Direct2Dell

It looks like this is old news but I purchased a XPS 700 in 2006 . . . can I still get the MB exchanged.

I purchased an xps 700 in March 2006 and took delivery 6 months later due to various manufacturing delay. I feel cheated that I was not offered the mobo upgrade though I have been constantly bombarded with promotional material from Dell via email. My xps is now displaying serious signs of fatigue, it has crashed more times than I can remember and finally the power switch has collapsed into the computer housing.

As I write I have been waiting 23 days for a replacement switch, no one from Dell can give a definite date when this item will become available, so much for next business day response.  

Come on Dell, I dare you to manage my expectations.

Like others, I just stumbled across this offer by accident.  I recently purchased Unreal Tournament 3, only to find out that my "top of the line" XPS systems can't run it, because of the slow 1.8ghz CPUs installed.  I desperately want an upgrade path, even if I have to pay a fee for it.

Come on Dell team, your customers deserve better.

Yes, I am supremely annoyed that we were not informed about this program... I looked into upgrading when the prices of q6600 dropped below 200 bucks.. come to find out now there was a chance to get a motherboard that could actually use this chip and I was never told...

They need to make this kit available to at least purchase for retail price.. I don't care about the free or 25% off deal but at least make it available.  Now I have an entire computer that the Power Supply, Case, and Motherboard are all proprietery and cant upgrade.. what use is that..

Beyond frustrated.  Last Dell I am gonna buy, this was the first and it shall be the last.. I thought this time around, it would be different.

Like a number of other XPS owners, I only found out about this scheme, very recently and purely by accident and I have just been through a very frustrating process of trying to get access to the offer via DELL customer services.  You may not be surprised to hear that my reasonable request has fallen largely on deaf ears.  From the start of this scheme, reading through this thread alone, it is apparent that Dell never intended to inform all XPS700 owners as the question was asked on several occasions and was ignored every time.  It would be interesting to see what percentage of the total user base was able to take advantage of this offer, which from my point of view, was an "admission of guilt" on Dell's part that there was an upgradeability issue with their motherboard.  Did Dell expect that other owners wouldnt want to upgrade their processors at some pont in the future?  EIther way their stance will prove to be false economy as they will end up certainly losing out on future business from myself and anyone else that asks for my opinion.  Maybe i'm wrong but i would have thought that upsetting the people who spend most on their computers is not a good way to sustain a business.

If Dell responded to the initial comments about the motherboard, that are still valid, then it really should consider implementing a similar scheme for those that werent made aware of it the first time around.

Sort yourselves out Dell

I must say, I agree with all statements above... I've been with dell for a while now still using my dell xps 700 relic with no new motherboard to boot. I must say, of all insults from a company as rich as this, is to acknowledge a mistake and only give the option to those who read this website. Why would they write that they are doing their best to accomplish the promise they'd made, WHAT PROMISE.... A promise that was most certainly to the wall it was reflected off. I have a dell xps 700 and a dell xps 1330, i must say i've never been trashed left and right from a company such as this. What customer service, what promises... Dell you seriously have to take into consideration that customers who aren't notified of an update, cannot recieve the "promised upgradeability." We didn't buy our computers from a backyard sale, we went through the purchase through your company, which in return should respect those who are waiting on updates and not reading every website and blog they come across. If we all had that much time on our hands none of us would have ever had enough money to buy a dell XPS 700, we'd all be buying some cheap as market computer which as of now is exactly what we have allready. Please if anything acknowledge you made a mistake because my computer is under extended warranty until 2010, this motherboard exchange should be covered until then, 5000 dollars computer and nothing to say for it. 5000 dollar computer and now it's nothing but a 200 dollar bargain computer with an incredibly large Body. This thing serves more as a paper weight then anything, my laptop gets a better rating on vista and it's half the power of a monster PC that this should be. Please take this into consideration and write me back, or even just call me my phone number is in your records, my email is in your records, make an effort, because you might think ah 3 people can't make a difference in how many dells sell, but your wrong, i've convinced already 20 people to buy mac, because they may be more expensive but they've always been more customer friendly, and much nicer in terms of return policies. This is unheard of a blog update... Those of us who don't use the internet often CANNOT AND I REPEAT CANNOT SEE THE FUTURE OR THE PRESENT WITHOUT NOTICE.

