*XPS M1730 Problems/Dell Replacement Issues*

Update: They had sent out a mobo / heatsink for my PROCESSOR OR VIDEOCARD ISSUE *GROAN*... the tech had a hell of a time with my machine but I can't knock him for trying, the M1730 looks like an M.C. Escher painting on the inside.

Anyway, long story short, my laptop still doesn't work. I called back to support, they escalated my issue immediately due to the repeated issues and I'm not getting a replacement machine of equal or better specifications within 7-15 business days. I'll be getting a call on Friday that will tell me if I'm getting another XPS M1730 or an Alienware M17x. The rep on the phone asked me what color I would like for either the M1730 or the M17x depending on which one matches my machine.

I'm pretty excited. Here's to hoping I'm getting an M17x and here's to hoping it's coming quickly!

 

just phoned the AUS automated order no. and it said its in the build stage and due on or before the 30/12. Hope all my parts are in stock and everything pans out. A little worried after reading the alienware forum

 

The original system M1730:

1 H097C Base, Notebook, CPEN, X9000, M1730
1 N386D Processor, X9000, 2.8, 6MB, Core Penryn, C0
1 WP008 Module, Accessory, Binder, M1730 England/english, Dell Americas Organization
1 WX695 Module, Adapter, Alternating Current, 230W, Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide
1 FT348 Module, Assembly, Base, M1730
1 XG509 Module, Battery, Primary, 85WHR 9C, Simplo
1 0293D Module, Cord, Power, 120V, 6 Ft
1 HR105 Module, Card, Graphics IUPGA5D, G84, SLI
1 HU144 Module, Card, Graphics Physics Processing Unit, 128MB, Notebook
1 YY220 Module, Card, Network, 4965 Inspiron, Most Of World 1
1 TN642 Module, Card Circuit, Network Bluetooth, 355, Storage Processor, Siberia
1 TC714 Module, Dual In-line Memory Module, 4G, 667, DDR2, 2X2G, 200
1 NW220 Module, Dvd+/-rw, 8X, Ide (integrated Drive Electronics), M1730, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY...
1 FM173 Module, Hard Drive, 200, 7., Free Fall Sensor, #2, SE100, INS
1 FM172 Module, Hard Drive, 200G, 7.2K Free Fall Sensor, SE100, INS
1 UY392 Module, Information, Liquid Crystal Display, Cover, WCMRA Corsica/Gilligan/Sapporo/Yebis
1 TJ544 Module, Information, RAID 0 Inspiron
1 DX631 Module, Insert, Plastic, GRAY Liquid Crystal Display, M1730
1 UW429 Module, Keyboard, 101, United States, M1730, Dell Americas Organization
1 D662C Module, Label, Intel, Notebook Santa Rosa Merom, Core Penryn External
1 WW439 Module, Label, Microsoft, WindowsVista Os, Premium, Small
1 NX693 Module, Liquid Crystal Display 17WU, W/CMRA, M1730, SHAR
1 UU534 Module, Modem, Universal Serial Bus, External, No Bios, ERPA World Wide
1 JN197 Ship Group, Notebook, United States, M1730, DAO-MDS
1 J206C Module, Software, Dell Connect 2.1, Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA, Brazil Customer Center
1 KW181 Module, Software, DSPRT-CTR, 2.0
1 FK244 Module, Software, DT-ICLNR Dell Americas Organization
1 WK528 Module, Software, GOOGLE, Search Consumer
1 P350D Module, Software, Dell Media Direct, 3.5, Kit, M1730
1 CY416 Module, Software, Dell Media Direct, 3.5, Operating System
1 CY419 Module, Software, Dell Media Direct, 3.5, SIBERIA
1 XM544 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., PC-RESTORE, TRANSACTIONAL LINE OF BUSINESS...
1 HT748 Module, Software, Quick Fix Engineering, VU32, Inspiron
1 Y573C Module, Software, Roxio, 10.2 Dell Edition
1 DR146 Module, Software, VU32, Inspiron English, Dell Americas Organization, No Docs/diskettes
1 T013C Module, Software, Works, 9 English
1 WK011 Service Install Module, Intel Matrix Storage Manager, M1730
1 CW774 Service Install Module Software, Inspiron, M1730
1 JN197 Ship Group, Notebook, United States, M1730, DAO-MDS
1 6Y662 Module, Software, Soft ContractsConsumer, Complete Care
1 9Y457 Module, Software, Soft ContractsQualxserve


