Dell discontinues Samsung 1680x1050 WSXGA+!

I ordered mine a few days ago, reportedly shipping on 2/13/08. I will report back!

 

I hear that not all of the Samsungs are bad. Mine also wasn't that grainy. The problem I had was that it was dim, all the colors were tinted grey and it had very bad viewing angles. Even looking straight at the screen the corners and edges were dark and the right side of the screen was always dark no matter what.

I've actually now seen in person the LG 1680x1050 and it is nice. There is no comparison between the two.

 

I had ordered mine on 25th jan got it on 30th jan and it was samsung screen...Now I have a replacement coming in which is again a samsung ... so i don't believe they are discotinuing it

 

I will second the viewing angle performance. I didn't really notice the grain on the Samsung. I did notice my right edge was darker than the rest of the screen.

The LG has fantastic viewing angles. The brightness is the same for a good 45 degrees on either side. After a certain point the brightness drops, but stays constant all the way out to 180 degrees. I can see the screen, with less brightness almost on edge.

 

Thanks Rohin. Just the fact that they are still sending out Samsungs is too bad. Well.. unless they are good Samsungs.

 

Mine was to be delivered today... with the Samsung screen but is still stuck in the states...perhaps they are doing a change before I even get it!!!LOL!!! looks like Monday now...oh well...gives me more time to read on....all of the new orders with the Samsungs please report back... maybe these are a next generation and great quality...we hope... go Pats!!!!! everyone loves a winner...

 

This was one of the reasons I quit HP and Dell does it too???
With HP ALL the service is being handle by phone in INDIA!!!

I placed my order yesterday and sure hope I get a LG screen.

 

Dell XPS support is different than their regular support. XPS support is located in the US or Canada.

 

That is GREAT news as I ordered the M1530 yesterday, (correction, today I found out from my friend in FL)

 

I got my LG 1680*1050 screen today. This is after the tech came with a Samsung screen the day before. I told him not to waste his time installing that screen, plus last time he was rough with it. The screen he had changed on my previous laptop was a Samsung plus the base wobbled.
I talked to the xps tech on chat and finally got the XK209 LG screen after 3 tries. This time I noticed that they would send it to my house instead of to the tech. So the laptop that I would be sending back I disassembled to practice taking out the screen. Success! In the morning with the new screen I took the laptop apart and installed the new screen, I couldn't bother to wait for the tech to be dispatched. It was very tense for me, I didn't want to break any of the fragile cables. Got everything installed and booted it up. Way brighter than the last. I put the two laptops side by side on full brightness and you can see the difference. I took some pics pf the process and the comparison. Now the laptop is as it should have been. I also fixed the wave in the keyboard. If you hear a whining/buzzing sound when the AC adapter is plugged in, try a different one and it will go away.
When ordering the part make sure you tell them to order the part as an LG screen and not a 1680*1050 then you will get a Samsung. YN something another on your part number means generic 1680*1050 screen which most likely is a Samsung.
If a tech comes with a Samsung refuse service, whats the point of ripping your laptop apart to put back the same brand screen. Do it once and get it over with.
I can post pics if interested.

 

Well post it already!
Can you post pixs with it all apart and being put back together?
In case I ever have to do it in the future.

 

I will post them but I do not have pics from all the stages. Only from taking the LCD out but I can tell you that the Dell service manual makes it way more complicated. The only thing I had to remove was the media bar and the plastic around the LCD. Post the pic when I get back from installing a network switch.

 

Cool... do you have a link to the Dell Service Manual so I can look at that while waiting for mine.

 

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1530/en/SM/display.htm

In all fairness, this is a procedure to remove the entire lid, not just removing the lcd.

 

Agreed, but you just have to remove the LCD.

 

Exactly what I wanted. Thanks!
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1530/en/SM/index.htm

 

Can you replace the LCD yourself without voiding your warranty?

 

LG left. Samsung right.

 

Camera is not the best so you might not be able to see the difference. But with the naked eye its obvious.

 

lol, im trying to view this on my grainy screen, they both look grainy! lucky for me the replacement screen should be here within a couple hours.

 

Okay guys I finely got the service tech out to my house to replace my POS samsung screen with the LG XK309 and it is unbelievable how much better this screen is! The white is so bright and clear it is just remarkable! I can't even put into words how beautiful this LG screen is. If you have a samsung screen and are wondering if you should get it replaced DO IT AS FAST AS YOU CAN you will not regret it! It is a night and day difference!

 

GREAT NEWS!!!

I sure can't wait to get mine. They tell me around the 18th... kinda long if you ask me.

