*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

Given the current state of M1730 system replacement issues (both in the US and abroad) as well as the issues surrounding the GPU replacements (delayed availability, failure rate, etc.), we are creating this thread specifically for posts of this nature.

The XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge is bogged down with posts which fall into this realm and other owners who are not having issues are having a difficult time sorting through all of the posts. Going forward, any posts in the XPS M1730 OL relating to these issues will be removed.

Initially, I was going to create this thread in the Dell CS forum, however I feel it needs to remain in the XPS arena.

Also, please remember the forum rules when posting. Specifically,

Thanks everyone.


Notes which may help -

Dell provides an option on their main site to assist in escalating a given issue which is not being resolved through normal tech support channels.

Most of the Dell websites have a link at the bottom of the main page. For the US, UK and Malaysia sites, its listed as 'Unresolved Issues'. If you are in another region, check your Dell website for your specific country - some sites do not have this feature/link.

• US based customers - Unresolved Issues
  
  
• UK based customers - Unresolved Issues
  
  
• Malaysia based customers - Unresolved Issues

When using these links, you will be greeted with two options:

1. Customer Service (this is defined by Dell as 'Missing, damaged or incorrect orders, Lead time issues or Refund or exchange problems')

2. Technical Support (this is defined by Dell as 'Products not functioning and Operating System problems')

When filling out the related webform, be sure to provide your case#. Your case# is generated when you first contact Dell Technical Support for assistance. Recap the situation and be polite. Provide your contact info and request a follow up.

NOTE: You need to contact Technical Support and work with the Tech Support Rep prior to using the Unresolved Issues link. Dell will not accept straight contact via this link without first reporting the issue to tech support and allowing them a chance to resolve it. Again, you must contact tech support first. Unresolved Issues should only be used if you are faced with a brick wall and are not receiving any response to your requests for assistance.

 

Fair enuff.

For anyone new to the 1730 dramas. Have a read of this and place a vote.

Dell Ideastorm

Congrat's Hankaaron. It's a shame that you had to pursue it so hard.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/wodstlk/temp-1.jpg

ha ha, these are the 8700's that dell swapped out for my 8800's... without permission...

 

Guys, please use thumbnail previews when linking to images. More info can be found here.

Thanks.

 

Hank how long did it take for them to confirm they were sending an m17x? I was advised after they tried sneaking an 8700 card and t9600 processor in on me for my x9000 and 8800 cards (10/07/2009) That I would get nothing less then those and an exchange system was requested yet here I am 13 days later and no confirmation of any specs and None of them can tell me if I am infact getting an upgrade. I have been using my wifes VAIO (complete crap) since 09/19/2009, I miss my beast, this sucks.

 

So what are you going to do about that? (I would be hopping mad!)

 

any idea as to the waiting period for a replacement 8800M GTX SLi from the UK area?

 

My guestimate to that would be never, They are not getting those cards anymore.

 

i`m now in my 8th week of waiting and they wont/cant even give me a date

 

So after doing an executive email carpet bomb like I previously mentioned and noting that I would forward my email to Consumerist.com, I got a call from their corporate executive response team.

After a quick one-day investigation of options, they notified me I'd be getting a system upgrade (vs. replacement) from the 1730 to the m17x.

It appears like everything is more or less upgraded but I'm pasting the specs below which is a miracle given what I've heard from others on here, but I want to doublecheck... are there any components that are being downgraded?

