xps m1330 motherboard again

Seifer

Yes it does. It's the cycle of hot-cold-hot-cold more than it reaching any peak temperature that causes the failure.
I would extend the warranty in your situation.
When will Dell stop selling them? That's what's bugging me.

LolaDub

Darwin wrote: »

Does this also apply to non-gamers as GPU temps would raise considerably during gaming sessions? My M1330 is 8 months old no probs so far, wife also has one. Should we be thinking of extending the warranty?

I'm not a gamer either and the lap top has never been used for games by anyone else.

Voodu Child

Darwin wrote: »

Does this also apply to non-gamers as GPU temps would raise considerably during gaming sessions? My M1330 is 8 months old no probs so far, wife also has one. Should we be thinking of extending the warranty?

Yeah, I think in the circumstances it wouldn't be a bad idea to extend the warranty.

You should also update the bios, its available on Dells website.

killbillvol2

An observation:

Dell's prices have been dropping steadily over the last couple of years so they must be saving money by using cheaper components.

If the Nvidia card fails is there a more expensive card that Dell could use which wouldn't fail?

We've used Dell machines at work for years and the older ones have never given any trouble. All the newer laptops have given some problems. How can you sell a laptop for €500 without filling it with the cheapest parts possible?

I know the Dell fanclub will come out in force but there's no way that Dell are putting top of the range components in their machines at the prices they're selling them.

machalla

It unfortunately looks like my M1330 is starting to succumb to this. A couple of not that highly graphics intensive games have keeled the machine over in the last couple of days. Screen just goes blank and fans are running on full. Only way out of it is to turn the machine off.

I don't suppose anyone has noticed much of a difference between vista and xp for these machines and heat?

Looks like I will have to extend the warranty on it as well based on the overheating problems that seem to exist for this machine. Its turning out to be a lot more expensive than it should be to own one of these.

LolaDub

If the computer is in warranty then they should repair it. If it breaks again you're entitled to a replacement. Don't shell out for a warranty if its dells fault.

BostonB

killbillvol2 wrote: »

An observation:

Dell's prices have been dropping steadily over the last couple of years so they must be saving money by using cheaper components.

If the Nvidia card fails is there a more expensive card that Dell could use which wouldn't fail?

We've used Dell machines at work for years and the older ones have never given any trouble. All the newer laptops have given some problems. How can you sell a laptop for €500 without filling it with the cheapest parts possible?

I know the Dell fanclub will come out in force but there's no way that Dell are putting top of the range components in their machines at the prices they're selling them.

What parts are failing and what parts to you think are cheaper?

Incidentally we've a m1330 probably a year, and with the Intel gfx and no problem with it. Mind you it doesn't get used that much, and then only for email etc.

Overheal

Dartz wrote: »

That's just stupid on Dells part.

There's a decent enough fix for the problem available if you don't mind getting a poke around inside. It is a hardware quirk of the 1330 that is exacerbating the problem.

From my understanding of what's happened, the chip is thermally weaker than Nvidia's original specifications. The 1330 pushes it right to the limit of those on-paper specifications, and so is overheating the weakened chips and causing them to die.

The 1330 uses a thermal pad to join the GPU with the main heatpipe, which is not as thermally conductive as a proper copper heatsink. This means the GPU is getting hot. It's probably within (right on the bleeding edge maybe) Nvidia's specifications, but the actual chip isn't as resilient as it should be, and is failing.

It is Nvidia's fault, not Dell's. In all likelyhood, the replacement laptop they give you would fail just as quickly as the replacement motherboard.

The M1530 does have a proper heatsink/heatpipe assembly, which is why there aren't near as many reported failures with them.

What people are doing is that they are removing the thermal pad, and replacing it with a homemade heatsink, from a sheet of copper or aluminium, and some thermal paste. Why Dell themselves aren't doing this when they repair a dead laptop I don't know, because it seems to be curing the failures

Finally, can you imagine the pain of recalling each and every XPS1330 worldwide to fix this issue in the factory? It's not that it would be expensive as such (Well not for Dell, who would be sure to charge Nvidia for it), it's just that it would be a very impractical thing to pull off completely.

Only way to do it would be to replace the pads on new motherboards with copper heatsinks, when dead ones are being replaced.

