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Worst...company...ever

post #1 of 80
9/13/07 at 3:12pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, so I'm back just over a year after my problems with my 7700. Those of you who know me know I got a discounted 9700 a year ago because of my overwhelmingly terrible service with alienware. Well now I'm back, and the problems have started with my 9700.

To start, I was unable to extend my warranty last month because I was without job--the company i worked for went bankrupt...needless to say, the entire month of august I barely had enough money to feed myself and pay for rent, let alone throw an extra 150 bucks on the table for my laptop. So yah, thats problem 1

Problem 2--I've had my 9700 god-machine for just a month-and-change over a year. It has worked marvelously for the last year, and I've kept it clean and have not done a whole lot of heavy gaming, nor have I been doing anything too intense to the extreme that one could say i've 'overused' the laptop...not by far.

Well, I was playing my hour-a-week Day Of Defeat gaming yesterday when I noticed some frame drops. So a few hours ago I unplug the computer and go to inspect the AS5'ing, and needless to say it was that time for me to apply some more. So I do so, mind you i'm wearing nothing but boxers, rubber boots, and static-free gloves when I did(yah, I'm very paranoid...murpheys law applies with my life).

After all is said and done, I plug my beast back up, and it takes a shit long time to start....it just hangs at the windows loading screen. So I decide to go mow the lawn, and when I come back, it had frozen at the log in screen. I restart it in safe mode and it starts up just fine, so I go into msconfig and disable a few things that could be causing the freeze up. I restart it, and yet again it takes a damn long time and just sits at the windows loading.

I call up alienware, figuring that they might still provide free technical support, seeing as I dumped 3000 effing dollars into this...nope, 35 bucks for techy support. So I ask if I could buy a new warranty...nope. I glance over to my laptop, and I notice it has finally gotten to the desktop. Still talking to the AW techie, I ask if I could speak to a supervisor, and he says no. So I annoyingly say 'so i dumped 3000 bucks into this machine, and youre telling me i can bend over and take it up the ass?', and he replies 'yes'. So that just infuriates me, and I angrily say "[explative] Alienware, you've [explative] screwed me over again" and hang up.

So there we have it. I'm afraid to turn off my computer because I dont know if it will hang on the loading, or start up at all! Alienware has dropped me dead-center in bum-****-ville and I have no avenue to seek for help.

Alas, this forum got me out of a pickle a year ago when my shit hit the fan with the 7700, and I'm praying that maybe you could guide me again.

So, guys...how screwed am I?
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post #2 of 80
9/13/07 at 3:32pm
I hoping to assume that you removed ALL of the old AS5 before applying the new?

What did you apply the AS5 to? The GPU? The CPU? Both?
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post #3 of 80
9/13/07 at 3:51pm
Nice thread title
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post #4 of 80
9/13/07 at 3:51pm
Hey! Uuuuurgh, I hate it when that happens, just as your warranty runs out after a year the issues begin......sorry man....always get the warranty for the expected time you will have the notebook/pc....otherwise, quite obviously, you are responsible for your machine after the warranty expires....

Have you tried repairing the OS, did you check temps on cpu, gpu or anything yet....can you narrow it down a bit and give us a start?

Oh Yeah! The title of this thread...say no more......a simple help would suffice
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post #5 of 80
9/13/07 at 4:06pm
Thread Starter 
To answer your questions...I did wipe off the old AS5 before applying the new amount, and I checked the computer event manager and the error report linked to the 'slideshow' effect while gaming was heat related...the exact report is "The Acpi 2.0 _PCT object returned an invalid value of 7". And sorry about the title, I just really cannot stand a bad policy on a 'good' company.
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post #6 of 80
9/13/07 at 4:07pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and I applied the as5 on both gpu's and the cpu, as it appeared they all needed it.
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post #7 of 80
9/13/07 at 4:39pm
Maybe its time to format the harddrive and reinstall everything? What about proping the back up about an inch when playing games? I do that and it seems to keep the computer a little cooler when playing
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post #8 of 80
9/13/07 at 4:47pm
Is this the only operating system on your laptop?

Do you have the laptop partitioned?
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post #9 of 80
9/13/07 at 5:08pm
Thread Starter 
I just reformated maybe a month ago and I have no virus/spyware and no unnessecary apps/progs running or installed. And I am using windows media center alone. And I have two laptop stands, one being the targus two fan laptop cooler(which I dont ever use the fans on), and that is wedged underneith another black stand that i forget the name of, so its elevated about an inch and a half above the table...
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post #10 of 80
9/13/07 at 5:11pm
Thread Starter 
I just checked PC wizard, and my temps are as follows:
Processor temp: 59c
processor temp(diode): 18c

GPU1 temp: 72c
GPU1 Diode: 59c

GPU2 temp: 72c
GPU2 Diode: 69c

Currently, I'm only running IE.

Do these sound acceptable?
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post #11 of 80
9/13/07 at 5:22pm
It seems a little warm, but I have a 9750, not a 9700.
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post #12 of 80
9/13/07 at 5:23pm
i'm starting to get a little paranoid about buying from alienware myself. whenever i read about people having problems with them, they seem to all get totally raped in terms of customer service, and that the company has no interest in helping them, aka having a little bit of human decency. why is it that alienware has so many problems?
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post #13 of 80
9/13/07 at 6:20pm
In my experience, AW will bend over backwards to help you, as long as you have a valid warranty...