Current XPS M1730 Config

• Core 2 Extreme X9000 (2.8Ghz, 800Mhz FSB 6M Cache)
• 4GB DDR2 667 MHz 2Dimm
• 17" WUXGA display (max res 1080p)
• Dual 1GB Nvidia 8800M GTX cards in SLI config
• 200GB 7200 RPM SATA drive w/ free fall sensor
• Vista 32-bit Home Premium
• 8X DVD+- RW
• AGEIA PhysX Card

Proposed m17x Upgrade Config

• Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8Ghz, 1066Mhz FSB 6M Cache)
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2Dimm
• 17" WUXGA display (max res 1080p)
• Dual 1GB Nvidia 280M GTX cards in SLI Config
• 250GB 7200 RPM drive w/ free fall sensor
• Vista 64-bit Home Premium and a Windows 7 upgrade coupon

It looks like a pretty nice upgrade to me...but I have two concerns. First, do the 280M cards have built in PhysX accelerators? Because the new config does not have a physx card listed.

Second, I assume all alienware dvd burners are at LEAST 8x by now but their site doesn't list the speed... can anybody confirm?

Lastly, does anybody know if the m17x with the 280m cards solve the heat issue that caused me to get this replacement in the first place?

I'm pretty psyched about this and all I'm going to push for in addition is the respawn image disc and an extra battery which my current system has.

 

Accept nothing less than the current Extreme Edition CPU. The T9600 is not an Extreme Edition CPU, you paid for Extreme, they should give you Extreme.

The 280M uses the standard software implementation of PhysX. It uses the GPUs to do the physics processing rather than the dedicated PhysX chips.

 

I'm really pretty sure the M1730 didn't have a designated PhysX card, I think it was just 'cheating' the specs and considering the SLi cards as a designated PhysX card.

 

Well, I'm pushing for a couple extras like the respawn disc (my 1730 came w/ an image restore disc) and an extra battery (I purchased one for the 1730 that I'm assuming will be rendered useless in the m17x).

If I get those, I'll consider pushing for Extreme. But let me ask you an additional question...

Realistically, if I didn't overclock my X9000 at all (which to my understanding is the only real benefit of the extreme processor), and don't plan on OCing the new machine, would the T9600 be an upgrade in terms of base speed? The tests I saw show it running slightly faster due to the faster FSB.

I just don't know if its worth pushing for since I don't think they'll add a component that is listed at $800 more than the T9600. I just don't think its realistic to ask for that unless there is something more than the overclocking that would be missing.

 

Glad to hear some are starting to get results.

I'll ring up Dell again tomorrow and if they start giving me the same old BS I'll take it further. I'm not waiting until Hell freezes over for a non-existent replacement.

 

If you never overclocked your 2.8ghz X9000 then yes, this will give you equal or better prformance. UP to you if you want to push for an extreme quad core (which is double your previous spec) processor or not. But, the X9000 is using an 800mhz FSB - this one has 1066. This with DDR3 Ram = Upgrade.

Technically they could also argue that you can still overclock via M17x Bios the T9600

 

Cool. I don't plan on overclocking this so all in all, this sounds like a pretty decent upgrade and worth the hassle of having to transfer all my .

I need to go through and make a comprehensive list of all my applications like Photoshop and Dreamweaver and such so I can *ahem* "reacquire them."

Do you know if the overheating issue with the graphics cards are resolved in the m17x?

 

so, last week my raid HD failed and yesterday my 8800M GTX card died. It seems as if replacement cards are in short supply( i am in South Africa and we get parts from UK). How do i push for the M17 upgrade and what can i negotiate for given the fact that i bought a fully specced M1730 14 months ago- X9000 CPU, Dual 8800's, 4Gb ram, PPU,400Gb Raid HD's,BluRay.

Come chaps, share your wisdom please and Haltingpoint, please let me know how to "carpetbomb"...

 

Nope, it had a dedicated PhysX card.

 

If you didn't plan to OC your X9000, why did you buy it?

 

For the 5 or so games that actually use it

I actually asked about whether the 280m cards have it incorporated. I'm still uncertain because everything I see online says they "support PhysX" but I'm not sure if that means they'll support a dedicated PhysX card, or they function in the same manner as one.

In terms of the carpet bomb, all that I mean by that is I emailed a ton of high-level Dell execs and their executive support address and told them I was sending a copy of the email to Consumerist.com which is a really respected consumer advocate site.

