XPS M1330 - Overheating - Small claims court?

goingtokl

Hi all,

I am having lots of fun with a Dell XPS M1330, I purchased it 12 months ago and am suffering the well documented overheating/noise issue.

(http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19267606/19474657.aspx)
(http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19287393.aspx)

It gets so hot after 45mins that it is impossible to use.

In the last 12 months I have had 3 motherboards replacements, a hard drive replacement and I have upgraded to the latest BIOS (which does nothing but run the fan CONSTANTLY!)

I called Dell yet again today and I am awaiting a call-back, however I suspect they will just suggest a MOBO replacement yet again.

I am really tired of having to call their Indian support to complain about this shoddy laptop. I paid nearly €1500 for it and I am not a happy camper.

I will NEVER buy another piece of Dell kit ever again.

I am considering taking them to the small claims court in an attempt to A) Get Dell to admit there is a HUGE issue with the M1330/Nvidia GPUs and Try to get some of my money back or get a suitable replacement

Is it worth the hassle? Has anyone else tried taking the mighty Dell on and won? I'd appreciate any feedback.

thanks,
GTK

denat

goingtokl wrote: »

Hi all,

I am having lots of fun with a Dell XPS M1330, I purchased it 12 months ago and am suffering the well documented overheating/noise issue.

(http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19267606/19474657.aspx)
(http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19287393.aspx)

It gets so hot after 45mins that it is impossible to use.



In the last 12 months I have had 3 motherboards replacements, a hard drive replacement and I have upgraded to the latest BIOS (which does nothing but run the fan CONSTANTLY!)

I called Dell yet again today and I am awaiting a call-back, however I suspect they will just suggest a MOBO replacement yet again.

I am really tired of having to call their Indian support to complain about this shoddy laptop. I paid nearly €1500 for it and I am not a happy camper.

I will NEVER buy another piece of Dell kit ever again.

I am considering taking them to the small claims court in an attempt to A) Get Dell to admit there is a HUGE issue with the M1330/Nvidia GPUs and Try to get some of my money back or get a suitable replacement

Is it worth the hassle? Has anyone else tried taking the mighty Dell on and won? I'd appreciate any feedback.

thanks,
GTK

If you think you have a genuine case then go for it!

There have been so many complaints here about dells overheating and still people recommend them to buyers - i don't know why.
if this forum is anything to go by, then many dell laptops should be avoided.

majiktripp

Similar dealing with Dell myself recently, documented here
Thread.

I reckon go for it, I'd say you have a very good case against them myself.

ejmaztec

After all of the overheating problems with various Dell laptops over the years (including an Inspiron that I once had:rolleyes:), you would have thought that they'd have got it sorted by now.

At this stage, they should just fit two extra slots so that they can be used as toasters.

goingtokl

Thanks for the replies guys. I just had a phone call from Dell support (they were supposed to call at 12pm) to tell me they cannot authorise any repair without manager approval, despite the fact that I have full 4 year warranty. A repair seems silly to me, they are just going to replace one dodgy MOBO with another!

At this stage I am tired of dealing with them so I am going to bring this to the small claims court, it will only cost €15 so I have nothing to lose.

majiktripp - thanks for the link to your thread, I got some very useful links from it.

I am amazed at Dell's behaviour on this issue. If a company in any other industry tried something like this they would be slated, yet Dell seem to think they can get away with it.

acquiescefc

How did you get on??

jamieh

Hi all,

An engineer came to my house today for an out of warranty repair. Nvidia problem so its part of their extended warranty.

Think its my 6th - maybe 7th motherboard. Wouldn't power on when new mobo was installed, calling back with another mobo tomorrow....disaster!!

lynch501

Same problem myself M1330, Over the past year two motherboard replacements and processor replacement.

Now I am out of warranty, last replacement done as a good will gesture!

jamieh

lynch501 wrote: »

Same problem myself M1330, Over the past year two motherboard replacements and processor replacement.

Now I am out of warranty, last replacement done as a good will gesture!

Hey,

If u want you can take out an extended warranty. I rang them about it yesterday and I think it was 140 for a year, 160 for 2 years or 190 for 3.

majiktripp

As far as I know the laptop you want to extend the warranty on *has* to be in warranty before you extend it, As the poster above states his is out of warranty at the time I dont know if they would let you extend it, even if paying the difference.

Ghost Train

majiktripp wrote: »

As far as I know the laptop you want to extend the warranty on *has* to be in warranty before you extend it, As the poster above states his is out of warranty at the time I dont know if they would let you extend it, even if paying the difference.

well I know with servers and small business support it has been possible to purchase extended warrenty even after its expired, so might be worth a try

jamieh

majiktripp wrote: »

As far as I know the laptop you want to extend the warranty on *has* to be in warranty before you extend it, As the poster above states his is out of warranty at the time I dont know if they would let you extend it, even if paying the difference.

I thought the same thing but when I rang them they said they could extend my warranty even though my system is out of warranty since last year.

majiktripp

I believe that maybe a grace period of up to a month after the initial warranty expires though, but I do agree, its worth asking about possible erxtension certainly.

Edit: I stand corrected! good info to know.