Jason Rebelo

It is indeed a sad situation that Dell has allowed itself to spiral down into. I purchased my Dell XPS 700 because of the excellent prior customer service I had received on my Gen 4 XPS, which is still running perfectly. I stumble upon this website last week and called to inquiry about it and after being passed around 7 different people whom spoke broken English, one didn't even know that they sold a model called an XPS or if it was a laptop or desktop, and was given excuse after excuse to why I was not going to receive this upgrade.

They informed my if I purchased a extended warranty I "might" be eligible for an upgrade "if" it was ever offered again.

They also informed me they could not contact me, even though none of my information has changed since the purchase of the computer and their ads that I receive every other day seem to find my email quite fine. They even then said it would have cost too much to email me this offer! Unless India has some email tax that I am not aware of, I thought email was a free service.

Liken to Milan Juro, I work for a government agency (Boeing Aerospace Systems) and previously encouraged several fellow employees to purchase Dells through our company purchasing program. This will in fact change since I will send a blanket email to the entire work directory explaining the lack of customer support and the incredible waste of time I spent having an incompetent person half a world away tell me for two hours that he/she is going to pass me on to their supervisor, and then be passed to the person in the next cubicle/que to start my whole process over again.

I gladly paid a premium for the Dell "top of the line" XPS expecting "top of the line" customer service. That I see was a foolish decision on my part.

To add insult to injury I had spoken to "XPS tech" during the time frame of the motherboard exchange program, and he even failed to tell me this was availible to me, while I was in my warranty period.

I am on my third Dell XPS and was looking to purchase my fourth (actually third one in 18 months) when I came across this website. Instead I will have to spend my free time to prevent people from purchasing Dell computers. Not in some vengeful way to hurt the bottomline of Dell, but to protect the consumer who works hard and is errantly thinking that they are purchasing a superior product.

I tried to talk to a manager via customer service/tech support and they told me that I would not be able to and when asked if one could call me they told me one would not. Hopefully this will be read by someone at Dell so they understand my frustration with the company that I had over the years touted as the one and only company in computer manufactering that I trusted. They have seriously let me, and apparently several people down and have not even come close to meeting the expectations of their consumers. The opening statement in this forum is that they are offering it to compensate those who stuck with the XPS line and to inspiring confidence in buying a superior product. Well their actions speak immensely louder than your actions when you will not offer this to the people who did go out of their way to purchase a so-called superior product.

*sigh* I guess I will have to purchase a HP Blackbird. I would rather pay less money and still get no customer service.

MILAN JURO- If you do contact an attorney I will gladly enter a class action suit with you!

Verdict: This will be the last Dell I ever buy and I will recomend that the large government agency that I work for no longer offer Dell as an option for our employee purchase program. In my case, the Dell computer that I purchased through my agencies financing program will not be outlasting the terms of the loan. The XPS 700 is really a disposable computer (remember e-machines). I have spent hours on the phone and still no relief unless I want to spend another $600 on this load of a computer. Just like you, Greg, I now have a 3,000 dollar door stop. No other standard motherboard will fit this case so what choice do I have? Maybe a great coffee table. Only those who could afford to spend hours complaining in these fourms were given replacements. I was never notified of a motherboard replacement option, probably because Dell still has my wrong address, email, etc. In over twenty phone calls to Dell support they still have the wrong address because the overseas support just does not have a command of the English language. I have to spell everything using phonetics and they still do not get it right. This I can prove! Furthermore these employees of Dell have told me that they had never heard of a motherboard replacement for XPS 700 owners.

There can be no denying that Dell offered a motherboard replacement/upgrade program to  XPS 700 owners and that the "spirit" of this offer was that of a recall and not an "upgrade path" as Dell claims. I am going to contact an attorney.....

I see that things at Dell have changed very little.  I remember when i ordered my Dell XPS 700  on 11/30/06 and it worked well until the second week of December 2007.  Yep, that's right, two weeks after the one year aniversary and my computer crapped out on me and its been working a total of 5 weeks since that date.  I was able to get Dell to send me the motherboard even thought the exchange program has ended but it wasn't easy.  It took numerous supervisors to approve it.  That wonderful replacement board lasted 4 weeks until it crapped out and until recently i didnt have the money to have the computer worked on again.  To add insult to injury i now have to buy a 400 dollar plus motherboard just to get my computer back up and running so i can sell it.  This was the first and it will be my last computer i ever purchase from Dell.  Thanks Dell that seventy something pound computer makes a great door stop.

