

 

I just read all 3 pages and all I have to say is. WOW. just wow.

 

The tech that is coming out to fix my problem is going to replace the motherboard and the bottom plastic part (apparently has some connections with the parts that provide power in the laptop). I've never had any GPU problems and while the laptop fan did come on a lot while I was using it, this only happened when I was running games on the laptop, which is forgiveable in my book, since this model and the Nvidia graphics card are not really designed for gaming, imho. So in the almost 10 months I've owned an XPS M1330, I've been happy with it. Hopefully the new parts will see it resurrected and nip any potential GPU problems before they get started.

 

OK...,
guys (and girls if any) you really scared me!
I am waiting to buy a new computer because my Amilo broke down (probably an inverter failure that happened for the second time and I had also the motherboard changed once) but I was always thinking that I had a mid to low range lappy and given the stress I put it through these last 3 years ( it was on for more than 10 hours per day at work with significant stress on it and then at home another 3-4 hours, half of which was gaming), well I just thought it was not made to cope with it!

BUT I was expecting that the XPS line would be solid and I was (and still am) expecting the release of the new Studio XPS before taking any decision, having almost be set to a Dell purchace (XPS or Precision), wanting to get a machine that will take that kind of treatment better than my old Amilo!!

But reading these stories... WOW!! I am realy having second thoughts...

 

Get a latitude...

 

i have had the m1530 for 3 or 4 months now, no loose parts no broken GPU, just a solid laptop witch outperforms many others, as someone said

could be that dell uses bad assembly or bad parts, but in performance these lappys are just amazing.

although its true, some people can have bad experiences as well as good experiences, but i bought my laptop knowing about all the problems and gpu heat issues, and i couldn't be happier with my purchase.

 

5 Months and still ticking.
Only problems I had were very minor aesthetics - key board bulge (fixed when I elected to change to the black keyboard) and what appeared to be a dent in the palm rest that simply was a screw that just needed to be backed off. I use my M1330 every day at the office and at home. I have done the copper mod (real simple thanks to this forum) as a precaution.

 

This may be the reason why DELL techs that I spoke to were REALLY eager to replace the motherboard.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/10/Lawsuit_claims_Nvidia_hid_serious_flaw_in_graphics_chips_1.html
Seems like nVidia has been picking up the tab for the warranty repairs.

 

This afternoon, I used my m1330 for the first time after the "tech from hell" dismantled it. Apparently he broke some of the clips that hold the bezels together, because the front and the back pieces are not sticking together anymore. I can also feel the bent clips under the front bezel.

In addition, on the right hinge, there is a blue cable that is caught in the hinge assembly and is sticking out! It is pinched badly with the wires inside exposed. What a sloppy job!!!

I just called DELL and they are replacing the entire screen assembly (LED screen, front and back bezel, webcam, etc).

 

A friend of mine just got an XPS 1330, so it better be good, cause I recommended it to her...
Another got a Studio 17...

 

Just an update on Direct2Dell's Blog on Dell GPU limited warranty enhancement:

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/arch...ate-limited-warranty-enhancement-details.aspx

Maybe this can help us poor 1 year out of warranty owners