Will Dell exchange my 1520 for a 1525?

I just bought a 1520 a couple days ago and it's projected to arrive:

Est. Delivery Date: 12/19/2007-12/21/2007.

At this point, I'm going to assume I will have the problem with my headphone jack. If I do, is there any chance Dell would take back the 1520 and replace it with a 1525, assuming they're out by then?

Since it will be within 21 days they'll obviously be able to just refund me, but instead of losing on a purchase of over a $1000, any chance they would just replace my 1520 with a 1525 of similar specs? I have the 4Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support and Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection to 4Yr Warr. Anyone have any experience with a situation like this, or have any ideas if Dell would be willing to replace the 1520 for a 1525 under these circumstances?

 

What specs does the 1520 have?
You know the 1525/26 are just Linux versions thatonly feature IGPs right?

 

I've heard different things from different people on the difference between the 1520 and 1525. One thing though that seems to be pretty consistent is that headphone jack has been fixed because its location was moved, and that the 1525 has HDMI support. Anyway, this is my 1520 setup:

Intel® Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
Speed: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
4Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection to 4Yr Warr.
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

I plan on buying a 2GB Corsair stick and running 2.5GB Ram.

 

The HDMI cost more & is not worth going from an 8600M GT to an GMA X3100 or an ATI x1270. Keep your current system. Does it have the headphone noise? Mine doesn't which is good.

 

Est. Delivery Date: 12/19/2007-12/21/2007.

Don't have the system yet. Just bringing up a hypothetical situation which assumes that the problem will be there.

What does the cost of HDMI or video card have to do with it though? I was just curious if they would replace my 1520 with a 1525 of the same specs...

 

See the thing is there is no 1525 with those specs, they only com with IGPs & anyway this is all leaks it's not official yet.

 

Well I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Back to my original question though, making it as similar as possible, would DELL make the exchange? Whether or not it would a beneficial exchange for me is irrelevant. I'm just curious if Dell would exchange a defective 1520 for a 1525 of similar stature...

 

Maybe but, you can never be sure. Everyone has there on experiance.

 

The 1525 will be an upgrade to the 1520! The thing you mentioned is the 1520N.

 

And to my original question.....?

 

It seems the 1525 won't be out before mid January, if not even later. There is no news of it other than the short article on endgadget. If it would come out in December a lot of websites would be filled with the specs.

By the way, on the sales side, it makes no sense to come out with it before mid February if you can't make it before Christmas...in January most people are almost broke anyway. And by that time it can launch with Penryn and GF9.

So to your question: It won't happen.

 

Oh geez.

Let me rephrase my question then. Say I get my computer March 1st, and the "bam!", Inspiron 1525 comes out March 10th. I've been having some trouble with my headphone jack and want to return my 1520. The 1525 ends up being pretty similar to the 1520 with just a few extra options such as HDMI.

If the majority of specs I have on my 1520 are available on the 1525, would they do a switch-a-roo for me if I'm having problems with the 1520? I'd assume they'd want to be as accommodating as possible so they don't lose the $1000+ purchase, but I'm not sure if they'd actually bump me up to the next level Inspiron...

Not exactly a similar situation, but a friend of mine had an older Inspiron model with a ton of problems. He had an extended warranty and had a ton of things replaced but the problem kept coming back. Sooner or later Dell seemed to just give up on his laptop and they told him they'd send him a completely new one. When they did, it was the core package of the newest line of Inspiron.

 

Here you go. See for yourself.

 

Its pretty clear the 1525 will be an update of the 1520, and the 1526 will be an update of the 1521. I cant imagine them downgrading the laptops in the future since that would be... well, stupid. Plus, the X3100 on intels side does not even support the HDMI interface, so OBVIOUSLY that does not mesh with the speculated specs.

They will prob. do the same thing with the 1525 as they did with the 1330. If you go with a IGP, they'll use the empty spot where the HDMI would have bee, as a USB port.

 

Why won't just anyone answer my original question?

 

I really doubt it. If the notebook is damaged beyond repair, they will try to give you another 1520, because i'm sure they will have plenty left order. Why not just cancel your order and wait?

 

Yeah, but if the problem is the headphone jack which everyone has, won't they want to keep me as a customer instead of giving me a refund? They can't just keep giving me 1520s with the same problem, right?

 

Not all 1520s have the headphone problem at the same level. Mine is a nearly perfect one, the headphone noise is only noticeable at almost max volume. So yes they will give you another 1520 and hope it is better.

 

I had an almost similar situation with my old Inspiron; one of the engineers that came 'round to fix it said he was surprised Dell hadn't replaced the whole system. The thing went through about five motherboards and a couple of graphics cards and he said normally Dell would replace them after about the third major service, or something like that. Noone I ever got through to seemed to feel that was appropriate.

In your hypothetical situation, I guess they'd be able to do some sort of exchange rather than have you simply get a refund, but I expect they'd charge more for the new system.