IamMetaldave

I have one of these laptops myself.. I too have had my motherboard replaced but it was because of a constant USB port problem, where devices were not recognised! Extremely irritating! Such a shame it has all these problems as it's an awesome little laptop!

dilallio

The warranty on my Dell laptop expired back in January, but I was able to take out a new 3 year warranty last month without any issues or questions. I was afraid they would back-date the beginning of the new warranty to the end date of my original warranty, but they didn't, so I have 3 extra yrs from when I bought it.

AnnaF

Hi all,

3 motherboards and 2 screens later I'm also thinking about the small claims court.

Did the OP ever proceed with this?

Thanks

liamolaighin

Lads both the video card and overheating are result of poor design and faulty parts. They offered me same deal, extended warrenty so I told them ring me back while i thought about it. I knew that the video card is failing worldwide so i took them up on this, saying shouldnt they fix it for free if its a faulty part.....and low and behold they did. They didnt mention it on phone but when i took them up on it they wilted straight away. They picked it up, fixed it and dropped it back by courier within a week!

x in the city

liamolaighin wrote: »

Lads both the video card and overheating are result of poor design and faulty parts. They offered me same deal, extended warrenty so I told them ring me back while i thought about it. I knew that the video card is failing worldwide so i took them up on this, saying shouldnt they fix it for free if its a faulty part.....and low and behold they did. They didnt mention it on phone but when i took them up on it they wilted straight away. They picked it up, fixed it and dropped it back by courier within a week!

thats nice

wonder would they replace the gfx of a m1710 out of warranty if it failed,? also a known problem world wide...

AnnaF

An extended warranty isn't worth much. The motherboard will fail again in a couple of months. I have had 3 motherboards and 2 screens. I use my laptop a lot for documentation and the fan noise is unbearable.

I don't have time to keep getting replacements...I have 3 year NBD support with over a year's warranty left.

If I had the money I would dump this laptop in the bin and get something else but I don't and spent approx €1300 on this laptop.

My last laptop lasted 5 years. This is less than 2 years old, has given constant problems and is pretty much unusable.

I don't want a 4th motherboard that will have to be replaced. I want a reliable laptop that won't overheat and doesn't have excessive fan noise. I want an ultrathin replacement laptop or a refund.

Is it worth going to the small claims court?

acquiescefc

re M1330

had the engineer to mine and advised it was out of warranty within a month, thankfully it broke down the right side of my expiry.
He got them to offer me extra 3 years warranty for about 150 yoyo so i took that, didnt want am expensive metal doorstop 2 months down the line.

Also re overheating. mine was volcanic. Engineer showed me how to clean the fan, was pretty easy, undo a few screws unattach it and it should come apart. Said i was worried about invalidating warranty but he said theres manuals on the dell site advising how to DIY so to speak.
To be fair to him its been good ever since. assume i need to clean it soon enough.

As above poster, paid a fair whack for it and its great when its not doin rainbow screensavers and turning into a microwave!!

AnnaF

What's the fan noise like after cleaning it? From research I don't think this is a resolution, just prolongs failure.

Copper mod and cooling pad is an option but temps still seem high; a short term solution. It's been only a few months since last motherboard replacement for me; just before Christmas and I need another one now.

Fan noise is unbearable. I've tried software mods etc. But no joy.

I work in IT SW and HW support and have never seen anything like it. Far from a high-end laptop!

I've a lot of documentation to write and it looks like I'm going to have to get another laptop or borrow one.

x in the city

AnnaF wrote: »

What's the fan noise like after cleaning it? From research I don't think this is a resolution, just prolongs failure.

Copper mod and cooling pad is an option but temps still seem high; a short term solution. It's been only a few months since last motherboard replacement for me; just before Christmas and I need another one now.

Fan noise is unbearable. I've tried software mods etc. But no joy.

I work in IT SW and HW support and have never seen anything like it. Far from a high-end laptop!

I've a lot of documentation to write and it looks like I'm going to have to get another laptop or borrow one.

have you cleaned your fans out..? its of huge importance

acquiescefc

sorry forgot to reply.

my issue was the heat and also the noise. once he'd cleaned the fan out it was perfect. no incendiary heat and thus the fan wasnt revving its balls off to compensate.
Very happy for now. as above, clean the fans properly, altho i guess if ur in to HW youve prob done it.

FGR

Good to see that I'm not the only one who had issues with Dell laptops.

Although I love my currently Inspiron 9400 - I had it only 2 and a half years when the graphics card died. In the end resorted to baking the card in the oven to get it working again.

Of course this card is the notorious Nvidia 7900 Go GS - a card Dell won't officially acknowledge as faulty but renowned worldwide as a dodgy card.

Sad that Dell wanted nothing more to do with my €1,500 laptop unless I paid them 290 for a card replacement.

Thank goodness for baking.

Sarie

see this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64169121&posted=1#post64169121

AnnaF

Fan was spotless as I suspected. Most likely cleaned on 3rd motherboard replacement only a short time ago!

sparkletooth

Please go to the following thread for info on a class action that was brought against Nvidia regarding their 2 faulty GPU's, the 8400M and 8600M.

It went to court in California in the Summer of 2010 but Nvidia compromised on a settlement with the plaintiffs which let the corporation off with a slap on the wrist, $2million to be used to "reimburse" or "compensate" affected customers and a $13million payout to the lawyers. The final court hearing was on 20th December 2010.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056132000

I really want these guys to go to the Europen Courts of Justice!