Dell XPS Order Nightmare

[keithwalton]

Generally when writing a cd/dvd the drive will be locked shut, i have had writing software crash mid burn which then left the drive locked.
Reboot sorted it tho.
I'm surprised you're having trouble with sony, those i know that have had discs get stuck in there have called up sony and they've had a replacement ps3 rushed out to them, (much quicker than microsoft and there replacement xbox's) the disc is then resecued from the machine and sent back to the owner. not sure about what they did with all the save files.

This is from sony europe though which might be why

[dsio]

Just as a little update, I had a call today from a Dell engineer, the first person I've spoken to that knew English (and in fact sounded British), and the first person that knew what he was talking about. Long story short (main issue is still the WLED backlit LCD panels are in very, very short supply) he said that his task was to call all XPS M1330 buyers to promise them a $100 cash refund as an appology once the laptop is shipped, and to ask for patience.

It was a nice gesture, so credit to him for that. I was very polite to him, as I have no doubt someone picked him out at random, gave him a list of people's arses to kiss, and handed him the lip-balm, which is an unfortunate thing that I guess comes with the job when a product launch is screwed up.

I was truly impressed by his knowledge of the situation, and of the hardware involved though, as the average Dell CSR is of about the same technical savvy as a $2/min telephone fortune teller.

I also reiterated that I would like an interim laptop of equal or lesser value until my M1330 could be shipped, and he said that he would call around and see if it was possible.

[Daniel ~]

Originally Posted by Áedán

Well, technically, it's just another soft button, but one that uses firmware running on the CD drive. The drive can be instructed to ignore the eject button, by some software on the PC issuing the "lock drive" command to the CD/DVD drive. Guess what - that stops the eject button working.

Wonderful what we can design these things to do to us! ":O}

[Daniel ~]

Originally Posted by dsio

Just as a little update, I had a call today from a Dell engineer, the first person I've spoken to that knew English (and in fact sounded British), and the first person that knew what he was talking about. Long story short (main issue is still the WLED backlit LCD panels are in very, very short supply) he said that his task was to call all XPS M1330 buyers to promise them a $100 cash refund as an appology once the laptop is shipped, and to ask for patience.

It was a nice gesture, so credit to him for that. I was very polite to him, as I have no doubt someone picked him out at random, gave him a list of people's arses to kiss, and handed him the lip-balm, which is an unfortunate thing that I guess comes with the job when a product launch is screwed up.

I was truly impressed by his knowledge of the situation, and of the hardware involved though, as the average Dell CSR is of about the same technical savvy as a $2/min telephone fortune teller.

I also reiterated that I would like an interim laptop of equal or lesser value until my M1330 could be shipped, and he said that he would call around and see if it was possible.

What a gutsy move! I doubt you'll get It, but high points for asking for it!!! ":O}

[danrok]

Originally Posted by dsio

I also reiterated that I would like an interim laptop of equal or lesser value until my M1330 could be shipped, and he said that he would call around and see if it was possible.

Perhaps, they have a spare one in pink you can borrow?

[Toro]

As far as I know, the Customer Services guys n gals have no technical knowledge at all. Only Tech support will be able to give any sort of technical advice.

[dsio]

Originally Posted by danrok

Perhaps, they have a spare one in pink you can borrow?

Or a spare one in brown you could borrow?

[danrok]

Originally Posted by dsio

Or a spare one in brown you could borrow?

Yes, and splash proof.

[dsio]

Speaking of colours, there's a new delay in shipping them, and thats the paint job. Most laptops are treated to a fairly ordinary lick of paint, but the XPS range are magnesium, and were promised to have show-car like high quality paint jobs.

As it turns out, the high number of coats that the red and white laptops take is causing problems with dust contamination, and the quality of finish is often below requirements.

Here's their latest explaination on the XPS M1330 delay:

Originally Posted by Senior VP, Alex Gruzen

Since my last post, many of you made it clear that you want us to share more details about what's going on with the XPS M1330. I want to apologize for the frustration that these delays are causing you. I understand that no amount of explanation is a substitute for shipping the system, but hope this helps address some of your concerns.

Right now, we are focused on shipping as many systems as we can. Currently, we have worked through about 10% of our backlog and will focus on improving this going forward. Despite our best efforts, we may not be able to ship some orders before the original estimated ship date we gave you. In those cases, Dell will be contacting affected customers to let them know. Details will vary by region.

When you order a system, the estimated ship date factors in our best currently available information, including the number of orders in front of you and the availability of parts. It should not change unless something impacts one of these factors. If that happens, we will contact you.

As Lionel mentioned in an earlier post, we have found the production ramp more difficult than we expected—let me take a few minutes to explain the process. Before we begin shipping products to customers, we build a sizeable number of units to test our manufacturing process and to help flush out any issues that may impact our ability to build in volume. These test builds are a fraction of what we expect to build at full production. Once we start building a larger number of units, we may see issues that pop up in only one or two of them, but which require larger volumes to reveal themselves. Since it's hard to tell if the issue is an isolated one or if it will affect a large number of units down the road, we investigate each one thoroughly. When that happens, it slows our build process.

