*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

Don't get too focused on the theoretical speed, as many other factors are in play as well.

In real world usage, I get between 50-100% improvement with 260M SLI over my old 8800M GTX SLI.

 

This is what they did with my 1730 I had to send it in to see if they cold repair it then it was returned saying that the computer was unrepaired. I eventually got an Alienware replacement, it sounds like they are replacing yours with the Alienware then you will have to send your old notebook back to Dell they will email you a weighbill to send it back, I didn't send mine in until I received my new one.

 

Well, my M1730 Saga begins with the 3rd hand purchase for $700 from a craigslist seller, Purchased it in August, September 17th my 8700M GT Failed to sucessfully engage SLI anymore, Called dell, discovered that the original Customer was a business, and that the warranty coverage was still in effect til December 2010. Great news, Free Graphics Card replacement, and a Dell tech to install it next business day. Tech shows up, installs new card, powers system on, Card works awesome, 5 min later, while the tech still here, Graphics card gives artifacts, locks system up, and have to force shut down, upon reboot, no video at all, tech reinstalls original card, So i can at least use the Laptop, Next day, same tech returns, replaces motherboard, and graphics card, all goes well until December 3rd, random shutdowns, upon reboot, Gives Error code #M1004, System overheating, Tech shows up friday morning, replaces motherboard, CPU Fan, and Graphics card, Powers system on, and leaves, Upon my return I discover my wireless card, and wireless switch are inactive, called dell, went through the steps, verified all settings correct, and card is present, yet another dispatch for a motherboard created, Monday the 6th, Technician shows up, replaces motherboard, and Graphics card again ? Powers system on, Wireless card works, surfing the web for a half hour and blamo, system shuts down again #M1004 code yet again, Let it cool down, Powered system up, loaded everest ultimate, and just idling on the desktop the logitech lcd shows GPU 1 89C, GPU 2 91C, Called dell back, agreed to create yet another dispatch for another motherboard and another graphics card, or I can send the system into the depot for repair, at this point I relay both of these soloutions are unacceptable.


after many calls back and forth I finally get a small business supervisor who states: "I see here multiple dispatches and technician calls in the last few weeks, I understand your frustration, How does a Alienware M17X Replacement sound?"

Wow, is all I could say, she puts me on hold, and comes back with: "I will contact you on friday with your replacement details"

Well, after some searching around I came to this thread and was terrified, but keeping in mind that this was just this past friday I figured that it would be at least a few weeks before my replacement arrived.

To my suprise I was called this morning again by the same Mgr. and given my tracking numbers, my alienware arrives tommorrow!!


Original Specs

M1730
T7700 2.4 Core2Duo
2 gigs of ram
200 gig 7200 RPM Drive
DVD R/w
3145 ABG Wireless card
8700M GT Sli



Replacement system

Alienware M17X

1 224-5965 Silver Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0818 Intel Core2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-5063 Standard Nameplate
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-0204 McAfee VirusScan Plus - 15-Month Subscription
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0381 RSS Feeds,AW
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
1 421-1400 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

What do you guys think? I think I got a pretty good upgrade, and not a bad purchase for $700 LOL.


For those of you still waiting I have learned, read through this whole thread and use the advice and the information to your advantage, you get further with a lil patience, and politeness, then you do when you call up irate and angry.....just my 2 cents.

 

Ok Huston we have a problems. Deal is dell promised me a replacement pc .Already in works now I get a call from dell saying they have part .Should I have them return part .Should I call Dell to confirm pc is still beig made or just have the part sent back.

 

Remind them that you have had enough techs unsucsessfully try to fix you're problem, which is why they offered the replacement in the first place. Tell them that the difficulty they are having getting parts for the discontinued m1730 leaves you worried about how long it will take them to fix any future problems you might have, and you would feel safer with the m17x.

