Finally, my XPS 1530 being replaced due to GPU fails!!

Yea, Windows stickers always look like that for some reason. Mine looks the same. Ask for the remote as you should get it. Also don't believe them if they say the XPS 16s don't come with remotes (they told me that, but I persisted). I'm not too sure exactly about the graphics card issue, but I would argue on the basis that the 3670 can be considered worse than the 8600m gt. It's a stretch but you could focus on that point. Also other people who got replacements received 4670s, so why should you get a 3670. Hopefully that works. Good luck.

 

I really hope I didn't send the angry email before actually concluding that I got stuck with a 3670. Does anyone know where I can find out what the different part numbers stand for? My board is R989D. It's not the same board as what most of you guys got, but it is listed as being $314.26 if that helps at all. I didn't initially account for the fact that I may have ended up with a different board revision that also had a 4670. Thanks for the help, and have fun with your awesome laptops!

 

So since I HAD the 8600GT on my M1530 and now I have the 3670 on my SXPS1640 should I be concerned? Dell online chat said they are going to send me the bigger battery and remote but said I am SOL for the video card. I dont game on my laptop, will I notice anything slower from the 3670? Also can someone decifer which screen I have, my resolution is auto set at 1920x1080!?

 

I wouldn't settle for anything less than what you want. The m1530 is a failure in my opinion. It overheats every time I plug in an external monitor. It's not your fault and you're being inconvenienced. Tell them you're not satisfied in the least.

 

I just confirmed that the R989D board I'm being shipped is the 3670. I might have to ship this back. I am not happy, the one and only request I had was the 4670. At least I have my Logitech G9x to look forward to getting.

 

Actually since you're not gaming you won't notice any difference in what ever other tasks you are doing. Gaming is what really demands the most out of the graphics card. You'd be very fine with it.

However phoen1c1an does make a good point. Dell screwed us over with these faulty laptops (m1530) and didn't do jack-squat about it for the longest time. Personally, I would hound the crap out of them, even threatening full refund on the grounds that m1530 was defective, until I got what I wanted (now I'm not sure if that would work, but I'd be too angry to care). A lot of replacements got the 4670, why am I being stuck with the 3670?

@Sirhcz0r. Sorry man, frickin' Dell sometimes....

 

I'm somewhere far beyond angry right now. I received an email back about the 3670/4670 business. I was outright lied to about the 4670 not being available in the 1640, and that it's only available in the 1645 and 1647. Why would they even care? They were going to send me a 9-cell battery for no reason, but they won't give me a $100 part?

I'm going to get on Dell chat.

 

After hearing "no" quite a few times, I brought up all the trouble the M1530 has been, and how if I'm unable to get a proper replacement, I want a refund. Wish me luck, this could take a while!

 

dont give up, my persistence definitly paid off, i had to swap out my own motherboard, but it was no biggie, they could not change the order after it had been generated, but what they could do was send me a 4670 motherboard to put into my system.

 

Don't take no for an answer. Good luck on your swap out. I let them know from the get go that they better replace it with something top of the line for my troubles. This laptop was damn expensive when I bought it. The replacement better be as well.

 

I had a firm stance, which was a better gpu and cpu, or give me my money back. That's the most terrifying thing for a company to hear lol. Now it's going to be brought to the "concern department", whatever that may be. I'll hear from them in two to three days.

After going through all this trouble, getting a 3670 was absurd. I also brought up how I didn't like the T6600, since that was the base cpu and my T5750 wasn't. I like the way you think more than the way they do. It shouldn't be "equal or better", it should be worth what you paid, if not more, since it was quite a hassle.

 

Hey you...Don't you give up or give in..you have come this far... Just hold firm with your resolve and what you want, and I would hope that they will follow through for you.

Cin...

 

hi ,

my xps m1530 motherboard was replaced on september 2009 due to gpu failure.my warranty was over on april 2009 .few days ago , i get all symptoms of gpu failure (lines on screen, some times display will show nothing when i turn on computer). my question is will i get a warranty of 1 year on replaced motherboard (september 2010) , will they change motherboard free of charge.

 

Hey!

You have the extra one year extended warranty on the GPU...so that is covered.

NVIDIA GPU Update: Limited Warranty Enhancement Details
See this LINK.

Hope that helps!

 

Has anyone had luck getting their motherboard replaced even if you are out of warranty? I bought my laptop in June of 08 and I guess I only got 1 years Dell warranty...

