Direct2Dell

Well I guess I should expect to pay for another mother board! I have the XPS 700 and the motherboard upgrade was not published to me, but I had to have the board and power supply replaced anyway due to a failure in Feb07. Now it is Sept 08 and I experienced the same problem! Now I'm out of warranty, but I'll pay the price. I call tech and they run me through the steps and send me over to order the parts. The parts order person tells me that despite what the tech said, I should just get the power supply. Okay can do. MAY ship around October 1st. Okay so far I'm good, out a few bucks but happy that I MAY solve the problem with ONE part. Now I'm not bashing the service Dell provided me today, but if I have to order the mobo, why do I have to wait for the parts so long even if I'm cheap. Last Feb a tech came to the house and took care of everything, but since I paid for the 30 day tech warranty I don't get that now? I can do the work, but I'm still out a computer except at work which doesn't help when you folks send me the surveys and such and shipping info if I can't access my email and have to drive around to find a computer to use that doesn't have 40 tons of infosec on it. Gee thanks! Now I have to wait for the wife's new Dell (supposed to have been here YESTERDAY) that is replacing another Dell that died at the harddrive level and can't be recovered. Dell is a bit cheaper than having Geek Squad come out, but at least get me the products I ordered at a decent time or at least when promised!

I feel that i must respond to DELL_Chris_M's post above as a rather dissatisfied XPS700 owner who has just spent a couple of frustrating and unfruitful weeks trying to get DELL to make the motherboard replacement scheme available to all XPS700 owners and not just the few who decided early on to explore the much promoted yet apparently unavailable upgrade routes available.  The unsuitability of the motherboard was apparently accepted by Dell as an issue as otherwise, why would it bother to implement a scheme at all?  However, the fact that DELL chose not make it known to all XPS700 owners beggars belief.  Did they expect that owners that had invested significantly in their PCs would not want to upgrade?  The fact that they announced the scheme here on this site and not via email or snail mail notification reminds me of the "Hitch HIkers Guide to the Galaxy" where the planning application for the hyperspace bypass, that meant that earth would need to be destroyed, had been on Alpha Centuri for hundreds of years and the mostly harmless earthlings had failed to register any complaints.

My position now is that Dell have refused flatly to make this scheme available to me and so, for the record i will never ever purchase anything from DELL again and will be making sure that anyone who asks me, and that's a part of my job btw, where I think they should be spending their ICT budgets is aware of the pretty awful customer service that is provided in return for their custom.

I will let this forum know if Dell changes their position on my case, but let's say I'm not holding my breath

0/10 for consistency and accepting your responsibility to your customers .

I have a Dell XPS700 that was under warranty while the motherboard replacement program was in effect.  Do you think there would be anyone who would not have taken a better motherboard which was being offered at no charge?  I know I would have, but Dell never contacted me despite the fact that the system was under warranty.  Now that my very expensive BTX orphan form factor motherboard is dead I am wondering why I ever purchased Dell in the first place.  I have spent about 6 hours talking and being transferred to everyone at Dell who doesn’t care about customer satisfaction.  If you want to experience this yourself, make sure your next computer is a Dell.  THANKS FOR NOTHING DELL!  YOU WILL NEVER GET ANOTHER DIME FROM ME.

As a tribute to your abysmal lack support, I am going to display my XPS700 with invoice and brief description of your terrible, horrible, rotten support in the front window of our store in downtown Bowling Green, OH.

Dell = TOTAL JUNK
Not only is the company a deceitful giant that comes up short all the time, they actually do not give you what you paid for. If they ever do respond to you without making you run in circles you are met with apologies and nothing else.

Lionel,

It has been almost a year, When is Dell going to offer the new board to the XPS700 customers? The problems stem much deeper than the system bios blocks. I have problems with the memory slots where I have to remove the memory from time to time or the system will consistantly throw up a blue screen of death. Also there is the slow latencey 667 MHz memory dell used in the system, it would be shameful to even use that in any type of performance computer. To be honest the XPS700 was not worth the wait or money I paid for it due to it's lack of performance and stability. I have always been a fan of Dell and bought many of their products in the past, and I will continue to purchase standard to mid range desktop machines from Dell, but from now on I will hand pick parts and build my own custom game systems as I learned my lesson with the XPS700. If a person needs special feature added to the bios like memory voltage and timing adjustments, adjustments to overclock multiplyer, and FSB, as well as core voltage adjustments they also understand how to use them, and what can happen if misused. What Dell did was offer the Extreme Ed. CPU with no way to take advantage of the CPUs best qualitys (the fact that FSB and Multiplyer can be OCed).