The replacement:
1 5V3DW Module, Media, Resource Dvd, Alienware, M17X10
1 6FY1X Module, Accessory, Alienware, M17X10, England/english, Dao/bcc
1 F836R Pad, Mouse, Alienware, M17X
1 WRD6T KIT..., DOCUMENTATION..., ANW, M17X10, ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., D/B
1 6RDR6 Service Install Module, Software, Alienware, M17X10
1 CD91C Base, Notebook, Black, Configure To Order, Alienware, M17X10
1 RNRK1 ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., NOTEBOOK..., BLACK..., ANW, M17X10
1 GFWWN Module, Shipping Material, Pack, M17X10
1 T780J Module, Battery, Primary, 85WHR 9C, Dynapack International Technology Corp
1 W075J Battery, Primary, 85WHR, 9C Lithium, Dynapack InternationalTechnology Corp
1 V3C5M Module, Card, Network, 370, Foxconn, Alienware, Dell Americas Organization
1 P560G Card, Wireless, Bluetooth, 370 FXCN, 5DB, No Bios
1 VW0X1 Module, Keyboard, Alienware, 101, ENG-US, Personal Computer
1 8WK6F Keyboard, Alienware, 101, ENG-US, Personal Computer
1 Y540P Module, Software, Alienware CYBERLINK, YOUCAM
1 YGV2J Module, Accessory, Waybill, Asset Recovery Business, Exchange, England, Dell Americas Organization
1 1803X KIT..., DOCUMENTATION..., WYBL, ASSET RECOVERY BUSINESS..., EXCHANGE..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
1 JY579 Module, Information, Software, Alienware, ALIENFX, Blue
1 7X54D Module, Information, Audio, M15X
1 P395P Module, Software, CYBERLINK Powerdvd, 8.0, Alienware
1 P398P MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., NERO, 9, ANW
1 Y329J Module, Dvd+/-rw, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc., BARE, Alienware
1 TR555 Dvd+/-Rw, 8X, Serial Ata, SLOT, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc.
1 G040H Module, Dual In-line Memory Module, 4GB, 1333MHZ, DDR3, 2X2G
1 F073F Dual In-Line Memory Module, 2GB1333MHZ, 256X64, 8K, 200
1 5FJ8M Module, Label, Intel, Notebook, CI7
1 P9YV4 Module, Processor, Clarksfield, I7-740QM, M17XR2
1 W1JGG Processor, I7-740QM, 1.73, 6MB, Clarksfield, B1
1 8WG28 Module, Liquid Crystal Display, 17WUXGA, Light Emitting Diode, M17X10
1 K1NFP LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 17WUXGA, RED/GREEN/BLUE..., LIGHT EMITTING DIODE..., AG, SAMSUNG...
1 F2T8J Module, Card, Graphics, GTX1, Scalable Link Interface
1 35RJH Card, Graphics, GTX, 285M
1 V4THJ Card, Graphics, GTX, 285M, Mobile Pci Express Module, Cable
1 GN268 Module, Information Instruction, FLYER, Dell Home Systems, NB
1 N330P Module, Information, Artwork NAME-PLT, Custom, M17X
1 NT799 Module, Information, Alienware, AUTO-UPDATES, ON
1 N347H Module, Adapter, Alternating Current, 240W, Flexible, World Wide
1 J938H Adapter, Alternating Current External, 240W, Flexible, 3P World Wide
1 N971H MODULE..., CORD..., POWER..., 125V, 2M, C13, UNITED STATES...
1 5120P Cord, Power, 125V, 6Feet, SJT..., Unshielded
1 C465T Module, Bracket, Hard Drive, Second, With Connector, M17X
1 F584N ASSEMBLY..., BRACKET..., HDD, W/CON, SECOND..., M17X
1 H606T Module, Hard Drive, 320G, 7.2K, SGT-HOLL, Across Line Of Business
1 F729T Hard Drive, 320GB, S2, 7.2K, 2.5, SGT-HOLL
1 H607T Module, Hard Drive, 320, 7.2, #2, SGT-HOLL, XLO
1 F729T Hard Drive, 320GB, S2, 7.2K, 2.5, SGT-HOLL
1 Y924N Module, Information, RAID 0 Alienware, M17X
1 P349J MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., ADOBE..., READER..., 9.0, MULTI-LANGUAGE...
1 H222M Module, Software, MCAF-PEARL, 30DAY, Multiple User Interface
1 XM544 MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., PC-RESTORE, TRANSACTIONAL LINE OF BUSINESS...
1 D282K MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., DTSV, BASIC..., 2.0
1 M239M MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., LTG, DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 P398P MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., NERO, 9, ANW
1 8FHFY MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., STEAM
1 8VWCN MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY..., W7U64, ANW
1 D9KVP MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., QUICK FIX ENGINEERING..., WIN7, CNB
1 J0CKX Module, Software, W7U64, ConsumerDesktop, English, Dao/bcc
1 WR9G4 Module, Software, W7U64, Digital Video Disk Drive, Multi-Language, Alienware
1 TMCCD Kit, Software, W7U64, Multi-Language, Alienware
1 JY628 Module, Software, Alienware AVATAR1
1 KP831 Module, Software, Alienware, WALLPAPER, AW7
1 WCVM8 Module, Software, Soft Contracts, Banctec Services Corp., Alienware
1 D0W4H Module, Software, Alienware, COMMANDCNTR, M17X10
1 N3 Module, Card, Network, 6300, Alienware
1 4W00N Card, Wireless, PUMAPEAK33
1 64G2H Module, Information, Generic, Exchange