 

Ok this seems almost to good to be true.Dell said axcept service call .If the pc is fixed I can accept new one or keep old one my choice .They say exchange is alread in progress . I asumme this kills my bargining position but at least i would be able to back up my data.

 

Well looks like everything got all straightened out, and they've basically upgraded all of my components. All it took was an hour on the phone.

So the model listed turned out to be a m17x and it has already been built and they will be shipping it out tomorrow. No real explanation was given for the lack of communication but it sounds like a really inefficient shipping system to send it back to me in western Canada only to go right back to the east.

But I suppose the upgraded specs make it all worth it in the end.

m1730 (July 2008)
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4Ghz, 800Mhz FSB)
4GB DDR2, 667Mhz
17'' WUXGA 1920x1200
200GB 7200rpm HDD
SLI GeForce 8800m GTX

m17x (December 2009)
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
4GB DDR3,1066Mhz
17'' WUXGA 1920x1200
320GB 7200rpm HDD
SLI GeForce 260m GTX

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

Yeah, it's pretty a-typical for them to replace without asking you first. As far as sending the old one to you one last time, the trend these days is to give us an opportunity to have both laptops at once, for data transfer and what-not. Plus it avoids the "we won't send the replacement until the old one arrives" hell that some people have been put through.

 

Gotta say happy with dell support on this one .And learded leason always get the extended warrenty.Would love to get the 280m with new system but think I am being greedy and will be happy with 260m card

 

You have done very well. Excellent news!

But angry? I treated the reps. with a lot of respect. I grew up in such a circle where I've personally witnessed communists that manage to kiss-up to capitalistic democrats without even breaking a sweat, -and- under the backdrop of a pretentious elitist setting. Despite being hot-head by nature, as a parent, my patience has grown ten-fold and no rep. or machine can actually rattle me to that degree where I yell at these people. I am a bigger picture kinda' guy anyway, so if someone will get their ear bitten off, it won't be the mere agent over the phone. Granted I play the hyperbole here and there for the kicks - it's my gimmick. Point is that I gave them months, and I have never once been rude to any of them - very polite. I got a half-decent result. Others who did the same, got worse, and others, got better. All this simply says one thing: Luck of the draw. I think there's a serious misinterpretation of how people behave on this forum; we assume that the same ire goes to the reps. over phone, but that's not true. We behave on the phone, but on here, we moan and complain.

Anyway, I am sure your polite tone helped, but in the bigger picture, these things mean nothing. Truth is that you didn't even have to argue, and you were offered an M17x, which is just amazing because stuff like that rarely ever happens. Do you know that some reps. actually push for an argument? They like to rile up the customer with very little negotiation room, and then simply refuse to back down. Then you have no choice but to argue back, and that usually ends up in the hands of a stubborn agent from escalations. Now you didn't get one of those people, and you didn't even have to go through any motions - you were actually offered the M17x, which many here beg for and still don't receive. There's people who don't even know their XPS machine or the technicals of SLI or VGA cards, and they call up Dell to complain about problems, resulting in a respectable replacement M17x without even an argument. Heh. Luck. Of. Draw.

All I am saying is that sometimes, you just get lucky. You did get lucky. I really hope you don't get offended by this view. I commend your tone, but what you got there was 90% luck, and that's a very conservative estimate on my part, because I am tempted to say 99.99%. Because there's people that have done what you have done, and more, for months, and still got absolutely nothing. We don't just wake up with the natural urge to be angry and nasty, regardless of the chaos theory.

I believe that not even one person on this thread has started off the technical conversation on a rude note with Dell. Why would they? Many of them are hoping to get an upgrade or a solid replacement. It's a bit irrational to assume otherwise.

 

didn't say anyone did, just giving my 2 cents on the situation, When I said I was terrified, I was refering to the number of cancelled orders, Laptops that took forever to ship etc. Was just giving my 2 cents on the situation to anyonelse who might find this thread later. Also I clearly said read all the posts and use the info advice given here and use it to your advantage, by here meaning the entire thread, perhaps read a post slower next time, and maybe you'll understand it.

