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Another dead XPS 1330 due to defective Nvidia chip & Dell support wont acknowledge the problem
Until recently I have been the proud and happy owner of a Dell XPS 1330 that I bought in december 2007.
Then, about two weeks ago, I have started to experiment weird crashes : one or two times the screen went totally black, then came back a few seconds later with a Windows error message stating that it had recovered from a driver failure.
Yesterday it went worse. The screen froze with strange colors and I rebooted only to get a screen of vertical lines with slowly changing colors. Pretty interesting for a paperweight, but not quite I had expected from a supposedly high-range machine costing over 2.000€ and that I am still not done paying.
After doing a bit of research I found out that this problem was fairly common among XPS1330 owners and that it all came from a defective series of Nvidia graphic chips.
I have also found this, a blog post from Lionel Menchaca (in his own words "Dell's Chief Blogger") explaining that the Nvidia issue would exceptionally be covered by Dell by a complementary one year warranty, even for machines that are out of warranty...
"Again, the limited warranty enhancement is specific to this issue and will extend coverage by 12 months from the date the original warranty term for the laptop expires. For example, one-year warranties will be extended to 24 months for this issue only. The maximum combined period for the initial warranty and the limited-warranty enhancement is 60 months. Systems purchased with 60-month warranties will not be extended. Customers whose warranties have expired will be eligible for this limited warranty enhancement from the date the initial warranty expired."
I called yesterday the Dell XPS support. And, not only were they slow (wasn't the XPS support supposed to some kind of top-notch thing ? Gosh, does that mean that regular support is worse ?!) but the guy I spoke to played the "A well-known Nvidia chip problem ? Sorry M'am never heard of it." tune. And he tried to sell me a 2 years warranty extension, argumenting that he could "as a favour" try to cover my current issue with this warranty... Needless to say, I declined.
So, Dell, I am talking to you here :
- Do you consider it normal performance for your machines to last one and a half year and then die in a matter of few days ?
- Do you consider it fair to your customers to (rather discreetly) advertise a "Warranty Enhancement to All Affected Customers Worldwide" on one site, and then to totally fail to inform of this the technical support service ?
Then, about two weeks ago, I have started to experiment weird crashes : one or two times the screen went totally black, then came back a few seconds later with a Windows error message stating that it had recovered from a driver failure.
Yesterday it went worse. The screen froze with strange colors and I rebooted only to get a screen of vertical lines with slowly changing colors. Pretty interesting for a paperweight, but not quite I had expected from a supposedly high-range machine costing over 2.000€ and that I am still not done paying.
After doing a bit of research I found out that this problem was fairly common among XPS1330 owners and that it all came from a defective series of Nvidia graphic chips.
I have also found this, a blog post from Lionel Menchaca (in his own words "Dell's Chief Blogger") explaining that the Nvidia issue would exceptionally be covered by Dell by a complementary one year warranty, even for machines that are out of warranty...
"Again, the limited warranty enhancement is specific to this issue and will extend coverage by 12 months from the date the original warranty term for the laptop expires. For example, one-year warranties will be extended to 24 months for this issue only. The maximum combined period for the initial warranty and the limited-warranty enhancement is 60 months. Systems purchased with 60-month warranties will not be extended. Customers whose warranties have expired will be eligible for this limited warranty enhancement from the date the initial warranty expired."
I called yesterday the Dell XPS support. And, not only were they slow (wasn't the XPS support supposed to some kind of top-notch thing ? Gosh, does that mean that regular support is worse ?!) but the guy I spoke to played the "A well-known Nvidia chip problem ? Sorry M'am never heard of it." tune. And he tried to sell me a 2 years warranty extension, argumenting that he could "as a favour" try to cover my current issue with this warranty... Needless to say, I declined.
So, Dell, I am talking to you here :
- Do you consider it normal performance for your machines to last one and a half year and then die in a matter of few days ?
- Do you consider it fair to your customers to (rather discreetly) advertise a "Warranty Enhancement to All Affected Customers Worldwide" on one site, and then to totally fail to inform of this the technical support service ?
