My opinion: don't buy Dell.

This post is solely my opinion as a consumer. I am so dissatisfied as a customer of Dell that I feel that it is actually my duty to let others know not to purchase from this company.

Now, until I purchased from Dell, I had never owned any laptops. So take that as a caveat. I was strictly a desktop guy. After some research and having poked around on this forum, I decided to buy an XPS 1530 about three years ago. I subsequently bought an XPS 1330, as well.

Immediately after puchasing the 1530, I became embroiled in the whole "grainy screen" issue and ended up replacing both the screen and the computer in whole about five times. After that, I seemingly had no issues with the computers for the next two-plus years. Earlier this year, however, the XPS 1530 died and my XPS 1330 is on the way out, as well. During my ownership of the 1530, I kept noticing that it became extremely overheated, to the point that you'd almost burn yourself touching the undersurface of the chassis with prolonged use. But stupid me, I assumed that was "normal" because of the difficulty of ventilating laptops. I hadn't heard of the problems that Dell has had with failed cooling paste or with the nVidia chips until the computer just died one day. After paying a hefty one-time sum for over-the-phone diagnosis from Dell, since my warranty had literally expired one month earlier, I was told that the motherboard was shot. Then I came here again and was informed about the other issues.

Well, I hadn't really used the 1330 much over the years, but I felt lucky that I had purchased another laptop at the time. So now I use it as my main computer, while I am looking for a new one. Problem is, it constantly crashes because the video driver fails and either locks the computer, causes a blue screen, or (infrequently) manages to recover and then usually crashes a few minutes later. It's another issue that apparently lots of people have had, based on a quick Internet search, which everyone is saying is actually a hardware problem, not a problem with the driver. So basically this laptop is going down the drain, too.

So that's two laptops from Dell, both of which have had hardware problems which are endemic and which have trashed countless laptops of many many owners. I've never been one to complain about stuff and, truly, had I only had a problem with my 1530 I would have said "eh, got three years out of it." This is ridiculous. I will never purchase another computer -- laptop OR desktop -- from Dell or Alienware. My next computer is going to be a desktop again, although I haven't been totally turned off laptops. But take this as a word of warning before you buy from Dell. If you read this and say "whatever, whiner," that's cool. It's just my opinion.

 

The only Dell laptop I have ever purchased was an Inspiron 9300, when they were still available with flexible options for multiple types of users ranging from your grandmother to a student/gamer. I loved that Laptop - it had very solid plastic construction, a sleek and very clean look, lots of room to breath and simply the BEST sounding Laptop speakers I have ever heard. The battery life on the other hand, was horrible...but it was essentially a desktop replacement model with a 6-cell battery known to catch fire at the time. The GPU and CPU each had their own, dedicated blowers and heat sinks.

I mention all of these details because this was on their Inspiron line, the entry-level, consumer laptops for only about $1300 at the time and it could play games such as Half-Life 2 Episode 2 on full settings, very playable frame rate, and I could still use it on my lap for an hour or so before it got uncomfortable. I guess one's impression of any company lays within their first purchase, and whether or not it functions up to spec. I'm sorry to hear that you have had so much difficulty. I nearly purchased a 1330 myself, but went with a T400 instead. Love it.

 

As doggytreat, I own the M1530 and it will be my last dell-consumer line laptop. If I would ever consider another dell, it will be their business line of laptops.

I also will pickup a thinkpad next. The M1530 served me fine and I hope it lasts a few more years but from the quality of the laptop, I've paid too much to have a system with the flaws that this one has.

 

The XPS m1330/m1530 were terrible laptops at the time, and the advice commonly dispensed "back then" was to go with the Dell Latitude D630 or D830.

Unfortunately, many of the D630's, and to a lesser extent, the D830's ended up failing because of that particularly defective Nvidia chip, the Quadro 135M.

 

A friend of mine has a Dell Studio laptop from the original launch. Supposedly overheating and video artifacts on the display were a known issue. He had the motherboard replaced several times due to component failures. It was a known issue that the heat sink alignment with the enclosure's venting grill did not receive a particularly adequate fit and finish. This caused part of the exhaust to sneak back inside of the laptop. He has a cooling pad on it now as a result, as the underlying issue was never actually addressed. It still overheats after a few hours of playing a game such as World of Warcraft or League of Legends with the cooling pad engaged.

