Guide: How to get Dell to replace your 7800 with a 7900gs (e1705/i9400)  

I wonder if Dell is looking at this thread and saying..."Hmm...those notebookforum kids, the things they'll do to try to circumvent our system. First, they were unhappy with their LCD monitors and started calling to get replacments. Then, those pesky 9300 owners wanted a little more graphic oompgh and bought Go 6800 Ultra and 7800 GTXs. But we said enough was enough after the E1705 cheapskates decided to buy $1,000 laptops and try to purchase the high-end graphic cards and make ghetto XPSs instead of paying our high cost premiums."

How dare people be unhappy with sub par products!

You do realize that Dell is going to see this and quite possibly shut this system down?

Has anyone gotten Dell to send them a video card, or is it mandatory to have a tech come out?

I only have a 1 year standard warranty, will my only option be to send it in?

Thanks!

If you dont have that at home warranty you have to send it in. I have gotten them to ship be a part before to install myself, but my most recent replacment I was not able to get them to let me install it myself

If Dell was smart, and yes they are in bad ways at times, they would simply allow graphics card to be sold as upgrades. Let us buy a 7900gtx even and let us hack up our lappys to personalize them to our needs. There are many opportunities. Unfortunatly, Dell's smart opinion was to, nah, lock the parts down, dont let em do it, if they want to upgrade they have to buy a whole new overpriced system. or jack the 7900 gtx to $1000 to hinder us from doing it on our own.
I dont like the idea of people trying to Scam Dell either, because in the end, who loses? We the consumer do as Dell increases their retail to recoup the losses cause by this type of thing.
Yes the 7800 had its con's, bite the bullit and pay the $325 to upgrade the card on your own. Resell the 7800's to ati owners who desire to upgrade from that. But for most people, the 7800's are just fine. if you overclock it, yea you will have problems with heat. If you wanted a performance system, should have bought an XPS.
Finally, dont be a fool and not think there are people over at Dell who monitor these forums, there are. So expect this loophole to be monitored and limted or even closed very quickly and hurting users who do have a legitimate problem. Don't do it just because you want a free upgrade and you dont have problems.
Dell was very aware of the problems when the 7800 was halted and the ATI offered in its place with sales reps telling people it's the same performance which was a bold faced lie. I even escalated my complaints and all I got out of it was a refund of the price of the ATI card and had to purchase a 7800 on my own (7900 wasnt available yet). That to me was fair enough.

Good reply and I totally agree.

They sure did shut down the whole 7800GTX upgrade thing, I'm sure they can shut this down too.

"If you want to post something about how we're cheapskates or are trying to scam dell etc, don't post, and just leave. We paid alot of money for these laptops, and we deserve laptops that are problem-free. Besides, Dell is perfectly fine about giving us upgrades."

Wasn't the 7800gtx loophole closed because the deal was posted on fatwallet and people were ordering 20 units and selling them ono ebay for 500 each?

no, it isnt, if you have an overheating stock card running at stock speeds, but it could be utilized as one by overclocekrs having heat problems wanting more yes and no, if everyone held this opinion, the economy would have collapsed long ago. Remember, often Dell sells computers to large corporations at discounted prices, therefore are not making as much profit as you might think there... The thing about how companies work is just having the brand name out there by large corporations is advertising on its own. You work with a Dell, therefore you want a dell at home. You see a dell being used as a cash register etc... Banks are similar, who pays the higher interest rates on loans? who gets the lowest on their savings? Banks offer lower rates to bigger companies to get their business, and give them higher interest on their assets. Do you think a large company get charged a fee for every transaction you make like us, joe consumer does?, heh, no.... Companies make their profits on the backs of you and me and every other joe consumer. Not by the other people who have alot of money. The rich dont get richer by spending frivilously. Bravo for this, but 99.9% of people dont have overheating issues at stock speeds, but like I said, this opens things up for unscrupulous people overheating from overclocking, who would take advantage of the system. There's alot of problems with Dell's tech support network, chat especially. and its not limited to just Dell. Many companies tech support suck in general. and Bravo Thanks for that, its almost deserving of a thread on its own. But no point really, like I said, I found the resolution fair, but I still feel Dell should have been more accountable for the issue. My 7800 runs hot, I do have it overclocked, but scaled things down a bit to make it more comfortable. But not in a sense that I feel the need to call and try to get them to swap me up to a 7900. I want the 7900 GTX though, and actions from people posting on these very forums closed the ability to get that card. Sooner or later, somehow we will be able to get it. Who knows, there might even be 8xxx series cards available before the end of the 9400/1705's lifecycle... actually, no you didnt state that, you did state not to post here if we want to start calling you scammers or what not. I didnt. But the way you posted, telling people how to do it, is questionable and could easily be used to scam by others. if you re-read my post, I never called anyone a cheapskate nor a scam artist. I was trying to defer people from using this as a scam. and i made my opinion clear that I think Dell is wrong in their line of thinking. but from a corporate point of view its smart, dont allow upgrades, as leading to the only option of purchasing a new system, which is entirely more profitable. If you have a legitimate problem, its good to know the hoops you have to jump through to get to where you want. But telling people what to say opens things up for unscrupulous people to take advantage. Yea, I paid alot of money for my system too, I feel quite like alot of you do as well, I just dont think ripping off Dell is a good idea either. And these being public forums, I feel it is my right to post my opinion in a repectful manner. I am glad you guys were able to resolve your issues. The requests were constructive, respectful and to the point as well and a good example on how to make a request to fix a problem. Dont go whining, bitching or demanding because Dell will be like, who the @!$#@ are you and you would never hear from them again. If you do have a problem, describe it in your own words specific to your situation. like falerus stated, Dont copy and paste Cheers

I'm pretty sure that the people who sold them on ebay got them through the sales reps.

Not really. It's just 350$ now, that's all. They tried to solve my Dual Core laptop issue with trying to give me a 7800GTX. I asked them if they've even seen inside the systems they represent.

lol, case and point with the problems with Dell tech support. A bunch of people whom read from a script who done even know the product they are helping a consumer troubleshoot. Extremely frustrating by us knowledgable users who have to be painstakenly walked through the steps. I am the type of guy that I will troubleshoot and fix it if possible, But i know when I am out of my league. When I call tech support, 99% of the time they cant fix it either, I even often wonder why I even bother. But to get a resolution, you got to go through the steps.

Well, for a while they were $250, and then before the M1710 came out they were ~$500 again, if you could get quoted a price. Now that the 7800GTX isn't the top tech anymore, there's no way they could sell them for that much.

Bingo