---

For anyone enterprising enough to do the mod themselves here's a guide I found:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=250129

And take a blast of canned air to the inside of your heatsink too...

from my recent warranty repair experience i have to assume HP has taken the tutorial on board. as ive said, the laptop now runs between 20 and 25 C colder than it did. it must not be an issue specific to the m1330.

geecee

Mine has just started this too!

It was running veruy hot for the last 2 months
I have upgraded the BIOS and Graphics drivers up to the latest version from Dell site
But in the last week as per the poster above the screen now goes black and the only option is to reboot by the power swithch

The warranty i have is:
Base Warranty - 1 Year XPS Premium Hardware Support (incl. Gaming and On-Site Support)

Does anyone know what this warranty actually is?
Is it the standard Collect and return 1 week later that the Inspirons have
Or next business day on-site that the latitudes have?

Thanks!

Oafley Jones

killbillvol2 wrote: »

An observation:

Dell's prices have been dropping steadily over the last couple of years so they must be saving money by using cheaper components.

If the Nvidia card fails is there a more expensive card that Dell could use which wouldn't fail?

We've used Dell machines at work for years and the older ones have never given any trouble. All the newer laptops have given some problems. How can you sell a laptop for €500 without filling it with the cheapest parts possible?

I know the Dell fanclub will come out in force but there's no way that Dell are putting top of the range components in their machines at the prices they're selling them.

There's a Dell fanclub :eek:

Prices of computers are always getting cheaper, that's the nature of the electronic business. In fact I'd argue Dell are using superior quality parts (motherboards etc) in their cheaper machines to what they were putting out 3-5 years ago.

BostonB

I would say theres very little difference between them all. They get them all made in the far east, by the same one or two companies, and a lot of them are Intel reference boards, with a few tweaks.

KStaford

I was thinking of purchasing an XPS M1330, but I've just read this thread and now I am put right off. I have sent Dell an email just now telling them of my concerns, I also sent them the link to this thread and have asked them to respond.

Might be interesting to see what they have to say.

BostonB

You could buy one without the Nvida gfx. I don't think the 8400GS is worth paying extra for myself.

KStaford

BostonB wrote: »

You could buy one without the Nvida gfx. I don't think the 8400GS is worth paying extra for myself.

Boston

I dont think there's an option to do that? When I'm speccing them on Dell's website, there is no alternative graphics to choose from ? Can anyone clarify ?

Also, what if you wish to spec one from Dell outlet, you are kind of limited to what you get there.

BostonB

There used to be.

Pot luck on the Outlet.

20 Times 20 Times

Im only after reading this thread , I ordered my mx1330 yesterday from outlet , I have a sick sense in my stomach now after reading this thread. So is it 99% that it will happen to every machine ? Should i really be looking at extending the warranty ? Here is the specs to my machine.

BostonB

You might want to read this...
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/08/18/nvidia-gpu-update-dell-to-offer-warranty-enhancement-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx

zynaps

Yeah, that's a bit annoying. I ordered one yesterday as well!

In the order status email I was given the machine's service tag. This was enough to give me a list of service calls for the machine when it was in the hands of its original owner.

Number 1 was:

System Type: XPS M1330
Ship Date: 22/07/2008
...
Parts information pertaining to this Service Call

Part Number Description Quantity

D057F ASSEMBLY..., PRINTED WIRING ASSY..., PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD)..., DISCRETE..., 128M, M1330 1

And number 2:

Part Number Description Quantity

PU073 ASSEMBLY..., PRINTED WIRING ASSY..., PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD)..., DISCRETE..., 128M, M1330 1
Y9535 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE..., 1G, 667, 128X64, 8, 200, 1GBIT 2

:eek:Oh shít! Looks like this machine is a zombie.:eek:
Hopefully I can cancel the order.

KStaford

Sarge wrote: »

Im only after reading this thread , I ordered my mx1330 yesterday from outlet , I have a sick sense in my stomach now after reading this thread. So is it 99% that it will happen to every machine ? Should i really be looking at extending the warranty ? Here is the specs to my machine.

