How to get your dead XPS M1210 fixed!

[grahf121]

My XPS M1210's GPU failed last august, three months out of the manufacturer's warranty. To my amazement, people had been reporting the same problem with their M1210's on internet forums for over a year. Ironically, the GPUs seem to fail within months of Dell's warranty expiring.

After scouring the web, I came upon this blog, run by a Dell support representative: http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/d...px?PageIndex=1

I was upset to see that the XPS M1210 is NOT covered in this extended warranty program, despite clearly having the same defect in the Nvidia die package. I have spent more than 15 hours on the phone with dell tech support, trying to get them to help me with this issue. Their service was infuriating. They would keep passing me to different departments, having me re-explain myself over and over, and in the end, not helping me with my problem.

Because of their poor service, and refusal to admit to a critical design fault in what should be a top of the line gaming laptop, I now have a grudge against dell. I have scoured the internet in search for a solution to this problem, and I'm happy to say that I've finally found one.

I found that Dell has helped one customer with their faulty M1210 graphics card, and this person was kind enough to give me their case number. I called dell's tech support and told them that they fixed my friend's M1210 graphics card (requiring a motherboard replacement), and I would like the same service. Dell supported one customer's machine, so they should support all of ours, right?

So, here is what you have to do if you want Dell to fix your faulty M1210 GPU/Motherboard:

Call their customer service and tell them "Dell fixed my friend Scott, and my other friend Nick's M1210 graphics cards (requiring a motherboard replacement), and I would like the same service." Reference the following case numbers:

Scott's case number: 633668288
Nick's case number: 631589518

Dell will then have no choice but to give you the same service that they gave us. But be sure that your M1210 has died due to a fault Nvidia GeForce GO 7400 graphics card, and be ready to explain the symptoms that your computer shows to the tech support person. My symptoms were a blank screen with no display on the LCD, or an external monitor. Some people that have this issue see vertical lines on boot up. Do some research to make sure that it's your GPU that has failed.

Lets let Dell know that they can't get away with covering up this major defect in the M1210.

Also - If you have success with this method, please post your case number here for others to use as a reference. If we can accumulate enough case numbers, Dell might throw in the towel and admit to the problem existing with the M1210 as well.

Case Numbers supporting the fight:
Scott - 633668288
Nick's - 631589518
Ollie - 637788486
Naveen Nimmala - 637608694
LAN MAN - 639036103
8tnfox - 000128860001

*Note* make up a name for your 'friend' if they didn't provide theirs, as in the case of 8tnfox.

[mystery905]

+rep for this very helpful post for those with m1210's

[Skegs]

I've had exactly the same problem with my M1210 - i.e. GPU failure, indicated by POST diagnosis via LED flashes (only get blank screen, no boot).

However, after referencing your case numbers to them, they tell me they don't show up as cases on their system (I'm in the UK). They won't repair my laptop.

My case number is incredibly long - 17 digits - any chance there's some numbers I'm missing from your info?

Hopefully my expensive paperweight can come back to life...

[Trekster]

Originally Posted by Skegs

I've had exactly the same problem with my M1210 - i.e. GPU failure, indicated by POST diagnosis via LED flashes (only get blank screen, no boot).

However, after referencing your case numbers to them, they tell me they don't show up as cases on their system (I'm in the UK). They won't repair my laptop.

My case number is incredibly long - 17 digits - any chance there's some numbers I'm missing from your info?

Hopefully my expensive paperweight can come back to life...

The case numbers only work for US residents i believe

[Skegs]

Good news!

After posting about my problem on the above Direct2Dell blog, I got a personal message and things started rolling - the very next day I got a call from the States. They gave me a case number, and yesterday my motherboard and I/O board (I think) were replaced for free (with refurbished parts).

Funny thing was, there was no nVidia chip on this board - its slot was empty (so no repeat of the meltdown problem I guess). Couldn't see a graphics chip anywhere, but when it was fired back up everything worked. The system now says I've got an Intel GMA 950... so no more dedicated RAM, but at least my M1210 works again!

Another case number to add to the fight: Ollie - 637788486

[21031980]

I have joined the forum just today.. to say thanx OP. Though i did not use the case numbers mentioned here, this thread gave some idea for arguing with them. They will be sending a box to me.(my warranty expired on march 10th 09).

My case number in USA is 637608694
My name Naveen Nimmala.

I was on phone for 97 mins.. the guy from india was sweet enough to agree though he refused first.. then went to his team Manager.. contacted Nvidia chip related team in dell.

[LAN_MAN]

Thanks for all the info.
I was able to get a box sent to me for the repair.
The warranty on my machine expired last year. The rep also told me that I could not reference case numbers that were not in my name but did offer to repair my machine.

Case:
639036103

You guys rock!!!

[grahf121]

It seems that Dell has caved. We won! Great job guys.

[duncan_bayne]

I had the same problem - Dell Australia were happy enough to replace the out-of-warranty mobo in my wife's XPS M1210. See my blog post NVidia GPU bug with Dell XPS M1210 for details including the email I sent to Dell regarding the issue. Feel free to use that email as a template; I didn't quote the numbers you mentioned but instead referenced a blog post by a Dell staffer.

[halkilmer]

Same problem. The GPU on my m1210 crapped out.
Glitchy graphics, then freeze. Upon restart, there were blue lines on screen, but would not boot up windows; just a black screen. I then tried to boot up in Safe Mode which it did perfectly fine. From there, I disabled nVidia dispaly adapter in the device manager and rebooted in normal mode. Worked fine. Then I reenabled the display adapter and rebooted, and again, blue lines and wouldnt boot up windows.

When I called Dell, they made me run diagnostics, and of course it was the GPU. They said they were extending the warranty on the GPU an extra year (so two years total) but since mine failed about a month after that, then there's nothing they could do, and I'd have to contact post-warranty pay service. I started complaining. The indian guy put up a fight. He just wouldn't relent, and kept repeating what he was supposed to repeat. I asked to speak to a manager, and he said they'd tell me the same thing. I eventually had to get very mean and agitated, and then they finally relented and agreed to fix it. Total call time: 74 minutes.

I'm glad it's getting fixed, but I shouldn't have had to put up this big fight. The GPU malfunction is a design flaw in a very expensive laptop that has occurred on a wide spread basis. Dell should offer to fix their flaw WITHOUT HASSLE - especially, to keep customers who are obviously willing to shell out big bucks for a top of the line system from them (instead of buying a $200 netbook at Costco) happy and loyal.