 

Which screen did I get, under device manager it says: SEC5448? How do I tell if I can burn Dual Layer DVDs?

 

Well I received a phone call from Dell CS tonight and was told that all of my missing items will be mailed out. I told them I was unhappy with my 3670 video card and after some haggling they said they were willing to install a Bluray disc drive for my troubles. I am happy with that, now I just hope the Intel P8800 will be able to run the BD drive without hiccups!?

 

So your one year is up...You are now into the One Year Extended warranty on the GPU.

Here is the information on that:


NVIDIA GPU Update: Limited Warranty Enhancement Details
See this LINK.

You have the same Screen as I do.

It's the Samsung RGBLED, Congrat's...it's fantastically awesome!!!

Very nice! I like the Travel remote.
Heck...I just really really like this lappy!

Cin...

 

Your worrying over the P8800? It's an excellent processor. Hell the P8600 is excellent, it's what I have, and I can do anything just as well as the Quad in my desktop. (See sig laptop).

 

FedEx tried to deliver the laptop today. I'm not going to sign for it; Dell will have it going back to them in five days. I didn't ask for much. Saying that I'd like a 4670 and none of the other components even matter shouldn't have been difficult. Now I'll push for more since they're wasting my time and being difficult, as well as lying to me. "The 1640 only has the 3670, the 4670 is for the 1645 and 1647". Now I'd like the 4670 and a better cpu.

This sure does get time consuming.

 

I wonder what Dell has to legally do though if the item is refused...

 

I just didn't have enough time from the time it was being built to the shipping to get anything changed. It all happened to fast from that point. Eagerly awaiting that call now.

 

You can just refuse shipment and it will go back sooner. I've done it several times for Dell shipments at work.

 

That's what I would ideally like to do. How do I go about doing that?

 

Call UPS tell them to send it back and that you refuse. OR if your home and the guy tries to deliver it, tell him that you refuse it.

 

Nice.... . You got the RGB-LED and now a Blu-ray drive. Very nice! You'll love the RGB, and pairing that up with the BR-drive will be just quality. The 3670 is very sufficient, if you don't game (which you don't). That's not to say that it's not capable of running recent games, because it can run them. The 8800 is a great processor. It's up there in the Core 2 duo processor rankings and will handle your BR drive very well, sans hiccups. Congrats.

I hear you Sirhcz0r. Dell is trying really hard to get you to give in, which i know you won't...just keep going. You'll be happy in the end, hopefully.

 

Thanks for the info Cin! I just talked to the tech support and theyre willing to replace the motherboard/gpu for me if I send it in. What's the normal turnaround for this process? I hope I can get back my laptop quickly...

 

Knowing Dell, a month or so...

 

I have a problem, I purchased the Expresscard TV tuner with my M1530 and was told it is compatible with the 1640 but I keep getting a device driver error when I try and install it. I have tried both the drivers from Dell and AverMedia!?

 

I thought that FedEx tried to deliver my bad replacement yesterday, but to my pleasant surprise it wasn't FedEx. It was UPS with my Logitech G9x! This mouse is great. I love ordering anything from newegg, the shipping has always been very fast, for me anyways.

 

Can someone tell me what I got exactly?