I understand Dell removed some of the chipsets features to guard against warrenty replacement of parts that were damaged from people who did not know how to properly use the features, but what about the people who bought a XPS700 that do know the implecations and proper use of the features?

If you want to make me and a lot of others happy get us the new 6 series chipset boards, the 25% savings on the quad core CPU would be a added bonus because I did not buy a quad core machine.

One thing I would like to know is will the XPS720 H2Cs watercooling system fit the new board? and can I buy it to install on my machine at the time of the motherboard swap?

I just wanted to know if it was possible to register for the 700 XPS mobo exchange program at this time? I really want to go to the new board and guad chipset. I like the machine although I am dissapionted in the preformence as configured now. This is not what I thought I was buying when I made the decision to go with the Dell machine. I want a path to the upgrade as promoted.   Tnx

I am looking forward of having the option of upgrading to a 680 mobo for my 710H2C if the price is right.

 I bought mine a couple of months ago and I am VERY pleased with the system (16128 3Mark06) at stock settings is fab. Buying 3-3-3-10 SLI/EPP PC6400 800Mhz Ram really helps the performance too, over the generic 667Mhz Dell supplied.

 When I decided to bought the system I was aware it came with an older mobo, but a more stable one =) but now the 680 if offered as an upgrade if offered I am temped to take it.

 When I bought the 710H2C it had just been released in the UK and no word of a 720H2C was mentioned, guess in hindsight I would have waited especially since I had to wait 40 days for my Dell to be build, but such is the world of Technology, with this upgrade option I don't feel so bad.

Ok, I guess I didn't read closely enough.  I updated my BIOS, but I still do not have the RAID 5 support.  I can only mirror or stripe.  Can you please tell me if this is coming soon?  I just bought and put in 3x 500GB drives intending to make a RAID5 array.  This is a very important to me anyway,

thanks,

Ray

Thank you very much. i appreciate this very much. I'm looking forward to the BIOS update as well as the MoBo upgrade

But where is the new Bios update. Did Dell remove it from the main download site. I only find version 1.1.6 and not 1.4.0

To Dave in Nevada

I live in Nevada, Las Vegas actually. While I feel your grief about the XPS 600 being left behind, there is a ray of sunshine.

I also have an XPS 600: P4 670 processor, 2GB RAM, Dual nVidia 7800 GTX SLI, SB Audigy 2 ZS, Dell 5650 5.1 speakers, 13-n-1 MediaCard Reader & 1905FP LCD.

I am currently running this system dual boot XP/Vista. I have been using this configuration for 2 months and the only problem is Lexmark is not offering a Vista driver for the Lexmark X83 All in 1 Printer. Even that's not a big deal for me because I long ago quite using this printer as a printer. The ink cartridges are to expensive. I only use the flat bed scanner.

If anyone hears of a Vista driver for the Lexmark X83 please post a link or info where it can be had.

The first thing I did was to get all possible Vista drivers for the XPS 600 from Dell's Support Drivers & Download pages. I also went to nVidia's and Creative Lab's sites to get their latest drivers for the video and sound cards respectively. I copied all of these to a CD, but as it turned out I didn't have to. I could have just saved them in a folder on the XP partition because Vista can read and copy info on the XP partition.

I did decided how to carve up the harddrive into partitions, installed XP first, then Vista.

While I have not tested everything on Vista; nearly everything I've tried so works. I did get the latest Java, Adobe Reader, AVG AntiVirus, Spybot S&D, and Lavasoft's AdAware. As far as the Microsoft stuff, you might as well get IE7 and Windows Media Player 11 (if these is what you use). So far only one or two old school games did not work. All of the fairly recent games worked: Oblivion, Company of Heroes, Doom 3, Far Cry, BattleField 1942 & BF 2, CnC First Decade, CnC Generals & Zero Hour all work great.

 Success of All

In the 710 H2C Minority

I must be in a select group of 710 H2C owners; because I'm very pleased with the machine I bought. This is not my first high-end Dell PC. I also own the Dimension XPS Gen 3, the XPS 600, and the XPS M170.

I have to believe that every one that purchases an XPS class machine (from Dell or any other vendor) reads and compares these machines to what else is out there. While I will refuse to belittle anything said by other posters I have to believe that those that purchased the 710/710 H2C PCs had to know a great deal about what they were buying. Whether purchased on the phone or via the Internet; how do you spend over $4,000 on a PC without doing some research?