It's funny how a company will honor a warranty, continuously moving a problem around instead of actually fixing it, until your warranty has expired. I guess that's what happens when you've already ordered 250,000+ enclosures with the wrong dimensions.

 

Exactly, doggytreat. That's what upsets me so much, is that the issues are "known." But that means that the company knows about it, or people like you guys who may be knowledgeable about it. Now, I know this may make some people on this forum smirk or sneer, but not everyone knows about these issues -- I sure didn't. What I had heard about the M1530s was that they were well-reviewed laptops that were turning the old view of Dell as "clunky boxes" around. Even when I got the "grainy screen" problem, it was like they tried to convince me to accept it by saying "look, it's not that bad, really." The one time they made me have a (third-party) technician come over, he literally told me "why do you care this much about the screen?" and heckled me about how anal I was. That actually made me more adamant about it. At that point, I was like "good, I hope this takes five hundred replacements to fix and Dell has to pay for all of the shipping costs."

And don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those "companies are evil" guys. At the time, I read lots of people on here saying "if you just lie and say that your screen is grainy, you can get a new warranty and so on." After my motherboard melt-down, people on here told me to lie and tell them it was the GPU (which I don't know if it was) and see if I could get it replaced. I don't condone falsehoods on either side of the equation, company or consumer. And I'm terribly aware from having worked in small business that consumers aren't exactly nice people all the time and that companies definitely have to protect themselves. I get it. But it seems like literally every Dell model has tons of "known issues" and yet the company still just pumps them out and hopes that the fallout is contained. That's a horrible way to conduct business.

My XPS computer were, aesthetically, great computers. This may sound childish or superficial, but I loved the chassis, the styling, and the feel of the laptops. From that standpoint, Dell hit a home run. But all the internals apparently are just cheap junk that's waiting to explode. It really angers me.

 

For every person who had a bad experience with Dell, you get 10 people who've had nothing but good things to say about Dell.

Depending on when you bought your M1530/M1330, the reviews were already bad.

My parents have been buying Dell since 1995, and me personally since 2005. I've never had an issue with a Dell, or moreso a major issue. A bad hard drive here and there. But all way out of warranty.

I would avoid the XPS line entirely. They've always had GPU issues (melting Nvidia GPU's, throttling ATi GPU's). They've also had shoddy build quality. And yes I have serviced XPS laptops ranging from 2006 (M1710/M1210) to current ones (current XPS line). And that is exactly the reason why I buy business oriented laptops.

 

As I said, this is strictly my opinion. Of course there are lots of satisified customers, or the company would not exist. However, for me, I have never encountered such poor quality. And keep in mind that the XPS line is marketed as their "performance" systems. You yourself say that "the reviews were already bad" and "I would avoid the XPS line entirely" and they have "shoddy build quality." And you're one of the satisfied Dell customers. You're acknowledging that the company is marketing an entire line of computers that they know to be defective and poorly built -- that's my only point. That's borderline unethical business practice, in my mind.

(By the way, as I write this, my XPS M1330 has crashed fifteen times in a row. No joke.)

 

Well let me put it this way, the XPS line isn't automatically going to have more issues, it just so happens to be a line that does have alot of problems. Studio had a whole bunch of issues (exploding hinges, slot loaded drives, poor cooling system) and it got to a point where Dell axed the entire line.

Oh and that generation (M1730, M1530, M1330) was the last XPS line that was considered their E Xtreme Performance Systems. XPS had really turned into multimedia beginning with M1330/M1530 and was entirely multimedia oriented with Studio XPS and the current XPS line up. M1730 was the last XPS to feature extreme CPU's, dual video cards, multiple hard drive bays as Dell was planning to revamp the entire Alienware line and have them be the extreme gaming notebooks.

Again, reading the reviews and given the XPS line's history. I avoid XPS line entirely. Every manufacturer is going to have models that has issues or well documented higher frequency issues. That is why I avoid HP entirely.

 

Let me guess... you never cleaned out the ventilation on your laptop.

 

I think all laptops made during the faulty Nvidia solderer period died sooner or later. This issue wasn't confined to just Dell laptops.

Why are you are complaining about 3-4 year old laptops. Unless you have a recent Dell, your opinion on Dell laptops is fairly useless, in my humble opinion.

Also, the XPS M1330 with Intel GPU was/is an awesome laptop. My friend still uses an M1330(Intel GPU) I sold him last year.