This is a real nice machine, considering they replaced my refurb with a brand new one.

I think I did ok.

 

awesome stuff same gfx cards as mine well done. rang dell and mines due on the 30/12 and they included a 1yr warranty which i will extend

 

Care to expand on the alienware forum thing? Thanks.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/487300-m17xr1-r2-order-status-discussion-part-3-a.html

this one some people here have some terrible experiences.

but i'm sure ours will be ok as info on this page is a little dated

 

Dang Tranceman, that is an awesome replacement.
You got the HD RGB 17" screen, that is a nice unit.

 

yay mine just went to

07-Dec-2010 Order Received
07-Dec-2010 Work in Progress
10-Dec-2010 Manufacturing Build Complete

wow that was quick lol must be working overtime due to arrive on the 22/12
and its a new machine too

 

Just got off the phone with Dell, apparently since they were having issues earlier this week with their systems my dispatch wasn't sent out, however it seems they actually did begin work on a system for me.

I'm getting the Alienware M17x, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300, Nvidia GTX 260m SLi, 256gb SSD, with Blu-Ray drive.

Does that seem like a equal replacement for the machine in my sig? I'm pretty excited about it so far, now I'm just praying it doesn't take forever to ship.

 

I've had my laptop for two years. It has a 8800M GTX Sli and now the bios won't show up, well sometimes it does. It will show up and starts to load and then go black. It has been going black for the past month or so. Like when I surf the net, it'll go black. Now it won't show BIOS loading screen 95% of the time. So I am assuming my video card is bad? If I bake the card, do i have to remove the rubber thing (where is says PUSH HERE on it)? There's no warranty on it. I guess I can only bake or buy a new one. Not thrilled with the idea of spending 600 bucks on a video card. Does anyone know what's wrong with my laptop?

 

it's either the video card (most probably) or the motherboard.
I'd give baking a try, there's a thread here somewhere detailing the steps, and yes, you have to remove the rubber thingy and the fans to do that.

 

Can anyone with some Dell catalog knowledge let me know what this looks like?

