Dell :: This Week I Will Purchase My First $3,700+ Laptop
Jun 29, 2009
I'm referring to the Dellienware M17x. I wanted to post this here because I will be purchasing this laptop from Dell Canada.
I was wondering if you guys could tell me how I can save money. I am aware of the EPP 7% discount. IS there any other discount that I could get?
I bought a m15x last year and sent it back since it was defective, I was offered a 5% discount on my next alienware purchase. I called Dell Canada's sales reps and they don't know anything about applying a credit from Alienware.
I sent the email with 5% discount to 5 different reps and they all said that they would send it to their managers and get back to me ASAP. well none of them have gotten back to me .....
I did a factory restore on my XPS m1530 laptop a while ago. Afterward it starts giving my blue screen of death. The most common occurring BSOD is memory management upon start up. Then the last time it gave me a pfnlist BSOD.
I have started this separate thread to get more visibility (for now) but this can be merged into the master 1558 thread eventually.
I have the laptop for 1 week now
Pros: •Great screen, 1080p screen is easily the best thing about the laptop. Very bright and sharp.
•I5-520m is quite fast. Good enough for most task and even some gaming, I ran the beta of Starcraft for a dew mins and it ran at mid to high settings for most (I have 4570 GPU)
•6200N is a good card and is much faster than the g card I was using in Vostro. Connects to the router in about 10 secs if I turn it off and then turn it on while laptop is on.
•9 cell battery performance is decent, I think I get about 4 hours of use with light to middle load of use. With very light use I should be well over 4 hours.
Cons:
•Slot DVD player is noisy, makes one loud clicking noise when every you boot the laptop. Sometimes there are two clicks.
•Froze one time when I booted up one morning, had to reboot again by holding the power button. Not sure what happened there.
•Biggest issue is heat for me, coming from a 14” Vostro I thought this will produce less heat but it seems to produce the same amount. The touchpad is quite hot to the touch as well as the bottom area just below the laptop. These external temps do not fluctuate much with the change in the core temps, at least that is what it seems to me. My core temps have not been too bad. 35-38C idle, 40-46C with light use (internet surfing), ~50-55C watching youtube etc. 70-74C when stressed 100% for 5 minutes. So what can be done about heat as that is my biggest concern and I have to decided if I want to keep this laptop. I opened the bottom cover and saw the CPU is smack under it. CPU is quite small and the heatsink as well. I could not see where the fan is but it does not seem close to the CPU so no wonder you cannot get heat to get out. Has anyone tired put a larger heatsink over the CPU or put thermal paste?
•Fan Control is very poor but I am optimistic that eventually DELL can update bios to address that. Fan turning on and off every minute is not acceptable.
•Has anyone noticed some light vibration around the touch pad area, when you put your hand to feel it? My laptop seems to have it and it is the highest close to the touch pad area. Not sure if it is the fan or CPU or the DVD player.
Anyway need 1558 users advice as I would like to make the decision on this laptop if I want to keep it. I got it as refurb so the price is quite good for the specs but I do not want it to die after a year and a half.
i5-520m 4gb 1066mhz 500gb 7200rpm ATI 4570 1080p backlit keyboard.
I'm obviously excited about receiving it, however.... after close to a week... it's still in "pre-production."
I've called a few times. First time I was told "It could take up to 48 hours to get out of pre-production and into in-production."
Fair enough. 48 hours later it was still in pre-production, so I called back and they told me it could be a payment issue. So I called the verification department and they told me everything was 100% good to go.
Anyway, different people telling me different things, finally I landed on some honesty. A representative told me that the problem is that there is a part on back-order and so that is why it hasn't moved into production yet. I'm guessing it's the processor, what do you guys think?
Anyway, the original delivery date was projected as February 4, 2010. The guy on the phone today said that I should expect the order to be moved into production within 48 hours (I'm not so sure I believe this) and that the delivery date will probably move to February 9, 2010.
I have absolutely no problem with this, part not in stock = no problem. My issue is, different reps telling me different stories. If it comes down to waiting till February 9 and I get my laptop then, I am fine with that, but if this drags on farther, I would rather cancel my order and purchase from another company.
What do you guys think? Also, has anybody actually received their 1558 yet? What do you think of it?