You can get the email addresses for Dell Executives in this article. Be sure to read ALL the comments as some addresses are old and someone mentions the executive support address which is not listed there.

The reality check here is that the Corporate Response team or w/e it is called is based on India (surprise) and their only purpose is to make your complaint go away as quickly and quietly as possible. I tried to get him to address the core issue, which was the faulty fan settings that cause the cards to have severe heat fluctuations and fail, and the guy kept talking over me about the system replacement.

When prompted for a suitable resolution say your preference would be to have an upgraded Alienware system since you don't want another 8800m card that is going to die on you. Make sure they email you specs for your approval prior to shipping the new system.

Can't guarantee you'll get it, but all this has proven is the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you are persistent, informed about your issue and know how to demand satisfaction, you will get what you want.

 

ok, i understand you don't plan to oc your cpu, but they have to give you an extreme cpu. what they are offering is a distinct downgrade and they are screwing you imho. dell likes to get over all they can and if i where you i would accept anything less than an extreme cpu, they cant argue with the like for like replacement

i just dont like to see dell do this kind of crap. they know what they are doing and it pisses me off...

 

It helps too if they've put you through a three ring circus to get anywhere. Below is the exact email I sent and the addresses I used. A couple of them bounced I think but they got through to the respective people's assistants.

 

I know, I sent an email basically saying that I noticed the CPU he specced wasn't an extreme processor and my current one is "which allows me to easily OC it among other things."

What I want to avoid though is Dell just saying "this isn't worth out time or money, we'll just refund you for what your current system would be worth now, have a nice day." I'm concerned pushing for a processor that is $800 more would push them over the edge. But we'll see what he says.

Can you guys tell me what the Extreme chips offer that non-Extreme ones do not? AFAIK its only the OCing.

 

Very helpful, thanks for quoting your email.

Wonder what would happen if they notice I've been waiting for over 5 weeks with no help.

 

@Haltingpoint. Stick to your rights or it will give them ammo to screw someone else over. You have suffered from a design problem and the rig isn't working so it is not a pro rata refund. You paid for a computer to work not to die in 18months.

 

it is just overclockable

but, if you want just get what they are offering and after you get it complain and have them upgrade it then.

 

Who's had a battery replaced under warranty and what hoops did you have to jump thru?

 

Hello to all in here don't know if any of you remember me from the other forum,

Well after talking with dell reps several times I found out my tech team was in the Philippines rather than India, and as is the case with the rest of you I was stonewalled for the most part.

Save ONE hero of an individual who was the first guy I talked to when one of my vid cards died. I swear this guy must have taken it upon himself to do anything he could to help me out.
I spoke with him initially, every case after was with a script reading individual, but a few tried their best to help me out but never went so far as to offer the m17x, I get the initial guy again after a month and HE was shocked.
And now all I can do is wait.

As I have a dispatch order for a m17x now and the specs are definitely up to my standards, i would have wanted a stronger processor but its identical to the one i have so i'm not going to push that issue.

He was also the only one who told me the approx dates that they had on file and that most likely these dates were incorrect cuz they were just estimates.

I stuck to my guns (as so many of you emphasized) and refused the 1640 flat out, and I would have gladly taken a replacement vid card if they could get it to me in a decent amount of time
(1-3 weeks... yes i'm very patient) BUT they could not so many many many 1-2 hour long phone calls later =

Definitely stick to your guns and this community is awesome, partly thanks to your support I did not cave for some weaker offer.

As for battery replacement, I had mine die before the 1 year manufacturer warranty expired. First phone call was a bust as the lady didn't even log it, called back the next day and had it shipped to me overnight so other than a clown not recording the case in the first place, once the case was made the battery showed up quickly.

 

Great news Niazu.

I'm after what level of failure they will accept. My battery can only run a dvd for 40mins now - it was originally 65mins. Did Dell ask for any test results or diagnostics? Did u just ring up and say it's dead give me new one? Did they want the old one back?