Sarge

I looked at your spec, I see you ordered a 7200 rpm disk. These use more power than the 5400rpm disks and the difference in seek time to the user is negligable so they are ill advised in laptops. Also, I am told that the new white led (300 mit) screens are far superior, obviously brighter and use less power than the older ones.
I hope I am not annoying you with this post, just trying to offer some advice (I have been researching the be-jesus out of these laptops).
Perhaps the points I raise do not concern you and if so - thats great, but if they do - Is there anyway you can interrupt / change your order ?

Alanstrainor

Sarge ordered his laptop off Dell Outlet, he did not custom build the machine per say, merely decided it was the best value of the bunch. And it is a very good machine for the money.

KStaford

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Sarge ordered his laptop off Dell Outlet, he did not custom build the machine per say, merely decided it was the best value of the bunch. And it is a very good machine for the money.

duly noted, sorry

Alanstrainor

KStaford wrote: »

duly noted, sorry

Ha, no need to apologise:)

20 Times 20 Times

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Sarge ordered his laptop off Dell Outlet, he did not custom build the machine per say, merely decided it was the best value of the bunch. And it is a very good machine for the money.

Cheers Alan ,


Quick question there is a chance that my machine will be100% anyway. The warranty and service when buying from dell outlet . dell.ie is the exact same so i have noting to lose anyway ?

Alanstrainor

Sarge wrote: »

Cheers Alan ,


Quick question there is a chance that my machine will be100% anyway. The warranty and service when buying from dell outlet . dell.ie is the exact same so i have noting to lose anyway ?

Ay, you're covered. See how it goes, and if there's anything you're unhappy with give them a ring.

LolaDub

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Ay, you're covered. See how it goes, and if there's anything you're unhappy with give them a ring.

Good luck with that! I made 38 phone calls after mine packed in before giving up with their various levels of incompetance before going to conor pope from pricewatch who got it sorted in a few hours! Unfortunately the replacement which arrived last thurs has already started crashing

yhwh

I think the simple solution is not to buy Dell. I have had plenty of experience with many computer companies and I can honestly say that Dell have quite possibly the worst customer service of all of them.

There are plenty of perfectly adequate alternatives to Dell out there.

As for any of you who still have problems with yours, I wish you the best of luck and hope you get them sorted quickly although seeing as it is Dell my advice to you is that patience is a virtue and you will need lots of it.

Seifer

yhwh wrote:

I think the simple solution is not to buy Dell.

The issue isn't caused by Dell. It's caused by nvidia.
Yes you can argue that some people are getting jerked around by their customer service but for every one of those there are hundreds of people that are perfectly happy with the service they get.
And Dell have extended warranties for free to cover for this fault.
Rage at nvidia is my advice.

Darwin

yhwh wrote: »

I think the simple solution is not to buy Dell. I have had plenty of experience with many computer companies and I can honestly say that Dell have quite possibly the worst customer service of all of them.

There are plenty of perfectly adequate alternatives to Dell out there.

As for any of you who still have problems with yours, I wish you the best of luck and hope you get them sorted quickly although seeing as it is Dell my advice to you is that patience is a virtue and you will need lots of it.

On the contrary I have found their XPS support to be top notch. The difficult part was dealing with their support centre in India (linguistic difficulties), but I had an engineer out to replace my motherboard the day after I rang.

yhwh

I think it's irrelevant that the chips from Nvidia are causing the problem. The final product is sold by Dell, and you can't tell me that they are not aware that these chips are faulty, yet they continue to sell this particular laptop. If they have a problem with the manufactures of the GPU's then why are'nt they doing something about it?

Don't get me wrong, Dell make some fine laptops. I work in IT administration for quite a large accounting firm and the problem I have is with their after sales customer service which is quite frankly of such a low standard that it boggles the mind.

Dartz

I suppose, accounting firms know all about ****e customer service. I can think of a few large accounting company's that have ****ed me, or people I know over too.

It's a difficult thing to do, to pull a large and still popular product range from sale, and not replace it. People are still going to buy XPS laptops, regardless as to whether the GPU's will break. They'll buy them because that's what they want.

I havent touched Dells after sales service, but what appears to happen is that there's these one or two people that a whole load of **** happens to, for utterly inexplicable reasons... and a silent majority you never here from.

I find it hard to believe horror stories are the norm.