Xps 17 laptop woes

First of all I received the laptop on 10/1/2011

so far i've had to have the optical drive and the heatsink replaced within the first 10 days.

Now i've got the bsod driver_irql_not_less_or_equal on all stock drivers, it was triggered ( I think ) when i turned off wlan as i wanted to save some battery life off charge.

not even 20 days into owning this machine, before I even bother dealing with tech support does this give me any leverage against them for upgrades or just a refund in general?

 

Ouch.

I've had a few totally random BSOD's, but otherwise flawless performance.

Some questions:

1) What was the issue with the optical drive? They're made 3rd party, and fairly indestructible unless you mess around with the laser optic and/or put really grimy CDs in there.

2) Heatsink?!? Er.. ?!? Which one? If that's a Mobo heatsink, then... new mobo, surely?

3) Turning off Wlan shouldn't effect IRQ functions at all, given the way win 7 handles them.

4) New buy or refurb? There are some nasty stories of people getting direct returns rather than refurbs (well... one) on this forum, might be worth clarifying this for us

Anyhow:

If you answer 1-3, which warrenty you've taken out and list your specs, I'll provide my version of what to expect from technical. Trading up to a 702x requires a) top of the range specs on the 701x and b) metaphorical balls of steel

But really - at this point, if all these errors are from the machine (heatsink?!!? Optical drive?!?!) and not you using it in totally inappropriate ways (first thoughts.. running it in your sauna?) then you should just aim for a straight swap new build (assuming #4 isn't true)

 

Specifications:

i7 740
Nvidia 445M
4GB ram
1600 x 900 screen
500GB HDD
DVD RW


1) I put in a brand new DVD that i had bought from amazon, also scratched my microsoft office 2010 pro disk to hell, in the end it seemed that it hadn't been properly fitted into the chassy in production.

2) Processor heat sink, as the palm rest seemed to heat up to way past luke warm temps which people post on here, the technician agreed, however the processor heat sink seams to be worse and I will be bringing that up.

3) I was watching a video on 4oD ( video streaming site ), pressed Fn + F2 then got the bsod. however I can provide the log if you tell me where to find it.

4) Brand new.

I don't use it in any appropriate ways, I use it on a flat surface even with a cooling pad.

 

How many running processes do you have in the background? Sounds like you possibly may have a bad driver install if you get BSOD when you flip the WLAN switch.

 

averages at about 60, I still haven't gone through turning off unnecessary services, but i've gotten rid of all of the crappy start up entries. Majority of those are I get multiple entries from both google chrome and svchost.exe

 

1 - Shouldn't have passed QA testing if this is the case - however, the unit is self-contained, and can be remounted very easily

2 - You should run a program like (freeware) CPUID-HWMonitor and post us the results after a) bootup, b) surfing usage and c) running any fairly GPU dependent programs for 30mins+, as you might have one of three issues: 1) faulty heatsink [very rare to the point of silly odds], 2) mis-applied thermal paste - common, read the repasting threads or 3) some X-wire or blockage or dropped element that is causing it (there's a reason why on re-pasting the guides all stress making sure it is 100% free of contaminants)

3 Channel 4 streaming stuff - well, cutting wireless mid stream shouldn't cause a problem, but I don't know what codecs etc they're using. Doubtful it is a hardware issue, tbh


But anyhow - #1 will get you a new unit (optical drive) installed. #2 should get you a replacement mobo, if you can prove that its going past safe limits (thus CPUID-HWMonitor) #3 isn't actionable at all, as it is 99% a software issue.

If you combine #1 + #2, I'm fairly sure you can argue for a new unit convincingly, depending on your warranty plan - however, you've already had a tech out to look at it, and do onsite repairs... which means you've blown the chance (unless there's more issues) for a trade in for new

 

thing is im not looking for a replacement mobo or anything, I have to travel for work in 3 weeks and need to know I have a laptop that will work as needed for 3 straight months, I'm guessing they will just offer to fix whats wrong again even though it will be the 2nd call out within first month of arrival? I upgraded from the default 1 year to 3 Years next day at home fix

 

Well - you might need one. Thus running the temp program; if the tech has to repaste the CPU or fix a broken heatsink....

I'd push for onsite technical replacement rather than sending the unit back. If you're not on this plan, push hard to get it (aka - "Well, I just bought this and I feel it hasn't lived up to the sales act, so I can return it" - do not believe a sales / tech person stating you cannot, the UK sales act is your friend in this case - faulty goods such as this are returnable with full refund for longer than Dell claim. Same goes for their 7 day limitation, but hey).


Bottom line - you spent a lot of money, you should have a working product. If I was handling this, I'm fairly sure you'd have a new unit within 4 days

 

I'm going to have to look up this UK Sales Act, I need a direct quote, I'll try and push for a new upgraded laptop or refund.