 

They do want the old one back and they will ask you to test it.

In my case tho the battery went bully up and would hold no charge whatsoever so it was easy as "No matter what you ask me to do this thing is just a brick now"

To which the response was "Oh, well let me get you the dispatch number"

 

After a 30 minute call to support and getting the same wait crap, I spoke to a manager, and I now have to wait for a callback.

Got some stuff about how Dell are apparently repairing broken 8800M cards (What? The units are defective enough already... who repairs something like a GPU instead of trashing it?), and started pushing for a replacement machine after mentioning the long wait (almost 6 weeks now), and after hearing about how others were getting this issue resolved.

I'll wait and see how this unfolds.

 

As I partially expected, I was offered a severe downgrade on the graphics cards like others have mentioned.

Obviously like everyone else, I said this was unacceptable.

Still, at least they called back which is something.

 

Another interesting call; I was instead offered an inferior replacement system, the option of a refund, or paying the difference for an upgraded system; I refused all three.

The manager was quite friendly and polite, but refused to upgrade my system to an Alienware for free and said there was nothing further he could do.

After I explained that some people were getting upgraded systems, and clearly there must be some people with the authority to give away these systems (because people are getting them), he agreed to escalate it to T3 support.

 

Well, they're not willing to bend on the CPU...and that's understandable. However now I'm getting mixed reports on the graphics cards. I googled the part number (320-0762 or NB10E-GTX1...the specs had both listed) and I can't tell whether that is the 280m or the 260m cards.

The Dell rep told me it was the 260's and wouldn't upgrade me to the 280's, but I just called Alienware and they told me it was the 280's....anybody able to shed some light?

 

I'm not sure if T3 Support is what I was dealing with but I believe it is different from the Corporate Support. As in totally different powers to get things done.

Send the executive email carpet bomb and you will likely be contacted by their Corporate Support Resolution or w/e the hell it is. They are the ones with the ability to give you an M17X.

Unfortunately, without any other real "issues" to justify the email carpet bomb, they may not take care of you. I mean, I'm now stuck without a usable business machine which is killing me and I had a trip ruined because I planned it based on the lie the supervisor told me. I also passed the email to Consumerist.com.

So that might be why I got the 17x replacement.

 

I'll see what T3 has the ability to do. I do know that some UK customers are getting upgraded at least, so clearly someone in Dell UK has the ability to authorise M17x replacements, but I'm not quite so sure my email would have the same impact on Dell's execs, which I presume are mostly from the US.

I haven't had a trip ruined, but I have been waiting for a resolution on this for almost 6 weeks now, and certainly it has impaired my ability to use the machine for business purposes; I also do web and graphics work and it was a business purchase. So I can play that card if needed.

 

I emailed any executive I could get an email address for. Didn't matter if they were in China, South Africa, you name it.

Also, bring up the impact on your business sooner rather than later. Make sure they put that in the notes and then call back to confirm with another rep what the notes say to make sure it is logged.

 

Thanks for the good advice Haltingpoint. Will try if i get no joy from the case manager

 

a quick update It is now 2 months that i have been without my laptop. Dell customer resolutions are saying that because i refused a lesser spec replacement i will just have to wait for a repair with no time frame as to when it will be repaired they also say i can`t have a refund or replacement . This is becomming a joke

 

This is funny. Even though I'm supposed to be getting a system replacement, I got a call yesterday telling me that the replacement part I'm supposed to be getting (the 9800M GTX cards) were on backorder (again) and that I would be contacted when they arrive. I'm not surprised that I got this call when I wasn't supposed to, but the interesting thing here is that they provided absolutely no date for when the cards were supposed to arrive--they previously said 10/5, 10/15, etc.