One example of this is the painting process. Right now, Tuxedo Black is the only color that is consistently meeting our quality standards. That's one reason why some customers are getting their orders before others. The finish on the XPS M1330 is similar to a custom paint job on a car, but with one additional complexity—on a car, typical viewing occurs from several feet away. With a notebook, the typical viewing range is much closer... sometimes a foot or less. This requires a different level of attention to detail. Why do I bring that up? There was no problem painting hundreds at a time. But as we increased the volume, otherwise manageable factors like dust contamination caused our successful yields to decrease. Adding to the complexity, the Crimson Red and the Pearl White colors require more coats of paint and more touches to create the finished product—that means there is more opportunity for dust contamination.

All this ultimately results in fewer finished parts from the paint line than we expected. You may have noticed on Dell.com yesterday we discontinued the Pearl White color. The reason is that we are just not able to produce the kind of volumes of high quality product that we need to support demand. It takes about 5 coats of paint to get the appearance we were looking for.
We are working to ship white units that meet our standards to all customers who ordered them, but those may be the last of the units using the current process, as we continue to pursue alternate methods of producing high-quality white units.

Unanticipated part shortages also hold up our ability to ship products. The most obvious issue is one mentioned in earlier posts-the LED backlit LCD display. First off, it's new technology, and that means there are fewer suppliers available. Bright white LEDs provide the backlight for the LCD instead of a fluorescent tube. It results in a brighter display that offers better color reproduction, is thinner and lighter, and draws less power. This relatively limited supply base combined with stronger than anticipated demand-the number of orders has simply exceeded our expectations-has contributed to the delays. Our vendors are ramping production as quickly as possible, but these displays continue to be in short supply.

We're committed to shipping these systems as quickly as we can. Once again, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your business and your continued patience.

[cloasters]

Whaa, backlight. Whaa painting magnesium. Whaa, waaa, whaa! They are pure bahstages for taking orders for what they knew was an unavailable product. Dear Mr Dell,
you're a jackass!

[Áedán]

Well, Mr Dell claims that the issue didn't turn up until they put the things into mass production, rather than limited production.

[dsio]

At this point, if it were possible for me to have a Sony Vaio SZ 6 series (SZ660 to be exact) delivered here before my Dell, then I would definately buy it.

Trouble is that though the SZ was due to ship on August 1st, I can't find anywhere that sells it.

Its just impossible to find these Santa Rosa 13.3" laptops. Everyone's talking about them but nobody will actually sell you one.

If anyone spots an SZ650 or SZ660 in stock somewhere (Australia preferably) let me know, I'll cancel Dell in a heartbeat.

[Daniel ~]

After all they've done for you! You would just abandon them in their time of need!?
Good Man! ":O}

[keithwalton]

Having checked the dell uk's website today, it seems its not just the m1330 that has a long delay it seems the 1720 and 1520 also has a 6 week delay on them at the moment. (All intel santa rosa based laptops) interestingly they recomend for faster delivery a 1721, 1521 (amd based version of the intels in short supply) and the m1710 (older intel platform)

with only a few other santa rosa based laptops avaliable it seems to me like there is somthing wrong with the platform.
Ebuyer a uk e-tailer who have 192 laptops for sale, only have 2 santa rosa based asus laptops thats it.
They do have a handfull of each of the 800fsb core 2 duo mobile chips though so i'd say its not for a lack of cpu's

[dsio]

Santa Rosa platform laptops are definitely selling well. Aside from the speed bump, you have the option of using Intel Turbo-Memory with them, as well as support for the 45nm Penryn chips.

Initially they were telling me that my CPU was causing delays, which I guess is understandable given that the T7500 is the second fastest (2.2Ghz), but now the only part still listed as in back order is the WLED backlit LCD.

Chi Mei are producing them, and are taking their sweet arsed time by the looks of it.

I don't know if you guys have seen it, but there is a movie with Micheal Douglas in it called "Falling Down", in which he starts out, sitting in a stinking hot car in traffic, with a fly buzzing around his face, and ends up firing automatic weapons / rocket propelled grenades by the end of the film. That's what I'm feeling right now.

I half suspect that the reason the Iraqi insurgeants are busily blowing people up at the moment /could be/ because their laptops are on back order, and dealing with Dell's cusomer support has driven them to homicide. The war in Iraq could well be over if only Dell would hurry up and deliver them their laptops...

[Toro]

lol

Falling Down is a classic

[dsio]

Word is some American customers that ordered as little as two weeks ago are now having their laptops delivered. This is while in Australia, no laptops have been delivered at all so far.

The Dell lady has now told me that it is very unlikely that my laptop will ship before the end of August. I asked when exactly that was, and was told something along the lines of parts arrive 20th-24th, shipping by 28th-30th.

There are further issues appearing as well. It seams that the M1330 suffers from a high pitched whine, that occurs when the CPU is in a low power state, and stops when the CPU is at 100% load. Further, the casing near the hinge is in some cases somewhat poorly joined.

If this is the case, I fully intend to have them replace it, over, and over, and over, until they get it right.

So at this point August 28-30 is my 9th shipping date, with the only part still missing being the WLED LCD screen.

[Seperah]

I"m sorry, but no hardware is worth this trouble....

I would have cancelled my order a long time ago:


This laptop better be worth it when it arrives. I'm pissed off, and I
didnt even order one. ahh... time for a