Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, *Part 3*

The previous XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge thread was getting too large and slowing down forum search, so this is the new thread.

Original Link to XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, Part 2

Remember to keep all comments/discussion related to the XPS M1730.

All comments relating to replacement run-around issues/GPU replacement issues due to failure are to be posted HERE.

Thanks!

 

wow, # 3

my m1730 is a slug... after getting it back from it's 2 month stay at depot, i am just thoroughly disappointed... my 8800's have been replaced with 8700's without permission and only one of the 5 or 6 things wrong got fixed... in 2 months. and dell wants me to send it back to depot to have them fix what they broke...

this is the invoice... no mention of the gpu downgrade


and these are the new custom scratches i got....







is that not just the best service ever? awesome

 

Have you contacted Dell via the Unresolved Issues link? As soon as you have an email response from the contact form you submit via that link, scan the repair depot letter and attach your pictures and recap and reply to the email you received. Request a call back from a manager. See if that works. Don't let this slide - that is horrible.

 

Jeez, man. I'm sorry Dell is giving you fits over fits over fits with this machine... I'd be livid.

Not even telling you they replaced your cards with 8700s? Completely unacceptable. I'm thinking some shoddy Dell techs need to get some write-ups over this one. I'm not even a computer tech by trade and I'd make sure to take care of a customer's machine with the utmost respect... especially one as expensive as an M1730.

 

Guess what? That magical date of 10/5 Dell has been giving everyone? It's been pushed back to 10/15. Classy Dell automated voice gave me a call today. I love it!!

 

yeah, already contacted the rep which is part of the escalation department and was told my account is on "hold" whatever that means so no replacement laptops for me, they can only fix what i have, but they cant... the 8700's have a 30 degree differential and my card reader doesnt work anymore too...

trying to get this hold thing resolved but i cant seem to get into contact with anyone from that department....

 

OMG, OMG I am going to have a fit, get a load of this, I go online to check whats going on with my service call and see that they overnighted me a system. These MOFOS decided to give me a couple of upgrades and some serious downgrades. I was sent a replacement 1730 with a t9500 2.6 GHZ in replacement of my x9000 2.8 ghz and with 8700 cards. In return they gave me 8gb or ram, 2 x 320 gb hdds and blutooth ohhh and it doesnt have a bluray burner I know I can just swap it but I dont know I think I am going to deny receipt right?

 

Why did you accept this? that is a totally unacceptable, the ram is useless and so are the drives, what makes the difference is the graphics and processor. I would ask how they came to this conclusion as a suitable replacement.

 

I never accepted it, I never even knew it was sent out. I checked my dell.com account and found out it was overnighted. I have already called up fed ex and told them to return to sender and I wrote 2 emails back to my sup. they are trying to sneak this in on me, If i didnt check my babysitter would have signed for it and that would have been that. I cant beleive they thought maxing everything else out would make up for short changing me on the meat and potato's of the system so to speak.

 

That's just complete b.s.

Time to start threatening legal action...

 

I just had time to stop the crap they were sending me. I have tried to get the cs manager who is doing this to contact me , twice now promised call backs yet to happen . I asked about when i would get my replacement cards then only thing i got is there is no time frame . Is this happening to UK folks only ?
My guess is they are trying to acquire the clapped out 8800`s of us to get refurbished and then sent back to customers.

 

Last time I did that I got stuck with the law dept and those guys are dousche bags, they made my information dissapear, all of a sudden They had no info on me being the owner. I will try and work it out with my supervisor and if that doesnt work I will go to through the BBB and consult an atttorney without giving them any warning. This is getting ridiculous!

 

(Originally posted in the part 2 thread)

So just like hankarron15 said above, I got a call this morning as well that changed my 10/5 date back to 10/15. This. Is. Ridiculous. I don't even know if I should bother trying to call them or not now...