Perhaps, it is because my 710 H2C was purchased only a month ago, and by that time there had been more disclosure on Dell's website. Perhaps, it was because I had researched the nVidia 590 & 680i chipset offerings from other vendors and found out there were plenty of problems. Perhaps, it was because I considered the $1500 to $2,500 difference between the 710 H2C and the Falcon NW Mach V with the 680i chipset (no fancy paint job needed, which is how I got the price to only $2,500 more than the 710 H2C). And finally, perhaps it was because in the grand scheme of things that Dual Ethernet ports, and FirstPacket features while extremely nice and certainly worth having; a reliable, stable, well supported, and factory overclocked system won the day for me. I believe the machine I purchased is the machine I in fact received.

I do  empathize with the folks that are waiting for resolution on the XPS 700 product. Dell's offered solution can't come soon enough. I guess I'm just not understanding what the beef is with the people that purchased the 710.

You don't have to flame me or make snide references to me being on the low side of DNA evolution.

The bottom line for me is that this 710 H2C is a great machine for me and I look forward to to seeing what any upgrades will bring.

Best of luck to all

Why does Dell persist in utilizing hidden partitions rather than furnishing users with a reinstall DVD?

 You know so well that hidden partition restoration fails after the user modifies his mbr through repartitioning, etc.

This causes H - U - G - E problems for support.

 A reinstall DVD would cure all that wasted $$$effort and customer frustration.

Hey AL:  recording without notifying the other party may not be illegal in your state.

See here:  http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html

I think its great what Dell is doing the the 700 users, but im concerned that the 710 user are about to be shafted.

 1. Others like myself have pointed out, we did not buy via the website, and infomation given to us by your sale reps was false, and in some cases very missleading. Will you in the future make sure that XPS staff get the right training in this product. (in fact i got my wife to  contact sales reps today, and was told the 710 has intel chipset and supports 800mz memory) I was tempted to record the call, but that illegal without telling them your doing it.. :(  

2. The sound problems still exist with the X-fi, when do you plan to correct this, and at the same time will you open the Bios on the 710, ie raid 5 as example.

3. With regard to the New Mobo and upgrades for the XPS710/710h2c owners, will this be done at a sensible cost, some of the owners that take this upgrade will not even have had there machines 3 months.

These i feel are valid points that need to be address by Dell.

WOW !!!

 Comming from a person who has built every computer he's owned... except the Dell 700 (i purchased late last year). I was quite verbal about my dislike of Dell and up to now the handling of the 700 (for reasons we all know). I look forward to my motherboard replacement & contiunued purchases from Dell (LCDs and possibly XPS computer)

Thank you VERY much for providing an upgrade path !

First of all I had a faith, as many others, in David (gbakmars) many-many thanks to him, and I believed that the Dell would come-up on top of this issue the way they did.

Dell is on the best possible way not only to regain the No. 1 spot of Computer Manufacturers, but with the “new wind” listening to customer needs it may as well become one of the major player in “boutique world” of PC manufacturers. It is doable and it can create some real competition to mention few: Falcon Northwest and Voodoo PC.

Few Questions for Chris:

I am not sure is this appropriate time and place to ask, but appreciate if you can steer me into right decision;

Question 1:

Dell XPS 710 H2C is not mentioned so your clarification would be appreciated; the XPS 710 is mentioned under Motherboard exchange at no cost, but is says quote:

 “… XPS 710 customers will also have the option to purchase a parts bundle that includes an upgrade to Dell’s next-generation motherboard as well as installation service.”

So I am somewhat confused is it free upgrade or option to purchase part?

Question 2:

This is more of a concern if I purchase XPS710 H2C, would the H2C Cooling Solution on XPS 710 be usable and still installed as Cooling Solution on the upgraded motherboard, I am not asking you to disclose any other technical information, but this question is valid concern and I hope you could clarify this for us.

Thanks!

Misha

Well...about the XPS 700, I did the BIOS update tried to run 64 bit with GREAT failure, called support , they said that the 700 "WILL NOT DO 64 BIT, , AT ALL" Hmmmm they told me when I bought it in sept 06 that it most definately would...bought retail version 64bit OS NOPE tried to do 64 bit vista upgrade...NOPE!!!

Is this problem part of the class action suit....what happened to the term.."futureproof"

hmmm I hought and read differently....oops I DID~!

x6800 DC

2x 7950 GX2 1GB's

4MB 667 ram

....LOADED!!

I am waiting for the next version of the XPS 710 H2C with a 680i based motherboard and 800 MHz or 1GHz RAM and Vista Ultimate.

How long will I have to wait? 

Ok, I need to update some info.

Dell XPS customer support is Great.(uk)

They have spent alot of time on this raid failure issue. (not fixed yet !!). They are now changing my machine,They still say this is a one-off fault, even after changing the m/b and Hard drives.  So we shall see what happens when the new one arrives..

But Lionel Why? is it that we are not being offered the new M/B or a chance to upgrade in April ?