1 TMJ06 BASE,NOTEBOOK,XPS,1645,CLARKSFIELD,CONFIGURE TO ORDER
1 14VXC MODULE,PROCESSOR,CLARKSFIELD,XXXXX,1.6,6MB,1645
1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT
1 5FJ8M Module,Label,Intel,Notebook,CI7
1 D8W1K MODULE,MEDIA,DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE,RESOURCE DVD,1645
1 DR464 Module,Label,Microsoft,WindowsVista Os,Premium,Inspiron
1 G040H Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
1 H2D7M SERVICE INSTALL MODULE,SOFTWARE,NOTEBOOK,1645
1 H375M Module,Solid State Drive,256 S2,2.5,RBAM,Across Line Of Business
1 HW426 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,Delta - Ac Adapt,90W 3P,World Wide
1 J019D Module,Software,DELL-DOCK Consumer
1 J206C Module,Software,Dell Connect 2.1,Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA,Brazil Customer Center
1 K423J Module,Software,VHP64SP1 Digital Video Disk Drive MUL20,Dao/bcc
1 K811H Module,Software,VHP64SP1,CNB England,D/B
1 M018R Module,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,Blu-Ray Disk Playback,True Theatre High Definition,Factory Install
1 M239M Module,Software,LTG DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 M412C Module,Cord,Power,125V,1M,C5 E,United States
1 M434H Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,VHP64SP1,Latitude Cpt
1 M97DR Module,Software,Creative PANZER,1.2,Factory Install
1 MJF4V Module,Card,Network,370,Foxconn,Dell Americas Organization
1 P166F Module,Software,VHP32/64 Certificate Of Authenticity
1 P420X Module,Shipping Material System,PALTROW,Dell Americas Organization
1 P881M Module,Software,Compact Diskette,Sensible Vision Facial Recognition,2.3-00
1 PPY3H Module,Card,Network,5300,Inspiron
1 R248D Module,Dvd+/-rw And Bd-rom M1640,Sony Nec Optiarc Inc.
1 RDT72 Module,Information,Liquid Crystal Display,CRV,Low Cost 1640
1 T013C Module,Software,Works,9 English
1 T22TT Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,1.4,Factory Install
1 T259H Module,Software,Roxio,10.3,Premium,Blu-Ray Disk Playback,XPS
1 T703D Module,Keyboard,86,US-ENG,DellAmericas Organization,1640
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer
1 WU658 Ship Group,Notebook,North 1640,England,Dell Americas Organization
1 X445C MODULE,BATTERY,PRIMARY,85WHR,9C,SAMSUNG POWER DIVISION
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business
1 Y373R Module,Kit,Software,Powerdvd,8.3,True Theatre High Definition
1 Y425G Module,Software,Dell Remote Access,1.0
1 Y515R MODULE,ASSEMBLY,BASE,NOTEBOOK,M96,1645
1 Y720M Module,Software,DSPRT-CTR 64BIT,2.0
1 YR2XT MODULE,LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY,15.6,HIGH DEFINITION+,LOW COST,1645/1647
1 YY440 Module,Software,6-CHAN,DOLBY PowerDVD,7,Board

 

Pretty much the same specs on my sig except for win vista, 256Gb SSD, WLED 900p display and Intell 5300 Wireless card. Congo...

 

Vista? What the hell. I was hoping for a RGBLED. What resolution is your display?

 

Mine is a Full HD 1080p. WLED is also good dont worry . Your is 900p HD.

 

Contact Dell regarding Win 7. You did get some nice specs for your replacement.

Haven't see you in a few..How are things going with your replacement issues? Glad the Mouse is working out for yah! Logitech = Great Brand & great mice!

News for you on my end:
They are sending me another new replacement 1640/ since I accidentally dropped mine (Had Complete Care Coverage)....I am now in the "waiting stage again"...to see what processor I am going to get!!


Cin...

 

My M1530 is 1680x1050

WSXGA+
1680 x 3 (RGB) x 1050 at 262 K colors

They didn't meet or surpass specs on that item. I'm going to contact Dell.

 

Oh, Surely do that then. As a replacement I think you got a gr8 system wid the latest specs.

 

Oh for sure. I'm happy as a clam, except for the display.

 

Contacted Dell regarding the RGBLED display. They said they will replace my current display when the RGBLED becomes available again. It's currently on 1 and 1/2 month backorder.

 

So they installed my BD-RE UJ235A (Bluray) drive tonight but the Power DVD BD update wont play movies, I had to download the trial for Power DVD 9 to play discs?!

 

Wow, I'm not impressed. I now have my sxps 16 with the T6600 and 3670. It is actually slower than my 8600m gt. And here I thought I was making some exaggerations when talking with Dell. Not at all, this thing's worthless. Also somehow my cpu usage is higher playing the same games now. (I did manage startups, I'm playing at low resolutions like my old wxga... I just don't know.)

I had to mess around forever to get the wireless to work, I don't know why it eventually did.

I just can't stress enough how horrid this 3670 is compared to my overclocked 8600.

Also, regarding this being slow, this is all after mobility modding and updating things. Thanks Dell. I did try playing stuff before the mod and it was so bad it wasn't even fun.

Edit: It turns out Ati didn't do too well with anti aliasing in the MR 3xxx series. I disabled my 2xAA that I typically play with and now the frame rates are about the same as my 8600m GT with 2xAA on. I don't think this counts as equal or better.

 

Contact Dell for the Cyberlink PowerDVD DX software. They should send you a disc.

 

Received my Studio XPS 1645 today. 8 Cores! Woo hoo! It was missing a remote and Bluetooth module. They are sending one out. They also said they will be sending out a RGBLED with a higher resolution when it comes available. I'm finally happy with Dell!

