M1330 GPU Fail, Any Suggestions?

Well the GPU on my M1330 finally gave way tonight. (At least that is what believe is causing the colored lines anyway.) My warrenty expired last summer, but as I recall Dell extend the warrenty on the GPU 12 months past the orginal warrenty. I plan on giving tech support a ring tomorrow (or Monday, I'm not sure how much luck I'd have over the weekend). Any tips from those who have been through this? What should I expect? Motherboard replacement? Refurb replacement? Any input would be welcome. Thanks.

 

Hey!

Hop on "chat" you will most likely get better luck regarding the GPU issue. At least others with the 1530 (including myself have). I just got a 1640 replacement for the 1530 as a result of a failed GPU.

This is your first GPU fail? They maybe want to replace the Mobo...or just replace the entire unit based on all the GPU issues w/the 1330/1530, and that they are no longer making the lappys..and the cost factor to fix/repair.

Dell XPS Chat Support is open on Saturdays..so just give it a whirl, and see what happens! Advise that you the extended 1 year on the GPU, and wanted to know how they are handing this since yours has a fail.

Good luck! *fingers crossed for yah*


Cin...

 

Thanks Cin. I was thinking about the chat last night but didn't have a computer handy to check it out. Oddly enough I got my M1330 working again this morning. I don't expect it to last long though.

 

It started up! Woah..lucky! ....Get on Chat really quick if you can...Or, call them up? Do you have their phone number for XPS Support?

Here is the number I always use: 1-800-232-8544 or 1-800-624-9896

Cin...

 

Yeah, I pulled the battery out and that got it going. As soon as it did something the least bit graphic intense (it went to screen saver) it froze up and started flashing again.

I got to another computer so I'll probably just use chat support once I get all my information like service number rounded up. Thanks for your help Cin.

 

If you uninstall the graphics driver you might get to use it for a bit longer since the CPU would be doing the graphics work.

 

No problem...

Also, I pulled the information on the Extended GPU Warranty for you!

Here is LINKY

Cin...

 

Yep, I looked that up this morning. Thanks not I have quick link to it.

I tried the chat but it disconnected me just after getting started. Now I can't even get it to load, I just sever errors. I'm not sure if this is my internet or they're sever. I guess I'll just have to call.

 

Sometimes it's their server issue. I have had it happen many times..:ack:
It's PAI. I had it happen at work on my lunch hour....And, then when it was time to go back to work..suddenly "chat" decided to work for me!

*crosses fingers* for you on the phone call! I hope you have the best results!



Cin..

 

Well I finally got the chat working and after a long wait Dell seems to have no record of my service tag. I am rather perplexed as to how my laptop can't exist. It seems my next step is to contact the person who sold it to me and see if they have a order number. Somehow I don't think this is going to end well.

 

Just an update on how things are going with my M1330.

After having no luck chatting online with Dell I contacted Stefanie at Dell Outlet and asked her if she could look into why Dell seemed to be unable to find my service tag. After a while she did manage to find it and informed me that the ownership had not been transferred to me. I thought I had taken care of that shortly after I bought my M1330, but apparently not.

I submitted the Ownership Transfer form and set back and waited . . . and waited . . . and waited. Sense I could not complete the transfer from the laptop being transferred as it will no longer boot Dell claims that ownership transfers may take up to 15 days to process. After waiting 15 days and getting no confirmation email I contacted Stefanie again and she looked into it and informed me that the ownership had been transferred to me and did not know why I never received an email.

So today tried chatting with Dell online again. This time they seemed to have no trouble with the service tag thankfully. The only real problem I had this time was that Dell was claiming I had a Intel GPU not a nVidia GPU so my laptop would not be covered by the extended warranty on nVidia cards. After reassuring them I do have a nVidia card not an Intel card they called me up and arranged to have me ship the laptop in for repair.

So here I am nearly four weeks later and finally hopeful getting something done. I must say I have rather mixed feeling when it comes to Dell's tech support. On the one hand six weeks (it will take two weeks to have it repaired) to get a laptop repaired is ridiculous. On the other hand at least Dell is going fix it even though it is no longer under warranty. One thing I am sure though is that Stefanie is the bomb! She is why I am such a avid Dell Outlet supporter.

P.S. I am so sick of Dell and nVidia problems. Sorry to be adding to the turmoil.

 

Unfortuatly after they fix it the problems will probably come soon after... it took them about 3 times till I finally was issued a replacement laptop. Hopefully they will just issue you the replacement but i honestly highly doubt that this is going to be the case. Send unresolved issues an email regarding the inconvenience that this is causing you etc if it isn't resolved...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=460908

I posted the email I wrote to dell if this helps you at all.