 

well i decided to pop back in and see how you all are doing in your struggle. mine has taken a few interesting turns since last i was here. Since getting my first m17x i got another replacement due to the name plate being wrong. I only wanted the plate but they said whole machine is on the way. I didnt feel like fighting over it. The second machine arrives identical to the first. i complain they say we are sorry and they setup another one. I get an email saying they found a way to get just the plate ordered and i was happy. They were also upgrading my unit for having me wait. higher end quad core and 6 gb ram now.

they finally get my plate to me and its correct sitting in its little bag. So naturally they had to go and put in dual gtx 260's instead of 280's. so here we go again. just when they figure out the plate problem they start screwing up hardware. i wonder how much money they have wasted on screwing up this much?

 

correction. I just logged in to check the order placed last night and that one got screwed up as well as it has not blu ray burner. So on to replacement #5. its like a game or something. They are trying to find out just how many retarded screw ups can be achieved by a single person. and in some cases making it a team effort to screw up this bad.

 

Let me get your dell tech contact info lol. Most of us have waited more than 2 months and no upgrades like that. I need more ram and bigger harddrive .

Update on my dilema: On my third order now. They finally added the 280's SLI but still have not added the extreme. They said they sent a request to switch them out and and to expidite the process but the third order has not been canceled yet. These is what they are giving me on thist third order:
1 224-5965 Silver Metallic
(Requested this to black like the last two orders)
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
(Didnt have it last but would like the bluray)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
(bigger please)
1 317-0857 Intel Core2 Duo T9800 2.93GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
(Should be extreme!!!)
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
(260 or 280 SLI?)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-5063 Standard Nameplate
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
(so little)
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0381 RSS Feeds,AW
(Whats this?)
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
(whats this?)
1 421-1398 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

items not on this order but that were on the last two were:
1 330-0171 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 410-0178 Microsoft Office 2007 Basic-English
so dell ???

Konohasaint, yes it is like a game. Its like they mess everything up to see what they can get away with and hopefully the customer gives up all the will to keep fighting with them .

 

Pretty sure that's the 280, the 260 doesn't have an X in it's part number.
RSS is refering to the online newsreader that wil show up on the deskrop like a gadget. It is tunes to the alienware news by default.
All alienware computers come with a free copy of Portal now, fun game if you don't already have it. Portal runs on steam, like half life and a bunch of other games you can buy in download form.

 

Hi!

Just got my new "All Powerful" M17X about a 2 weeks ago dell took the m1730 back few days ago but i still have getting calls from relaed my old m1730 gpu issues ???? is the left hand know what the right hand doing? i got my new 2.nd of dec and i just got a call today my laptop will be with me before xmas..???? may i get another one? please.....

 

Ask them to tell you the order information so you can track it on the dell website/phone. Mine just arrived at the fedex center in Nashville this morning, so I should have it by Monday afternoon. Overnight shipping + weekend.

 

Hey Guys,

About a month ago I realised my XPSM1730 had the infamous graphics card problem. They've offered the M17X as a replacement, although I'm not sure if they're trying to cheat me out of some spec. Can you guys help me out and let me know if anything in the spec doesnt seem right? My XPSM1730 spec is the attachment and below is the M17X spec:

Components

1 Power Supply : Alienware 240W AC Adapter

1 AutoMatic Updates : AutoMatic updates - On

1 Avatar : Alienhead 3D

1 Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 370 Card

1 MousePointers : Standard

1 Name Plate Engraving - Generic

1 Power Plan : Balanced

1 TimeZone : (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

1 Window Style : Window Style - Default

1 Wireless : European Dell Wireless 1510 (802.11 n) Half Mini Card

1 Battery : Primary 9-cell 85W/HR LI-ION

1 Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard

1 Power Cord : UK 250V

1 Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel

1 Display : 17in Wide UXGA (1920X1200) - Beyond HD (1200p)

1 Hard Drive : 500GB (2x250GB) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe"(7200RPM) Dual HDD

1 Graphics : SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M

1 Optical Drive : DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write) Drive

1 Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo T9550(2.66GHz,1066MHz,6MB L2 Cache)

