*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

How do you guys find out what you'll be getting as a replacement? I sent in my laptop due to an accident on the 2nd of this month, and I was told on the 16th that I'm getting a replacement, but not one word about the specs or model of the replacement. I asked them today what was going on and they said my computer was going to be new rather than refurbished, but they still can't give me any specifics on what kind of computer it'd be. But they did say that it'll be between 10-21 days starting from the 22nd.

 

Ok, now I'm a bit confused on what's going on with my issue. If any of you guys have experienced this or know what to do, please help.

Dell has agreed to exchange my M1730 with a replacement computer on Feb 25th, most likely an m17x as that was agreed upon.

Now when I check the order page, hoping to see the new specifications in a few days, I see that they have shipped " 2 K650M Card,Graphics,Nvidia,NB9E,GTX". Under Billing Information, all I see is "N/A", under Ship to, "N/A", and when I click on invoices, all I get is "500 Server Processing Error".

The first time I contacted Dell regarding my burned out cards, I was offered a part replacement for my 8800M GTX SLI, which they sent a physics card, and then they agreed to send me a system replacement as that did not work. I have never asked, nor agreed to accept another replacement part for the cards, and I do not have any appointments with technicians either.

So my question is, do you guys know what Dell is sending, why and who they are sending that part to, and if I am going to be billed for that part? When and if I receive it, should I contact Dell or just keep it?

 

I believe that is the 9800M GTX SLI card for the M1730.

Call and confirm with support or whoever is handling your case.

 

So I just got my m17x replacement and they sent me a silver one. You may think I am being picky but Jesus it looks like a toaster or a microwave I went from the cool carbon fiber with blue wings to this.

I contacted support the day after my build went in and was assured the color would be changed to black or red. They still sent this thing also they gave me the 260m single ( I did not have SLI in my original configuration but do now in my 1730)

I have 2 batteries on my original and a TV tuner that wont work with 64 bit windows they refused to give me a new tuner and acted like giving me another battery was going to bankrupt them.

The color is most upsetting and the video not to mention I loved my Logitech LCD while gaming and playing my mp3's where is my compensation for that

My question is do I have to take this or can I demand a refund is it a satisfactory exchange to them or do I have a say so because the supervisor I spoke with made it seem like they were not going to budge on the refund. For the $2800 I spent on this they gave me the rock bottom m17x for $2177 I am very upset still

 

The same thing happened to me. They replaced my cards (9800m gt sli) with 9800m gtx sli. After they approved my replacement. The tech came and changed my cards and two and a half weeks later I had a new M17x at my door. So use your customer num and other stuff to check to see if you have an order status. That is the only way I new the M17x was coming.The support people never even called to let me know what was going on.

 

Dont forget the m1730 was plastic not real carbon fiber.

 

Plastic coated magnesium.

 

Heya all, just an update after a couple of months.

Dell replaced my m1730 with an Alienware Aurora Desktop, as I refused to have another laptop incase something went wrong again and I was stuck waiting forever for a bespoke part they don't have in stock!

Anyway a friend had the same laptop (m1730) and his 8800 GTX SLI went wrong the same way as mine (ie can boot into windows as long as no Nvidia drivers are loaded, if they are the computer just hangs when it loads the drivers) sadly he was out of warranty, and Dell would not help him out at all, so we tried something a little radical.

I'd read on the net that you could bake (yes thats right bake) the 8800 GTX cards in the oven and it sometimes fixed them, I believe the idea behind it is to remelt the solder on the boards and fix any micro fraftures caused by overheating, well having nothing to loose we gave it a try, we used a great video off utube that shows you how to take the m1730 apart and remove the 8800 GTX card, the next part after that is to strip the card of all the plastic and heatsinks till your left with a bareboard card with just the chips on it, then clean off carefully any old heatsink compound, then we put it in the oven (preheated to 200'c) for 10 mins (place the board with the chips facing down, use some foil balls on the corners to lift up the card) then let it cool.

After we did this re-assembled the card, using new heatsink compound (artic silver) and put back in the laptop. We then booted it up into windows (was running generic svga drivers) so far so good we thought as the card was still working as before, we then loaded up the Nvidia drivers and the computer loaded, we were both gobsmacked it had actually worked.