 

Wow...that's really nice to hear! Glad to see this finally got resolved. I guess the new XPS line addition was one of few ways Dell was able to respond to customer suggestions/complaints. TBH six months ago, I thought Dell was destined for a pitfall it wouldn't be able to get out of. But the addition of new sales and research teams seems to be paying off.

But one area they seem to still need to work on cleaning up...is the QC...-__-...I hear about grainy screen issues, defective headphone jacks, BROKEN LIDs ...a long path to go!

 

Contrary to what some might believe here, Dell have not discontinued or phased out the Samsung LCD for an XPS M1530 with a 1680x1050 WSXGA.

I placed my order on 28th January and the next day, on 29th January, I called and spoke to a Customer Service / Sales Support representative (after reading all the posts here about the dismal quality of the Samsung unit) and made a very clear and unambiguous request to NOT build my system with the said display. I was assured that Dell would not build my system with this make of LCD, however, she did not confirm when I asked if it would be an LG display instead.

Yesterday, 1st February 2008, Dell shipped out my XPS M1530 with the Samsung configuration.

After investing what I did and, further, providing a very clear instruction as to what should NOT be included, Dell have belied my trust and hope and are sending out what I did not want.

The Customer Service representative whom I just spoke to, about an hour or so ago, says that I haven't any choice now (!!) but to return the system if I am not satisfied. While I am not sure about the display just yet, I am certainly not at all satisfied with Dell's high-handed attitude towards a customer.

I'll update this note in a couple of days; the system is on its way and should be delivered by Wednesday, 6th February.

Desperately hoping that the Samsung LCD is yet not a sub-standard item...

Aprilman
Saturday, 2nd Feb 2008.

 

Aprilman, I hope your screen is ok. Not all Samsungs are bad I hear.

Yes, I don't think you can trust most of the CSRs at Dell. Talk to 10 different people and get 10 different answers.

 

Well like I've said, if my third replacement is a subpar Samsung screen, it's going back to Dell for good. Paying $1600 for this much trouble doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather pay a bit more and deal less with this kind of problem, personally. Those Sony Vaio's sure are looking better

 

Sounds like Washington Mutual.

 

I just spoke with someone in Dell chat, asking if they could tell me which brand of lcd screen they use on the xps m1530 and he kept telling me it was dell branded, no matter how i asked, it isn't LG or Samsung apparently, it's Dell... I ordered it today, with a WXGA+ TrueLife LCD, after reading all the bad reviews i'm ready to just cancel and go elsewhere... What should I do? Am I being overly Paranoid...

 

Well, mine has shipped and it has the WSXGA+ SAMSUNG ... so, those of you still looking to build a new one thinking Dell is only using LG, forget it. We'll wait and see what it looks like on Monday and if it's really poor, the quest for LG will begin! I've had 12 Dell laptops and never sent one back....I've been very tolerant. My D820 has a WSXGA+ screen that is very poor. I'll be interested to compare this one to the D820. I will not be tolerant with a bad screen on this XPS! I'm typing on a HP business laptop right now. It's far brighter and crisper than the D820 and this HP is nothing special.

 

Well that's bad news to hear. I hope the one I'm shipped is LG but I am not getting my hopes up, especially after the last few days of reports of new shipments being Samsung still. It really bothers me that Dell continues to use these subpar displays in their top of the line XPS. If they're gonna skimp on an item, why make it something as glaringly obvious as a bad LCD?

 

Well, I posted this on a Dell forum and I'll just paste it here. Kind of sums up the bottom line...

Dell has had screen issues, more so on their hi-res LCD's for years. These same discussions having been going around and around with many models... 9200, 9300, The D820, M1710, even the new M1730 as well as many others. Nothing will ever be done about it on a large scale. Having been in Corporate IT for over 16 years, I've seen notebook computers come in by the hundreds... it's amazing the variation of screen quality in many of these machines...even with all being the same model, same specs. The bottom line is simple... the mass majority of users will never notice or even care. I can give out 1000 notebooks and perhaps 3 or 4 employees would come back to me or my staff and actually complain about the "screen". Same thing here. Dell, like any big corporate entity will never admit to anything unless it effects a huge number of people, or causes harm... for example the problem with the lithium batteries. In that case, the company responsible had no choice but to bite the bullet.. it cost them and others a fortune...not to mention what they hate even more than the cost...bad publicity. For these screen problems it's better for them just to deal with the few... even though it may appear by all these posts that there are many, we're the very infinite minority. Dell will just fix them, replace them, or refund them... and it goes away. If they came out and said a particular screen is defective it would open a can of worms where huge numbers of people would want replacements even if, in their own minds, they don't see anything wrong... they would want it replaced because the company said it was defective. It would cost Dell a small fortune, bad publicity, and hurt their bottom line.