 

I can confirm the magic date as well since thats when they are planning on sending me the single 9800gtx on 10/15. But yes is there any way i can argue for an alienware with 260 sli to replace my 8700 sli? or would it have to be a single 260.

I know a few people had 8700 sli like me and were upgraded to the 260sli with their alienware upgrade.

 

I had 8700 sli and they offered only 1 260, said I needed to compromise, since I was getting upgraded to a m17x from a m1730.

I said the single gpu was unacceptable and I wanted a refund. Tech said they would provide specs with single gpu and info for a refund via email in a couple days. I waited the timeframe, then did Dell chat to find the specs were emailed to my old email with 260 sli included, no info on refund though.

Do Dell techs get a bonus if they get customers to accept downgrades?, lol.

Just say you'll be losing out on sli, LCD game panel... Hopefully that will be enough.

Good luck though.

 

Niazu,
Battle hard for the SLi. Majority of the people are getting these, so stick with the argument that you paid for a dual video card solution and that they owe you such a solution with your next machine.

It's not like they're upgrading you out of the goodness of their hearts; they're the ones with the bloody part-shortage and you're the one that's compromising on the time/patience factor.

Part of me wishes they had quality, replacement parts for the M1730. Seriously, because this whole matter has become a joke. They can't make up their minds on who to 'upgrade', who to 'upgrade/downgrade', who to just plain 'downgrade', and who to 'p*ss off'. This is why I'd be more satisfied if they just had the credible replacement parts for the M1730.

 

well technically i didn't pay for the sli

I used to have an inspiron 9400 with a 7900GS go in it. The motherboard fried and dell took a month to tell me that, at which time they sent me the 1730 as the replacement with 8700sli. But i think that my current situation should be based on the model i have now and not what i had in the past.

I suppose a single vid card wouldn't be soo terrible. The whole process of getting a replacement part is annoying as hell. I wouldn't mind sticking with the 1730 if they still supported it properly, but since they dropped it I would really like an alienware cuz its still supported.

Am i crazy for believing in this?

 

I find that Dell normally goes on whatever system you had originally. But, some techs say based on current system. It really depends on who you speak to. My m1730 was a replacement for a M1710, which was a replacement for a xps gen2, 1gpu and they based this replacement on my m1730, not on my original. M1710 replacement was based on my original not on the m1710.

 

You and I are in similar situations, my friend.

 

I just shot off an email to Dell via the 'Unresolved Issues' page, regarding the twice-delayed/backordered GPU issue. I requested that someone contact me, so hopefully I'll be able to get some answers.

 

I am not sure if I did the right thing by not accepting what they sent me, Should I atleast take receipt of it and then continue the fight? What would you guys do?

 

well i refused mine the very worst that can happen i think is you will wait for the repair just make sure you let them know? Also if you take the replacement system your old one disappears for good and your system is now the replacement with 8700 cards.

 

Thats what I dont want, Thanks alot for the info, I feel better now. No wonder they tried to send this out and leave it at my door step. Not cool, not cool at all

 

Refuse it outright. Don't even touch it or sign for it if possible. Gives Dell less reason to stick you with it.

 

I called fedex immediately and told them that I do not want anything to do with it. I dont even want to see the delivery man. I just want a comparable system or an upgrade to the m17x. If I get my 1730 replaced with another 1730 with the exact specs Im going to sell it and let someone else continue fighting the good fight with that P.O.S. cause it is only a matter of time before that one craps out because I actually use my gaming system to game, Imagine that? LOL

Im tired of Dell Hell

 

Well, technically, you're shooting yourself in the foot by taking such an approach.

You see what I mean? Of course, I understand what you're saying and between us members, yes, some of us did not pay for the exact machine. However, you have to keep a firm-chin and argument. Fact is that you accepted that new machine as a replacement, and ideal replacement. Whether Dell should or should not have offered that solution is their problem. Fact is that you as a consumer agreed to have 'x-type' machine, and now they can't take you down from that without your consent.

