Just ordered a XPS M1330 w/ NVIDIA 8400M; Should I Cancel Order?

So I just ordered a XPS M1330 with NVIDIA 8400M card from Dell.com yesterday only to find out about the overheating problems today. The Dell online Live Chat personnel reassured me that the overheating problem has been resolved, but I'm still not sure. Now, from googling this issue, I've found out that even "repaired" M1330's seem to have their fan on and noisy all the time.

-With all of that now known, do you all suggest that I cancel the order?
-Would changing the order and getting rid of the NVIDIA card in exchange for the integrated card prevent these problems?
-Are integrated graphics enough to handle Vista (with 4GB of RAM)?

I'm hoping people who ordered a M1330 in the last month or so could chime in to see if these matters really have been resolved. And I know that's a lot of questions so thanks in advance!

 

Has not been resolved.
The issue is not something that feasibly can be resolved, period.
Either get the Intel graphics or cancel the order (personally I'd cancel and get the Lenovo Ideapad U330 instead).

 

I believe the fan on was related to a bios version, so if you have that version of the bios it will always be on. Can't comment on whether the problem still exists but I'd be somewhat surprised if it did since it seems easy to change production to use a different solder.

It will be hard for new owners to tell. I had an HP DV2500t that failed for this reason and it took 13 months, and 1 day it was dead.

 

One of my other concerns (other than the obvious overheating/reliability issues), is whether I even need a dedicated graphics card to run Windows Vista smoothly (and potentially Windows 7 whenever it is final-released)?

Is the integrated Intel graphics enough, and does it cause any known overheating/fan-always-on problems?

And as for operation, how much RAM should I get to be able to run Vista/Win7 smoothly?

 

Why would you need a dedicated card to run Vista smoothly? Aero isnt really taxing. The people that complain that it is are using Legacy systems from back in the day. People run Vista on the X3100 which is MUCH weaker than the 8400m

The newer Intel IGPs are more than enough to handle stuff like Vista and its Aero effects.

As for the m1330. I never liked Dell anyway, but how much did you pay for it? Im sure you could get the Sager NP7350 with better specs.

 

I had a tech come out and replace my mobo,led, and palm rest. The new mobo is a better chipset and the video card is soildered on differently. He said this would fix the nvidia issue. I've been running it for a week,and the laptop is running a lot cooler. I think they finally fixed the issue. I have 3 more years warrenty on it so I am ok.

 

Well, I do some video-editing on my computer on occasion (mainly just home video things like adding titles, rearranging scenes, nothing "big"), and was told (by the Dell chat people) I would need a dedicated card for that. I paid about $1300 for the XPS, but I'm starting to have second thoughts. I originally bought this b/c of good word of mouth from some people I knew.

|EDIT| Here are some of the specs (please let me know if there are any known issues with any of those. thank you)
Intel C2D T8300(2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache)
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
13.3 Inch Wide Screen WXGA TL WLED Backlit LCD with VGA Camera
128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
500GB 7200RPM Free Fall SensorSeagate Hard Drive

 

I'd recommend 4GB of RAM. Its so cheap nowadays at newegg.com, there's really no reason not to put 4GB of RAM in if you are upgrading.

My M1330 runs fine and works fine. No overheating issues here. I have the newest mobo revision A06 as well with the 8400M.

 

Did you buy your M1330 recently (anytime after the overheating issue was supposedly "resolved")? I mainly want to know that b/c if you did buy it relatively recently, then it's likely Dell did change up some things.

 

Yes it is new, and A06 is the newest motherboard revision and thats what all new M1330s will ship with. That's why mine is working fine and does not suffer from any other overheating issues.

 

Well Intel Graphics Sucks xD So i recommend kepping the M1330

 

cancel the order and get something else

Macbook
Studio XPS 13
Lenovo U330

the m1330 is an older generation machine... not worth getting

 

Mine's pretty new and working great, but only after doing the copper mod (which makes a huge, huge difference). My M1330 is probably the best laptop I've ever owned at this point.

However, if you don't plan on doing the mod your options are to either accept the prospect of it overheating and dying (and going through the BS many M1330 owners on this forum have had to go through) or to not do anything that will tax the video card too much. Both options suck, so if you're not planning to do the mod, cancel the order and look for something else.

 

Oh god don't get me started on Sager, that pile of is worse than the M1330.