 

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Sale of Goods Act Fact Sheet - BIS

Q13. What does the "reversed burden of proof" mean for the consumer?

It means that for the first six months the consumer need not produce any evidence that a product was inherently faulty at the time of sale. If a consumer is seeking any other remedy the burden of proof remains with him/her.

In such a case, the retailer will either accept there was an inherent fault, and will offer a remedy, or he will dispute that it was inherently flawed. If the latter, when he inspects the product to analyse the cause, he may, for example, point out impact damage or stains that would be consistent with it having been mistreated in such a way as to bring about the fault.

This reversal of the usual burden of proof only applies when the consumer is seeking a repair or replacement. After the first six months the onus of proof is again on the consumer.


Aka - if you say it is broken, the retailer [Dell] has to accept this. If you want a repair or replacement (ignoring warranties) then Dell has to accept this. Life lesson - this is why 1 yr warranties etc are such a con in the UK: the law provides 6 months protection anyhow, so charging for those 6 months is basically fraud - or rather, they're charging you x2 for 6 months cover, rather than x1 for 12 months.

 

that states within a "reasonable period of time" i'm hoping 20 days of arrival should be enough, will definately give them a call tomorrow morning and keep pushing, and post how the matter gets resolved. + rep for help.

 

You ninja'd me - 6 months is considered "reasonable time" for a return / statement of broken when provided.

Dell will try to take this to their 21 day limit - don't let them, is my advice. Push for new build timeline (7-14 days) - state clearly that if they cannot provide a replacement within 20 days, then you expect a full refund. Given the way Dell sales are geared, you can probably turn this not only into a replacement, but a slight upgrade.

 

I went for the 3 year upgrade to on site technicians because I thought it will most likely break month 13 , well get to unusable status. well it's nowhere near the 6 months so should be alright.

If I keep pushing what rewards could I potentially gain? i'm guessing I could only get an m17x r3 or something like that if the battery spontaneously combusted and burnt my leg with it.

 

You ninja'd me again


See above - if you make it clear that it is a case of "replacement within X days" or full refund, and then talk calmly about your disappointment and disgust with the quality of product, I'm fairly sure (aka - I know I could) that you could angle for some free upgrades. By this, you're looking at potentially getting a BluRay drive, or if you were really charming, a CPU upgrade. This is largely dependent on what is available at the time - although, having your CPU heatsink run hot / break is a good bargaining chip.

Top tip: Dell really hate losing sales - especially on full refunds.


p.s.

Lol.. just read your re-edit. No, I'd advise against trying to angle for an alienware. Upgrades are "doable" within a spec sheet, changing the base unit is much harder: when you come to changing models, you have to be in the class of "return where model is no longer built" or "price comparison is now =". Neither apply here

 

I will give it a try, I think I will be sold if they can give me a 1080p screen, which they have confirmed to me is possible and is currently in stock via dell for £130 which would be fitted by a technician and still be covered by warranty, otherwise i'll push for a processor and ram upgrade

 

WHAT?!?!?!?!

Holy crap.

UK 701x (and indeed USA ones at that) aren't offered the 1080p screen (thus the changing your screen thread). Please get specs on that screen - since Dell shouldn't be offering a 1080p 17" screen until next week, and they should be only offering it on the 702x models.


I was going to say - a good bargaining chip is to mention that Dell has had serious issues on component failure before, and you've lost confidence and will be happier switching to HP / Asus etc (lol.. this really gets them going btw, panic stations, go straight to manager).


If they're willing to provide a 1080p screen, then don't agree to pay more - remember your product was faulty, they should be compensating you, not asking for you to spend more.

 

On my first repair they offered me a 1920 x 1080 screen for £130 because I mentioned i was thinking about replacing it and getting a laptop with 1920 x 1080 resolution as that was important to me, Will get part number for you tomorrow.

Believe it or not I had a dell laptop 5 years ago, long story short the vent actually started exhausting fumes + charger broke so I switched to Packard Bell then I was unhappy with them then went to Acer unhappy with their Acer 8930G then came back to dell, Asus is on my next laptop to try list.

 

Did you ever get that part number? I called Dell and asked if I could order a screen for the L702x and the guy told me it wasn't available yet.

 

Thought I may aswel make this a diary now, having keyboard replaced tomorrow so that will be fun Another day I have to stay behind for a laptop fix, if theres another repair needed before next thursday i'm insisting on a refund.

 

Is the keyboard being replaced for the blue screen? My guess without more information is the wireless card is causing a problem. I'd upgrade the driver using intel's driver. Link - http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx?iid=gg_support-EN_01+home_downloadctr

When the technician arrives to do the keyboard swap, have them reseat the wireless card. Its easy to install it improperly as it's location makes it awkward to install properly, and if it was done in a hurry it might just be loose. It would have come out if the heatsink replacement was done by the book.