Sorry to hear about this MrGOODWrench1...

When things crawl like this, I usually suspect heat issues. Since you just redid the AS5, I'd check it again. AS5 can actually cause heat issues if you use too much. Also, make sure the fans are plugged back in securely and are spinning.

AS5 is basically silver particles suspended in a paste, so you have to be very careful cleaning it off. For instance if you leave some on the processor, it can bridge the circuitry around the main chip and cause big issues.

When you did your gpu's, did you also do the SLI chip that is also protected by the vid card heatsink assembly?

I applied AS5 on one computer, and immediately had heat issues. Took it apart and found a bubble of air between the processor and part of the heatsink, so I reapplied it and everything worked fine. I'd suggest trying that first.

I've also experienced frame drops, followed by slow boot and slideshows when I've had spyware/viruses, or I had a shut down issue that caused corrupt files in windows.

Were I you, I'd take it apart again, make sure everything is properly AS5'ed, reassemble it, then reinstall the OS and drivers.

Good luck.
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post #14 of 80
9/13/07 at 10:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MurderCityDevil View Post
i'm starting to get a little paranoid about buying from alienware myself. whenever i read about people having problems with them, they seem to all get totally raped in terms of customer service, and that the company has no interest in helping them, aka having a little bit of human decency. why is it that alienware has so many problems?

I've seen many complaints. But remember, you really only hear about the BAD experiences.

Person A: Has problem with laptop. Yells at Customer service. Complains his $3400 laptop isn't %100 perfect. Doesn't want to ship laptop back for repairs. Wants full refund. Alienware says 'no'. Starts nasty blog spewing hate about alienware.

Person b: Has problem with Laptop. Is out of Warranty. Is.. pretty much SoL.

Person C: Has problem with laptop. Talks to CS. Sends in Laptop. Laptop returns fine. Is Happy.

Person D: Has problem with laptop. Talks to CS. Sends in Laptop. Laptop keeps breaking. Is under full warranty. Alienware gets tired of fixing machine, offers full credit of purchase price of old machine for new machine. Person ends up happy.

Person E: Has no problems. Is happy. Never talks to CS.
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post #15 of 80
9/14/07 at 3:38am
Thread Starter 
You forgot my case...

Person F: Has problems. Talks to CS. CS sends repair parts. Promblems grow. Talks to CS again. CS sends more parts, that turn out to be used. Sends laptop to CS. Calls CS, and CS tells user everything is going along smoothly for a full three months. CS sends back laptop. Laptop doesnt work right out of box. User calls CS. CS sends repair parts. Repair parts work temporarily but then cease to function. Sends laptop back to CS. Laptop falls out of warranty. CS says user cannot upgrade warranty. User threatens legal action. CS settles and offers a 'discount' on a 9700. User settles, gets new laptop. One yer later, user is without job and cannot afford to upgrade warranty. Calls CS. CS literally says 'take a foot up your ass'. User turns to laptopforums for help. User makes post. User-2 posts reply using only third person.
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post #16 of 80
9/14/07 at 12:16pm
No.. You tried to send in a machine for repairs, and ended up with a new one. That makes you 'D' for the first one.

Now you have problems with a second, but you have no warranty. That makes you 'B'. I would have paid the $35 to try and figure out what was wrong.

I always tell people to get the longest warranty available for their laptops. They are so insanely powerful, that something WILL go wrong. I want to be covered. I got a 3 year warranty for my 9750. I fully expect I will need it.

I will say this, the 7700 series was a HUGE mistake. I feel that that line were lemons (At least the early ones.) I had a Sager 9860, and the damn thing died after a year and a half. And the company I bought it from vanished. so I was indeed hosed.

Alienware will take care of their customers from what I've seen. Be calm. Be patient. And have a warranty.
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post #17 of 80
9/14/07 at 12:25pm
yeah i've noticed that most of the blogs about alienware being a piece of shit and all that were mainly from about 2-3 years ago, so maybe it was just one line of laptops they put out that were, like you said, lemons. hopefully the 9700 line will do much better.
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post #18 of 80
9/14/07 at 12:28pm
before moving to those extremes, you probably should have just checked the exhaust fans... over time, dust gets caught in them and causes laptops to get hotter than they should...
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post #19 of 80
9/14/07 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shalamar View Post

I always tell people to get the longest warranty available for their laptops. They are so insanely powerful, that something WILL go wrong. I want to be covered. I got a 3 year warranty for my 9750. I fully expect I will need it.

as do i. its people who think either, they don't need it, or too cheap to buy the extended warranty who choose not to get it. if youre gonna buy a $3k laptop, whats $150 more dollars?
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post #20 of 80
9/14/07 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem View Post
before moving to those extremes, you probably should have just checked the exhaust fans... over time, dust gets caught in them and causes laptops to get hotter than they should...

I did so with compressed air. No one really told me weather or not my temperatures are currently at an extreme. See post on previous page to see my idle temps.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukefrukem View Post
as do i. its people who think either, they don't need it, or too cheap to buy the extended warranty who choose not to get it. if youre gonna buy a $3k laptop, whats $150 more dollars?

150 dollars when you get laid off means a)rent, b)food, c)health/house/car insurance, or d)extended warranty

I value my life more than I value my laptop. Sorry for being such a cheap ass.
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