Trust me, they know about it...they may play dumb and say nothing is wrong, but the bottom line is... they will never publicly admit that they have a problem. This will continue to be going on with the M1550, M1570, or whatever future models, because millions will be sold and thousands will be returned, and those thousands will just be resold on the Outlet, etc. etc. In the end a few picky folks like us will be upset, but Dell and the shareholders will be happy.

On a positive note, overall, I've been very pleased with Dell. When combined with company orders, I've bought over 50 workstations and notebooks from Dell. Only the D820 had a lousy screen (also WSXGA+), but not bad enough to warrant a replacement. I've been lucky and never had to return a single computer. On the corporate level, for notebooks, I deal mostly with HP and Lenovo. Those companies have their issues too. So, to be fair, Dell has been quite good for me so far...although I may have to go at it with them on this XPS. Perhaps with the history and buying power, they MIGHT work with me a little. Anyway, I hope this helps some of you.

 

That says it all, great post. I'm employed in marketing, and studied advertising, and your post can't be more true. The posts on this board and other internet outlets are very minute compared to how many notebooks that Dell sells on a daily basis.

Like you said, they aren't going to admit any wrongdoing in a case where maybe 50 out of 1,000 people complain about a screen. What most people don't realize, is that most computer users are not enthusiasts. This board among others represent the minority of computer users. Most people just want a system that runs and computes their average tasks.

I don't think it would be too outlandish to assume that 30% of computer users only use their system for internet surfing and nothing else outside of Microsoft Office. So, in the grand scheme of things, us enthusiasts are more "picky" than the average Joe. I'm not saying that in a bad way, it's just true.

I myself have a Vostro 1500 on order with a WSXGA+ screen, and I will not be satisfied with a noticeably grainy screen. I will however be content if it is not enough to bother me. I will see when it gets here.

 

I did pretty much same as you. Before I placed my order for XPS M1530 with WSXGA option, I chatted with tech guy and he looked over my cart and told me that LG panel will be used for my system. So I placed my order and it's been shipped Jan 31 and today I found out that Samsuck panel is coming.
I really don't want to return this system because I heard that most of the people who bought this system are satisfied with the system only except the screen. I will give it a shot to Samsung panel, and if it's grainy I will ask for swap. This time for sure LG!!!

 

There is a simple solution to this for Dell and that is to offer different display qualities for a higher price. I would gladly pay $50-100 more for a higher quality screen. Say for example Sony's Xbrite ECO versus XBrite Highcolor. HP's Birghtview to the Ultra Brightview.

Charge me a little more and just give me the best screen you have and be done with it. I'm happy and you Dell will make and save more money in the long run.

When I had Sony FZ290 with the Hibrite HiColor screen sitting next to the Dell 1530 the Sony blew the Dell away as far as screen quality goes. I liked the 1530 in almost every way except for the screen. If you spend a lot of hours on the laptop having the best looking screen make all the difference in the world. As you get a little older this is even more important.

The Dell got returned...and because the Sony had a bad keyboard it was returned.

Now I would love to order a Dell but I'm not going through all this crap. If they don't get the screen issues solved soon I will be ordering another FZ4000that I KNOW will have a hi quality LCD display.

Why in the world would I order a $2500 Dell XPS 1530 with Bluray burner and get a LCD Display that looks worse that my 4 year old HP pavillion.

The quality of the LCD Display is the first thing on my list. So Dell if you don't get this issue resolved without me jumping through hoops by the time Sony is shipping the FZ4000 you will loose my sale.

 

This is exactly why I am planning on a VAIO if my third Dell is a flop

 

Sony definitely has gorgeous LCD's. Problem with the FZ4000 is the screen is limited to only 1280x800 which is just just too low a resolution for a 15.4" screen. You cannot order anything higher. It also only uses the 8400 graphics card.

If the Samsung does in fact stink...as I expect it to, and I cannot get the LG screen, I'll return the M1530 and wait for the newer models with Penryn's and the LED screens. Although I don't expect to see the 1680x1050 with LED, I'll be content with 1440x900. I believe the LED's are coming out very soon...question is what resolutions will be available. If Dell can't get it's act together then I may take a closer look at the Alienware M15x....which ironoically...is still Dell. Fortunately, Dell is keeping it's hands pretty much off and Alienware is remaining a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell, continuing its own brand, design, etc.

 

I forgot to mention that 3 times I mentioned that I wanted the LG and had the model/part # and the salesman assured me....I will vote on this with my $$ and if I am not happy after $2000 gone then come next week when I get it I will ship it back. I will then rethink what I want to do.

 

In the pictures submitted by allshookup eariler in the thread the LG panel has a number LP154WE2 (TL) (B2) on the label on the back of the screen. This part is available online from various places so I'm considering using the money I saved by returning a faulty m1530 and reordering it again at a cheaper price to buy a screen and change it myself?