1 P303J Base,Notebook,Alienware,Black WXGA-AG,M17X
1 2835C Module,Documentation,Airborne,2-DAY,DELL DRCT
1 2J4FR Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP64,Alienware
1 3TF5Y Module,Information,Wireless AW1510
1 C771R Module,Card,Network,AW1510,United States
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc
1 CTX0X MODULE,INFORMATION,WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH,370
1 D002R Module,Software,Alienware RESPAWN2.0
1 D003R Module,Software,Alienware OS-CUSTOMIZATION
1 D692P Module,Software,Alienware AVATAR3
1 D712P Module,Software,Alienware AUTO-UPD,ON
1 D720P Module,Processor,Core Penryn QX9300,ANW NBK
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook
1 DNF92 Module,Information,CHASSIS,Black,M17X
1 F219N Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,W#3,Factory Install
1 F574P Module,Software,Alienware WINDOWSTYLE,Default
1 F584P Module,Software,Alienware POWER,High Performance
1 G3C59 MODULE,CARD,GRAPHICS,GT1
1 G427R MODULE,ACCESSORY,ALIENWARE, M17X,ENGLISH
1 H375M Module,Solid State Drive,256 S2,2.5,RBAM,Across Line Of Business
1 H919R Module,Media,Resource Dvd,Alienware,M17X
1 K001R Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.0 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array,Alienware, M17X
1 K893R Module,Blu-ray Rewritable,4X Panasonic,BARE,Alienware
1 K972H Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide
1 MGNNT Module,Card,Network,370,Foxconn,Consumer Notebook,Dell Americas Organization
1 N329P Module,Information,Artwork NAME-PLT,Generic,M17X
1 P395P Module,Software,CYBERLINK Powerdvd,8.0,Alienware
1 P398P Module,Software,NERO,9 Alienware
1 P811N MODULE,INFORMATION,DIRECTSHIP,FLEXTRONICS
1 P916C Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,4GB,1066MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
1 T780J Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,Dynapack International Technology Corp
1 U654N Module,Software,Alienware WALLPAPER-CO3W
1 U675N Module,Software,Alienware RSS-FEED,ANW-NEWS
1 U777M Module,Shipping Material,PACK M1740
1 V8977 Module,Label,Intel,Notebook,C2E,Rebranding
1 W124P Module,Software,Alienware COMMANDCENTER
1 W216R MODULE,SOFTWARE,ALIENWARE,ALIENFX,BLUE
1 W482P Module,Software,Alienware TIME-ZONE,CENTRAL
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer
1 X771M Service Install Module Software,Alienware,M17X
1 Y2FYM Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multi-Language,Alienware
1 Y540P Module,Software,Alienware CYBERLINK,YOUCAM
1 Y573P Module,Keyboard,Alienware United States,England,M17X Dao/bcc
1 Y924N Module,Information,RAID 0 Alienware,M17X
1 YC8XT Module,Tuner,Software,TVT11 NTSC,Advanced Television System Committee

Currently in production.

 

That would be a black M17x-R1 with a QX9300 processor, 256GB Samsung SSD (maybe 2 of them raided), single GTX 260M video card, BDRW and 4GB of memory.

 

Is it easy to un-RAID the system? I was going to throw my old harddrive into the second bay but if it's a RAID system, I probably won't be able to.

 

un-raiding is just a matter of entering the raid configuration utility and choosing to unraid them.
After that the disks are usable in any other computer, format it and you're ready to go

 

Thanks man, can't wait to get my hands on this system! I wish that "In Production" tag on the order would hurry up and change to "Shipped"! >:X

 

07-Dec-2010 Order Received
07-Dec-2010 Work in Progress
10-Dec-2010 Manufacturing Build Complete
11-Dec-2010 Ship from Factory
11-Dec-2010 Uplift
13-Dec-2010 Custom clearance in progress

woohoo nearly there lol my R2 should be here early next week

 

Just got off the phone with a Dell rep- confirmed for an Alienware m17x. He even let me choose the color.

 

I feel obligated to tell you that you should be asking for at least SLi configuration as they're downgrading your GPU setup from a dual config to that of a single. The rest of your specification is top-grade, but they have NOT matched your SLi config, which I think they must.

 

My dell xps after reinstalling windows keeps crashing with System service management or memory management and also it's running pretty hot.

It's usually ok but after a while gets rather hot about 80-90c and when playing second life it went to 98c :S

 

Hello

I got the Code 43 error a week ago - which brought me to this thread.

