Dell is frigging awesome!
 

I bought a Dell XPS M1210 in Canada two years ago. It's a sturdy light-gaming machine and it was able to tolerate 2 years+ of heavy usage. Knowing that I would be out of the country, I also got the 3 years next-business-day interenational warranty (as the way-too-awesome replace-even-if-you-pour-water-on-it warranty is not transferrable internationally).

Last week, I went on a business trip to Singapore. The video chip on the laptop started giving in and gave me the Blue Screen of Death (or the "BSOD"). I was pissed because the computer wouldn't even post after the BSOD. Not sure how, but the issue resolved itself after several hours.

Fastforward to last night, the BSOD appeared again. This time, I noted down the error: "NMI: Parity Check / Memory Parity Error".

I decided to give Dell's Singapore technical support a call. They said they knew of the issue (having vertical lines displayed on the screen and the computer throws that error) and there's a new revision of video chip available that should fix the issue. They will arrange a technician to come to my office to replace the motherboard tomorrow.

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I can only imagine how much more pissed I would be if I got another brand of laptop because (i) the warranty would probably have expired already, (ii) the warranty may not be honored internationally, and (iii) it would probably take a few days to fix the issue if they have to return my laptop to the depot.

Anyway, I will definitely buy another DELL laptop if the one I have decides to die on me after the warranty expires. :thumbsup:

duh we all know dells are the best cuz of the warranties!!! first laptop was a dell, so will my next one!

Yeh... Dell rocks for their warranties

Also, it's how Dell actually honors the warranties without giving me any hassle.

CompleteCare is the bomb. Well worth it.

Is your GPU made by nVidia? If so, nVidia may be paying for the repair.
http://www.geek.com/articles/news/nv...sted-20090513/

Yeah Nvidia 7400m or something, they have to replace the whole motherboard since it's probably soldered-on.

^ haha that would explain why they instantly fixed it.

how much was the initial cost of the laptop and how much was this magical warranty?

haha I actually totally forgot what I paid for the laptop already... and the warranty wasn't too expensive.

As long as they will solve my problem, I will be happy.

I think NV has been dropping the ball all these years... Back then, my 7800GT (top of the line card at the time) got artifacts without OCing and the 7950GT card that they gave me as a replacement isn't that much better either.

it was only a specific laptop with that chipset giving problem, other dell's dont have this issue. im surprised they decided to send a tech to your place to replace the mobo. thats A LOT of work. they have to rip open everything. surprised they did not exchange your laptop for another one (newer).

for an experienced tech, it shouldn't be that hard to take apart, especially if he has a guide or has done it before on that model.

when my HP's wireless card crapped out it was a known defect and so I sent it in (oddly enough it died the day after I dualbooted with Ubuntu 0.o). Next time, I'd make them send me the parts and let me do the repair as the techs were terrible. they snapped a pin off my HDD and replaced it with another one, which is fine as they just slide in, except the guy used one that was too big, so when the HDD was pushed in, the pin rotated on the HDD and didn't slide into the socket on the mobo. oddly enough everything worked fine but my HDD seemed a bit slow, I didn't notice til a few days later I saw the sticker on the HDD under the cover and I wanted to see what it said, lo and behold this pin is out. That and the fact that they didn't snag the speaker cover back in fully before screwing everything down, and they used the worst possible shipping setup. I love my HP as it runs like a champ and looks great doing so, but I'll be damned if their repair people touch my stuff again.

after what impactX has said I think my next laptop will be a Dell as I plan on travelling a lot. do they still try to rape you if you want to upgrade anything in house tho?

CompleteCare is usually around 2-300. I believe.

You would be supprised as to how well dell makes their products.. Their units are meant to be open easily for consumers because of parts replacements and all... I am certified to do Dell warranty replacements and I have never had a problem with a single customer on warranty... They bring me the computer, we order parts, which come 9am next day Air (ALWAYS). Parts replaced in under 48Hrs.. Instead of sending it back to sony or HP and having to pay for the shipping then having to wait 1-2 weeks for the notebook to come back... You just cant beat Dell's warranty....

Just to give you Dell Gearheads a heads up, if you are to order a dell, you should get them from your local dell authorized dealers, because they can get better deals than the Dell.ca website itself... Shipping is still the same though IE. 7-10 Business days since its comming from the states... But know you know where an authorized repair place would be aswell.

What do you mean by upgrade anything in house??? IE Add 3rd party memory??? If you even do anything like that and need warranty products.. Let me know and I will help, since dell doesnt see the unit itself and only needs to know the problem to ship out parts, You shouldnt have any issues...

RAM is fine.. same with the HDD. Warranty is still valid if you upgrade either of those. No need to get them directly from Dell.

Fak... I tried to get my kid a Dell before he went to UVic... Dell LOST the order and I didn't find out until four days before he was to leave. Was gonna go for the full next-business-day coverage and all that too. Ended up getting him a VAIO at BestBuy... well... he managed to drop it and kack the USB ports... then when I took it to Sony to get repaired, they said there was liquid damage and the warranty was void. They wanted almost $1000 to fix it - $50 for the USB/audio card (which wasn't even water-damaged), $620(!!!!!) for the hard drive that had liquid damage but still worked, and another $100+ each for the keyboard (also liquid-damaged, but only one ALT key was a little sticky) and the palmrest... and that wasn't liquid-damaged either, that's just because the power connector was broken loose from it.

And then when I asked about replacing JUST the USB/audio board, they said I could, but it wasn't recommended, because the liquid could still cause more damage that would be even more expensive... like, it could kack the motherboard too.

When I asked why they recommended a $1000 repair for the liquid damage that DIDN'T include the mobo, but advised against it for JUST the USB board "in case the mobo dies"... well, she just didn't have an answer for that.

Really pissed off Dell lost my order, woulda much preferred going that route.

Fucking Sony, I should have known better... every time I've ever dealt with their service department, it's been a shitshow like this.

buy a Sony, then you dont even need a warantee :P

j/k

Definitely get on redflagdeal to see what's on sale on dell.ca before buying. They usually have free upgrades for RAM and HDD space during sale.

Keep in mind that the Complete Care warranty is only honored in Canada and the Next Business Day Advanced Exchange (I think that's what it's called) is honored internationally.

Where can I find a list of authorized Dell dealers in Vancouver?

Just got the laptop back... it's running as good as new.

I think the "update" or "revision" is that they made the fan on the laptop run at a faster rate of speed. :lol

Frigging nvidia... they basically fooked a lot of manufacturers like HP, Dell, etc, in the arse.

Because of the title, I was waiting for the part where they give you a new laptop for free.

You could technically dip the laptop in water if you got the Complete Care warranty and you'd get a new laptop.

Talk to me.. Authorized dealer here.. I just dont advertise it... Let me know what you need.

like if you want a bigger hdd or more ram from the "default" on a computer they used to charge a ridiculous amount for the upgrade. the dell laptop i was looking at before i got my hp was a little low on ram and hdd space but to upgrade through dell cost a lot. i know i could upgrade it myself but i thought it was dumb to do that as i'd have a spare hdd and 2 spare sticks of ram after + the extra stuff wouldnt be covered by my interest free laptop loan.


impact id definitely get the uber business a-gypsie-could-shit-on-it warranty. especially cause if you use certain cards to buy it you instantly get a doubles warranty :haha:

How much cheaper? I'm looking at the new Studio 14z but I'm waiting for the free Windows 7 upgrade program to come into effect first.