It's not something for the faint hearted to try, but ultimately if your in a situation where you have a none functional card in the computer and no chance of a replacement I'd have a go at it, also do a search on the net about it, seems this also works for desktop nvidia cards as well that have suffered a similar fate.

I'd not have believed it till we tried it but baking the card works lol, crazy what you can do to make things work, and also since we changed the heatsink compound on the card it's running alot cooler than it used to.

 

Wow. Makes sense but that's pretty crazy. Wonder if people are going to start fixing their RROD 360s this way now too haha.

 

spoke to a dell rep the other night... he said they know about the problem in the UK.. now i have to have 3-4 service calls untill they even think about replacing my 1730!! but i was also informed that if they do replace the laptop i will be given the choice of Nvidia or ATI gfx cards... on this i said what would he recomend.. yup you guessed it he said the ATI's and most the nvidia cards have heat problems!

my 1730 is now away for repair at a dell depot and im expecting it to come back with custom case work by the dell engineers i dont trust my laptop any more let alone the replacement parts!!! so here is hoping dell will see sence and call me to say they are replacing my laptop with a m17x!!!!

 

I am in the same situation as you, and no luck with the m17x change till now. I got through with a m17x by going through the really high executive departments, and waiting for specs, but you are most likely to get the M1730. There have been too many people who turned in their M1730s for replacement, so they have more than they need for now.

 

My M17x shipped today!

For those wondering about timeline, I contacted Dell support the first time on Jan 18th, order was placed for my M17x on Feb 2nd and it shipped today, march 4th. It'll be here tomorrow by 3pm!

Not bad compared to some of the earlier stories in this thread.

 

They may have a huge pile of chassis, but they definitely don't have a huge pile of working graphics cards for them.

 

Lol, are you kidding? Just from all these people on this thread that returned their graphics card, they have more than they need to replace all of the systems. They definately have a bunch of refurbished 8700 cards, 8800 cards, and if those should run out, they still have the 9800 cards... brand new. As I said, its highly unlikely you can opt for a m17x as a system exchange now. I know this because I am one of the lucky ones that got through after Feb, 2009.

 

Who's going to accept an 8700 to replace an 8800? And the 8800s need to be repaired, where they even can be. The 9800s are a limited stock. People are still getting M17x replacements.

 

I'm not sure you understand the situation... This is not the same situation as it was when Dell agents told customers that the 8800 GTX cards were unavailable, hence why so many people received m17x's, "January 2010" ring a bell?

Let me put it this way:
Dell repaired all of the overheated 8800 cards from the returned 1730s. They have a company that repairs and refurbishes all of the parts. As part of the warranty agreement that you approved with Dell when you purchased the computer or warranty, Dell can and will send you refurbished parts when they are repairing your computer. So you know the 100-1000 M1730s that were sent in for replacements? Guess what, they are all fixed. And no, the 9800s are not at all a limited stock. Limited stock only applies to a generation where they do not manufacture anymore. Dell still manufactures the 9X architecture, as the 8X architecture are obsolete.

Bottom Line:
Dell has all three graphic cards, and will use them to repair since they don't have anything to do with them. Dell doesn't produce the M1730s any longer so the parts are just sitting there. I hope this clears up your misunderstanding. By the way, where are you getting your information that Dell is still replacing the M1730s with the M17x? Your source of info might not be legit...

 

Look back a few pages. People still getting M17x units shipped out. They wouldn't be doing that if they had the option of repairing the units. Guess maybe it depends on your location or which rep you get.

 

If dell had the ability to fix all those bad video cards, why didn't they do that in the first place instead of send out hundreds of 3000 dollar replacement laptops?

As for your theory that they're no longer sending out M17X's as replacements... I'm patiently waiting for the Fedex truck to deliver mine as we speak.

 

It's always based on what rep you get, and how you sweet talk or force your way through it. Even for VideoCard replacements.

 

Well for one, they didn't have burned out cards to fix back then. The orders for replacement were all pretty much simultaneous, so that's why Dell had to improvise and replace the 1730s with the m17x. I don't know how exactly Dell worked out the replacements back then, but the main reason was because there was a shortage on the 8800 cards.