When I (or an engineer) call Dell, my asset code links to 1 of 2 different machines, which Dell will randomly select - even if I tell them which machine I am calling about !!!!
Dell decided to waste my time by first getting me to reinstall the OS - surprise, surprise the video card was still broken! And lesson learned - if you upgrade to a 14 megapixel camera - backup after every shoot, as two days trying to backup all your photos to the cloud will eventually make you cry!
Lied to me about emailing me and calling me back to check how I got on - took me a while for me to work out that the driver disk did not have the wireless card driver on it.
Dell arranged an engineer, who didn't turn up, 'cos they were waiting for parts - but WWTS only called me (by coincidence?) 5 minutes after I complained to Dell about having waited in nearly all day without a call.
Next day (today) they sent a really good bloke round with - to my horror - a replacement 8800M GTX! I thought they didn't make them anymore!
Engineer could not get new card working and Dell are apparently going to call me within the next few days.
The graphics card is totally bollocksed. Device manager though that it wad an ordinaire 3D VGA card - no brand, no model number.
Nvidia website cannot see the card for what is should be.
Add hardware cannot match the on disk driver with the device.
So, to get to my point, seeing as most other people seem to believe that Dell will not bring a replacement 8800M GTX - 'cos they're not made anymore - do Dell replace with refurbished units?
Or does anyone know if the card in my XPS can somehow be coaxed to life? Uninstalling the device means that Device Manager now thinks that it is a Standard VGA - not even a little bit 3D.
The worst thing is that, on my previous happy Dell experience, I have recommended that 4 people buy Dell - I hope that their machines don't go wrong.
Oh, and I can't pretend anymore that playing Battle for Wesnoth is a viable alternative to playing a real computer game!
Anyway, happy new year!
Cheers
snedger

 

The 9800 replaced the 8800, which is no longer manufactured for the XPS M1730. How did you determine that the video module the technician showed up with was an 8800 rather than a 9800?

Windows will almost always recognize a video card as a standard VGA display adapter without a driver. Unless Microsoft builds in native OS support (which is not the case here) Windows will not "find" the driver for the unknown video card, so you need to run the driver installation. I am assuming you already tried this, or the technician that came out did so.

If you have not already downloaded the latest driver and run the installation, it would not hurt to give it a shot. Here is the link for the 8800M driver download from Dell's web support site.

 

Hello
That's fantastic Mr. Fox!
Just before I rechecked this thread as I was bored and decided that I would see what happened when Nvidia tried to update my video drivers.
And as Mr. Fox hints, I do actually have a 9800M graphics card. Not sure why Nvidia can only detect the true card when in the middle of updating the graphics driver, but hey, my laptop is back!

The reason I thought that the engineer had installed a replacement 8800M GTX card is because, when I asked the question "So, that replacement card is an 8800M GTX, is it?" - his answer was "yes it is".
I asked the obvious question in the most unambiguous way I could think of because I wanted to give the guy the chance to make sure that he had not been sent the wrong one!
I am now going to see whether Supreme Commander 2 will download from Steam before the clock strikes 12.
Cheers
snedger

 

Awesome! I agree that is fantastic. I am very glad for you, snedger.

The hardware ID embedded in the firmware of the device (in this case, your video module) is how the card is identified during driver installation. For example, the hardware ID for my ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_68A0&SUBSYS_043A1028&REV_00.

Happy New Year to you.

 

The whole thought of Dell not having 8800m gtx sli cards is not true. I just had my cards replaced in the last two weeks. So apparently they still have some 8800m gtx sli cards laying around. It took them 3 trys before they got the right card out to me. Looks like no upgrades for me. I am currently on the 3rd video card, 3rd mobo, 3rd powersupply - one replacement which died within a week of receiving it. I was hoping I would get upgraded to the M17 but no luck. My bro had his m1730 upgraded to the M17 a couple months ago. Guess no love for me.

 

Man, your story is like deja vu to me.

It may be that .Dell .have temporarily run out of 9800 modules and found an old 8800 on the shelf to get your machine back into service. It's hard to believe they would send out a part that they know beyond the shadow of any doubt is destined for failure. The 8800 series is a known defective product and a repeat failure is predictable. As many replacements you have already suffered through, you should be receiving the same treatment as your brother; or, at the very least, replacement with 9800 modules.

Have you already tried contacting the Unresolved Issues Department to share your experience in a polite manner and respectfully request an upgrade? How much time is left on your warranty? If you are nearing the end, be sure to extend the warranty before it expires. If you are approaching the end of your warranty, you should extend it before "stirring the pot" with .Dell .so your service tag number is not declared ineligible for an extended warranty.

Extending the warranty for a couple more years will create a financial incentive for them to get you something more reliable to avoid accumulative costs of repetitive part replacement dispatches. It's also cheap insurance when you consider that the MTBF experience is poor and the replacement cost of the proprietary components for this machine are sky high. Consider the fact that a 9800 GTX SLI module is $600+ and the cost of extending the warranty becomes a no-brainer. The AC adapters are also very expensive and have a short life span, as you have already discovered.