 

Because my laptops died as a result of hardware and build problems. I just wasn't aware of the problems. Why is it that I can't complain about older laptops? You mean that since they were made a few years ago that it's like Dell isn't responsible for shoddy manufacturing anymore? Or is it that you think that 3 years is an acceptable time period for a laptop to die? I notice that a number of posters on here -- and this is fine, I'm not complaining -- like to buy laptops and use them for a month or so and then sell them. That's great if you want to do that (if you're one of those people), but realize that the rest of us aren't "renting" our laptops and we actually care about long-term performance.

What I encountered with Dell, again, is merely my opinion. And certainly you're equally entitled to yours. But my opinion (of your opinion) is that it's rather silly and equally useless. I'm not sure what world you live in that something that happened a few years in the past with a relatively expensive purchase cannot be complained about. I'm sure if peoples' flat-screen televisions died within two years of purchase they wouldn't just shrug and say "well, this was expected."

 

My main points are,

A. This issue wasn't confined to Dell. HP, Sony, Compal, Alienware, even Apple had problems using the same components. The Dell XPS M1530 and the MBP 15 are almost identical in specs.

B. We can either conclude that all laptop manufactures make shoddy products, or we can look at the real root of the problem. The real problem was caused by Nvidia when it used faulty solder on its GPU's.

So, all 2008 Nvidia laptops and desktops had this issue, so you shouldn't buy any laptop from any manufacturer, because at some time in 2008 that manufacturer made a faulty Nvidia laptop.

I agree, no electronics should die in 3 years, or even 5 years, of normal use. But, once again, almost all laptops using the Nvidia GPU's died, and several manufacturers gave free extended warranties because of this.

The purchasing world I live in is one where at 17 I've earned all the money for my electronics, been doing so since I was 15.

I haven't said that this should have been expected, my point was it wasn't only Dells fault, and we've pinpointed the issue, and that issue is no longer being installed in new Dell laptops.

Kia used to be a pretty cheap vehicle manufacturer. A few years ago, they were budget cars, now they make a some fairly decent sedans.

So, in summary,

This was an issue with components made around 2008. All manufacturers who used Nvidia during this time frame failed

If we follow your logic we should go back to typewriters, since all manufacturers have faulty laptops. Regardless that this problem was year ago.

 

Those are valid points, but my issues with Dell go beyond the nVidia GPUs. As I stated, I also had problems with overheating and with the screen -- both of which were experienced by many others, including lots of people on this forum. As a matter of fact, at the time my laptop died (about two months ago), I searched on here and there were lots of posts about how people had to deal with the overheating. I also was open-minded enough to look into Dell's XPS 15z and heard the same things: overheating, as well as noisy fans that didn't deal with the issue.

Besides, isn't that rather silly to say that this basically only nVidia's fault? Clearly, it is their fault. But at what point does that stop? I could say the screens aren't Dell's fault, either, right? It's the fault of the screen manufacturer. You know, at some point, Dell is responsible for the quality of their laptops. I don't know how other manufacturers handled the nVidia situation, but I never got any notice from Dell about the issue or the class-action lawsuit or the settlement. I literally just found out about it when my laptop died and I looked into it. Now, Dell has no problem remember that I purchased my laptops when they spam my mailbox with their endless promotions on a weekly basis, but they feel no need to give me any information that actually would help me as a customer. It's just a reflection to me of their business model and my feeling that, hey, maybe another company would treat me better. Maybe not. But as a consumer, I'm certainly entitled to give my opinion of a company and to make other consumers aware of that opinion and they can make a decision to either listen or ignore it.

 

The biggest issue is, no manufacturer actually makes the laptops anymore. They outsource everything to an ODM. Dell just puts their name on the product and deal with the warranty/financing. This applies to everybody but Clevo (who funny enough resells to other resellers).

Your experience with Dell isn't going to just be confined to Dell. Every other manufacturer (HP/Compaq, Acer/Gateway/eMachines, Sony, Toshiba, etc) will probably be worse. What I find with Dell is, if it is genuinely their screw up/defective product, they take care of their customers, albeit sometimes slowly (but think how HUGE Dell is). That's why my parents have always stuck with Dell. They aren't flashy and their CS is IMO best only to Apple.

Sure everybody can have their opinion, this is a notebook forum, feel free to vent. But again as a long time customer with Dell, I do not hesitate to recommend to anybody Dell. Next time pick up a business model like a Latitude or Precision.