I really need to know if i can get them to give me a break from being just a week after the 30 days warranty, should i tell them about the B.B.B.?
Would that matter, cuz i have many heat issues with my sxps16? I don't think that's fair to get a new one and take the chance of getting their refurb parts
I ordered the 14z about a week ago and I dont remember them offering a free Windows 7 update. I guess I assumed it was included. I went to the website a few minutes ago and I see that its in red as an offer.
Do you think if I call Dell and tell them I want the upgrade or I will just cancel my order and reorder they will give it to me? Its seems silly for them to stop production of my laptop just for a free O.S. upgrade.
So about 3-4 weeks ago now I had to have my 7900GS replaced due to artifacting problems, and this ended up being a problem that was not fixed even after 3 repairs and replacements of the GPU itself, motherboard and screen, all got replaced about 3 or 4 times.
I rang up Dell for the 4th time, and asked to have a replacement but was told this was not possible until it gets to the stage where they need to take it in to the workshop. Anyway, the next day the technician came out and replaced the motherboard, GPU and screen again, and the problem was still there. I was sure that this would be fixed now, because they wanted to take it in to the workshop, which they did.
Now, I believe the problem has resurfaced, I was playing Crysis tonight and I had some more artifacting, the same type that I was getting before but, just in smaller areas instead of the whole screen. Here are some screenshots of the issue:
Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2
This has been happening on and off tonight, room temperature has been cool and I didn't notice any overheating.
Now I haven't noticed this within the last hour or so of playing, and goes away if I alt-tab then get back in game. The only other game I have been playing is Counter-Strike Source and I haven't noticed any artifacting in that, but that could be because it's nowhere near as graphically demanding.
I'm worried that the problem will keep coming back and possibly get worse, I have not overclocked nor plan to overclock and keep my machine in a very well ventilated area. This is not user error.
Using official Dell video drivers, was reformatted just week as well.
Do you think it's worth ringing Dell about this and try getting a replacement?
Over the last few days I've read countless posts abt the same problem as I've been having with my Acer Aspire 5920G. It all started a week ago. I had shut down my laptop the night b4 and in the morning as usual I pressed the power button to start it up, it started up, completed POST and then powered on with a blank/switched off LCD screen and I could hear it going all the way up to the Vista log-on screen...... all this time with a blank screen that had no power. I kept it for a few minutes and then switched it off.
When i tried to restart,........the laptop powers on, the Bluetooth light comes on and the Hard drive led flickers a couple of times and then it'll just sit there unable to load the BIOS! Naturally I thought something was wrong with the BIOS for it to not start or complete POST. But I had absolutely no idea where the BIOS battery was located, so I couldn't do very much abt it (now I've some idea where it is, after a week of tinkering with the motherboard.)
But just to be on the safe side, over the last week I checked the RAM (which was OK), took out and reseated my GPU board (seemed OK, the GPU could have been the culprit coz of the blank screen), removed the Heat Sink (which was covering the CPU and which also acted as a Heat Sink for the GPU) and checked the CPU. The thermal paste that was covering the CPU had melted all around it, so I replaced it with new thermal paste after I cleaned it. Then I disconnected and reconnected the Heat Sink Fan and put it all back together. It didn't restart! The same symptoms as b4 appeared again. But this time after a few secs, it went into an infinite loop of powering on and restarting every 5 or so seconds.
So I thought, I'll give it one last go b4 chucking it for a new laptop! Since the first symptom of the whole problem when this all started was a LCD screen that wasn't working...... I removed all the coverings of the screen and detached and reconnected the two LCD inverter cables connected to the inverter boards thats located just below the screen and then after removing the back covering of the LCD screen, I detached and reconnected the LCD cable just behind the screen. The attachment of this cable is very fragile and flimsy. I've a feeling that this is what caused all the problems. It did seem loose!........
I just bought a new U310 , the system is good as of now , but only issue which is bothering me is that it has a week wifi signal Is there any way to boost up the wifi signal.
Im looking on tiger direct at RAM. I have a M1530 and I only have 2gb of RAM and would like more to make it future proof. This is whats in it..Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,2GB,667MHZ,2X1GB,512
I think I have decided to purchase a Dell Studio XPS 1340, as I require a new laptop before the end of June and I'm not sure anything better in this class will be available before then.