Also, visit this web site and file a claim against nvidia as soon as the claim submission phase begins in mid-January. You may get an upgrade to 9800 GTX SLI (or maybe even something better) directly from nvidia if .Dell .does not step up to the plate quickly enough to correct this for you.

 

I have not contacted the Unresolved Issues Department yet but I will definately look into that. I started seeing issues again this week. Ran diagnostics and looks like one of my drives is starting to go now. Not sure if Dell will do anything about that seeing as these were aftermarket drives I put in, we'll see. My warranty is good until June, and I already have plans to extend the warranty. I will also look into the claim. Thanks for the info.

 

You're welcome. Being helpful is one of the things you can count on from just about everyone on this forum. We're all happy to help.

Being polite and professional will not guarantee a good outcome for you, but a poor outcome is likely if you get too grumpy or overly demanding in the eyes of an employee that does not care about retaining customers.

It is probably not a wise idea to mention anything to them about a failing drive that is an aftermarket part. It would be unreasonable to expect them to help you with that situation. If you do anything to give them an impression (even if it is a false impression) that you are being difficult or unreasonable it can backfire on you, big time. They can put a hold on your account and make warranty fulfillment a living nightmare.

Chances are, you have a warranty from the drive manufacturer and that would be the right place to go for a replacement. Did you hang on to the OEM drive, as you will need to plop that back into the machine before you return it if you end up getting an M17X like your bro.

 

I went ahead and sent an email to the unresolved issues dept, we'll see what happens. I do still have the original drive that came with the laptop so that will not be an issue. I'm typically a polite guy, and have always tried to be nice when talking to tech support about the issue. It's just sad that there are so many issues with these laptops.

I will post what happens with this once I hear back from dell.

 

Still waiting, or have they done something for you?

 

They are going to replace with a M17x.
Original Specs:
M1730
Core 2 Duo T8300 2.40Ghz
2GB RAM
8800m GTX SLI
160GB HD

Replacement:
M17xR2
I5 - 520m 2.40GHz
4GB RAM
CrossfireX ATI 5870
320GB HD

Tried to work out a better CPU but they wouldn't budge. Currently "In Production". This wait is killing me.

 

Great news! Was this in response to your email to the Unresolved Issues Departments or working directly on the phone with Tech Support? The i5 is still better than the Core2 Duo, so you did fine on that, in addition to the memory, video and HDD. In my case it took about 2 weeks to receive the new machine. It will also take about that long to transfer your account and warranty to the new service tag after your new machine arrives, but you will need to be persistent in following up on that.

 

This was in response to me submitting the Unresolved Issues form. I tried to work a better CPU just to future proof a little. Was willing to pay for an upgrade but apparently they do not have that option in the US. I am pleased with the specs of the new system. The order went in on the 4th so hopefully it will be next week sometime.

 

Hello
This is a big topic and so soz if this has already been posted.

Dell left me high and dry with my new GPU and no resolution to getting it working.
After fiddling about, I thought that I was ok with the latest Nvidia drivers, but CS:S video stress test only scored about 65 fps and Supreme Commander 2 was nearly too slow.
Today though, everything went slow, even web browsing. SC2 could barely even load.
So I popped on to the Dell website and installed their 179.24 9800M GTX drivers from 24/03/2009 and my laptop is magic again.
SC2 loads and plays like a dream and CS:S video stress test scored 228fps.

There's dozens of posts about performance problems with various Nvidia drivers.

Basically, the Dell driver works, install it and leave well alone 'til the laptop dies (probably in 5 minutes time )

Dell support has been really rubbish and I cannot trust myself to fill in the support questionaire!

Hopefully cloud processing will really take off and my next laptop will not have to be so powerful.

Cheers
snedger

 

Thats doesnt make sense mate, at all.
Imho the problem is with your driver and windows installation, because here everything works fine and BETTER than those old dell drivers.
And btw im using the latest betas available 266.36.
Now if you're on vista i highly advice to format the hdd and dual boot with windows xp and 7.
The fact that CS:S and SCII drops to unplayable framerates means a few things:

- sli isnt enabled
- sli profiles are corrupted
- power management mode under nvidia control panel is on "adaptive" instead of max performance

Everytime you install a newer driver note that sli will be OFF by default and needs to be enabled manually, as well as the power management
Behaviour.
266.35 beta have a huge speedup in most games under win7 but under win xp you gain about 20fps.