Software

1 Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)

1 AntiVirus : McAfee Security Centre 10(30 day subscription)Software MUI

(UK,FR,DE,ES,IT,DK,NL,SE,NO,RU)

1 Software : English Microsoft Office 2007 Home + Student

Service

1 4Yr Premium Warranty Support

1 Base Warranty - 1 Year Hardware Support, Next Business Day

Many Thanks,

Regards

ItsaJoke

P.s. first thing I noted was the missing Bluray RW

 

So, like many others my XPS M1730 died 2 months ago and after a brief but deadly battle Dell South Africa ordered my replacement M17x.Then , after 10 days of tracking it online it disappeared(somewhere in Europe).

Another brief skirmish later they reorder. And again, 12 days later the delivery goes AWOL in the Netherlands. Now, Dell S.A will not reorder until Dell Europe's logistics division can figure out what happened to the 2 laptops.

So, here i sit frustrated beyond belief and unsure as to who to contact in Europe in this regard. Any ideas as to who heads up logistics in Europe?

Also,I have been led to believe that this laptop is only manufactured in China and the US( not Ireland as is usually the case). Is this info correct?

 

Other than the bluray, it's a good replacement. They made the same mistake when they first specced mine but he fixed it in five minutes and then made the order.

 

Well, I'm posting this from my new M17x and all I can say is wow what a beast! Blows the doors off of my old XPS System, with no sweat, Only 2 mistakes with mine, 1 SLI cable popped of in shipping, fixed it myself, and while I was in there applied artic silver to both 280's and the processor, seems alienware got their heat issues sorted finally, even before the artic silver application hottest my GPU's got was 45c at idle, day 2 of artic silver, and allready down to 32c, other thing is they forgot the adapter for the 2nd Hard Drive, no biggie got it overnighted, Other then those 2 flaws, I have to say I love this laptop!

 

Coming back to give you guys waiting for your laptops some more hope, I just got my new laptop in the mail. I was let out of the loop for a long time, even with my calls. Here's the old and new specs.....

XPS1730 -
Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000(2.8GHz, 800Mhz 6M L2 Cache)
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
1GB NVIDIA SLI GeForce 8800M GTX
320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Windows Vista 32bit

M17x -
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU Q9300 @ 2.53GHz
8GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, 2X4G
2GB NVIDIA SLI GeForce 280M GTX
256GB Solid State Drive
Windows 7 64bit

 

It would seem that everyone is getting M17x replacements at the moment.

Is there anyone in the UK that has got one in the last month or so that could reply to me? i'm really struggling to get anywhere with the customer relations guy i've been landed with.
I was hoping one of you could PM me the details of the representative you have been dealing with so hopefully I couldspeak to someone a bit more helpful

thanks, C

 

OH NOOO!!! Dell shipped the replacement but with the t9800!! I had just recently got in contact with someone over at dell community who after a few conversations via email said that they could send the extreme processor separetly and if I felt confortable swapping it out I could. I'm sure it wouldnt be that hard to do the swap but I have no guarantee that they will send it out now. They also sent the silver one when I wanted the black one like the previous two cancelled orders were. This sux!
My old confi...:

223-6299 XPS M1730, Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000(2.8GHz, 800Mhz 6M L2 Cache)
310-9525 PERSONALIZATION SHIELD, LCD COLOR WING OPTION,GRAY
311-7447 4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm for XPS M1730
320-5788 17 UltraSharp TrueLife Wide screen WUXGA for XPS M1730
320-6384 1GB NVIDIA SLI GeForce 8800M GTX (512MB each Card)
341-6816 250G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
420-6815 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit Edition English,Inspiron
420-8143 Media Direct 3.5
420-5769 Internet Search and Portal
420-5924 Icon Consolidation Application
420-6436 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
463-2282 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
412-0946 Dell Travel ExpressCard Remote Control, IR
420-7401 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,XPS M1730
420-7468 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
313-5591 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
420-8183 Roxio Creator DE 10
313-5014 Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
430-2582 Intel 4965 WLAN (802.11a/g/n) Mini Card
320-5789 Logitech Gaming LCD
420-7907 Trend Micro PC-cillin InternetSecurity, English, 3-Year Subscription
312-0603 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1730
412-0148 No Internet Service Provider Requested
420-6587 Microsoft Office 2007 Basic Edition
412-0359 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
902-2483 Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
960-8710 Warranty Support,Initial Year
988-0328 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
988-0327 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
984-0563 Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 3YR Extended
987-2550 Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
900-9987 Standard On-Site Installation Declined
960-1938 CompleteCare Accidental DamageService, Inspiron, 4 Year
412-0357 Soft Contracts - Business Complete Care
320-6171 AGEIA PhysX Physics Accelerator
430-2691 Dell Wireless 400,Ultra Wide Band With Bluetooth 355
310-9516 You have chosen a Vista Premium System
310-9651 Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme Processor
463-0250 Special Offer - 3% off

Here is the shipped confiuguration:
1 224-5965 Silver Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 317-0857 Intel Core2 Duo T9800 2.93GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-5063 Standard Nameplate
1 341-0011 250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0381 RSS Feeds,AW
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
1 421-1398 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

Has anyone ever recived and upgraded hardware item after thier replacement was shipped? Do you think they might send me a black replacement after I receive this one? What about the microsoft office? What about internet security software? What will happen to all the warranty I had on the XPS??

Well atleast I will have something for the time being, I guess. High hopes to receive the correct items

 

I dunno, but when I got mine it didn't have Microsoft office or anything. I had all of the add-ons on my m1730. I didn't get any of those, but I did get alot of upgrades from my system. So I'm not complaining. GL on getting the better processor! ^^

 

They shipped my replacement M17x with a WXGA+ display by mistake and I called and they sent a tech out to change my display to the WUXGA version. So yes, they do send out upgrades afterwards.

 

Hello everyone,

I Live in Australia. So this is what happened.In 2008 I bought an XPS M1730 for AUD 5384.73
I am an Intense gamer.Within a week the system showed up as faulty as the SLI was decreasing the frame rates of my games(they are compatible).

After a few calls and QQ I was offered a replacement. It worked fine for a few months then my mouse cursor started to freeze /lag while in a game.Moving the cursor wud freeze my whole system.Dozens of calls to dell and with troubleshooting I found out that it was the graphics card.Early this year they sent a tech to my house and got the card replaced.Same Problem started again in the mid of this year.This time i used to get blue screens and some 'Video hardware failure' and Live Kernal event errors.

So...they send me another vid card replacement.2 months ago the mouse problem started again along with the above errors.when i called dell they insisted that its a software problem and not hardware.they refused to change my vid card.When i call em again after a few days the rep told me that they dont have any vid cards in stock to replace mine.

Last nite while playing a game my external monitor went black and went into power save mode....I was able to hear the game sound through the speakers normally though.I tried FN+Change display, nothing happened.I turned off the pc and started it again everything worked fine.this morning while gamng the screen suddenly split into red and white lines...then i get a Blue screen saying that there was an error with display drivers.when i turn my pc back on it waasnt using vid card at all not even VGA. In the control panel/drivers section the vid cards are marked with an "!" n a yellow triangle.

I tried reinstalling the whole OS/vid drives but nothing worked.so i gave dell a call and they told me that the vid card is broken and needs to be replaced and the replacement with take some time.