Just found out my motherboard is bad and my computer will not boot. I got tired of purchasing cheap/non-upgradable disposable computers every 4 years just to keep up with technology. The XPS 700 case, power supply, motherboard, etc and dell's promise of excellence led me to purchase the 700.  $3000.00 dollars and less than 2 years later and I hope this one does not turnout to be another"disposable". What exactly is the issue with the motherboards that dell would ever offer this replacement program? In my case I believe the parts are defective. Anyone help me???

So what exactly is going on here? Is this program over?  I’m just on the web trying to find out if my Dell XPS 700 can do SLI, as I need to replace the GARBAGE card Dell sold me that keeps giving me screen artifacts and random reboots…

…and I hear about this program for the first time.  Is it just starting? Or over?  I’ve received no notification about this from Dell, despite calling and arguing with CS many many times about the defective Video Card they had in the system…they could have told me about this?

It’s not as tho I don’t keep up with the news; I read engadget, Tom’s Hardware and Anatech…and I’ve not heard about this program until this very morning as I search for SLI info…

So am I too late? The links provided for the program are DEAD.

I have an Inspiron 1150 and it is only 3 years old. Last month I tried to open my laptop and nothing shows at the screen and the machine was on. I called several computer services in my area (Raleigh, NC) and nobody seems to do DELL computers. I spoke with a technician and he said that my laptop's problem may be the motherboard. I just don't know what to do because apparently it will cost almost the same price as a new laptop. Anybody could help me with an idea?

I want to thank Dell for NOT informing us of the motherboard replacement. I am now stuck with an XPS 700 that I cannot get a motherboard for.

I promise you... it will influence my future purchasing decisions (negatively) not just for my home office but for the corporation that I work for and how we specify computers for our end-customers (city, state and federal government agencies).

I cannot honestly tell my customers that "Dell will take care of them and make it right".

 Thank goodness I figured this out before I steered any more municipalities to Dell products.
 

I recently stumbled up on this as well... I have a 710 that is a year old and would definitely like the mobo upgrade.  Is this a lost cause?  IF Dell would have used the more common ATX form factor I would have upgraded and swapped it myself but BTX is a bit harder to come accross. 

 So what's the scoop?

 JJ

Like other XPS owners have stated, I just came upon this site in the last day or two as I searched the web for upgrade options for my 710 which I have owned for less than a year. I knew what specs the 710 had when purchasing it however Dell's position that they would support future upgrades helped my decision to buy.

I called XPS Premium Support today, they said they could not help me and forwarded me to Dell Parts and Accessories... they could not help me either and did not even know what I was referring to. I have to give him this website to explain what I was talking about.

VERY DISAPPOINTING to learn that this upgrade has expired and more importantly to never have received any sort of notice from Dell. If any Dell admin or staff monitor these posts, I sure would appreciate some guidance if you have any.

I was in the market for two laptops for my kid and my wife right now and was looking at the new XPS 1530 --- I really have to reconsider though. If you buy what is marketed as a premium machine, you should expect a slightly higher grade of service and communication. I am certainly not a high maintenence customer; as mentioned, this is just plain disappointing.

I'm in the same boat as the other uninformed customers, I was looking for upgrade options for my motherboard and came across this thread.  I've had my XPS700 for over a year and this is the first I've heard of the motherboard exchange program.  Being a loyal Dell owner for years, I'm more upset that I was not notified of the upgrade program than I would have been had I realized the XPS700 wasn't as "as "upgradable" as it should have been.

As much as this bothers me, I would also like to know how to obtain the upgrade parts, even if I have to come out of pocket for them. 

I found out about this deal when Googling about my computer, too late for the free upgrade apparently. I had a Dell certified tech replacing my old mobo to a new one after the old died, this was in august and the tech NEVER told me that instead of switching to a new identical mobo I could have gotten the new mobo! I think it is VERY UNWISE to reward the loudmouths and punish the silent customers as you have the e-mail address of ALL your customers.

