Dell XPS Service

I was wondering how good (or bad) the XPS service is compared to Dell's regular service, and any other service other people have experienced.

I currently have an older Dell latitude and had it serviced over three years ago by Dell and actually had a good experience. Dell sent a tech out to home and he fixed my problem. Now I've been reading that Dell's service has slipped recently (e.g. Dell Hell) so I'm slightly reluctant to purchase another one. If I did, it would be the XPS 1210, which is supposed to include the better XPS service.

Any comments and anecdotes would be greatly appreciated.

 

The first, and only times, that I ever called XPS support were disasters. I think they know a little more than the standard techs, and the responses are a little quicker...but they are the same useless responses.

The first time I called was when my VGA port wasn't working as well as it should have on my XPS M140. They eventually sent the problem to the tier three techs and were working on it for about two weeks before they came back with a "we don't know what is wrong...so lets replace your motherboard." No...not on a new laptop.

Needless to say, I eventually (somewhat) fixed the issue without their help. No one knew about, or how to fix, the issue until I discovered that the GMA 900 was the actual problem and I HAD TO ADJUST THE MONITOR SETTINGS TO A NON-DEFAULT SETTING TO PROPERLY PROCESS THE VGA SIGNAL. I still haven't found a permanent solution and neither has Dell.

Eventually, I posted the solution to the problem on Dell's forums here:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_port_vid&message.id=245
Apparently, over 1,000 people have viewed this thread (probably with the same problem) and over 800 have read my posted solution. Seems like to me Dell's XPS support never did find a proper solution.

The second time I called them was regarding the MediaDirect CDs and such, because I needed them after doing a manual install of a new OS (XP Pro). That was an issue for about two months until they finally were able to send the CDs out to me, after many delays and cancellations of my orders. Then, they tried to charge me for CDs that should be included in the first place. Fortunately, they didn't get another cent out of me.

I'm definitely not calling them unless I absolutely NEED to in order to fix an issue!

 

its funny someone brought this up because I actually called XPS support yesterday because I was a little concerned about what average temps of the 7900 GO GTX were supposed to be? I felt they might be running higher then normal and so I called to make sure I wasnt being overly paranoid. When I called, I was on hold for less then a minute and was then connected to an english speaking person. I felt that they answered my question in an adequate manner. I hope he knew what he was talking about haha. Anyhow, I know this wasnt very descriptive but hope it helped a little.

 

Also, how is the build quality of the XPS 1210? Is it more in line with the Latitude or the Inspiron? I'm hoping that it's comparable to the Latitude, as my current latitude has lasted over 5 years, while I here the quality of the Inspirons isn't as good as the Latitudes.

 

I am interesting in the XPS so-called "white glove service." Is it really that good??? Experiences seem to be mixed...

 

I would like to know if this "white glove service" is really that good as well.

 

Any more anecdotes regarding Dell XPS service?

 

I've contacted the XPS service numerous times at many different hours of the night and they've always resolved my problems; I have no complaints. I have this M1710 as a replacement due to the XPS service. I've never had much of a problem with the non-XPS service either, however.