So they offered my a Replacement (Alienware M17x).The rep said it wud be An equivalent or beter than my current system and some 1 wud contact me and give me a petition on the new pc in a week.


My current Specs:

Core 2 Extreme X7900 2.8GHz, 4Mb cache 800Mhz FSB
bluetooth module
17.0' Ultrasharp Widescreen WUXGA 1920x1200
4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
2x 200GB SATA 7200RPM HDD
Blueray & dvd -dual layer burner
SLI 512MB Nvidia 8800M GTX with NVI

Am wodering what to do next.Should i accept the M17x or Request them for a Aurora AlX/Area 51 ALX Desktops as replacement? cuz i think that Notebooks are unstable for intense gamng and hardcore stuff and they fall apart sooner.So what am i supposed to do ? I am confused


Any tips/suggestions about my problem/replacement wud be appriciated. Thank you! Sorry for the wall of text.

 

If you can't negotiate a desktop replacement, you could always get a refund instead and use that to buy what you want, with a little cash left over due to the stronger au dollar.

You can have a look/post in this Aussie thread, though they refer to this thread a fair bit.

Australia has special laws about warranties so you won't have as hard a time as many of the people in this thread have been reporting.

I'm Australian but I'm having to go through Dell usa since I'm visiting the usa for xmas.

 

Thanks for the tip Meeowth!.I gave my agent a call for a refund.She told me that she put the request through tech support and they will give me a call in 2 Hrs.

 

Just an update on my replacement M17x...Got it today and absolutely love it. The did not send the extreme processor as i had in my original XPS 1730. What should be my reasoning that they should have givin me an Extreme processor. They are going to say that the T9600 is an upgrade. Do I have any case for them to send me the extreme proc. Also they didn't send my engraved name plate...just a generic one w/ the name m17x. Has anyone had any luck w/ them correcting just the name plate?

 

I know this is probably the wrong thread for this but does anyone have the info on the most stable/performing drivers for the M17x...my specs are:

Quantity Item Number Description

1 224-5967 Black Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0818 Intel Core2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
1 330-3924 Name Plate Engraving
1 341-0013 640GB (320GB x 2) 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) - RAID 0
1 410-0204 McAfee VirusScan Plus - 15-Month Subscription
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0398 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0410 Wallpapers, C01W
1 421-0726 ALIENFX BLUE
1 421-1398 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

 

The technical support manager is now telling me that even with a basic spec, I will have to pay the difference between my old XPSM1730 and the M17X, which they say is circa £400, even though the parts are not like for like in relative terms to the market - ie, the top of the range now. What should I do? I was under the impression all of you guys were getting your replacements free of charge even though speccing them as new would cost more than your old machines?

 

Here's a blog you may find linked at the bottom of a certain batboys posts.
You might also want to check out the alienware subforum here.

Extreme processor for extreme processor. Extreme equals unlocked multiplier and much more opportunities for overclocking. They might have made up for the value difference by giving you major upgrades in other areas though.

Has the person making the replacement forgotten that this is the replacement you are entitiled to because dell doesn't have the parts to properly fix the 1730? Paying the difference is only normal when the system being replaced still works*. This falls under "Whole unit replacement" according to the dell UK warranty terms. (if you're not uk tell me and I'll look up the appropriate section for your agreement).

*or you specifically asked if you can pay to have the replacement upgraded beyond the fairly determined specs.

 

Thanks for your prompt reply, I am in the UK. Do Dell technically have to replace the laptop like for like with a working replacement under their warranty terms? The manager said that I should be thankful for them not taking depreciation into account and also that other manufactures who used the card are not going to anywhere near as much trouble as Dell were. The manager was telling me I would need to pay more for an upgraded spec which I understand, but he was also trying to charge me £400 for a replacement M17X laptop that was technically inferior to my XPS.

What do you think I should do? He is now trying to force me to take the refund!