 

it is great that you are getting the good service from them.
it is not the case for people outside US/UK. the technical support personal is telling me that they are going to replace the same mobo with faulty GPU until the extended warranty expired. poor me...

same brand, same spec, but i think DELL looked down at APAC consumers.

 

I've got a question, but I don't really feel it's thread-worthy so I guess I'll post it here.

I'm being impatient again and am really just looking for any bit of information I can on what's holding up my laptop. I'll post the spec list below, but I haven't heard of anything there actually being on back-order. Any ideas what's making this take so long? Also, I bought a second battery AFTER the inital sale for my M1530, do you think there's any way to get Dell to replace this with one for my SXPS1640 as well?

1 224-6025 XPS 1640, Intel Core 2 Duo P8800 (2.66GHz/1066MHz FSB/3M L2 Cache)
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 311-9486 3GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm forXPS 1640
1 312-0811 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery, for XPS 1640
1 313-8874 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
1 313-8932 DW 5540 Mobile Broadband Built-in Mini-Card for AT&T
1 320-8179 Arctic White High Gloss Finish with Leather
1 320-8189 15.6 FHD WLED Display in Arctic White with leather and 2.0 MP Webcam
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 330-1917 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP XPS 1640
1 330-4424 ATI Mobility RADEON M96XT - 1GB
1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label
1 341-7911 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 410-1882 ADOBE ACROBAT STD 9.0 English-French BND
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 410-2090 McAfee Sapphire MUI, 15-Month
1 412-0148 No ISP requested
1 412-0359 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron
1 420-6585 Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition
1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1
1 420-9100 Dell Dock Consumer
1 420-9352 Dell, Software, Wild Tangent Inc Games
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-0187 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0
1 421-0188 Facial Recognition
1 421-0323 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface
1 421-1010 Dell Webcam Central v1.4
1 421-1193 Download Store Links
1 421-1361 MOD,SW,RXO,EZCD,10.3,DE,FI
1 421-1365 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit, English
1 421-1582 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback
1 421-2000 Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB
1 430-2600 Integrated 10/100 Network Card
1 430-3580 Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGNHalf Mini Card w/ My WiFi

Thanks again...

 

Hey Dell sent me a normal size remote, not the express card slot sized one and I cant figure out how to make the one from my M1530 work with me 1640 replacement, what should i tell Dell?

 

Hit them up on chat and tell them to send you the right one.

Any ideas about my laptop or its battery, yet?

 

Yea, chat them (as that's much easier) and tell them to send you the express card slot remote. It's small and black, with a green windows media center symbol, and it exists (don't let them tell you it doesn't). Try reinstalling your infrared sensors drivers (CIR...something) from the dell drivers site. My dell remote did not work until I did that.

Congrats on the replacement. You got a 4670 as well .

Now, how long have you been waiting? If you read through this thread, you'll see that the wait times varied greatly for everyone. Some waited 2-4 weeks, while some (like myself) waited 3 days. So honestly the time it takes depends on Dell. I suggest chatting them (or calling) and requesting for a status update on your replacement system. Tell them you need it urgently so hopefully they can move it to Next Business Day for you or they can e-mail the "concerned" department to expedite your replacement (ask for the latter, hopefully the rep kindly gives you the former ). Being stern helps too, yet no rudeness.

As for the battery I'm not sure Dell is required to give you that. You bought it, but they're only obligated to match or better your system specs as of purchase (or as per any changes made to the system by Dell themselves afterward). However, it is worth a try. Tell them that you have two batteries for your XPS M1530 as of current and this replacement has rendered the second one you bought useless. If you actually bought the second battery from Dell, give them the order number from that (if they ask) so they can confirm it. Hopefully that works.

 

Indeed. =P

Sunday will mark the start of my 8th week of waiting for it... so almost two months. Dell did say they'd send me a new system instead of a refurbished, and also moved me up to an ATI 4670 for free, but that's still a looong time.

I talked to a Dell rep yesterday about the battery. After searching for 45 minutes for an order number (from the previous owner,) we couldn't find one. Apparently, the old owner got it as a warranty replacement (which is odd, because the old one works just fine.)

Anyway, I might try again when I actually get the system. It's just odd that it's been delayed this long, don't you think?

 

Wow 8 weeks... that is completely unacceptable... Dell support has us hostage and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

I have owned nothing but dell's and apple's(my wife is a graphic artist) for the past 14ish years, and up to the past year or so, I would say their support was comparable... but then dell started goign downhill fast... it really is a shame. Hopefully they can turn this around over time.