I’m angry
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Inappropriate?Sorry to hear about your frustration, but I will be direct: You are covered for Nvidia GPU failure related hardware problems on this system until at least 2 years from the date of purchase. If you can get me your service tag, I will have this issue addressed by the appropriate group within Dell. Thanks for your patience.3 Comments
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Hi Bill, I am having the same problem with my DELL XPS 1330 of a white screen as soon as i boot up. MY express code is 9XFQ1BS. I live in India aand purchased the system about a year and a half ago, and i cant even f find dell's india numbers on its site.Can you please help me. My email is Gagan_sethi at yahoo dot com. Thanks ! -
Hi Bill,
I have the same problem have a Dell XPS 1330 service tag 25LVF3J its 7months out of warranty. The problem has existed for a month and only just found these threads. The screen fills with lovely multicoloured lines, very nice. Anyway i have phoned dell that they told me that the chip is busted and yes its covered by warranty but the mother board is not. ???? so i would have to pay for the motherboard £360 odd pound and they would ship the chip free on the board that would normally cost like £260. Well i know that the chips is part of the board and not detachable, so anyway he tries to sell me extended warranty. Its all becoming a little draining can anyone help >? -
Hey Bill can you help me with my dead m1730?
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Inappropriate?Hi Bill,
Thanks for your quick answer !
My service tag is C3C5C3J (I live in France BTW).4 Comments Add a comment
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Argh! I saw your system details, and note there is a special message attached to your service tag that says you are covered for the Nvidia GPU issue. Not sure why they are refusing service. Only problem is your case notes that are visible to me do not include your email address. I will need that to submit the case. Can you drop it into this thread in this format please: emailATsomethingDOTcom
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OK. Got the email. I would delete that post if you still can. Emailing you shortly. thanks.
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Hi Bill
A quick note to say that Dell support has finally managed to get back to me (2 months+ !)
Tech guy is supposed to drop by tomorrow (I'm keeping the conditional here, it describes so well the experience I've had of Dell support so far...)
Thanks again for your intervention :-) -
I don't remember if I had updated you on this, but tech guy came and fixed my XPS (with a refurbed MB that I don't expect to last more than 10 months, but oh well, at this point I'll be happy if it only works as long as necessary for me to get to the Apple Store and buy a MacPro...)
So thanks again Bill ! (but good bye Dell) -
Inappropriate?Bill, I am also having many problems with my m1330. First it was the problem saying to connect the right power supply, got a new power supply and didn't fix the problem so I had deal with having it plugged in all the time for the past few months. And now it's doing the video card issue where I have to reset it 5 times before it doesn't come up with either a white screen or some random lines. And even when it does boot up it freezes shortly thereafter and shuts the screen off then pops up with the BSOD unless I leave it in safe mode. I've tried all the diagnosing and everything everyone's been talking about trying on all these websites, even updated the BIOS and everything, and nothing ... My laptop is out of the one year warranty and I am the original owner. The service tag number is: 9N5T2F1 with Express Service Code: 20991517309. This is making me more and more frustrated with this purchase, morose when I've got another semester of classes about to start up here real soon. Please help. Thanks, Donna
I’m Getting More and More Frustrated
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Donna,
Your warranty was enhanced for 12 months past the original expiration for issues specific to the Nvidia GPU. You need to contact tech support and have a service set up to replace the motherboard. -
Inappropriate?Bill. I am having the exact same problems.. with my Dell XPS M1330 --- I already had the GPU replaced once last August (you helped me out with this) and this is the second time I have encountered this problem. If you can please help me out that would be great. I have e-mailed you and also send you a private message on the Dell community forums. Thanks.
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Inappropriate?Bill,
i am having the same XPS M1330 problem - white screen - crashes etc...Service Tag - 5L8973J. I'm in the UK.
email iainmac16AThotmailDOTcom
Could you help me out with this?? thanks
Iain -
Inappropriate?Bill,
i hate to bug you man seems like you have a lot of problems on hand...but as you guessed im having the same problem this is the second time...the first time was a few months after i bought the XPS i called and they got the problem fixed...i think they only replaced the screen though i dont think the tech guys replaced anything else...i went to the dell web site this time to see if i could find anything but i was unlucky that when i typed in my service tag it said my computer could not be found...i dont know what to do and school is about to start.can you help me out
service tag - B5985F1
Any help would be great
Thanks
eMail-
burtonkid247
at
hotmail
DOT
com -
Inappropriate?Hi Bill, I have the same problem except I am unsure if I'm still under warranty; I remember getting my laptop somewhere in August 2 years ago and I had the motherboard swapped a few months in because of the problem.