I will be using it for a bit of everything, including work, portability, hooking it up for presentations, general surfing on the couch and some minor game playing. I have a few questions about purchasing it.
1. CPU. At the moment both the P9500 (2.53GHz) and the P9600 (2.66GHz) cost an extra $388.30. Shouldn't the P9600 cost more than the P9500? Am I missing something here?
2. Screen. I get a lot of glare on my current laptop at work. Does the XPS 1340 have a glossy or matte screen? Does choosing WLED or CCFL have any effect on this?
3. Deals. There is currently a $150 cash off deal which ends tomorrow (Thursday). This seems like a pretty good deal to me.
Should I take this or is there a high likelihood a better deal will be available soon? I will also be using the EPP code as I'm a full-time student.
Are there any other coupons I could use? In addition to being a full-time student, I am also a small business owner (strange combo I know), and have bought Dell desktops for employees in the past. Would I be able to get a better deal going through a small business sales channel .....
I see that Bestbuy has the Dell XPS X1330 on sale for $949. I was impressed at how loaded this laptop is but upon looking through forums I see there have been alot of issues in the past with the video card, heat, etc... and alot of very unhappy customers. Have these issues been resolved? Is this a good reliable laptop or is it better to steer clear?
Is it possible to make a purchase on Dell.com using both PayPal and a CC directly through dell.com? Like, if I select PayPal as the payment method and only enter the amount that I was deducted from my PayPal account, will Dell.com prompt me to pay the balance with another payment method?
(The reason is I want to use some funds in my PayPal account and take advantage of a Dell.com cashback offer from the CC. Won't get the cashback if the CC payment is through PayPal.)
I cant believe how much money could be saved if i were to get it from the states!
Where is best value to get one from UK ? it seems as though most money can be saved by getting a refurb, lots on ebay and from a lot of reputable sellers.
where did you get yours from? dell ? ebay ? which seller? etc
I am trying to find a laptop for starting college this fall. I am majoring in Accounting. I was looking around for laptops and am considering an E6400.
I definitly would like a dell because my college is partnered with them and they can do warranty work on campus.
I'm thinking about purchasing a Dell Studio 15 as a replacement for my recently dead HP Pavilion dv6500. The HP is dead after 1.5 years most likely due to over heating, even though I use a laptop cooler.
Anyway I'll be using this for work, programming, watching divx/mkv connecting to my LCD TV, web surfing. This will be my first Dell laptop ever so any input from you guys will be greatly appreciated. The specs are below along with how much it'll cost: ...
I am about 75% sure this dell is the one. I am seriously considering the lenovo U330 (heavier-ugh but w/hdmi port) or a Thinkpad T400 (maybe 400s) because i am hard on my computers
The e4300 is my top choice because of it's weight, but I saw the Studio 14z and was a bit put off. I know consumer vs. business can be apples to oranges, but I it made me start to think...
I'm in the process of selling a laptop and looking at the E6400 as a replacement. I was just wondering if you all are happy with your purchase, and would you recommend it? Also, I'm thinking of buying it refurbished; is there anything i should be wary of?
My battery on my XPS 1530 has lived its life. I need to buy a replacememt battery. The Dell website is offering me the amazing price of $189.99 (CDN dollars).
Can anyone recommend me a reliable online store or brick and mortar store that sells the XPS 1530 9 cell battery at a good price?
So I purchased a "scratch n dent" mini 9 from the dell outlet. It arrived today. When I looked at the bottom it had a refurbished sticker on the bottom. I know on the outlet they have ordered previously new, refurbished, and scratch n dent.
Do all the scratch n dent computers come with this sticker? I figure the refurb would but didn't think the scratch n dent would as it's only a used computer..
A pretty good deal on the dell xps 1645 came up recently and I was wondering whether i should buy it now or wait for any updates to the dell studio xps 16 in the summer.
Do you guys think the studio xps 16 will have the ATI 5000 series graphics chip or new processor by summer time
Just received a Z610y as a college graduation gift, but it was not purchased with an extended warranty. I'm accident-prone, and am interested in a 3 year extended warranty with ADH.
I talked to someone at Sony Style who said I could purchase the warranty up to 30 days from the date of sale. I noticed newegg.com has one for sale, but when I talked to an associate there, they said it was only for sale with the purchase of a new laptop.