Now, Dell has a bunch of 8800 cards, and put yourself in Dell's shoes. Why would you disregard your own terms of agreement, and exchange different systems when you have the ability to replace the components that were damaged?

Burned out 8800 cards + Large amount of 8800 cards = Fix system with 8800 card supply.

And as for your m17x replacement in your Fedex Truck... did you place a request for replacement before late February 2010? If so, then my theory is correct, if not, I'm wrong....simple as that.

 

If they had the ability to repair fried cards, they could have repaired customers cards... most of the people early on in this thread waited months to get their replacement M17, surely in that amount of time they could have repaired the cards if they were repairable.

It seems most of the people who've gotten replacement 8800's in this thread got cards that were overheating or crashing the day they were installed... so I don't think they're fixing anything.

 

Again, I do not know how Dell thinks, so I would appreciate if you would stop trying to refute everything I offer as an opinion, as clearly I am not Dell.

They probably couldn't repair the fried cards at the time, thus replacing it with the M17s. It costs a whole lot more to replace the whole system instead of just the cards. If it was possible at the time, to replace just the cards, they would probably have done so?

 

I have to agree with goten, a few weeks ago my 8800's failed. Phoned up the dell rep expecting to have to go through painstaking arguments to get a replacement laptop.
Instead, he insisted they now had 8800 gtx's in stock. I was sceptical, but two days later the engineer turned up with the refurb'd cards in a box and fitted them.

I think Gotens theory is right, dell have had a load of returned units, sent them out for refurbishment and are now using them as replacements.

 

Sorry to hear it man, I know exactly how you feel. I was only able to get a system replacement because Dell had messed up on my problems twice, and that is big time (sent wrong part, installed refurb for new working; billed me $3k for something I did not authorize). They tried to sympathize with me, and I accepted their offer.

Try to get in touch with the Dell reps again, and tell them you had major problems with that computer, now and in the past. *Key Point: Always talk to supervisors!!* The tech support follows scripts, but the supervisors have the authority to act upon their opinions, so that is where you want to go. Try to escalate some point till you get to the executive escalations department. If you can get to there, there may be a good chance that you can argue for a system replacement, and even hopefully a m17x.

It will be difficult for you to get a m17x as they have more than 57 refurbished M1730s waiting to go out, but I believe you can get a upgraded M1730 system replacement for arguing and getting through the escalations team. They at first sent me a offer on the M1730 with X9000 extreme core processor and pretty much the highest specs you can find with the M1730 such as blu-ray, 9800GTX, SSD, and so on. They then immediately changed that to the promised m17x model, and still waiting for specs. They told me it is highly likely they will base the m17x model on the offer they gave me at first, so we will have to wait and see.

I hope I provided some kind of help. It doesn't seem fair that others receive the m17xs while you are stuck with the discontinued model. Keep arguing and don't let up. I hope you get what are looking for and good luck!

 

Same thing happened to me with a 1640;
After I was offered a maxxed out spec computer, it got cancelled and they now have a 1640 with the lowest specs in production...
Talked to a few techs for the past month, they all escalate my issue to L3,
eventually i talked to a floor manager, which spend 4 hours trying to "do something"
in the end he couldn't do anything but process the order for the "new computer"

Im gonna sell and buy something better!

 

Thanks for the advice. For the time being I'm happy that my m1730 is working as it should be, I really like the laptop and will only push for changing it if I have more issues with the graphics cards. For the time being the ones they have fitted are working fine, I've got 2.5 years of warranty left so I'll see how it goes.

 

I just wanted to chime in with my list of replacements. Dell told me the next step would be a replacement laptop.

It started with the BSOD and Dell immediately replaced the laptop. That was 3 years ago. From then on it was down hill:

3 motherboards, 2 wireless cards, 2 LCD displays, hard drive, AC adapter, and graphics card

This took 5 visits for the Dell on site tech. The best is that I did not have to pay a penny for all of this but it was real inconvenience.

