The Tale of a 1520...

Hi,

Firstly hello, this is my first proper post on notebookreview, ive been on for a month or so and peoples experiences with delays and problems have been really informative and helped me (and no doubt many others) choose the laptop they did!

I ordered a inspiron 1520 on the August 14th, Spec was as follows;

Core2Duo T7100
2GB DDR2 Ram
160GB Hard Disk
1440 x 900 Trulife LCD
Geforce 8600GT 256mb
Bluetooth
Intel WLAN N wireless card
9 Cell Battery
Jet Black with 2mp web cam

Quite a common specification i believe, although at the time of ordering i was informed there would be a 5 week delay. Im a patient man so i went with it.

The estimated delivery date was 21st of September, which was ok. I constantly checked the EMEA thingy online and on the 25th of August the laptop went into production! on the 26th of August it went back into pre-production where it stayed until 21st of September... when the estimated delivery went to November 9th...

I rang customer service, had a conversation with something that was obviously just reading the details from the EMEA screen i was also looking at, and got told they would call me back on the 24th Sept...

On Monday the 24th of Sept i checked the EMEA at about 11am, Yay its gone into production! (it had been in production since saturday apperently...) by 3pm the order was being prepared for delivery, and by 5pm it was dispatched. Today i have a carrier link and its being delivered tomorrow.

Im a bit shocked after having thought i wasnt getting this thing until November its coming tomorrow!

Customer service rang me back aswell, and i spoke to a nice guy called Adrian, who told me Dell were having a problem with WXGA+ screens being crap and customers demanding replacements, because of this there was a shortage of screens as existing customers get priority parts over new customers, and hence my order was delayed.

I just thought id share my experience with you all, and hopefully what the customer service guy told me will explain a few problems with delays!

I look forward to getting the thing now!

cheers

 

Nice to know, i today received my Vostro 1400 which has the WXGA+ screen. I havent switched it on yet as i want to wait till my sister gets home (its her present). So far i love the build quality.

 

Yeah glad to see quite a satisfied DELL customer... Mine has just crossed the build stage and is in Shipping Stage.... After clearing the customs and stuff here I presume it should come in around 2 - 3 weeks time from now even though the EDD is next week 4th.... But I'm ready to wait

 

Really glad you got your 1520 Carl and that it came before the November EDD!!! I'm in the UK and have been waiting on a Latitude D630 since July 24th and it's still in pre-production. I also heard that it was the WXGA+ 1440x900 screens that were causing the delays. Maybe they are getting parts in now and there is hope for me and all others waiting!

 

They guy from Dell in Scotland said that there is a problem on the global market with 1440x900 screens. I think he talked about 15"/14". It may be the case. Maybe for the same reason most of the 15" notebooks have 1280x and then 1680x?