** The Official Studio XPS 1640/45/47 replacement thread **

[Mitchell2.24v]

I got my Alienware! soooooooooo nice! and my refund has gone through! today was a great day

That's so great!

How's the M17x so far? How does it compare to the 1645? I just got a call from customer care and they approved my refund, so now I can order myself a new machine

[Raether916]

looks like it will be tuesday.... maybe Monday- shows shipped 4/16/2010 at 12:00 AM - tracking number provided- however there is no info on fedex - which says it has not left Dell - just the shipping number gernerated- not scanned outside by Fedex.

could it not have been day sooner- i hate weekends.. LOL

[Bowlerguy92]

If any of you are interested in photography or just want to check out my unboxing photos take a look at them here on Flickr!

[chuvak]

So I got my XPS 1647, had some issues with the CPU, and the wireless card kept dropping, so they are sending me an i7 720qm to replace my i5 540m and a new wireless card, should be here today. After that i'll post all my pictures and pcmark, 3dmark scores.

[Raether916]

What was the issue with the CPU?

[Raether916]

Now that my XPS 16 replacement is completed - I thought my story might interest some of you......

I wanted a multi media laptop as my second machine- I was using a E6400 for work and E4300 for personal use- I liked having a small 13 inch as it was much more useable esp. on planes- ( small tray tables) - The E4300 replaced an old D420, Anyway the sound, video play back on the E4300 was nothing to write home about- and the size was not that much smaller than the E6400 so what's the point right? I started looking for a XPS-13. I did read all the reviews but still thought I would get one- I had a very hard time finding one with the LED screen- Most were CCFL. Then I noticed a XPS16 posted for sale locally on CL- I sent an email ( at $700 ) asking seemed like an OK deal- I got no reply.. A week passed- I see that the XPS was still listed so I shot off another email - This time I get a reply.. Yes it's still for sale - And the Seller noted that she was lowering the price as there was an issue with that battery charging- When I spoke to her more at length about it - I found she was using a PA12 not a PA4e Adaptor- I thought that had to be the issue- We agreed on a price of $425 for it.. ( yes a steal I thought) but I would have to buy an PA4e- ( which I had 4 already ) - I drove the 2 hours to pick it up. After arriving home I added the right power to it- no change- crap, still not working- The Windows install was all jacked up, someone had put Win7 Ult on it and not installed all the Dell drivers. So I reformatted and put Win7 HP64 on it- Still no battery charging and I noticed in the bios the AC was not detected- I check the S/N it is indeed in warranty- I transfer the warranty, which succeeded on the first try. I call Dell to report the issue and a day latter a tech was out with a new motherboard and power brick....That was attempt one to fix....

When the tech was installing the MOBO he noted that there were many screws missing and the plate that sits under the keyboard was not there- He asked if the machine had been worked on- Not to my knowledge I say. He asks if it's a refurb... Dunno..... So after the tech leaves- the machine dies completely- with some troubleshooting I find 1 dead stick of DDR and a Dead HDD. I call Dell to complain- Dell agrees to upgrade my HDD to a 500 ( from a 250) and I request a Ram upgrade to a single 4gb ( so I can add more later) I get the hard drive - the ram request is still pending at that time-

Repair attempt 2... Parts sent., Palm rest ( forgot to mention tech bent it ) LED - Small bubbles on the paint, and Keyboard- was bent- Tech replaces these items- Dell sent the wrong resolution screen, a 720p was sent I had a 900p - and I found the speakers did not work at all on the new palm rest.. I call Dell again to get the right parts re-ordered.

Repair attempt 3- The LED is replaced- this time Dell sent a 1080p ( great upgrade) and palm rest.. The same Dell ( third Party) tech came again - this time when he was leaving I noticed that windows was hung up on "Startup Recovery" I ask the tech to wait- he declines and leaves- Windows never recovers. I have to reinstall - after the reinstall the backlight on the keyboard is not working and it squeaks really bad.. So now I'm just POed.. This is on 3/17 mind you I bought the machine used for 425 on 3/05.

I call Dell - I explain all the baboonery on Dells part and all the issues to date- I do not say anything about a replacement- The tech pauses for a few minutes and comes back - "We are not going to continue to troubleshoot this machine... we are setting up a system replacement for you.." Whoa....Ok"