I had a Sager and will never own one again. 3 mobo replacements, 2 fan deaths on top, 1 graphics card crap out. That was within 2 years of owning it. NP4880 I believe was the model number. I

 

After reading up on this copper mod, am I led to believe that ALL m1330 have this (quoted from the copper mod thread) inadequate Thermal Cooling Assembly. It uses a Thermal Cooling Pad between the GPU and the GPU Thermal Cooling Assembly instead of a direct contact between the two with a Thermal Compound.? So even buying a M1330 now, wouldn't guarantee that this "inadequate Thermal Cooling Assembly" would be corrected? I'm feeling worse and worse about this purchase. Does anyone know if I can cancel my order now (it's been a day) and still get a full refund?

 

I am the creator of the copper mod, and I am trying to give you some insight on this.

The thermal issue is a concern, but it's NOT the biggest concern. The goal of the copper mod was to improve a really lame cooling system to allow for games to be played on the M1330's 8400M GS. Without the mod, temperatures during gaming go up too high to sustain a decent framerate, and it causes damage to your GPU.
HOWEVER
This is not the only problem! Nvidia G82 (8400M GS) and G84 GPU dies are all faulty and destined to fail over a period of regular, standard warm up/cool down cycles. This is why we see 8400 and 8600 GPUs failing in high numbers even when the cooling isn't an issue. Couple that GPU with the poor thermal design of the M1330 and you've got a DISASTER, as seen by the grotesque number of M1330 motherboard failures.

You can still cancel your order and get a refund. Trust me... do it. At the very least... get the Intel GMA X3100 - it will do plenty for what you need (video editing does not require more than the GMA X3100, and it will run Aero, or any desktop for that matter, with no issue). The GMA X3100 is approximately 75% as powerful as the 8400M GS, is not faulty, and outputs much less heat while using much less power. No brainer man!

 

You make a very good point, and I have to admit, this was a rather impulsive purchase on my part. I haven't bought a new computer in about 4 years, so I kinda took some friends' suggestions about the M1330 and ran with it. I will sleep on it, but I am leaning towards canceling the order and doing some proper laptop research next time. On that note, is there a way I can cancel my order online, or do I have to call Dell to do it?

 

yeah,cancel. the gpu is really old now and you could get something better. but you might not care about the gpu that much and want the smallness and thiness of the 13',if thats the case then keep it

 

I have a M1530 whose design reportedly has similar heating issues. It is less than a month old and has not been modified from stock.

After putting the device through several GPU intensive gaming sessions ranging as long as 5 hours, I was not able to stress the device to a dangerous state.

I generally put my computer hardware through a rigorous life, and so far I have not seen signs that the device will fail as a result.

 

The size of the M1330 is really appealing, and that might be one of the things that makes me reconsider it. However, even without the NVIDIA card, it appears (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the M1330 still might have some minor hi-temperature "problems" due to its design, along with build-quality issues and what not. Granted, I know that kind of variance is bound to happen with that much volume, but I think I will shop around. I think I will just cancel this current order and do some real research. If I happen to end up coming back to the M1330, then that's alright, I won't have any regrets doing the run-around, because as it is right now, I'm just not comfortable with the purchase. Thanks to everyone for their help!

 

There are lots of laptops about the same size which will be built on newer technology and not have some of the other numerous build quality issues that the M1330 has.
Like I said, Lenovo U330 would be my choice, but there are many available. I know Asus has something too, I would look at that.

 

Yeah, I see that now. I simply rushed things this time around. Thanks, you've been a big help. I actually started a proper "what laptop should I buy?" thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=351871, so I'd appreciate any other suggestions you all have.

 

The other thing you need to remember is that not that many people post
'good' experiences with their laptops here because they are looking for help to a problem. So the ratio of people happy to unhappy is very skewed in comparison. Just remember that before you take everybody else's problems and think that you are going to encounter all of them.

If I trusted everything I read on these forum's about people's problems with Dell or HP, I woulnd't want to purchase one either....

 

Thank you for the advice. Despite the "skewed reporting" angle of these forums, the one thing that I realized from all these posts was that I simply did not do my research. I still like the look &specs of the M1330 (and it's still under consideration), but I realize now that there are so many other options (and concerns) to look at too. I would still appreciate people posting in this thread and giving their opinions b/c it helps me get a better picture of what I'm potentially in for.