So later in the day I called Dell once again wondering what's up with my system replacement, since I haven't heard anything from them in 9 days. They told me initially that they were trying to find me a "refurbished" M1730 for my replacement but they could not find one. He put me on hold numerous times and said he talked to his supervisor about escalating my replacement. He then told me that they would now be trying to find me a new M1730 with those specs in the next couple of days. I then mentioned that call I got, wondering how they could find me an M1730 when they don't even have the graphics cards for it. And then he told me that yes, the M1730 is out of production and they are having major issues with finding replacement graphics cards. He said if they didn't find me an M1730 in the next few days that I would be getting an Alienware M17x. Wow, that's the first time that Dell has mentioned it by name. They said that they would continue to keep me posted and actually said they would call me back today or Monday with additional info.

 

Glad to hear you're getting somewhere.

Still no call from T3 yet, looks like I'll have to wait for Monday.

The idea of a refurbished system is laughable; if they had the spare parts, they'd already be using them. They're searching for a non-existent needle in a giant haystack!

 

Funny you say this, I had a similar situation, I'm getting a m17x replacment, and it shows up on monday, last week I had my 1730 sent back repaired, and the video card upgraded from an 8800 to a 9800.. So they fixed it even though the laptop is getting exchanged. I suspect the people on the phone handling the exchange have no contact with the parts / repair dept.

 

This is accurate and what was explained to me when I questioned the ridiculousness of the fact that they had no way to give an accurate estimate as to when the backlog of parts would arrive. Apparently the automated system just keeps updating the status to push it back a day and that's all the reps have access to unless someone from parts/repair specifically notes something else.

 

I have, after several days of being shunted around followed haltingpoints advice and emailed as many people as i could. A few bounced but i will now wait and see..will keep you updated. The executive i spoke to at dell has admitted that they have a problem with no real solution in sight and said that i must wait until dell figures i have waited long enough to warrant a replacement...but i use my XPS extensively in my job and cannot afford 3-4 months without it

 

evryone who is having problems just letter bomb dell send the emails more then once maybe 4-5 times.

 

Do NOT do this. That is a fantastic way to be labeled as a 13-year old who they can safely block/ignore.

Make sure your email is well written, as concise as possible while still mentioning all of the critical reasons for why they need to get this taken care of ASAP, and then send it ONCE.

Spamming them will get you nowhere except put on their email blacklist.

Also, be advised that the executive email trick is likely losing effectiveness over time due to the increased amount of people doing it. They've already outsourced the resolution team for issues escalated for these matters so unless your case is pretty unique (like I had a trip ruined because supervisors lied to me and my business is at a standstill until this is fixed) you probably won't get far.

 

a bit off topic but I had similar issues with dell but mine was regarding a studio 1535 - business problems I was told that i was going to get a refurbished laptop to replace my studio after lots of lies by supervisors as well as techs (laptop was supposedly approved 4 different time 8/18, 8/28, 9/02 and finally 9/12 )then finally results got a hold of a decent supervisor who not only told me they would upgrade me to a better laptop, but it would also be new a couple of weeks later received a new Studio XPS 16 persistence helps but the point is make valid cases and annoying people wont get you anywhere closer to your goal

 

Make sure your email is well written, as concise as possible while still mentioning all of the critical reasons for why they need to get this taken care of ASAP, and then send it ONCE.

I agree, let us not give anyone a reason NOT to take this problem seriously

 

For me it was my degree that they are messing with, Comp Sci major and its my only computer.

Don't address it like a child and spam them. You need to be firm, call them and discuss the problem carefully.

Don't cave in and don't let up, fight the hard fight but don't try any shortcuts.

Best I can say is stay strong, it might take longer than you want but we must tread carefully.

 

Yup, don't go ape if you can afford to wait.If you give them a few weeks( and we know there are no GPU on the horison) and still no joy then you will have a much stronger foot to stand on. I use the XPS (also my only PC) to work with patients in my practice so i cannot afford to wait. They need a legit reason to escalate matters