So is there anything I can do if I am not under warranty? I don't want to dish out another 2 grand :(
My tag is
HWXFZD1
And email-
ad_adrian(AT)hotmail(DOT).com -
Inappropriate?Bill could you help me as well please? my xps 1330 failed a few days ago and guaranty has expired 3 months ago, i bought it may 08.
service tag is C950L3J
EMAIL
theonekalo(at)hotmail(dot).com
Thanks in advance -
Inappropriate?Bill,
Wondering if you could help me with this also...service tag JGXYRG1. Warranty expired one month ago. My M1330 started getting hotter and hotter over the last few months, but didn't realize the extent of it until a few days ago. Recently realized the fan has been running non-stop. The screen seems ok except for a couple of BSOD recently. However, it seems the power to the fan has caused my battery to fail. Even with the fan running continually and the battery completely dead, the bottom of the laptop is still too hot to touch. I finally tracked all of this down through here, http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/di... and http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/n.... This last article showed the battery-to-fan-to-nvidia link that seems exactly my problem.
Any help on warrenty extension and/or new battery and fix to put out the fire that has become my laptop would be greatly appreciated.
Jen Q.
jennifer(dot)quack(at)gmail(dot)com.
PS-And I just had one of my clients buy this same machine! I hope she doesn't experience the same problems...
I’m frustrated and anxious.
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Inappropriate?hi Bill,
same problem happened to me. my warranty expired 4 months ago. is dell still giving extended warranty on this problem. Please find me a solution.
kaleem83atgmaildotcom
Thanx u very much. -
Inappropriate?hi Bill,
I have spoken to one of the customer advisor but they said my system is not marked for the systems which have this problem. I am sure i have same problem. Please could you solve my problem. my laptop service tag no is
BBTQN3J
kaleem83ATgmailDOTCOM
Thanx -
Inappropriate?problem solved. i called them again, luckily this time they agreed to take back my laptop for repair. hopefully it will be collected in couple of days, will take about three weeks to repair.
cheers fellows. -
Inappropriate?These problems are absolutely ridiculous and are good reason NOT to buy Dell products again! This is not just one part going bad--this is about one part going bad that damages the entire system! This about is Dell producing and selling a pretty-looking system with a time-bomb attached to it!
Dell's original "fix" for this was to the A12 bios that lowered performance (according to the Windows Vista performance tool) and runs the fan 24/7--so now, instead of an instantly fried system, you got a slower + noisy system that will still fry 12-18 months down the line (GPU consistently runs at 80C!).
And so now, my battery is refusing to charge, my touchpad/keys no longer function reliably, and my HDD consistently registers temps over 50C--all with steady hum of a jet-powered chain-saw!
I have already had my GPU/MB replaced once and am now having it replaced again on Tuesday (tech already called to schedule service). When I mentioned the associated battery and input issues, Dell "Premium" XPS support suggested that these issues were #1 not covered under the warranty extension and #2 my fault (for not paying extra for an extended warranty).
This is not a "warranty" issue--these products are not breaking down due to normal usage--this a "defective product" issue which Dell is trying to bury!
The Dell tech assured my that the mobo solutions they're sending this time around will fix things 100%--which probably means I'll be getting something even more crippled and noisy than their last 2 "fixes"... :/
This is a shame, really, as the m1330 is a beautifully machine--I and many colleagues + clients have rightfully been impressed by the design and performance. However, I've since made it a point to them all know about these issues--and have even gone as far as to specifically direct some away from Dell altogether (e.g., for anything not meant to be cheap/throw-away).
And in case any Dell folk care to comment on the battery / input issues...
service tag: 40DLBG1
email: [this is my 5th Dell, so I'm sure sales will at least have it]
I’m disappointed
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Finally got through to Dell--thanks Bill!--and had all the necessary parts replaced. The latest motherboard edition does seem to be running cooler and my Windows scores are back to normal.
If anything, the one minor peeve I have is the the sexy PA-21 adapter (that has been causing many problems) appears to have been discontinued rather than fixed. I was offered a PA-10 (90w, "better" than 65w) adapter as a replacement, but its bulk sort of defeats the purpose of having an ultra portable... Oh well--I had been planning on purchasing the travel adapter anyway.
So, gents, the lesson here is perseverance. Dell support may seem a bit obtuse at times, but they are capable of delivering exceptional results.
Cheers, -
Inappropriate?Hi Bill,
My grapphics card on my XPX 1330has failed and i get the black sceen with coloured lines at start up. Dell service just try to sell me an extended warranty and don't want to fix the problem. Can you help.