Also run driver sweeper everytime you unistall a driver otherwise the leftover will mostly corrupt your newer driver installation.

 

Edit: i see that based on your tests the latest nvidia driver gave you 65fps in CS:S stress test. Thats a sign that sli isnt working/enabled.

 

i am travelling a lot at the moment and my 3rd replacement 8800's are starting to overheat again, over the next 8 months I will only be back at my home for 2x 2 week visits several months apart, the history of my XPS is similar to most here, many calls many failures and currently have a faulty AC power unit which they sent a replacement for 2 months ago but was faulty, they also wanted to replace the MB but I refused as I new it was just the power unit as I've tried a friends in mine and it works fine, I sent them an email explaining my travel situation and was unhappy with the reliability and possible failure of 8800's ahead, I made the point that the machine was not fit for purpose, I have since recieved a reply from Dell's legal dept which is a puzzle, all I want is a reliable machine, I may ask them too change the graphics cards again and allow me to keep the old ones in case they fail again, not really a proper solution having to carry a kit of spare parts because of the reliability, my friend who is traveling with me had his system fail 2 days into the trip, he had his cards replaced a couple of weeks before we left, he has been unable to use his XPS for 2 months now - this what I want to avoid, they keep using refurbished parts which from what I can see are very unreliable grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

yes I have a waranty for another 2 years but not of any use if I'm away from home, I just can't imagine where we would all be if we had no warranty, there would have been many legal battles going on I'd imagine

 

Hi Guys, Have been having multiple issues with my M1730 aswell, Specs: T9300, Dual 9800GTX (Originally 8800GTX) 4gb ram, Blueray reader+writer, vista ULT.

Have had about 4 GFX card changes, couple of mobo changes, adaptor, lcd, wireless, keyboard x2, top lid x2, heatsink, just got it back from the workshop about a week ago and the gfx cards are already having issues (artifacts).

Going to push for a replacement but wondering whats the minimum i should accept as a replacement considering my current specs?

 

Dell have written to me and if my system fails again after the next repair they will replace it, I have asked for the 9800 cards and not 8800 so will see, I am also going to request that I keep the old 8800 cards as a backup until my return in case the new 9800's fail as I am travelling a week after the repair for 2 months and I need my machine, it's a real pitty as I actually like my 1730 I just can't rely on it, I hate even turning it on as it might fail at any moment, I try to just use it when I absolutly need too, hardly the way a £2500 computer should be.

 

Spoke to dell today, they want to send a technician AGAIN (Must be about 6-7 times now + sent to workshop), i told them that i would like it replaced like i was told last time but they are saying they will not replace it because its over 1000days old, even though still has 2 months left in its warranty. I give up, not going to take more time off work for a tech to fix it again to last a week. Buying a new one, sure as hell wont be a dell.

 

Ah, so you're giving up? It took 12+ dispatches for me, so you're only half way there. After my 12th dispatch I got a replacement. I'd bet they are looking at the fact that your warranty is about to expire and they are just hoping you do give up and go away.

If I were you, I would try to extend the warranty with 2 more years of Dell Complete Care onsite service and let them keep spending money on your machine. At some point they'll realize they are wasting money on repairs or run out of replacement parts and have no choice but to replace it with another machine under warranty, and extending the warranty will not be as expensive as a new machine.

If you're truly going to give up and go buy something, make sure it's not an HP system. I've found Dell systems to be much better in comparison to my HP systems, (all of the HP's were regrettable purchases,) and Dell's warranty service is way better. In my personal experience, HP's warranty service has been absolutely horrid.

 

So having an issue here, not really sure what to do.

I bought the XPS 1710 few years ago, it failed last year so they replaced it with an XPS 1730. About a year later, in September 2010 the graphics card/motherboard failed out of warranty, so i paid to ship it to texas for them to repair it.

This morning everything was going great, then i went to turn it on and the screen was black, same issue i had before. I tried the usual stuff, nothing worked out, so i called them up. He led me through the usual crap, we reseated the ram, went through the error codes, and all that.