Also is there a telephone number for a call centre with an English manager?

 

Well, it depends on the refund amount. If you're getting a good refund, then take the refund and get a new machine.

By the way, what's your manager's name, if you don't mind my asking.

No there, are no UK call centres for home users.

 

Received my replacement today. Specs are in the last page or so. Still need to call and get extreme processor and a lot of other questions answered.

 

Hello!

I've just registered to this forum in search for some advice about my DELL XPS M1730.

I have purchased my laptop about a year ago, and so far I haven't had any problems that would need a replacement (in my oppinion anyway). I've read a lot about the m1730 video card problems, and honestly I'm getting kinda' scared that a video card failure may happen to me shortly.

So far my GPU temp. while idle is about 73 degrees and about 80 to 85 degrees full load. I'm having a feeling that these temperatures are not quite normal. I'm also getting small artifacts on the screen sometimes, or the display driver gives out a "...has stopped working" warning.

Also i had a problem since I bought the system. While playing or watching movies (even nonHD) if i keep the AC connected, they work fine. If I unplug the AC and run on battery, the system performance drops to at half the normal "speed". Is this normal, kind of confused!

I still have 2yrs of warranty remaining. Should I, or can I ask Dell for a replacement laptop in this situation, just to be safe, seeing that the whole XPS series has problems, or do I just have to wait in fear, until my system goes down in flames?

Thank you!

 

Yes, I has some of these errors pop up b4 my vid card's died."your display driver has stopped working and recovered successfully' and some error like 'Live kernal event' -Video hardware error.

This happens because the notebook tries to save power resources.I think u can change this.Go to control panel/power management and select high performance.

Hope this helps.

 

Sooo...i got a quotation from tech support today.They havent said anything about the refund that i will get though.

So the Specs of th new M17x are:

Display -17.0 " Beyond HD 1200p WUXGA (1920x1200) CCF 1
L Display with TrueLife TM
-Integrated 2.0 mega pixel web cam

Hard Drives -500GB 7200RPM SATA RAID 1 (2 x 500GB) -
-500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive 1
-500GB 7200RPM 2nd SATA Hard Drive 1
-RAID 1 (Mirroring & Duplexing) 1
-Dual HDD Bracket 1
Internal Optical Drive -Slot Load Blu-ray BD-R, BD-RE / DVD + /-RW D 1
Protection Solution rive with DVD + R double layer write

-Internal 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
-4GB Dual-channel 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 x 2GB)
-Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80 1
GHz/ 1066 FSB/ 6MB Cache)
Video Card -SLI(TM) Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 1
GTX 260M.

My Xps Processor is X7900 atm should i demand a extreme one ?

 

You could try to demand an extreme one, but the T9600 is plenty strong in every respect, and also of efficient cooler design.

Note:
Technically, the T9600 will feel like an improvement over your X7900, but I am going to go with the consumer and investment argument. I would personally ask for an extreme, but mostly for future security because as of right now, you have the 'extreme for extreme' card in your deck of arguments. I am not just talking about getting a more advanced Quad CPU or anything, but also about the warranty protocol, and its associated protection. So -if- something goes wrong with your next system, and you're up for a replacement, you can still employ the 'equal or better' - 'extreme CPU for extreme CPU' argument.

Disclaimer:
Some people are not going to endorse my stance, or even agree with me. Meanwhile, some might get tempted to set me straight on the matter. I propose that we do the more rational thing and avoid turning this into a moral or ethical debate, because good things won't happen.