My service tag is 2H86R1S. My email is matt at cobaltniche dot com. Thanks for your advise.
Matt -
Inappropriate?Hi Bill, same issue here bud - m1330 with major graphical glitching and heat issues. 8XHST1S. Any chance you can help? Majorly bummed.
I’m frustrated
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Never mind - I actually got through to Dell support, and all it took was mentioning the m1330 and "i bet you can guess what the problem is" and theyve organised a technician to come around tomorrow and replace the mobo/gpu out of warranty.
Joseph in the Philippines, you rock my socks! :) -
Inappropriate?Bill, I have this exact problem too. Service Tag 8GLYTF1. It is out of warranty. I am in Canada. I have upgraded the BIOS to A15, but problem persists.
Any help you could provide would be great. Thanks! :-)1 Comment Add a comment
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Hi Guys, If you get no where and decide your laptop is useless to you anyway, you can try the following fix. It worked for me. See link.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJlgPb...
I used a gas soldering iron with blow torch end fitting. try on low heat and work your way up. It worked second time around for me. Only took 30 seconds of heat to fix it. -
Inappropriate?Hi Having same problem in Same Model Dell M1330 any solution
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Inappropriate?1st October 2009 - Dell support acknowledged this as a known fault with the Nvidia graphics chip. They sent out a support engineer within 24 hours for a no charge motherboard replacement. The engineer confirmed that it is not just Dell laptops but desktops and other manufacturers. Nvidia are covering the replacement cost. My M1330 was bought in Jan 2008 and is therefore officially out of warranty.1 Comment Add a comment
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Sure, I had the same experience - but here's the rub - theyre replacing the chipset with..... the same dodgy chipset. People are having it replaced 3 or 4 times..... Theyre basically edging everyone past the extended warranty so they can wash their hands of the whole situation.
Ive owned many Dells, and have recommended them to everyone who asks about laptops/PCs, but not any more. I dont blame them for the fault, but they shouldve revised the motherboard with a newer video chipset that doesnt have the fault and rolled it out. -
Inappropriate?My laptop was 25months old (1 month past NVidia extended warranty) and Dell don't want to know about it. I use to recommend Dell but not anymore either. Just got my new MacBookPro yesterday. I have told everyone i know about how bad Dell have been with this issue.1 Comment Add a comment
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This is my point exactly - we didnt pay all this money for a laptop that might last 2 years.
Here's something even sadder - I asked, and was assured, that this motherboard was "a new revision" that "doesnt suffer the video problems". So they not only are cheaping out on the repairs, thereby screwing their customers, but they are directly lying about it.
I was actually quite a big fan of Dell before this: I work in IT, and have rolled out Dells at several small/medium businesses who were customers of mine (lawyers, accountants, that sort of thing). My standard response to "where should I buy my PC" was "dell.com". I don't think Dell fully appreciate the knock-on effect of these sorts of actions. In fact, its already started.... I wasnt far off ordering a damn mini 10v for myself.... a friend whose PC busted (wont boot XP in any form, boots linux just fine????) got directed to Harvey Norman for a new one......
Like I said, it's just sad. -
Inappropriate?Folks,
more here to read on how MANY users feel about this fiasco:
http://getsfn.com/dell/topics/dell_xp...
Simon,
My thoughts are the same...
As a purchase agent for clients across Canada, I have owned and operated 3 Dell XPS M Series laptops that have the defective NVidia chip MB.
All three of them failed within the warranty periods that I owned them. 2 of them failed 3 times in the warranty period and the third one failed
me twice. I was lucky~ only because I had the warranties. That being said, they replaced each of my defective NVidia chip MB with the SAME defective MB,
hence the multiple failures over the waranty period.
After these incidents, and in each case I spoke with supervisors (all of them having their heads up their @ss) they still to this date refuse to acknowledge
this problem as there fault and in all these types of cases, they make all customers run through the gauntlet before they will even consider a repair for your
laptop.
As I said, I was lucky, I had warranties on my units. For those of you that have laptops that are out of warranty that may possibly get a FREEBIE FIX, realize this:
This is NOT A FIX!!~they only replace your faulty Nvidia chip MB with the SAME defective MB. This is only a bandaid solution. IT will fail again - GUARANTEED!!
After these incidents, I recommended to my clients to no longer purchase any DELL units because of this fiasco and how they treat their customers.