 

Don't buy Dell PC TuneUp CD. After 2 weeks, my Dell laptop crashed!!

Took hours and money for me to get Dell techs to correct the problem.
Their techs want you to buy things you probably don't need. Be careful.

If you have Norton, Dell's PC TuneUp most likely will not be compatible with it.

Repeat, DO NOT BUY DELL'S PC TuneUp. Let Norton do the cleaning up of your computer.

 

I have had over 25 different Dell laptops including my former M17x. primarily from the Inspiron, and precision lines.

A few had problems that required some sort of parts replacemrnt, ( 1 motherboard, 2 GPUS and 2 DVD drives) the remainder work fine as long as i owned them.

I know some have had issues with dell support more to do with off shore technical support, but eventually things usually get done

I also worked with many other brand names and very few have the same level of support and even fewer offer in home service, let alone the optoin of 1 - 5 year warranties which dells offers.

IMO if you plan on owning a laptop for several years I would get the warranty extended to cover the laptop for that time, and after having the issues you had i would have suggested to you to extend the warranty you had.

 

No offense, but that's sort of silly in my opinion. If you've owned 25 laptops, then I assume that you fall into the category I was talking about of users who buy all the newest laptops to play with and then immediately sell them like a few months later. I've always owned computers for multi-year periods of time and never had issues with them until these Dells. If I plan on owning a computer -- or anything -- for a period of time, it shouldn't have to be under warranty the entire time. If you feel that way, that indicates that the product is so shoddy that the risk of owning it without a warranty is prohibitive. That shouldn't be.

 

none taken.

I'll clairify my statement,

Laptops are by nature more prone to failure, and for me with my travels they tend to get beat up pretty quick. I travel around the world @ 150 days or more a year so my rigs are well travelled.

I worked on many laptops as a tech, and most have inherit issues with heat with the confined spaces as well as failures due to flexing, stresses etc. that can happen travelling with a laptop.

I owned most of my laptops for 2 years or more, and if the dollar value was over 1K i usually buy the 3 year extended warranty to make sure they are covered while I have them and to make the re-sale value higher.

those I did not sell were given to my family members. So many are more than 3 years old as well.

anyways, IMO a laptop for every day use should last 2-3 years provided it is cared for, anything more is really gravey. time to sell it and move to a faster newer unit.

Sorry to hear about ur bad luck, really its sucks,

but for the most part Dells have been very good to me.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I guess the thing I can't get over is this thought that laptops are more prone to failure. Or, I guess, I could live with that if I could replace the parts by myself, like I could with desktops. Perhaps it's unfair for me to lash out at Dell, but I bought both of my laptops from them and they both failed, so ...it's sort of hard to not think Dell sucks, to be quite frank.

I'm still thinking about getting a laptop, but at this point I'm sort of changing my purchasing angle. In the past, I'd always get the most upgraded components with the knowledge that, even doing that, the system would be obsolete virtually on delivery. But now I'm like, hey, why even do that? Why spend like $1500 on the best screen, the best processor, the best GPU? I could spend like $500 on a rock-bottom system and it might stink but I'm not banking on it lasting too long anyways. Like, if I ever bought another Dell, it would be with that strategy. But at this point I'm sort of looking towards getting a Macbook and running Windows on it. Which disgusts me because a) they're way overpriced and b) I've always thought Macbook elitists were snobby losers. So it kills me that Dell has driven me to that.

 

There are myriad issues that accompany the choice of laptops over desktops. At the end of the day, though, you can't really pick up your desktop and bring it over to the couch.

In my experience, Dell has been pretty good, even as far as replacing the mainboard of my 1530 out of warranty despite the fact that the issue was really Nvidia's fault. Whereas Apple refused to honor my ex-girlfriend's Applecare plan because she didn't know she had to activate it within a window (even though she paid for it).

 

Working on laptops is not that hard, Dell has the complete tear down service manuals on the web site for free.

If you can find a reasonably priced motherboard you could always try replacing it yourself I am sure many people here would be willing to help along with the dell service manuals.

Good luck.

 

No, lol, it's not that. I asked Dell if I could purchase a replacement motherboard from them and they said no. So I could buy a used XPS 1530 and use its motherboard, but the odds are that it would be a defective one. And even if it wasn't, I'd be paying for the whole laptop, not just a motherboard. So it's quite different than a desktop, in my opinion.

