Getting a replacement XPS from Dell. What should I expect?

Hi all,

I am going to be receiving a warranty replacement system from Dell next week due to hardware problems with my XPS M170. Since my current system is a XPS M170 and is no longer manufactured, I was told I would get the "current XPS system equivalent to my system or better". I am not really sure what that means, but I expect it would be a M1710 for sure. They told me specifically it would not be remanufactured and not an M170, but a brand new XPS system that will be built next week for me. I have looked at the current M1710s on Dell's website and am pretty excited about the difference from my current system to what is now being offered.

My question is this: Will Dell ship me a current spec system, as in Core 2 Duo and latest graphics card, etc., or will they specify build one downgraded to the specs of my M170? If they would downgrade the M1710 to meet my current specs it would be kind of an oddball unit. I would still be happy to get it, but not quite as overjoyed as I will be if the replacement system is latest spec.

I am not a gamer, and even what I have is more than what I need, but I love the hardware overkill of the system and the possibility of getting a latest-spec M1710 is, frankly, keeping me on the edge of my seat. I have over a week to wait to find out and the suspense is killing me.

If anyone has had personal experience with this type of warranty replacement from Dell and can let me know what to expect, or if someone knows enough about Dell policy to provide some insight, I would definitely appreciate it.

Regards,

Vincent

 

I'm not an expert in DELL policies nor I have any personal experiences with DELL replacement units. But speaking in general…..if DELL promised you a current XPS series replacement then as you have guessed it has to be a XPS M1710. As far as I know the lowest configuration for that model is Core Duo T2400 with 7900GS. Therefore you'll most probably get that. DELL will not I specially make a low-end model that is not available as an option for M1710 series since it is not economically feasible. Because, if they are to put a Pentium M processor and a Geforce 6 series card in a M1710 it would be like inventing a new model.

 

The lowest configuration I can find on the Dell site that is currently[/I] produced has Core 2 Duo T7200 at 2.0 Ghz with 667 FSB and and 4MB L2 Cache. Now THAT would be nice.

I guess what you are saying is that they can use some older parts to give me a non-current model that is still an XPS M1710. That makes sense. My thought (hope) is that they will build the lowest of their currently manufactured systems as I have described above.

Anyone who has an informed (or uninformed) opinion is welcome to share it here.