 

Hey all, the HDD in my M1730 just failed. I had two WU082 and Dell has part# H339F scheduled to ship. Does anyone know the difference between the two? Are they trying to send me a refurb or a downgrade? WU082 has WD-ML160 at the end of the product line, and H339F has HIT-FALB. Any ideas what that means as well? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Btw, my HHD failed less than 24 hours after my 8800m GTX's were replaced by a tech. Thanks in advance!

 

Ok, here is an update.

I originally had two: Hard Drive 320GB, S2, 5.4K, 9.5 WD-ML160

Dell has now shipped two: HARD DRIVE 320G, S2, 5.4K, 2.5, TSHBA-LIBR as a replacement.

The only difference I can see is the 9.5 for what I had versus the 2.5 I will be receiving.

Does anyone have any input or comments on the replacements I am receiving?

 

It should not make a difference. I believe it will be the same kind of hdd, although it would be from different companies. Your original was a western digital, and the new one would be a toshiba. The main thing in a hard drive is the GB space and the disk rotation speed. Both are 320GB and 5400K RPM drives, so you don't need to worry.

 

Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!

 

well i got my laptop back from dell today and its still over heating. they replaced my 8800m gtx's for 9800m gtx's assuring me that this will solve the heat problems.. 40 min into MW2 and the system slows down.. i checked my gpu temp and it was 97!! highest that gpu-z recorded was 98 at which point the system throttles...

off to dell xps tech support again and another 1hour 30 min on the phone and my system is being repaired for the 3rd time with another new motherboard and another new GPU. they are also replacing my AC adapter. i dont know how much longer i can put up with this now but 3 gpu's 2 motherboards 2 heatsinks and 1 physix card later im hoping its going to be working this time!

 

So Dell replaced my fried 9800GT's with some 9800GTX's, and now whenever I come out of standby I get a 0x00000116 bluescreen saying "Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed." It also happens sometimes when I turn on my computer after it has been off for a few hours. I've tried past drivers, current drivers, and even beta drivers -- everything does the same thing. The only way to solve it is to boot into safe mode for a little while and then boot back into normal mode. Sometimes I can get lucky and select "Last Known Good Configuration" or the disable driver signature enforcement option, but most of the time I have to boot into safe mode. I just reinstalled nVidia's current driver and when I enabled SLi it gave me the above BSOD, but after the BSOD I turned off the drive signature enforcement and it booted in regular mode.

What do you guys think is the problem, drivers or the "new" video card?

 

Well, yesterday my screen started showing/bleeding red and fragmenting some, especially on black. The discoloration even appears at the Dell flash screen and in the BIOS. Certainly isn't a driver problem. :\

I'm going to see what I can do about a system replacement since I don't want them to keep sending me these "fixed" cards that don't work from the word go. Wish me luck.

 

Anyone experieced problem with the warranty I DONT HAVE ANY!!!! i purchased extra warraty for my m1730 i been told the remaining time will be transferred to my replacement M17X now i get problem with th FX board lights just gone from time to time have A03 bios and not even installed half of the aw stuff CC etc... so there is nothing able to turn off the lights when this happens i cant even get the power button working nice from a £2000 laptop ... next restart anything fine .just checked yesterday online and find out my brand new M17x does not have any warranty at all anyone idea or do i have to go down 3months agin with dell customersupport on phone and @mails????

 

just bee calm always they try tell you the engineer been sent to you on time or the service calll been logged... just deny enything for your own good.
god speed

 

Well, I talked to Dell chat again today and they're replacing the graphics card and the LCD screen... and the agent decided to throw in a motherboard replacement for good measure. I found it a little amusing how whimsical they are about deciding to replace parts, specifically the motherboard in this case. Anyways, they're letting me install it all myself again, which is nice. I figured I'd play their game and take these replacement parts and when (and I think it's a definite when) the graphics card screws up again that I can argue for a system replacement. Right now I don't think I have enough leverage to argue for a replacement. =\

We'll see what happens with this new graphics card.

 

Hello I was referred here by DDT5

Heres my problem

I upgraded my M1730 to Windows 7 and that's probably the start of my problems I have been having extreme graphic issues for a while even b4 I did the upgrade but I have a feeling that Dell wont do anything about it because I have 7 on it. This has been going on for quite a while but being is school havent had a lot of time to fix it been more so dealing with it.