 

Yeah, I know. I am just hoping that it will fail sooner rather than later so it will be covered by the extended warranty. (I am still covered till mid June.) Even if I got them to replace it I am not sure what they would replace it with sense the SXPS 13 is not around right now. Personally, I would just happy if they would put a Intel board in there sense I honestly do not need the power of the nVidia.

 

Maybe you can request that... but I do foresee a problem with that because of corporate policy, blah blah... the more games you play on it the more likely it is to fail, and that is in no way abusing the product, you are just using it how it was meant to be used.

 

That's why I didn't even bother requesting a Intel GPU. I just did not want to deal with it. At this point I just happy that something is finally being done. Next time it fails I will probably be a little more demanding.

Gaming is a good suggestion--except that I do not play games. That may be the saddest part of this whole ordeal, I never once stressed the GPU and it still failed. I hoped as long I was only using it for web/email/office/etc. it would be fine. I was clearly wrong. I guess maybe now would be a good time to take up gaming eh?

 

They made you send it in instead of sending a tech to you?

 

Yes, I was little surprised at that sense I had a on-site warranty, but it expired last June. So I guess the extended nVidia warranty does not cover on site service.

 

Looking for opinions here:

The tech support rep asked me while I was chatting with about getting my M1330 repaired early this week if I wanted to extend my warranty. I told I did not at present but maybe later. Out of curiosity I decided to look it up online and see what Dell would charge me for warranty extension. Here are a few of the options:

There are of course other options like extended battery warranty and night and weekend service, but those give you the idea of price.

So my question is, is it worth it to extend my (out of warranty) M1330 warranty? If so, for how long? Should I get complete care? Or should I just invest my money in a new laptop without a faulty video card?

One other question I have would be is whether Dell would extend the nVidia warranty one after the extend warranty ends? If so would it be worth to wait till before my nVidia warranty is up and then renew my warranty with the cheapest option (the price continue to go down between and then) to make them extend the nVidia warranty?

 

thats not a bad price for warranty extension. i was told by the rep that it costs me $140 for one yr warranty extension (full coverage).
i have 12 months warranty extension for the motherboard and GPU after replacement

 

Out of curiosity do know how long that one year extension would cover? Notice that that "one year" warranty actually covers less than four months. If it was a full year then $40/4 = $10 a month x 12 months = $120 for a year. Not that big of a difference from $140.

Thanks for the reply. I am think I may wait the warranty drops down real low and then extend it for a month or whatever then claim the one year extension on the GPU after warranty. But I am not doing anything until they repair my M1330 first. (I am still waiting for the shipping box. They are telling me it has been delayed to do weather. Sigh. That means another week without my laptop. )

 

Just to wrap things up, I got my M1330 back today. Kind of surprised me to find it when I got home from school today. Only this morning did I get notification of its shipment and only yesterday of its arrival (at the depot). Dell's tech support is rather a mixed bag. The whole ordeal took just over four weeks. But once Dell committed to repairing it things went smoothly and quickly (shipped notebook on Wednesday). And despite not being able to understand their Indian tech support they were very friendly and nice. All in all I would buy another Dell. I am not sure I will buy another nVidia GPU again however. Only real gripe is that didn't put any tape on the box when sending it back. I mean really? Anyone could just open it up and take the laptop out!

 

Glad it got back to you safely, despite the box not being taped!

How is it running for you thus far?


Cin...

 

Good so far. I did not realize how much it slowed down till now. I was having serious delays when viewing high res pictures in the weeks before the GPU died. I had just chalked it up my 2 GB of RAM, but now it quite speedy. Seems the GPU had been slowing down for awhile and I just did not realize it.

Feels so weird typing on my M1330 after spending the past few weeks on my C600. The keyboards about the same but boy is there a difference when you actually use them! I will defiantly be going for a business notebook next time!

 

A strange thought just hit me. I installed Ubuntu shortly before my GPU died. I uninstalled shortly as the fan ran on high constantly. I just figured it was a driver issue and did not really want to mess with it so just went back to Windows. But even in Windows there after it seemed like the fan ran more than had before. Seems unlikely the two are related, but I wonder if Ubuntu might have trigged the over heating? Probably not, but just clicked that was when video started acting a little strange.

Another note, on closer inspection of my laptop I noticed there is a little scratch on the top. It is small (I thought it was dust at first) but still a little annoying.