I have asked this Question, and been told that it will not be available as an upgrade in the uk...

I'll ask again since all I find is outstanding questions. No answer is given to us via any channel be it this or Tech support.

I have an XPS 600 with an 955EE processor.

When I bought it it contained a leaflet claiming VT capable processor. and bla bla.. But as we are more then a  year further and stil NO support

I would really like an explaination as to the lack of support on this issue
 

I feel ripped of by Dell, I Purchased a XPS 710, and have the Nvidia raid problem, From reading Dell has known about is issue for months. I payed £2350 pounds for a system that faulty form day one, and dell knows about it.. ???

Whooha,  im sure glad i found this page. Had my finger on the buy button at the DELL site. Was to lazy to build my own computer this time and i wanted a nice game machine and found the XPS.Ill guess ill wait now.

Hi Lionel,

My XPS 700 also has a 570 southbridge chipset. I am very disappointed that Dell did not disclose the fact that southbridge chipset is not a 590 chipset. I would be a very satisfied customer if Dell replaced this motherboard with one that has 590/590 or 680/680 chipset for north and south bridges. XPS700 gaming system must have ability for advanced users to have full access to system BIOS to overclock system component including all voltages, multipliers, and frequencies for CPU, RAM, PCI-E, etc... Perhaps a separate system BIOS for advanced users will do the job. I hope Dell's 680 boards will allow users to use DDR2 800 MHz RAM.

Dell has the best customer service, was proven many times. I am confident that Dell will resolve this issue in a timely manner.

Happy New Year!!!

Alex

Lionel,

There have been much discussion on this site and on other forums about the performance of the 700/710, much less about the HMI (Human Machine Interface), the front bezel. Is there any developmental activity to change the Power button and CD/DVD door design? My experience with the 700 has been less than satisfactory. Reading through the posts I see that I'm not alone.

Hi Lionel, thanks for the information. Hopes the XPS700 BIOS overclocking and the 800MHz memory support can be available soon. At the moment, I am really disappointed about my XPS700. Hopefully those improvement could change my view in the future.

Where did my post go regarding the magazine subscription?

Nice. I don't expect anything from Dell, except grief.

"Our aim is to communicate details when we have confirmed them. It's a disservice to Direct2Dell readers if I communicate updates before confirming them with the teams doing the work."

Any info on the issues is good info - even if it isn't what we hoped for. 

But I have a question about the restored 64 OS capabilities.  I assume this was disabled for a significant reason & am concerned that by adding it back there will be undesireable side effects (ie system instability, system overheating etc).  For example if  I add more than 4 MB memory to the MOB because Vista 64 is supposed to be able to access the addition will the 700 over heat?  I  would hate to learn the hard way that I got 64 OS capabilities & Memory adds above 4 MB but only at the cost of frying the MOB or other components. 

Forewarned is fore-armed.

Again, I'll say it Lionel, we need Bios Overclocking. Period. When the 680i motherboard is available we had better be able to exchange our crippled 590 motherboards for cost or if you really want to show us you're sorry for releasing such a buggy product, you'll upgrade us for free. That would be a good show of customer care.

I was considering on purchasing the XPS 700 but read this blog and have decided completely against buying it and buying any future dell product.

How can Dell conciously advertise this machine and price it as a top end PC when it only supports either (570/590 chipset?), when the 680i's have been on the market for some time.  Then the mobo may or may not support 800 mHz ram?  Umm yeah lets get up to 1000 Mhz already people....

At the prices you are charging for this machine you should be putting in parts that are more recent rather than something released 4 months back. 

I'm definately building my own pc this time around and will save money in the long run with quality parts. 

Thanks for the info Lionel

For me the most important thing is that I can upgrade to Quadcore next year.

I do a lot of videoediting with Premiere and Aftereffects.

So the ability to change to a new motherboard would be very nice.

So My vote goes to quadcore upgradeability and 800mhz memory.

Bios overclocking would als be great feature!

Keep us informed we really appreciate it.

Lionel,

Thanks for the update. I noticed the XPS 710 allows users to overclock the Core 2 Extreme CPU via the multiplier. This is something the XPS 700 should support as well, since that was the biggest difference between the "Extreme" CPU and the regular "Duo".

Anyways, thanks for keeping us updated. I am looking forward to more BIOS updates to fix these problems.

Lionel,

Will the 800 board be 680i and will it bee a full sized BTX that will swap witht he 700 (connectors and all)

1. BIOS overclocking functionality for the Core 2 processor
2. SLI 800MHz memory support

1. RAID 1+ 0 support
2. DTS audio codec

1. RAID 5 support