getting a replacement notebook

I'm having difficulty with the issue here and am wondering how I go about getting Dell to do a complete notebook replacement? We're going to try a motherboard replacement first but I'm not hopeful that this system is possible to fix after reading that thread, the cause of the issue is sporadic and not really traceable. Should I just tell Dell this is what I believe needs to be done about it with my technical expertise and after all the research and testing I've done?

 

Dell will probably want to replace several things, perhaps multiple times, before allowing a replacement system. When my old Studio 1535 kept failing to eject disks, they replaced my media panel 4 times, my DVD drive three times, my memory once, and entire motherboard once, and then had me send it in to their Depot for testing, before setting up a replacement. They were nice enough to give me the 1555 that I have now, which has been working out great.

My apologies for not going through the whole thread; has Dell already done any work on your laptop about this issue, and if so, what?

 

What about notebooks they don't produce anymore? Do they still have stocks of mainboards for them?

 

They usually still have parts for a while from used Outlet models, but they do eventually run out. Many people, for example, needed replacement parts for the M1730, which Dell ran out of, so they got the M17X as a system replacement.

 

They replaced the main board and now they are refusing to provide service because I bought my own brand new hard drive and RAM. Are they allowed to do this?

 

I have an idea; if this piece of crap doesn't work for some reason or another, and it's not related to my own hardware or configuration, would it be unethical to dump a soda on the thing and drop it a few times to make use of the "accidental protection" I purchased to get a new laptop? If that's the only way they're going to get me something that works, I'd consider it a paper weight in it's defective form.

Would this even work?

 

Yes they are technically allowed to do this, although I would challenge them and ask how your HDD and RAM could have caused the issues that are ongoing. However, if you want it fixed, simply put back in place your original RAM and HDD.

Purposely damaging your computer to claim on insurance is technically fraud; please do not discuss that on these forums.

 

I am going to literally ROFL if Dell decides not to replace that. Out of curiosity, what do you plan on telling them?

 

gaah, well after so much torture are you sure it has not "accidentally" started operating ? Moreover please dont tell me you did this, it is certainly not recommended, it will be deemed fraud. Just for a few dollars why blot your image ?

 

Yup the poster did it on purpose. The post with the picture in originally said something about "accidentally" falling off the car roof or something. It annoys me when people feel they have to do this, driving up the cost of the additional warranties & insurance by making fraudulent claims - but hey, not everyone in the world is honest, if they were then we'd have no requirement for the millions of people employed by police forces worldwide.

 

LoL. I was just kidding around, I didn't actually do it. That photo came from someone's flickr gallery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessebouldinphotography/3258507661/

I wouldn't do it - I'm still working with Dell on repairs.

 

Very funny; as was the comment you posted prior to the picture being put in place. The fact that you were considering it is bad enough. Next.

 

I wasn't considering it but the problems Dell gives its' customers certainly brings up the idea and struggle for solution. I thought it something worth pointing out and getting everyones thoughts on it.

 

EDIT: Based on your post here it looks like you have a bad video card. Based on your description in this post they should be replacing the video card and mainboard.

I'm assumming you are having NMI parity errors based on your link. If so:

In my experience, and I have worked on hundreds of laptops over that last decade, the most common cause of NMI parity errors is drivers. NVIDIA drivers seem to be some of the worst based on my experiences. Some other culprits I have seen have been memory and memory seating issues and I think I have seen a mainboard or 2 cause the issue. I would suggest reseating the memory, using only 1 DIMMat a time and making sure you have tested newer graphics drivers, especially if you have an NVIDIA graphics card.

 

My challenge:

That is not true. A quick review of the owners manual and warranty/service contract indicates that parts are user upgradeable. The contract states that the only parts not covered by Dell warranty are those not purchased from Dell, all Dell hardware remains covered by warranty. Dell even has a full guide on replacing the allowed parts and has notices on how the warranty can be effected: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9400/en/om/parts.htm#wp1052375

For your information my machine is covered by the following service contracts and you might want to read up on them before trying to claim my warranty has been voided.

QualXServ In-Home Service Agreement: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/services/con_qualxservHardware.pdf
Rapid Response Single Incident In-Home Service Agreement: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/services/Dell_In-Home_Service_Contract.pdf
CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service Agreement (for catalog/consumer customers): http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/services/CompleteCare_dhs.pdf


There's no link between my installed components and these problems and the original Dell components have already been tested with the same problem, there is no reason to revert to the original Dell components.

Since in fact the warranty is not void do you have any other reason to do this?

 

Yes, this is what I referring to:



Which is why I suggested you challenge them as to how those upgrades had damaged the computer. Technically they may claim that the upgrade you performed has damaged your computer and you have therefore voided your warranty. I suggested putting the original components back in as a lazy way round this, but they may still make the claim that the damage was done when performing the upgrade yourself.

The onus is on Dell to prove this though.....did I say challenge them already.....?