I know this invalidates the warranty but as the warranty isn't working for me at the moment, it's no significant change.

Does anyone who has either exchanged a screen themselves or watched a tech do it know if the connection on the LCD cable connecting the motherboard/gpu to the LCD screen itself is standard. I.e. will the cable for a Samsung SEC3350 fit the LGPLF300 or does the cable itself need replacing as well. I've seen references to requesting a LG screen kit, what is this?

 

They didn't change my cable they used the same one. Also if your thinking about changing it your self believe me any monkey with a cross screwdriver could do it in a half hour.
All he did was remover the plastic from around the screen which just clips in. Then he removed 4 to 8 screws from around the screen, took it out and disconnected the cable. Then he removed the metal frames from left & right sides of the screen. I think it was 4 or 6 screws. He then attached the metal frames to the new monitor and then connected the cable... From there it is the same as removing just in reverse. Like I said any idiot could do it.

 

Hey allshookup, I've been following your saga in the other thread and your comments have certainly been helpful! I got the M1530 today and, as mentioned previously, has the Samsung. Now I must admit, it's not terrible! It's not the brightest I've seen but not the worst either... but it's not what I expect for the XPS. So, I made my call to XPS Support and got an experienced rep (First question I asked him was how long he was doing this job). I then asked him, given he was experienced, if he had knowledge of the issue with the Samsung screens.. again, "yes" was the answer... so we're doing well now.

At first, he said he could not do a swap of the screen... could only replace the machine. I think told him that many of this counterparts have been doing this without issue and I could show him details. The key would be for him to assure he ordered the correct part#. He said, no problem, "if they can do it, I can do it"... good attitude! So we get to the point where the part# is needed and he enters in the XK309 I provide. Up it comes, exactly as I describe to him... "that's the one" I said! No problem getting it entered and approved by his manager. He also documented the record very explicitly... "Customer will accept only this part#, NO substitutions, even if not available immediately... MUST BE XK309".

I just checked the support request and the part section finally updated and it shows the XK309 LG screen. Now, we'll see if that is in fact what makes it to my door but so far, so good! I'll update again as this moves forward.

 

Do you think Dell cares if they lose your sale? Probably only 1 or 2 in a 100 will complain to Dell about their screens, so loosing 1-2 is no biggie to Dell when they ship hundreds a day.

 

That's the problem.. nothing is being done on a larger scale. So there's really not much we can do.

 

The replacement samsung was as bad as the original ... plus the tech guy caused a piece to wobbel... so I called up dell and they are going to send me a completely new system as I am still in the 21 day warranty period by end of this week... if that also does not work out... then end of my relationship with DELL... Dell never again...

 

Same here..
Good luck.. I hope one of us gets an LG.

 

On getting better equipment like the LCD screen opposed to the Samsung screen, does Dell favor the Business customer over the Home customers?

How does Dell decide which screen to put in at production time?

 

With a small Business Warranty I do seem to have good fortune. Had 1 screen replaced due to dead pixels and waiting on an engineers visit to replace a second - no questions asked and couldn't be more helpful. And they come to me. Couldn't be happier with the service I've received.

Dell puts in whatever screen of your ordered specs is available from their suppliers 2 hours before they build it..

 

I was just told by an xps tech that ALL M1530s HAVE THE SAMSUNG SCREEN. wth?

well im having the whole thing replaced. the tech that came out scratched the case prety good, media buttons are finicky, same crapy lcd.

 

Anyway to confirm if this is true or not?

 

He was probably high on crystal meth.

 

Well, my M1530 came today, with Samsung screen, and it will have the screen replaced with an LG tomorrow. Just confirmed the overnight shipment of the XK309...it did not get changed to another Samsung.

The bizarre part of this is that this Samsung screen is not bad at all! It's brighter than my new HP business notebook which really has a nice, bright 1440x900 screen. At my office the M1530 was brighter than my desktop LCD and blew away my D820 which is also a Samsung WSXGA+. I also put it next to a Sony Vaio SZ and the M1530 is far brighter, and has better whites than the Sony. Viewing angles are not nearly as good as the Sony but looking at it straight on, the M1530 wins. I know it's always better to see so here are some photos... the 'm1530Sony.jpg' has the Vaio on the right. The 'M1530HP.jpg' shows the HP nc6400 on the right. Sorry, I don't have another M1530 with the LG. I am as picky as anyone and cannot believe that this particular Samsung screen is like the ones I saw in other posted photos. I guess there really are some decent Samsung LCD's out there. Guess I'll have to look at the LG carefully tomorrow before they take this one away!