C'mon Dell, if you think we XPS 700 customers should get a free upgrade then you could at least send an e-mail to the fact. Or, having your techs informing their customers that they are eligible to a free upgrade while they are switching mobos!

Look at how Apple handles things like these, they are aware of how important customer perception is and act accordingly. My story of a tech not telling me about the upgrade will definately be spread around to friends thinking about buying a gaming rig from Dell.

/ Anders Backman - Lead game programmer at Starbreeze studios.

Hi,

I am a royal customer of DELL and I have purchased 3 dell pcs so far (including XPS 700). I didn't know this offer until recently! Called Dell and was told that it expired! I was NEVER notified by any chance!

Have you ever thought about the customer's feeling like me? Do you think I will buy a single DELL PC again?

Hope somebody in DELL can see this and pay attention! That's why DELL is dropping in the market!

Is this how dell treats there customers?  Why weren't we notified about this program?

Don't worry Tony,

We're all in the same boat - I wan't to know why Dell did not manufacture enough Motherboards in the first place? Why did they run out? And most importantly, why weren't all owners informed?  I check my emails regularly - I DONT however believe I should have to Check obscure forums and unheard of news sites to find out about Dell offers.  I bought my XPS 700 in June 2006 soon after it came out.  I have always commented that the XPS 700's motherboard was limiting - thats why it is even more infuriating when I am not informed of a free exchange scheme.  To add insult to injury, my current motherboard was replaced due to faultyness (during which i lost all my work) and a Dell XPS technician, futhermore, promised me a free motherboard upgrade when they became available (this promise was made in spring 2007).  I emailed Dell to clain my free PROMISED motherboard to be told bluntly that they had ran out of kits.  THATS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.  DELL DID NOT KEEP THEIR PROMISE TO ME.  I hope Dell will see the error in their ways and manufacture more bloody kits.  I will even pay for a motherboard kit - what is the matter with them?

I have a question about that.

I have m1330 bought without any warranty from a friend, and I want to change the motherboard, so it has the Nvidia 8400 instead of Intel videocard.

How I can buy a motherboard for m1330 from Dell ? 

I am with David here...

What's up with not letting us know about this?  I want my upgrade, and I'm not the only upset XPS 700 owner out there...

 How can we get this done?
 

good day, please when i finish installation on my dell system it indicated found new hardware when i tried to configure it authormatical it din't agree, and  any time i try it will indicating ac adpter and babettery must pluged

please i need arugent repply 

thanks

Lionel, 

I just found out about this program as well and own 37,  I repeat,  37 XPS 700 E 6400's.   The Bill was $148,000,   we did not hear from you guys as well,  convenient. For all you other guys out there struggling with this I feel for you 37x over.  Are you saying that Dell won't honor the upgrade program?  Please advise,  because I'd like to know more about DELL's MO before I make a make my purchase of 300 PC's later this month.  thanks

When I purchased my XPS 700 I was offered 2 years of instrest free credit (EPP program)... I will have my XPS 700 paid in full by that time.....

 Will I be able to purchase my ugraded processor (quad core at 25% discount) with the same option?    2 years... intrest free??? Please advise... Thanks

...and lol acknowledging the lies about 200$ gift cards would just be icing on the cake at this point.  I had 3 managers tell me that 'no one said anything about a 200$ gc'... I think dell is the first person to have ever called me a liar in my life lol.

 -rant complete-

I have a feeling by the time they start replacing mobos and giving quad core discounts, they will already have 8 core procs in stock.   

ooooo Dell... Oh you're so wonderful...  Dell cares about it's customers...  Dell's gonna exchange my defective XPS 700 Board with an upgrade, isn't Dell great...

Hey wake up folks.  There is no replacement plan.  What is so difficult about initiating an exchange?  What in the world is Dell planning to do? When? Does it take 6 months of coordination meetings to come up with a plan?   

Hey Dell, here is an idea...  The customer sends in the crummy XPS 700 board and you send them the replacement.  Whats the big deal?

If the user is uncomfortable with removing and replacing the board, Dell can coordinate it with one of the many local Dell service technicians to perform.

 There you go Dell. Problem solved.  Put up or shut up.

Signed, a very disatisfied XPS 700 owner.

Hello Dell, i was wondering a couple of things;

1) where can i find the discount offer?

2) when we get the new motherboard can we keep the old one?

