dell relaced my 7900gs with a x1400 now what? - Page 2

Well, I've been trying to get my video card (E1705/7900GS) replaced for a little over a week now. The annoying thing is that IT WORKS PERFECTLY, EXCEPT the temperature sensor on it went out (reading high) to the point that now the laptop WILL NOT power up. The tech has been here twice and tried replacing everything EXCEPT the video card, so far (tech support phone folks apparently missed it when I told them the overtemp indication was the GPU). Then we got the dreaded "Your part has been backordered" automated phone call.

Anyway, after lots of confusion from Dell, I finally spoke to a supervisor there (they are inevitably easier to understand!) and got the lowdown about the backorder of 7900GS cards - it went from May 24 to May 30 while I was on the phone. Anyway, they had offered an X1400 replacement, to which I obviously said NO. The supervisor offered the same, but after I said I didn't want to degrade my computer, we reached the conclusion that he could send the X1400, but note on my account that I am owed a 7900GS when they get one. He seemed to think that was what they offered all along, so maybe there was some communication issues.

Long story shorter, they claim we'll have an operating laptop Friday and I can call back on the 30th and (if they have them in again) get a 7900GS sent out to get my laptop back up to full speed.

I hate gambling, but I'd rather have the laptop working than not.

If they delay it too much, I think I'll start pushing for a replacement laptop that has a working video card of 7900 GS quality OR BETTER.

Thanks for the info guys, and I'll keep you posted about my results.

@OP: Definitely push them and talk to a supervisor. You should be able to at least get the same promise I got.

Take the $$$ and buy the video card from a Reputatable Ebay seller.
Keep your X1400 incase any warranty issues arise.....you can swap it back to the warranty config so it'll still be covered.

U.N.

I got mine from "premiselaptops" in the USA , i had to pay duty of £28 when delived but i got a FX2500M (7900GTX) from him and its fine. In total it cost me £150 delivered. You may be able to find a FX1500M which is equal to a 7900gs.

You could ask him to mark up the package as a gift with a lower value say £15 and then you could skip the import duty, but saying that then if the package went missing he could not recover the value. I did buy a 7900gs new from an ebayer who did just that and it arrived fine.

My 7900 GS died as well. I needed the laptop up and running asap, so i went ahead and had them send out a tech w/ the X1400 and install it. It's so so. With the drivers dell supplied, it wont support 1080p properly, nor will it support dual screen (unless it's cloning, which is dumb to have two of the same thing). I got the Omega drivers, and it will display 1080p to my 37" monitor properly finally, however, it still will not support dual screens, and when booting it always boots @ 800x600, which usually isn't a problem since I leave my laptop on constantly all the time.

I got onto Dell's chat support, and talked to a service rep, telling them how this card is FAR from an equal replacement to the 7900 GS (i didn't know at the time i was ordering the replacement), and cannot perform the tasks and functions which I require, and the rep told me that at the end of May, if I get back in touch with them, I can have the X1400 replaced with the 7900 GS, and it should be covered under warranty, so I won't lose a dime. My guess is that the lack of availability is Dell and/or Nvidia recalling the part due to premature failure, and from what I can tell, this is happening to a lot of people, and I'm sure Dell is tired of losing lots of money from having to replace these left and right under warranty.

man, that is complete bs... unacceptable for dell to pull that kind of crap.

like I said, Dell should replace the laptop , and I would be screaming loud right now

I think dell here in the UK are some what more stingy than the US I believe that he is having a hard time with them. You never get to speak to an native English speaking person and as you all know half of them dont know what they are talking about.

screaming at someone in a call center gets you only laughed at afterwards... there is a call center at the company i work for and the screamers are the jokes of the day on that floor when i go down on that floor. the more they scream and demand the more laughs the workers get. a reasonable compromise may well be the best thing they can do until a new card is in stock for the proper relacement.

dell is getting them replaced, they are offering a reasonable compromise to at least keep users having a working system until such time as there is the necessary part. remember dells policy while talking about being unable to repair the part does not mention that the parts will always be in stock and does still limit you.

dell is still getting those people the correct cards its just taking longer, nothing that screaming would help at all.

ok heres my beef with dell. My 7900gs bites the dust one night I call them up and they send me a replacement laptop 1720 with 8600 crap. I mean this card cant even play hitman in 1080P without framerate dropping to unviewable. Ofcourse I use CAD to so I would really like another 7900gs. So I call up dell tell them the problems about the 1720 and ask the rep to get me a 7900. She puts me on hold for 40 minutes and comes back saying she found one and is reserving it for me to be deliver by a tech. Im happy as can be to get my laptop working decently again and jsut trusted that bitch to do what she said. Yeap tech rushes in during my lunch and runs out the door just as I get back. I discover the 1400 which cant even display the full 1920X1080. How low can dell go.

I would hold off on calling someone a bitch. I know your mad at Dell and I know that someone in the food chain there lied to you, but you have to remember to keep your wits and keep it professional. Call her misinformed, call her incompetent, call her on her bullsh*t, but don't call her a bitch. You did not say that she was mean or disrespectful to you - you just said that she was not able to deliver what she promised you.

Calling her that oversimplifies and it alienates you to half of the people that might get the chance to help you next. Whatever you do, don't type that in any email or chat response - they will have an easy out for ignoring you.

You have to try and keep emotion out of this process. You have to stick to facts. You have to take good notes. Its the only way get any kind of resolution. They will keep you on hold, you may end up teaching them about the products they are supporting, you may end up giving them hours of your time, but you can't let them get to you. Channel your frustrations into making one more call and keep hoping to get that person that can fix your problems.

If you have to vent, vent here

Update: Not sure exactly what inner workings actually happened. The Dell tech seemed to think it was a result of his original order for a new 7900GS, but on Friday (May 23), the tech came out and replaced the X1400 with a 7900GS (I'm guessing it's not "new"...). Everything seems to be working fine for now.

So, at least they seem to be honoring the deal... at least if that was what really happened.

Also for those of you waiting on 7900GS cards, Dell USA must have gotten some in, so you might want to call.

Dell replaced my burned out one and Ii got it back in less than a week from sending it in. But I got the crappy rev1 that cannot OC for jack, was getting 4.2k 3dmark06 with slight OC and now it wont oc and its at 3.5k. =( It wasn't even running that hot when it died.

First off, I hope those of you whining about how many 7900's you've gone through aren't overclocking them. If you are you have absolutely NO ROOM TO COMPLAIN! You are running hardware outside it's specifications. Now for those that aren't even messing with their systems and eating graphics cards like a fat man eats doughnuts are in the right to be indignant about the way things have transpired.

I wish Dell would make a revised bottom shell for the laptop that would let the E1705 use dual pipe cards. As long as you have to break something to make a dual-pipe card work, in Dell's book that means the card doesn't fit despite you and I knowing that the dual pipe cards work no problem. Also, tech support can only order from a specific list of parts so they won't neccessarily be able to let you break off that metal tab and send you a dual pipe card.

Also, lighten up on the tech support people PLEASE. Very few if any of them are computer experts and honestly don't know there's a difference between a Radeon X1400 or GeForce 7900GS. So when you get such an exchange, be patient and politely explain to the person the difference between the cards before you get to spewing.

Try ebay as well.

Got a question. If I were to replace my x1400 with a dual pipe 7900gs, (of course would need to break the tab in the chassis) would that void my warranty? I am sure this is not the correct post, but you guys sound like you would know.

I would hang ono the x1400 and if you have any problem just re-install it before servicing the laptop.

but dell would not cover the 7900 card, unless you purchased it from dell - then it would have to be the single pipe version.