 

Update: I called dell back to let them know I received my replacement and for them to process a dispatch a tech to replace the T9800 with the QX9300. The firts tech I speack with is very helpfull and american. He says that everything is noted in my account and will make the dispatch. After time passes, he tells me hes having a hard time procewssing the dispatch because its a alienware product (the replacement). So I get transfered to alienware, there they tell me that they cannot pull up my records because they are alienware and the replacement was ordered by dell. I get transfered back to dell. This transfering happens 3 times all the while hoping thew next tech will be helpfull. Well eventually I get back to a dell american tech. He informs me of the same and he proceeds to make a 3-way call, WOW, yes I was amazaed. So he calls and hes speaking to alineware with me on the line (as a side note, yes they can do this for any situation). I was told it would take a 24hr period to go through the right steps and I should call back tomorrow (today). It was late and I had been back and forth for maybe 3 or so hours so I agreed but I am going to call in a few.
Altough the exchange for the processors is already in my record from dell for some reason they always try to give me the "T9800 is better than your previous X9000" story but nah, aint taking that line lol.
I dont know why but every time they ask why I want the extreme processor and I say because I had the ability to overclock to 3.4ghz without any instability issues due to the unocked multipiers extreme processor have, it seems that they immediatly look further into it and try to do something about it.
Towards the end of the last conversation I was also writing an email to the unresolved issues department so I'll see what happens.

 

Thank you for the reply.

It's not that, I always keep my laptop on High Performance and I still have this problem.

About the video cards, should I ask Dell for a replacement based on this problem, and on the fact that this notebook series has problems? I do not want to suddently get a black screen or whatever happens when the video cards die. I don't know what should I do.

 

Does anyone have the item number for the QX9300? Im going to look but my work internet is really slow.

 

Is 317-0821 the one you are looking for?

 

Once again my XPS is dead, now I find out that the XPS is out of production It has been over a week and I am waiting for an email to let me know what they will be shipping???
I take it they are replacing the XPS M1730 with the M17x my question is, I have dual 9800m GTX SLI cards what should I expect in return? I am not up on the new cards in AW. I got screwed out of my overclockable processor in the last deal I had a T series not an X series...nice how they changed that, anyways what do you all think?
Thanks in advance

 

Yes, thank you.

Update:
Dell and alienware cannot come to an agreement on processing the dispatch because of the conflicting ends, wich are one company but not or something... Still waiting on word for the exchange for the QX9300.

You should expect to recieve the 280's SLI and your going to need to fight and be consistent if you really want the extreme processor however, if you dont have and extreme now I highly doubt you'll be able to get one. I would assume they will give you a T9800. I was sent a T9800 and I'm currently in a neverending battle with them and alienware to have them process the dispatch to swap it out for the QX9300. It has all been aproved but the alienware side wont accept the approval from dell. Good luck though.

 

Thanks bunches! When I got the PC they tried to sneak in the 9800M GT's so I called them and had them send out a tech to install the GTX's...after all that I've been through (this is my 4th XPS) I'm not giving an inch.

 

My replacement is in production .I am very happy how this turnned out dell fixed my 1730 but and already agreed to send a replacement .My last build was a 1730 xps with t9300, processor 2gb ram ,200gb hard drive ,8800 gtx sli .From what I have seen feel luck to have gotten 280s .So from buld I got did dell treat me right

224-5966 Red Metallic
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8977 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver
1 317-0856 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
1 317-0857 Intel Core2 Duo T9800 2.93GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
1 320-0762 SLI Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce (NB10E-GTX1)
1 320-8140 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
1 330-3924 Name Plate Engraving
1 341-0000 320GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
1 410-0204 McAfee VirusScan Plus - 15-Month Subscription
1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 421-0360 Avatar1
1 421-0364 Power Plan, BAL
1 421-0389 Window Style, DFT
1 421-0399 Time Zone, CENTRAL
1 421-0405 Automatic Updates ON
1 421-0720 ALIENFX RED
1 421-1400 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
1 430-3558 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO

 

notice no blue tooth on laptop would i be pushing it to as dell to add

 

Update:

They agreed to install a Qx9300 in the M17x.I have confirmed my quotation and the pc is being built.

They have given me a replacement order number xxxxxxxxx.

Any Idea on how to track the pc's status?