At the end he concluded that the motherboard was fubar, and because the 90 day warranty from that repair was up and the computer is out of warranty as it is, they wouldn't do anything and he recommended that i buy a new computer.

He wouldn't let me speak to a supervisor, didn't really give me any other options, so i got pissed off and hung up.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a next step? I don't really want to pay another 500$ to ship it for a repair and get new parts when i could just build a new computer for that cost, but i don't want to leave the thing bricked like it is right now. Thanks
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EDIT
Just called again, got a totally different story. The woman said i can purchase an extended warranty now for 200 something dollars, and then they can send me parts and a technician at no cost. Does anyone know what the hell is going on with this company?

 

Figured it was worth a shot here. Has anyone else had issues w 8800m GTX SLI under Windows 7 x64? I keep having issues and 3dMark06 reporting low scores.

What driver would you recommend?

 

Like any big company, they have incompetent employees as well as excellent employees. Sometimes calling back is the best solution when you have a moron on the line.

But, the good news is they are offering to let you extend the warranty and the cost is substantially less that what an equivalent machine would cost. That's awesome! Buy the warranty... you cannot go wrong with that. Keep extending the warranty on the XPS M1730 as long as they will let you, as they are prone to failure. You'll possibly end up with an Alienware laptop as a replacement at some point.

 

Idiots get the awesome jobs while who can do the job just right cant. Lol.
Same happens here in italy but with Telecom (ADSL Isp) call center.
Eveytime you call its a different story, i have yet to find someone who says the exact or similar thing of the collegue before him.
Then i grab a stepladder, a pair of cables, some scissors and fix the problem myself.
Muuuch better. When they call in asking if everything is ok i said last time "i just fixed the problem myself, pwing your technician so bad."
The rep had a good laugh then he invited me to not do it again.

Sure, ill do not do it again. But i cant stay without adsl for a week just waiting their lazy assess to come over.

 

They have the 3 dispatch policy then how come you needed 12+???
After 3 unsuccessful dispatch, they give you options which you would love indeed.
Strange!

 

After the third or fourth dispatch, believe me, I was asking them to do something different. What's that definition of insanity? ...keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome? But, I've come to expect that from off-shored help. The incompetence of off-shored technical support is not unique to Dell. US-based companies need to get back their scruples and remember, "anything worth doing right is worth doing yourself". That concept definitely applies to the customer service experience from off-shoring.

It was flat-out ludicrous what I went through with my m1730. By the twelfth dispatch, my email to the Unresolved Issues Department had been read and the apologies from the US Dell rep that arranged for my M17x R2 dispatch seemed very sincere. All things considered, Dell and Alienware Support is far better than most.

While I'm on my soapbox about customer service... I purchased a Belkin Play N600 dual band router two weeks ago. The first one worked without any special configuration, but the CAT5 cable would not stay plugged into the RJ45 port. I exchanged it for a second N600 and spent two hours trying to get it to work. Unfortunately, I called Belkin support and wasted more than an hour on the phone with a person from another country... guessing India based on her accent. She was difficult to understand and kept apologizing for my inconvenience. She walked me through a script that duplicated what I had already done, and she tried it like three times before I interrupted and suggested we were wasting time doing the same thing over and over again. She agreed, apologized for my inconvenience again, and told me someone from Belkin Support in the US would call me during business hours the next day. Knowing this excuse was absolute bull_hit, I politely thanked her for nothing. After hanging up, I took the Belkin router back to Walmart and got a Netgear WNDR3400. It worked right out of the box, but I wanted the USB printing hub the N600 offered. Well, guess what... I got a survey to ask about my experience with Belkin's foreign tech support, but Belkin has yet to call. If and when they ever find out they're supposed to call me, they'll get an ear-full. I'm sick of receiving "service and support" from script-reading zombies that are unaccountable as direct employees for the manufacturers of products I purchase.

 

Thats true man, they put zombies everywhere these times. Games,Movies,Tech Supports....who knows where we will go.

 

Grab a shotgun!
Headshots..baby!
lol

 

Thanks, I had given up but not before sending a mail bomb to dells executives, got a call today from their executive support team saying they are going to process a replacement, just waiting for them to send through the quote so i can see the system specs, will update when i know, found that dells first and second line support might as well be brainless monkeys, their executive support team however is tops, so big ups to them.