3) is there any information available about specs, or when will this happen?

thank you... and well ... have a nice day?

Do we know when this will take place? I have been reading about how Dell is planing this program, but my question is more to the fact as to a pin point in time, when they are going to start this program up.

Dear Lionel Menchaca,

 I would suggest if you need these XPS 700 customer to be contacted about the motherboard exchanges and scheduling a service call you give this task to the Dell XPS CEC (Call Every Customer). They do follow up calls with the XPS customers, and have taken on similar tasks such as calling XPS 700 customers about notifying them that a $200 gift card would be sent to them. I'm sure they are up for the task. Just a suggestion though.

Many people have already asked "how" Dell is going to implement the notification process without any response from them for nearly three months since the anouncment was made. I would like to ask again and hope that there will a response. How?

Being a worldwide event and only having 60 days to get in on the deal, I would have to assume e-mail, to at least get a spot reserved before the time runs out. One other question that hasn't been asked here is :

If there isn't an Authorized Dell service provider near by,  to get the upgrade, where would it have to be shipped to and at what cost?

Nice offer for the XPS 700 owners.

But a question to Dell !!!

Are you going to give us XPS 710 owners (world-wide and not only USA) any choice to upgrade the motherboard, CPU and maybe the memory ?

By the way, I still love my XPS 710 but now there are several game titles releasing that demands more and more in hardware and I do want to make my system updated with the latest.

Thanks a lot in advance

I had concerns about this system before purchasing the XPS700, but stuck with the Dell Brand.  I'm a long time, devoted purchaser of Dell products.  I was anticipating the XPS 700 to be a performance king but was a little disappointed after reading a review on the system just one month after receiving mine.  I expected some driver updates to fix that, but did not experience any.

Yes, Dell, thanks for listening and doing something about this.  It reassures me that I made the right decision, again, from all the choices we have.

I am anticipating the replacement of the MB.

Thanks again!

Can you give us a rough estimate of how much it will cost to upgrade the XPS 710?
$10.00?, $50.00?, $300.00? More? Less? just a ballpark.
Thank You!

I ordered my XPS-700 in late Nov. 2006 and got it right before X-mas.  I haven't experienced any BSOD problems, but I'd love the opportunity to upgrade to a quad core!  When will this program go into effect?  How will the owners be notified?

" As far as what we're doing for XPS 710 customers—we're providing you with an upgrade path to our next-gen motherboard for a fee."

Wow - I should hope the fee is $1.00. Much like the rest who purchased via phone, I also was given misleading information concerning the motherboard. I allways use the phone as my corporate dell rep (i purchased about $500K last year) said its best to call in as there are frequent unpublished offers. None the less, if there was no upgrade for anyone and we all just bit the technology bullet, OK, 710 owners can deal with it. But when a free offer is made to the 700 users and the remainder of us who spent over $5K are cut out, someone must cry foul. Charge us for the install if you must, but come on Dell. My 710 cost approximately 13% of the gross income of the average american. I would say we fit into the hard core niche with disposable income (spent on future Dells no less). DELL - please reconsider the 710 owners. Most of us have only purchased recently and this is a real kick in the ego. FYI - I am sorry as you guys are trying to be nice, but, in the process you are disenfranchising the rest of the 700 series crowd.

Lionel...I want to know if second owners of XPS 700 machines will be eligible for the MOBO swap? I am in the process of deciding whenther to purchase one from another individual and this has some significance as to my decision! Please let me know!

 Thanks!!

I placed my XPS 700 order on May 16th, 2006.  It was delivered to me at the end of November 2006, after waiting 6 months.

I too have put up with numerous random BSODs, DVD ROM drive issues, monitor speaker issues, etc, etc.

I'm hoping that the new motherboard and CPU will fix many of these problems.  I'm concerned that we'll all end up having to totally reinstall the operating system and applications due to the differences in the motherboard.  That will be a complete pain.

Does the XPS 700 motherboard exchange program managers plan to notify all registered owners of how to apply for the program with any and all modification upgrade paths?

Finally, the original thread for this program began in early March and if Dell Support could notify this Forum of a project completion date, it might be beneficial to everyone concerned.

PixEditor in Tennessee

Has anyone anywere ever been able to run MS FSX with everything turned right up.