Lucky for me, they continue to follow my recommendations.
DELL is HELL~ Just look at this forum as an example....when was the last time they even responded
to any of these complaints.... there are plenty of other forums that continue to voice the same concerns here.
I cancelled many $$$$$ orders with them and they know this. In my line of work I continue to keep all my clients informed of their shady past practice~
in fact, there is presently a pending class-action lawsuit against DELL here in Canada based on a similar situation involving their laptops that was approved
earlier this year. There are plenty of other laptops in the market that will outclass DELL.
Also, all of you should know that (in my line of work) I did find a relatively inexpensive FIX $250 cdn (outside of DELL, of course as they've stil got their head up their @ss) based out of
the westcoast in Canada. Cheaper than DELL and a reliable shop that has the proper equipment and knowledge to replace the NVidia chip on the MB (so long as the MB has not been damaged).
The problem lies with the original design - the way the NVidia chip has been soldered onto the MB and its lack of proper airflow for ventilation.
Dont be fooled by DELLS offer of a freebie fix - it's only a bandaid that WILL unravel quickly. Once it unravels....you are SOL.
I’m disappointed in Dell Hell
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Inappropriate?Hi Bill,
I bought my XPS1330 in November 2007.
I first had the exact same problem descibed here in october 2008.
A tech came and replaced my motherboard and everything was OK until this morning !!!
I'm having for the second time this problem and this make me really angry. I have the felling that the replacing hardware was as poor in quality as the initial one...
Unfortunartely now I am out of warranty and when I call the dell technical support, i am forwarded to the presto service which ask for my credit card !
This situation is not acceptable and I hope someone will be able to help me with that.
I read other posts in this thread and I really hope you can help me...
My service tag is 98W093J and my e-mail address is sylvain [dot] rouard [at] gmail [dot] com
Please help !
I’m frustrated having twiec the same problem !
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Hi Sylvain
If you have no luck with Bill, try emailing Lionel from this forum:
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/di...
He has a post near the top where he details how to contact him.
Good luck. -
Thank you Simon !
After reading the post form Lionel, I called the technical support and insisted for a replacement under free warranty extention of 12months as stated by Lionel.
They answered that they were well aware of this problem but they cannot offer free extention. They proposed me to buy an XPS premium warranty extention of 3 years (200€) or 2 years (300€) and to have a technician comming tomorrow to replace motherboard, in the frame of the extention.
As I had no other choices, I accepted, but it does not seem to me really fair to buy a 3 year warranty extention for a 2year old laptop, while there is a known default in the hardware sold... -
Hi Sylvain,
I bought my XPS in december 2007 and have just had my MB replaced under the warranty extension (even though the whole process was an ordeal and was only solved after a lot of Bill-hassling. Thank you Bill !) :-)
Sylvain, it is unacceptable that you have been forced a 2 yr warranty down the throat !
To me the whole XPS/nVidia situation is ripe for a class action and Dell misconduct towards its clients should be made as public as possible.
Unfortunately I don't reckon such thing as a class action is possible in France (where I live), but at least the unfortunate american / canadian Dell victims should unite and make Dell PAY for their crass misconduct ! -
Hi Tanas,
I totally agree with you, it is not acceptable !
Unfortunately, I also live in France and class actions does not exist...
Maybe we can at least write to "60 millions de consommateurs" or "UFC que choisir"....
What do you think of the solution I was proposed by Dell Bill ? -
Inappropriate?Hi Bill, I am having the same problem with my DELL XPS 1330 of a white screen as soon as i boot up.. I live in Philippines system warranty expired 6/2/2009. Does my warranty also has enhanced for 12 months past the original expiration for issues specific to the Nvidia GPU? Can you please help me. Thanks !
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?Hi Bill,
I am having the same problem. Dell customer service told Nvidia 8400 is not covered. Can you help what to do next.
Thanks
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?Hey Bill,
I am also having the same problem with my motherboard and I have talked to Dell already about it and they said I would have to buy an new motherboard out of pocket since I am already out of warranty. They also told me they would have to send out a tech for $50 to make sure it is actually the motherboard. Please email me to see what there is I can do.
Service Tag is BYZC4F1
My email is: alomexlhnl480-AT-Hotmail-Dot-Com -
Inappropriate?For those of you that wish to participate in a class-action suit:
http://www.randomprocess.ca/2008/11/0...
EMPLOYEE