 

there are places that will repair the motherboiard for around 100 dollars i believe,

chances are the solder around the GPU chip and memory is bad, reflowing it may fix the issue and one could use a heat gun to do that at this point its not going to make things worse.

You maybe able to find a motherboard on ebay just make sure its a repuable seller.

last you could always sell the dead laptop on ebay, you maybe surprised how much some people will pay for one.

 

dell mostly cruises off their business lines, their consumer products are basically an afterthought at this point.

 

Oh really? That's news to me.... I've owned an XPS-1330 and an XPS-1210, both with integrated graphics and both were absolutely rock solid. Not all the XPS line had flawed NVIDIA or ATI graphics and your broad statement is factually incorrect. And on the flip side, the XPS line was not the only one to use flawed graphics chips - D620, D630, D830 (all business oriented laptops BTW), for example, all use the same crappy NVIDIA chipset that self destructs.

Broad brush strokes rarely paint an accurate picture.

- Tim

 

Not all the XPS line, but MOST XPS are shipped with discreet graphics, and that is where all the problems lie. Have you ever replaced parts on your M1330? The bezel is paper thin and lined with double sided tape. You can easily crack the bezel if you are not careful/expecting it. Just overall servicing XPS laptops are a major pain compared to business grade laptops.

True the business line used the faulty Nvidia chips, but I would say half were sold with integrated graphics. Going back to my 1st part, most XPS were sold with discreet graphics, some "configurations" only came with Nvidia. And to this day XPS still has issues with GPU's, while business models do not.

 

What issues with XPS 15 and 17 GPU's?


(...and even my old XPS M1530 with the nVidia is still going strong with no issues.)

 

I've a Dell Precision M4400 work station, it wasn't perfect.. i had a keyboard issue, and over the years fans becoming much much louder.. but they gave me a three year warranty when i bought it.. everything replaced for free including paid shipping. very good support.

 

It doesn't really live up to it's name, because in the recent years, it's becoming more of a multimedia system when compared to it's predecessors, which were a very solid piece of machinery, (e.g. Dell XPS 1530/1730) but none of the current Dell line offers the Extreme-core processors as they did in the past.

What Dell really is lacking is a performance laptop, their current one, even it's best available trim of the XPS model, the XPS 17, is using a GPU that is barely average, perhaps if it had a dual video card it might make a difference but I doubt that they'll ever do that, at least with the current XPS-line.

The really cool thing about the XPS in the past was that it was a really good mid-range to advanced gaming laptop, it didn't have all the perks that the high-end Alienware laptop did , but then again the Alienware's cost that much more, so it really appealed to the budgeted gamer as well as the graphic designers/web developers (e.g. those using it for work and play).

 

I'm fully aware of the XPS line's history.


What I want to know is what is meant by "And to this day XPS still has issues with GPU's". I'm not aware of any problems with the GPU's in these laptops so I'd like some clarification.

 

I don't know but sticking a low-tier GPU and selling it like it's something state of art is a problem. Although, I'm not a fan of HP but at least they are selling their ENVY's with the HD 6850, which is at least about 45-50% faster than the XPS. I don't know why but that's too large of a gap to overlook as not a "problem."

 

Again... I'm not interested in or asking for opinions on what "should" be offered in the XPS line-up (I'd prefer the XPS to have some higher end GPU's available too).


What I'm asking is: What are the alluded to issues that the XPS line is having with the currently available GPU's? Specifically the nVidia GT 525M, 540M, 550M and 555M. What are the problems and why is the XPS having issues with them as claimed by Tsunade_Hime?

 

From a consumer standpoint, I've seen several issues with it, but these seem to be the most prominent and are still plaguing XPS 15/17 users:

- Memory leaking via the Open GL Driver ( still not fixed)

- Several issues with gaming properly (e.g. Witcher 2, NFS, Counter Strike Condition 0)

- Issue with properly running graphics and 3D-related programs (e.g. Lightwave, Image Attached)

If you are going to market a laptop for gaming, then give it at least a semi-competent graphics processing unit. I've only put up a few issues that were more prominent, but there are several more issues with the card itself. Just check the nVIDIA forums, these optimus/hybrid-related cards all seem to have issues and these cards are definitely not recommended if you want to purchase a laptop for any serious type of gaming.