Many people here started with 7950/7900 GTXs and GSs. Don't worry about being firm.

Technically, a single 8800m GTS would own the 8700m in SLi. However, an argument is an argument, and as a customer, you have to watch your own back; don't be doing them any favours.

As for support. Heh. Dude, Dell's support is rubbish. By support, I just want valid replacement parts; Dell can take the rest of their drivers and "support" and stick 'em up their Michael Dells.

 

Kade you're right, thanks for these words of advice/encouragement

I'll be calling them again tonight to argue my points.

Here's hoping I don't get a total tool.

 

So I tried to contact another agent and was transfered to a manager, was told that since I did not want to accept the replacement then they would offer me a full refund of what the original machine cost. The machine has had three model exchanges.... I declined the refund because the way dell does it is the take off a certain percentage for the amount of time the system has been out. The guy couldnt even give me an estimate of what that refund would be. They are only replacing m17x for people that bought the machine NEW from Dell and not refurbished. I would lose a lot of money if I accept a refund so I had to have them send back the system that they sent me but I will report this to the BBB and who ever else will listen.

I will most likely be able to sell the replacement system back for just about the same price I purchased mine for and just buy a gaming laptop from another company. Alienware is Dell as well and I will never ever purchase another PC or laptop from these scumbags again. He even admitted to their being a high failure rate. I figure I will accept the machine and then just escalate the issue with atleast a machine in hand instead of a paper weight.

 

I think my system is starting to die as well. This is a replacement system that I've only had since perhaps the end of may or june.

I spent almost a full year with a broken machine before dell agreed to replace it.

Now it's back to the good fight. This time I'm getting awful temps and distortions when gaming and random shut downs.

When using the 9800GT SLI output to external monitor I get all sorts of garbage on my Dell 24" monitor.

I agree with others who think dell support is a joke. You invest money in the machine and they have you chasing windmills. I purchased the extended warranty on this monster and they damn well better support it.

If they don't respond to my problems in an appropriate manner I think that I will contact the BBB and state attorney general as well as all the local media outlets with my problem as this is just an ongoing issue.

If it gets to that point I might be PMing some of you about your experiences with dell. If dell doesn't want to treat their customers with respect and honor their warranty in a timely manner then they should be made to suffer the consequences for those actions.

 

You know, while I might be spear-heading the whole 'take Dell down a notch' initiative, I did just read an article today in PCWorld magazine that spoke about Apple as a company and how their customer support is so lackluster, it makes the PC world (no pun) look golden. While I agree with every last one of you that Dell's support is equivalent to that of a company that is drowning in its own greed, next to Apple, Dell is treating us like royalty. People with macs and iPods that need ANY sort of customer care or assistance are basically being pooped on. Their customer service reps don't even give the customers the light of day, and to be fair, at least Dell representatives talk with us for several hours, and most of the time they're giving us crap because they simply don't know better or their position won't allow them to give us a part of replacement without the approval of a supervisor or another department entirely.

So, what I will say just to remind you (if there is any doubt about my own prejudice, you may reread the old 1730 thread as my battles with Dell are well-documented), is stay clear-headed and remember that although things are bad with MANY of us and our faulty XPS systems, compared to other companies and paid warranty services, we have it pretty good. It's good to keep things in perspective. I don't know of any other company that will call its customers to follow-up on them to make sure a broken keyboard is now in fact working since it was replaced, or would send out a a new keyboard under warranty without any questions asked. I have had parts show up at my house the NEXT day when I made a complaint. Though these days of Dell's seem to be fleeting, their warranty service alone has separated them from any other company.

