Dell Tech guy coming over..

So I call dell about my retarded GPU and and broken hinges and countless other small issues and they are sending a Dell Technician to come over and 'evaluate' my Dell Studio XPS 1645 laptop..

Whats he going to do and also will he replace my whole unit or just parts? I wanna get the new gpu if possible aha

 

Keep us posted!

 

Most of the time if they send a technician out before hand to "evaluate" the laptop before just trouble shooting and sending parts with the tech it's for 1 of 2 things if not both. 1-To make sure they don't think you caused any of the damage by dropping it, spilling liquid, etc. 2-To see if the tech believes it's even worth repairing or if it should just be replaced.

 

ahk, so if the techy deems my laptop "in-adequate" they will give me a new one thats the same or just replace faulty parts?

 

If the tech reports that there are a certain number of parts that need replacing that are worth a certain value or higher then Dell will replace it. If I were you I would hope for a repair instead of replacement, if they do a replacement odds are they will try to give you a refurb'd unit and not a new one unless you put up a major fight and the quality of a refurb from dell is like playing russian rulette and hoping you don't get the slug.

 

A replacement would likely be an XPS15...as mentioned in the other SXPS16 replacement threads. They replaced my wife's 1640 with a new XPS15 last month for throttling.

 

It's Dell warranty, they are entitled to give you a refurbished unit. Again as stated, if you complain enough you might get a new unit.

 

Took me 3 months on my m17x to finally get a new replacement, and the only reason they finally agreed to a new one is the refurb they sent me looked like it had been dropped off the back of a truck at 40mph. Now ocasionally Dell will identify a problem with a model as a whole and do new replacments only to save time and money, but if that's not the case their policy clearly reads that they send refurbished units only unless they don't have the parts to put one together that has equal or better specs.

 

:S so should I go along with the tech dude or just keep a dodgy unit

 

Let the tech check it out, either way you'll get a replacement if you have a problematic computer. I'm just letting you know a few of the things to watch for. Make sure you scrutinize everything the tech does, and the shape of any replacement you receive. Don't be rude, but be firm on wanting a working computer that is also in good shape.

 

thanks alot for the help, will do, if they give me another dodgy one, I have the right to just kick up a massive fuss until they give me something decent/better?

 

Depends, if it works and is in reasonable shape then probably not. If it has a lot of physical/cosmetic damage and/or has an operating issues then you can demand another replacement. The laptop I got as a replacement had both physical damage and operating issues so I got a different one, honestly each case can be different just because of the rep you're working with.

 

ahhk thanks very much, also if the replacement whatever it is, if its still bad - i have the right to kick up a big fuss and demand a better/upgraded system or similar system that isnt faulty?

 

Don't ever ask for upgrades, if upgrades are offered to you or if they ask you if there's anything you would "like to see..." in the laptop then share your opinion but if you ask for upgrades they turn into jerks as they think you're trying to play them. If it's bad just tell them you want a system that works that is in good shape like you paid for with equal specs, nothing more nothing less.

 

If it's a 1645 and you can show it's throttling then that's a sure fire way to get something other than another SXPS16. Just complain about that first when the tech comes over. Also, chances of getting a refurb I think would be pretty low regardless as it's now a couple months since they stopped selling the SXPS line.

I wouldn't worry too much about a replacement...you'll probably get an XPS15. Not sure why some of the other posters feel otherwise.

 

Ok so the tech man came over, replaced the screen, motherboard, and heatsink with refurb'd parts and basically its still hot, the fans constantly running(?) and it still throttles when I play a game for more then 5mins. What steps should I take or should I just be content with what I have?

 

No do not be content, you paid for a working machine, you deserve a working machine. I would call tech support, ask for a manager/supervisor, and explain your situation as best as possible. Simply let them know that as a consumer you paid for a laptop that would work and function 100% as advertised and that even after many major repairs you still don't have what you paid for. At that point you could "slip" the replacement idea into the conversation by simply asking something along the lines of "would it be easier and possible to just do a system exchange to prevent any additional cost and the possibility of additional repairs that don't work?" I know I am now again going through a system exchange due to a "less than knowledgable on-site technician" damaging my computer. Most of the time if you have a valid reason and aren't being unrealistic they will do a system replacement if you have gone through quite a few major repairs with no results. If for some reason tech support doesn't help you shoot me a PM and I have a few other things I can do to help you out but only as a last resort

 

gaband27- while the possibility of an exchange for a different newer system is there, it's not garanteed. The problem with people posting things like this in a situation that may be remedied by a simple repair is that a lot of people get the idea in their heads that they deserve a new XPS 15 for any reason because the "other guy" got one, what it does is turn a whole ton of people into problems for Dell who may not have been a problem and causes costs to go up. So while I don't think your comment was wrong in any way just be careful how you drop that info

 

Well, given that the repair did not fix his situation I'd say the best course of action would be to give Dell another attempt to fix the problem. If that does not remedy the situation then I'd say that a replacement is warranted. Sptimmeh paid for a laptop that runs as advertised and has received otherwise. If it's throttling as he mentions in his last post then there is a good possibility that no fix will help.

I would highly reccomend downloading and running Throttlestop along with Prime95 and Furmark and getting some logs that show the throttling happening. Then once they send the tech out again he has something to show them proving the throttling. In my case they did the remote connect thing and looked at it while it was happening.

Now personally as a former SXPS 1640 owner, after seeing the sheer amount of posts regarding problems wih those systems I can't help but feel that the only real fix is a replacement. I don't think there's anything wrong with steering people towards that direction. They paid good money for a premium laptop only to receive something that runs like a low end netbook when pushed to it's limits. Dell should have stepped up to the plate and either offered a real design fix that would fix the problems permanently for all owners or recalled all of them voluntarily. Had I not come across the throttling threads here I would have never known what the problem was on my 1640. That's just not right, Dell knew what the problem was but refused to inform owners that what they bought was not ever going to perform in it's advertised capacity. That should be criminal.

Get the logs, let Dell attempt to fix, prove that the fix doesn't work, and finally demand a replacement. I don't see anything wrong with that suggestion.