 

So it's problems with nVidia and/or Optimus and not limited to the XPS. Meh... nVidia and/or Dell has or needs to address the individual issues as they arise. "New" tech is almost always buggy. As long as the XPS doesn't cause the GPU to melt or something then I can be patient if I run into any software/hardware problems or conflicts... which I haven't so far.


Also... when I bought our latest XPS's they were advertised as multi-media units that played games, not as Gaming laptops. The games I've loaded work fine (although I did have to do a little research to get The Witcher to play). I still haven't seen a better or even equal multi-media laptop yet (although some manufacturers are trying hard to catch up). If people bought them thinking they were going to be cutting edge gaming units then that's their fault for leaping before looking. Harsh, but that's reality. I've had buyer's remorse before too.

 

As I remember, some of the cards, specifically the GT 540M, has heat issues as it runs far to hot under load, especially when gaming. Of course it's going to be buggy, but hey you asked me what the issues were. And the specific issues I posted up there are only ones encountered w/the XPS 15/17. The card itself and all of its' descendants are buggy (e.g. 540M, 550M, 555M and etc.)

When you go to the Dell XPS 15 part of the website and the first image you see is of a racing game, specifically Need For Speed, you cannot hide behind that "they were advertised as specifically as multimedia units" excuse anymore.

 

...and the XPS will play games, even NFS. With Optimus people are just having to figure out how to make it play nice with different software instead of just loading and going. Sucks, but not exclusive to the XPS, which was the original inference. It sounded to me like the claim was that the current XPS line might be having problems like the XPS M1530 did. It doesn't, so my question is answered.

The heat issues I'm reading about don't seem to be model specific either since some of us haven't had any issues with cooling... yet. Fingers crossed.

 

I've seen online that the XPS 15z has overheating issues and shuts down when gaming (although, as stated, it's not a gaming computer, to be fair). It's a good-looking laptop, but it seems sort of cheaply made (specifically, the lid is plastic-y and can be pushed in). It's not a deal-breaker, but given the issues I've had in the past with Dell, it's not worth it for me to buy one.

The only product I'd buy at this point from Dell is their Inspiron Mini, since it's so inexpensive that if I had a problem with it I wouldn't mind. But then again, there are lots of netbooks that are better than the Mini, so I don't know why I'd even do that.

I did look into their business-class notebooks, as was suggested, but those seem to really be (duh) geared towards business use. Obviously I'm not expecting high-end gaming on them, but they seem to be mostly for light multimedia use. Aesthetically, also, they're just boxy to me and I also don't need the pointing stick. Basically, I could see them being solid laptops but, again, you can get a "solid" laptop in a number of places.

 

Well both of those laptops main issues were actually caused by Nvidia. So be mad at them and not dell.

 

After buying six other Dell computers I'm done with Dell.

Bought a new Inspiron 17R and it has been a disaster. It had a bad wifi adapter and some of the software wasn't installed at the factory including many of the essential drivers.

After three on-line sessions totaling about four hours and a losing a day from work so the tech could replace the adapter it finally worked. All this took nearly three weeks that I have been out of service.

I paid a premium for Dell service and didn't get it. I won't get fooled again and will look elsewhere for my next purchase. I suggest that other buyers go to Tiger or an Ebay seller who actually cares that their product work properly since Dell no longer does. Sadly this isn't the Dell we remember so no point living in the past.

 

Well I've only owned one Dell laptop, my XPS M1530, and I'ts been pretty good, its lasted about 3 years and still serves pretty well, it's no longer my main computer, as its simply too old to game on, but I still use it for taking notes in class.

 

I'm think I'm done with Dell as well. I have a M1530 (3 1/2 years old) that just died due to the nVidia GPU. On the plus side, Dell has offered to repair it free of charge and has already shipped a box despite it being out of warranty for 1 1/2 years. On the minus side, they insist the GPU problem has been resolved (lie). I have asked for a fair and permanent fix to the issue with one of the following options:

1. Offer a guarantee on the repair
2. Replace the laptop with a comparable unit without the defective nVidia chip
3. Give me a prorated credit based upon an agreed upon life expectancy of the laptop

​

Unfortunately, they are sticking by their guns and won't offer any fair and permanent resolution.

In my opinion, I specified a high end system that should have easily lasted 6+ years for what I use it for (no gaming or graphics intensive processes). This is based on my experience having used laptops in a business environment for over 12 years. My work laptops are run 8+ hours a day and thrown around. They are still in fine operating condition after 3-4 years when I turn them in.

