Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo - Page 5

oops, thanks so much.

Has anyone stuck in a Merom into a laptop yet? Does it require a bios update, or is it a straight up swap with no complications?

As far as I know, the 5550 is upgradeable with a BIOS update.

Did the flash BIOS upgrade today to 2.03W on my m5550 (Core 1 Duo).

Flash worked fine.

Did you do that while having AW tech support on the line with you?

No. I have been flashing BIOS on motherboards on my home built systems for years now, so I did not feel the need to call them. I just downloaded it, and did it myself. It was very straight forward.

I am aware of the following note on the Alienware website:

CAUTION: Improperly updating or flashing the BIOS CMOS chip on a motherboard can damage it to the point of rendering it useless. Accordingly, you should perform this BIOS update only with the assistance of an Alienware Technical Support Representative. Performing this BIOS update without such assistance will void your system's warranty.

As far as the warranty goes, I have my own school of thought on this:

Yes, if my machine had failed in the middle of the BIOS update and turned into a brick, I'm 100% sure I'd be SOL and Alienware would have every right to say "You aren't covered under warranty because you flashed the BIOS yourself...".

However, if 4 months from now, the GO 7600 craps out and I have to send the machine back for repair, I highly doubt they would deny me warranty coverage. They probably would not even notice that I had flashed the BIOS myself, nor would I bring that to their attention. In fact, I wanted to, I could call them any time now and and simply pretend I am flashing the BIOS for the first time, if it came to that.

That sucks major ass that they would not cover your warranty just because you went ahead and flashed your BIOs....I think thats just not right.

Yeah, it's not right. But like I said before, I think that that Alienware would be fine about replacing something un-related under warranty even if you flashed your own BIOS.

For example, if your video card or screen goes tits up 5 months after you flashed your BIOS, clearly there was no correlation between the two. Under those type of circumstances, I don't think customer service would even ask you anything about your BIOS version, and I'd be willing to bet the repair would be covered by the warranty.

However, if you blow your computer during the middle of flashing the BIOS, yeah, you are SOL if you didn't have tech support on the line while you were doing it.

Hopefully if such a problem does happen I would love too hear about it. I've been having problems with my AlienWare and they said they will end up replacing my HDD if it is the cause and the problem Pisses me off.....

I wonder too flash your BIOS do they expect us too send our lappies back into them too get the job done? Or do they have some service depots that they trust that we can send in?