 

Well, fingers crossed for all of you guys over there, sooner or later you will get the best system, just hang in there! Think of it this way, the ones of you who are in the US have the best chance of replacements, whereas others, like me would have to wait a lot more, it would cost a lot and so on...
I havent gamed on my system for quite a while now, so temps are in the 50s usually, so that may increase the lifespan.
Well, I would love an m17x with 280m gtx, but its not like the replacement system works the same way everywhere...besides,mine is still running solid

 

I don't trust any big company, period. Dell, I used to view as the 'mavericks', much due to their P.R.-strategy. They always projected this image of having the customer's back with their warranty. Actually, even now, you get hints of that in their 'script'. Unfortunately, they no longer act or honour the spirit of the words within that script, because, that script has lost feeling. Heh.

The only 'company' I would trust are the small ones with a successful gadget-base and business-model. Why? Because you get a more personal hands-on experience, sometimes dealing with the actual people. This is why I'd migrate to Kobalt, if given the option. Of course, if the company does well, then it will grow, and once it has gone big, I can forget about that personal trust-factor.

By the way, that thing about Dell only giving M17x to those that got the M1730 new. It's not entirely true. There are people here who scored M17x as replacement for a previous replacement, and those scoring M17x through reseller-items. My advice: Don't trust what the support-staff says. In fact, even Hossatti stated that while Dell is one company, there are many different departments, and that he cannot 'comment' on statements made by these other departments. Go figure - it is an internal matter.

 

my m1730 was from new in fact it was 8 months old when the cards fried .

 

Glad to hear the system is running fine! Thats a bit of good news on the old M1730 front Yay!

 

Yea, since March last year...so over 1 year and a half running strong. only thing I changed was a battery which died after 11 months, hehe
So far, all's good... *fingers crossed*
I just hope my Malaysian laptop is from good heritage :smile:

 

Another M1730 owner with a crapped out 8800m GTX SLI video card reporting in. Mine went a week ago, after 9 months.

 

"so temps are in the 50s usually"

On idle I had the highest temps I have ever recorded on a system

 

Keep us updated on the process as I'd like to hear about a UK return/replacement.

 

i wonder if anyone has actually had their cards replaced in the last7 weeks or so

 

After speaking to numerous reps I finally found one willing to help and once again I am being sent out another replacement...15-20 days

 

I was told that 8800 cards are not expected in and they are not receiving anymore because they are not in production

 

Well, then I would take nothing under the 9800M GTX , or at least 9800M GT's for replacement

 

Well, he paid for GTX SLI and GTX SLI he needs to get. So 9800M GTX would be the best.

My left speaker died completely now, only the right one works, so I can enjoy mono "surround" sound in my system lol... I won't go with it to warranty just for an speaker though...
Anyway, if in US the customer support is awful, I don't wanna see it here where I live.

 

i forgot i had bought mine through the small business store think i would get more help going through them ?

 

My M1730 is still going strong and solid. Glad to hear your works solid too eleron.

 

I'll replace it for ya'. If you don't mind paying the shipping.

 

Well, not the replacing thing is the problem, I can do it by myself, ain't hard at all to change a speaker, but I don't want to invest money in this machine anymore, and even more, the re-seller (where I bough my laptop) told me if I'll open the machine, I may lose warranty. Anyway, sooner or later, cards may fail, so then I'll have one more reason to replace my system. By then, I'll use an external audio system (I'm planing buying an Creative G500 soon).

 

I got an email response back from Dell this afternoon, regarding my GPU replacement (I was supposed to get 9800M GTXs). They said that they were sorry about the delay and would go ahead and process a system exchange for me if I wanted--no specifics on what system or the specs. I went ahead and told them I wanted to do that, but would like to be contacted first to discuss and approve the proposed replacement system. Hopefully it'll go smoothly from here, but I'm not holding my breath...

 

Since Aug. my right speaker has went out twice and both times it was the motherboard and not the speaker. If you have a warranty use it to the fullest no matter how easy the self repair looks.

 

The main issue with the m1730 appears to be the NVDIA graphic cards. Surely peoples anger and fustration should be aimed at nvida for makeing such sub standard cards?. Apologies if this is not the case and is in fact dells manufacturing fault.