Do I expect that I will never have an issue with a laptop, absolutely not. I expect some probability of a battery failure and hard-drive failure at some point. However, I expect that if something goes wrong the machine to have a permanent fix with a low probability of failure.

I hear people talk that this is an nVidia issue and it affected all manufacturers equally. While nVidia's poor design is at the root, I contracted with Dell, not nVidia when I purchased the computer. It is like buying a car. Most of the components, like laptops, are made by third parties. If those parts fail in the way the nVidia GPU failed, it would likely result in a recall and the car manufacturer would responsible for correcting the situation, not the third party. Of course, the car manufacturer would likely go back to the third party for reimbursement to remain somewhat whole.

I'm not sure what I am going to do now. I will either accept the repair or take more drastic action. In either case, my replacement laptop likely will not be a Dell.

 

I think it's time for a replacement laptop there is no way that you will be able to fix this issue, but I recommend getting anything from the current HP High-Performance/Envy-line. Either that or the HP Elitebook's are a really durable especially the current ones, even though they are 16:9 they are still durable. Same with the Dell Precision-line but since you don't want Dell, I don't blame you.

Also, wait, I have a 256MB nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT in my Dell Inspiron 1520, how likely will I be effected by this issue? It's going to be 4 years strong this December with this laptop but I recently upgraded to the 8600M GT (new/unused) this past May.

 

All laptops using the 8 series nVidia GPU are affected. It's just a matter of time. Search: nVidia defect.

 

What i don't understand is that they KNOW about some of these issues but are contempt with just replacing the faulty parts under warranty time and time again. Iv had 3 laptops - a Toshiba Satelite which overheated and died / a Vostro 1710 which was great after i got a new motherboard and hard drive. I now have a vostro 3550, a great little laptop and very well specced. Overheating has not been an issue BUT you cannot have bluetooth on at the same time as wireless internet otherwise you get severe packet loss. This is an issue with the Intel Wireless N 1030 interacting with the bluetooth - and no ammount of replacing parts will solve anything unless you turn the damn bluetooth off.

 

So you've tried changing the wifi/bluetooth card to a 6230 and it still does the same thing?

 

Well i've been purchasing Dell laptops since 2003 and my experience as a brand overall has been solid. No complaints from me.

 

I also don't have any complaints, I am using dell since 2005 and am thoroughly satisfied with their services and products. But yeah, that depends on luck and locality you are in. Here in my area Dell service center is outstanding.

 

I'd like to think this is because they own Alienware now. Why make 2 different line of notebooks that will compete in the same segment of the market?

On topic, I've owned 2 dell laptops so far. One is a M11x R1 and the other one is a Latitude E6410. I also use a company owned Latitude E6320 for work. Before that I owned an Asus W7Sg that had its GPU (NVidia GeForce 9300M) died on me 2 months out of warranty.

One big plus for Dell is the fact that most of the time it has NBD on-site warranty by default. Build quality for the M11x is decent apart from the well documented issues such as the hinge (which has been rectified by Dell). Build quality, warranty and support for the Latitudes are pretty good, considering they are business laptops.

 

I've been using Dell laptops for a long time and I honestly say that their products can be hit or miss. My first Dell was a latitude CP Pentium 233 and I loved the quality of it. My first new Dell was a 700m and the fit and finish wasn't as impressive; lots of poorly finished edges but functionality was fine.

Then I purchased a E1505 new in 2006 at the same time as my cousin and friend. Mine fared well but I used it lightly. The other 2 had worn hinges and the finish didn't hold up. I had just sold it earlier this year but functionality was perfect (other than a dead battery).

Last year I bought a XPS M1210 used with a cracked screen. I selected one without nvidia graphics since i do all my gaming on the xbox now. Cosmetically its trashed but I love it, I've used it for almost a year now and its been flawless. I also purchased a Latitude D420 for $20 with a cracked screen and I'm planning to restore it (its a hobby of mine to fix up stuff). Immediately there's a huge difference between the build quality and materials between the XPS and the D420.

I've also fixed a few hp's and must say I'm not impressed with the build. I do own a hp mini 5102 due to its construction but probably won't get any other hp products.

In my opinion, I've held true to Dell. Sometimes their build quality isn't the best, but I haven't been completely disappointed either. Also, does anyone know when Dell transitioned to ODMs to build their laptops?