On to system replacement nightmare..................
Replacement is requested on 3/17 where it sits until 3/30 - mind you I'm calling everyday- told its expedited.. Manager who approved the HDD upgrade is involved.... Then on 3/30 I see the request moved to status IRR, from PND, great moving finally.... then I see an hour later... ORD... Yeah Ordered... Then I see m17x ( NO NO NO...........) I do not want a 12 LBS laptop- mind you this is replacing a E4300 as my person lug around... I call ASAP, they tell me that they have put in a stop to order.... To late it ships... Now I was promised the specs would be 1080p, 500gb, 4gb, Blu-Ray. as that was what I already had.. the AW M17x, was UWXGA, 250gb. 4gb..No BR.. When I call back after I see the laptop ships, I request the manager that was helping to call me back... I wait and wait.. in the meantime a new order was placed and I was given a new dispatch... When the manger did not call in the time I was told he would - I call in again - I'm told that he did call, he noted in my case that he got to VM... Where's the message, where is the missed call? So I request again that I get called back- When he calls he's very rude, he asks me.."why don't you want the AW, it's quite an upgrade from what you had.. You will not have any of the issue".....blah blah... I tell him that if I had wanted a 12lbs laptop then that is what I would have bought...... Then he pulls up the original order... He states to me ...Well I see that you originally bought a refurbished XPS16, and it cost 739.00 ( this is all news to me) He says "I'm going to process your refund, and get you your money back" ..... I say No way in hell...I want an XPS16 - I don't care how you do it.... He's says it's better for me to just get my money back and I can go order another system... I tell me for the amount of the refund I would need to have coupon discounts and such to get another machine at that price... He seems not to care. I tell him to do nothing...He says "Well how much machine do you expect for 739...? " The new order was already in and yet another manager was helping... I then send an email to micheal.dell.... The next day I get a call........

Finally getting somewhere- During the call from "corporate" - I tell the guy the whole story to date- leaving out the part of buying the XPS on CL for 425.. He says not to worry, he is personally overseeing my case... ( this was on 4/1/2020, On 4/08/2010 I had yet another run in with a Dell tech while trying to get a 130w power brick to fix the throttling issue- The Tech delayed my dispatch 2 hours until 7 min after the ship cut off- I call in again and ask for a manager again..... 20 min later my corporate guy calls me back ..and says... Lets order a system - What do you want..... He says I have an i5 540, with 500gb, 6gb, Blu-Ray... BT. he then says what color do you want..? I say Red... he then says do you want a RGB screen ... I'm like...Sure....... He says ok, we are ordering you a brand new build xps1647.. here is your order number- it's expected to ship 4/16/2010... The he says something interesting... He says please do not contact support on this case any longer- if you need anything please contact me directly... I'm taken back by this, I can can't figure out if I should be honored or offended.. I say fine and that is that..

Yesterday- I receive the new built XPS1647... it's awesome. I do have one very time fleck under the screen that I will just deal with... after everything else with this case, I just want to be left alone- no more techs no more calls..

Funny too - yesterday I also get a call from the "exchange retrieval team." They wanted my old xps16 back - Dell never noted that the AW was canceled even after I refused it and Dell got it back on 4/07/10. The Guy on the phone was saying we are sending some out to retrieve your old machine---- I'm say wait just a min, I have had my replacement all of 1 hour, give me a change to move my stuff off... " After I explain everything he notes it in my case and I will just send the old one back in a few days...

So for all that think that the process is easy...it's not, also its is interesting that if Dell would just do a better job from the start, they would save themselves big money.. For my case if someone had called and worked with me on a like for like replacement instead of blindly sending out a system that made no sense for me, they would not have sent a brand new machine that costs 3xs what dell received for the original machine..

Also worth noting- I made no demands nor did I request a replacement- I let Dell drive the whole process. It was their repeated failures in the support process that ended with me getting a Brand New System... So for me that you Dell for moving your support into the hands of incompetents.. In this case it worked out for me.


orignial specs.. 1640, P8400, 3gb, 250gb, DVDRW, 900p, ATI 3670
Parts Upgraded for C/S reasons or part shortages in the repair process.
Blu-Ray. 1080p, 500GB. 4GB

Replacement spec.
1647. i5-540, 6gb, 500gb, Blu-Ray, 1080p RGB, ATI 4670, BT

[stephen6119]

@Raether...considering everything that Dell made you go through and all of the time you invested into getting the laptop fixed....I think that seems like a reasonable system replacement

[Mitchell2.24v]

Now that my XPS 16 replacement is completed - I thought my story might interest some of you......

I find it funny how each of us has different requirements and Dell seems to send all of us the 'wrong' machine.

Most of us would probably love to get an M17x instead of an XPS 164x. I know I sent my XPS back to Dell, to order an M17x (which they wouldn't give me...)

Anyway, its nice to hear you're happy with the new machine!

[Raether916]

About what is acceptable for a replacement- where dell failed me was not just sending the AW - They did so without asking me if i would be ok with it.. and for my uses i would not travel well- now - if Dell came to me and said we can send you an AW or a Studio 15.....Or..... since at the time there were no XPS16s to send ( according to Dell) I could have had something closer to what fit my needs.- that is where Dell misses- if a replacement product has to be another line- talk to customer to get what best fits that persons computing needs.

Stephen- yes, it was quite a mess and no i do not feel bad getting so much more machine after the lies, and poor follow through.

Dell's support is broken, and having problematic machines exposes how poor it really is-

[treyedean]

So my replacement 1647 arrived today. Right out of the box, the DC in was loose. I had to take the laptop apart to screw it in properly. The rest of it seems fine but I will be doing some tests later tonight to see if it funcions as I expect it should.