My ALienWare experience or Adventure

Those links are child's play compared with the links blur usually clicks on.

I've just had 2 experiences with Dell and so far am pleased with the results.

First I was able to get a deal on an XPS17 laptop as the result of a coupon I found on Bargain Jack. Intel 2760 processor, 17.3" LED screen; lighted keyboard; Windows 7 64 bit, 2 500 GB hard drives; 15 months of McAfee-- all for $1206 & tax. So I ordered 2--one for Gail and one for me.

Second, the CPU fan went out on my XPS 9000 desktop (still 68 days left on the warranty). After 45 minutes of on-line diagnosis, the service agent agreed to send someone out with a new fan to replace the old. This happened yesterday so I am still waiting on the service man to set up an appointment, but so far, so good.

Considering the horror stories I have heard about Dell service, I am particularly pleased with it so far. I have owned a number of Dell units since my Voodoo fiasco in 2006 and this is the first time that I have had to call them for service.

Everyone's mileage may vary. Glad that yours has been on the good side.

Indeed.

Mind you, I will still preach Digital Storm. Of course, I have had no problems whatsoever (knock on silicon) so I have not seen how their customer service handles issues.

My friend has also yet to have an issue with his sager he purchased from xoticpc. I recommended he get it from them as sager has poor ratings as a direct reseller. Some times its good to pay slightly more and know that if you have a problem there is a middle man who will make it right with as little hassle as possible.

Iago wrote:. . . (knock on silicon) . . .

Been visiting some of the same sites as blur?

East: I agree. There are times when paying a little more makes a lot of sense, if it adds to peace of mind.

There are times when paying a little more makes a lot of sense, if it adds to peace of mind

I convinced myself of that when I bought from Voodoo, I'll never make that mistake again.

Anyway, back to being on-topic with my off-topic post:

First, during my initial chat with the Dell tech, I distinctly remember typing "no" when asked if I wanted to extend my warranty. Nevertheless, I was called last night to confirm that I wanted to extend my warranty. These guys from Asia really have a communication problem sometimes.

Second, I was told that 3 days from the original chat I would be called to see if the service was performed to my satisfaction. That must be why I was called at home today 2 days after the original chat (while I was waiting at home for the service man who at that time was only an hour late).

Third, the correct part was sent, the service man was pleasant and efficient, the computer now works fine, but Dell also sent along a motherboard that I didn't need and a video card that, if I had needed, would have been the wrong size.

Ya gotta love customer service in the 21st century.

Well, if they were going to throw a grab-bag of parts at you at least one of them hit the mark! The "cover all the base" approach.

I can easily see them having sent a grab bag of parts with every part except the one that failed.

I am not sure if the motherboard in your dell is actively cooled but I can understand there logic behind sending them. The tech on the phone could have miss diagnosed your problem and you may have had a bad fan on either of the other components. I can respect the fact that dell wanted to make sure the parts that were needed were on hand to get your issue resolved the first time around.

We had a dell laptop at work at one point that was still under warranty that had developed a rather strange pattern on the lcd. I checked all the cabling and narrowed it down to a faulty panel. When dell came they replaced the entire lid as an assembly cable and all and that fixed the issue.

I take it either way Mr. Blur's alienware is in a box about now.

fyi: The computer has 3 fans and the one that failed is blowing directly on the cpu.

Well, at least it was not a particularly important one!

Yup, imagine my displeasure if it had been the fan that cooled the tape drive.

{N-TYSH}

Got a call fro Dell Customer Service. I was on the phone with guy for over 30 minutes about all the issue from ordering to returning the laptops. At the end of the conversation he gave me a 50% off coupon, but I dont think I can use it towards a laptop. 60 inch LCD are looking nice right about now, maybe it's time to upgrade from our 37in sharp. Anyone have experience with mitsu DLP?

If you are talking RPTVs, Mitsubishi is the only player in the game left. I am not up on their current models, but they have traditionally offered very good performance for the money. Their Laservue sets are among the best RPTVs out there -- if you could score 50% off of one of those, that would be spectacular!

I'm really liking the reviews on the Mitsubishi DLP, but they are not thin. See what happens. Back to more real talk.

Down to these two laptops:

Dell Precision M4600 and Hp Dv6tqE

Dell Precision M4600 Mobile Workstation
-2960XM (Extreme Quad Core 2.70GHz,8M cache) with Turbo BoostTechnology 2.0 [Included in Price]
-Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, No Media, 64-bit, English [Included in Price]
-AMD® FirePro® M5950 Mobility Pro Graphics with 1GB GDDR5
-16.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS
-15.6" UltraSharp™ FHD(1920x1080) Anti-Glare LED-backlit with Premium Panel Guarantee
-750GB 7200rpm Hard Drive [Included in Price
-Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 802.11a/b/g/n Half Mini Card

2219.00 total

Starting Price $3,861.00
Instant Savings $1,512.00

Subtotal $2,349.00

hp dv6tqe
-Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM
-2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
-FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
-160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
-15.6" Full HD HP Anti-glare LED (1920 x 1080
- Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
-Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)

1539.99 Total

Price $1,539.99*
Instant rebate
-$250.00
Total:
$1,289.99
You saved
16.2%

The ATI firepro is a professional card made for accuracy not speed. It is not meant to be gamed on. Much like nvidias quadro line it was designed for autocad photoshop etc It would be a mistake to purchase it for gaming.

what I read on the firepro 5950m it's just a rebadged 6790m. With the same benchmarks.

Iago - Digital Storm Laptops all have the funky keyboard. So does the HP dv6tqe, but I'm getting such a huge discount can't ignore.

I have seen a lot more failures here lately with HP's. A lot of the guys out here on the rig have them and have had everything from overheating to bad sticks of rams. Couple of the laptops are only two or three months old.

mrblur wrote:

Iago - Digital Storm Laptops all have the funky keyboard. So does the HP dv6tqe, but I'm getting such a huge discount can't ignore.

Digital storm uses Clevos across the board, which means a Clevo keyboard across the board, so the keyboard comes with the territory. Good luck with round 2!

I don't like the keyboard either, idk why they felt compelled to copy mac...

I was doing O.K. with it, but since I have the laptop in place on my desk I am using the old Voodoo keyboard. It takes a bit of adjustment when I take it on the road, but not too bad.

Iago wrote:I was doing O.K. with it, but since I have the laptop in place on my desk I am using the old Voodoo keyboard. It takes a bit of adjustment when I take it on the road, but not too bad.

thinking of doing the same, maybe ordering a docking station so I can just grab my laptop and go when I travel.

Well finally got my monies back from dell and today I ordered the HP dv6tqe

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC
• dark umber
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
• 2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
• No Additional Office Software
• No additional security software
• 30% OFF 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 15.6" Full HD HP Anti-glare LED (1920 x 1080)
• FREE UPGRADE to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
• Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)

Pretty much maxed it out except for the CPU and O.S., didn't like the fact their top end CPU is the 2820 instead of the 2860 and I have win7 pro licenses available. And the Keyboard will see how that plays out.

grand total 1262.05 shipped / taxes. Orginal price of 1569.99 I had a 415 dollar coupon. I really wanted the Dell Precision, but I didn't want to get disappointed with FirePro GPU for gaming. I didnt trust the review they had on the GPU on the DELL.

Laptops so far I have owned.

-voodoo 855 (9600 pro) hahah
-NP9262 - 8800gtx SLI
-now HP dv6tqe(what a name) 6790m (hopefully it stays in the stable)

Well, keep us posted on this one. Let us know about the bloatware question -- always one of the big ones when dealing with a mainstream outfit like that.