I included a link to the videos where it shows the problem I tired to link it here but the file was too big
http://www.mediafire.com/?hmelnqztykj

Basically Ive tried different drivers for my 8700M card for 7 and nothing currently im on the 190.40 which out of all them ive tired the problem doesn't occur as sudden.

Not sure what to tell Dell I did the diagnostics test on boot up but it says everything is fine when its clearly not.

In need of some advice or suggestions if any more information is need plz let me know

TIA guys

 

SUCSESS!!!!!! after 3 repairs to my laptop dell have finaly approved my replacement!!

specs are as follows!

alienware m17x

core i7 620m
1200p wuxga screen
4gb 1333mhz ddr3 ram
320gb hdd
dual 1GB ati radeon HD 4870

 

Congrats! Very nice.

I'm hoping I can get to that point.

What repairs did they do before they decided to replace the laptop?

 

the laptop had 3 gfx cards replaced, 2 motherboards, 2 power blocks, 2 heat sinks, 1 physix card and also the ram. oh that was all in 1 month also....

 

So today I got a package with a refurbished motherboard and screen in it and a automated voice mail on my cell phone saying that one of the parts in my order (the 9800m GT) was backordered. I'm going to try and get in contact with them today to see what kind of time estimate is on the graphics card.

 

My 8800m GTX Dual Sli was also on back order and it was just about a week.

 

Almost 2 weeks after my replacement M17X was delivered, dell finally decided they wanted my old XPS back. I hadn't heard anything from them about returning it til yesterday. I got a letter and a prepaid fedex label.

As I was deleting some of my personal files from the XPS before packing it up, I started getting read/write errors from one of the hard drives. I rebooted and got hard drive failure errors during POST. Good timing lol.


I'm loving the M17x, its a better case design, and way more power. Better ventilation too I think. Everything runs much cooler compared to the XPS.

 

Good to hear that! At one point I was holding three m1730 until they got mu order right and then they eventually sent for them. They will never forget. I have a slight thought I could make money by selling them on Ebay but I new they would realize and come to get them

 

Hi guys its been a few days I would appreciate any recommendations for my issue as I really need some help.

TIA

 

Zero, I also have 7 installed with the 8700's running the 195.62 drivers. My GPU's are getting very hot and I'm having artifact problems. Just to be safe When you call, you need to rule out a software issue before they have a chance to ask. Tell them you performed a factory restore using the F10 method on boot and still had the problem. Then you updated all the software from the Dell download page and you still have the problem. It took me about 30 mins. today to get a dispatch approved for the new 8700's and a new motherboard. They never asked what OS I had installed. Good luck, hope this helps.

 

Well, after much arguing and compromises, I have been approved and sent a replacement, which I am using at this very moment. Here are my old vs new specs:

Old: Dell XPS M1730
-Intel T9400 Core 2 Duo Processor
-2 x nVidia 8800GTX SLI
-4GB DDR2 RAM Memory
-160GB 7200RPM HDD
-DVD/CD Writer Drive
-1920x1200 WUXGA LCD

New: Alienware M17x
-Intel i7 920XM Extreme Core Processor
-2 x ATI HD4870 CrossFire
-6GB DDR3 1333Mhz Memory
-500GB 7200RPM HDD
-Blu-ray Reader / DVD/CD Writer Slot-Loading Drive
-1920x1200 WUXGA LCD

I think this is a very good replacement regarding what I went through Dell services and reached to places most people could not go. My advice is that if you experiencing any defects from your machine, make up your mind what you want to receive as a solution and keep pushing until you get to where you want. It also helps that I got a really awesome person from Dell, a supervisor who works at the executive resolutions team, who handled my case from start to finish so I didn't have to go back and forth. If you guys have the time and energy to push for a replacement, I would recommend that you get through the resolutions team for a quick and almost guaranteed replacement. For the people who are trying to get theirs replaced, Good Luck!

 

What is the phone number for the dell executive resolutions team?

 

Goten, could you give some background on what you went through with your M1730 and how Dell first tried to solve the problem?

Edit: And how you got such awesome specs on the replacement?