I went and got this pc xps C2D E6700 2 gig 677 Ati xtx and xt 1900 crossfire and its still bad framrates again

what does it take to get the thing to run smooth ... is this becouse of this motherboard problems dell have had to DEaLL with

Johny in London UK

North Bridge nVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition (C19)

can someone tell me is this the new mother board or the old as i am running a core2 duo E6700 with a ATI1900xt and xtx crossfire sli

will i need the upgrade now as well, is this 1.6 gig of pound sterling not going to do what i wanted it, will i be loseing 50% power to one of my ati cards is this quad core ready

whats this mores law again

Dan D....I'm in the same situation.  I purchased a refurbished XPS 700 and I'm interested in the motherboard and discount on a CPU.  I called customer service and they said refurbished XPS 700 are eligible for the program but had no information regarding a timeframe. 

I am also posting my desire for the new motherboard with the discounted price on the processor.  WHEN WILL THIS ROLE OUT!!!!!!

OH and DELL THANKS FOR LISTENING!!!

I am interested in the new motherboard and purchase of discounted parts.  Since I see no other place to sign up, I am placing this posting.

Also, I purchased my system from Dell as a refurbished machine.  I assume that this does not make any difference with regard to the offer as the refurbished machine.   I purchased with reliance on the same information as those who purchased new machines.

Thanks,

Dan

The 1.4 bios was released march 9th ??? Installed it in one, crashed the other. You guys pulled it and said you were going to fix it. It's been over a month, where's the fixed version?

Anybody?

jd

It's Earth Day April 22, a month of no information update from Dell's Direct2Dell original post, 622 Dell community motherboard replacement thread replies, and several seriously unhappy XPS  (read high $$$) customers that Dell and NVIDIA hope to placate with a PR announcement positioning this fiasco as a path for performance upgrades. 

Send the PR people to Austin and let them test this "solution" before we clutter the Earth with even more dud motherboards.

My nightmere started with my IT retirement gift to myself Sept 2005. I've worn out 2 RECs, 4 on/off power switches, 2 tech onsite calls just to open the XPS 700 case, hundreds of BSODs or mysterious freezes. The XPS 700 "Vista Compatible" is NOT! I can not listen to or RIP music (see Creative Labs Solution ID  24669 ->it's the CHIP SET, baby!!). Hundreds of dollars lost for cell phone overages and unuseable software. Did get Dell to get the hard drives to run in SATA gen 2 mode when the RPC realized the factory shipped the wrong 10K drives.

It is a "What IS" but Dell has mishandeled this fiasco and responded too, way too slowly; but, they have set our expectations high yet again. Now if I could just get some one at Dell to quit changing my customer #, canceling orders and correct its database as to what features are in my XPS 700 while I wait, I'd be a little more pleasant. Peace & harmony to all.

Hey Lionel,

 I think I mistakenly sent a PM to Chris M on the Dell forums about this. I was just wondering if there was a more consolidated information source about this exchange. There are over 600 posts on the forums and I basically scrolled to the end of this to get to this point. Thank you in advance for your time.

Hello,

 Is there a date set yet to swap out the motherboards for the XPS 700 ? 

Is there a possibility of getting a Core 2 instead of a Quad Core upgrade?  What would be the cost of a medium grade Core 2?

Regards,

Eva Bell
 

going for the first option, is DELL going to keep the older processor??

thanks

Hi Folks, I can't wait for the replacement.  I thought about the upgrade path, but without details, who knows.

I was one of the unlucky ones who ended up with an unbootable machine after installing the BIOS flash 1.4.  Not only that, I couldn't even boot into setup and trying to enter the boot sequence (F12) brought up the screen....all those great choices...one problem....highlight any choice and guess what (?).....screen/machine freeze.....no further activity.

Sweet part was, after all the rebooting to get this machine functional and calls to Level II at NVidia & Western Digital, the tech came out to fix the broken power button and I was able to do a "show and tell" to him.  He was astonished.  He didn't have to, but he called into service at Dell to go through the behaviors.  He wrote up a case to come out and do some RAID work, but that was weeks ago and I haven't heard from "y'all".  There it sits, my super expensive doorstop.

I think that making it right is NOBLE, but expediency seems to be at a new DEARTH.  I ordered my machine in June 2006.  I needed the dual 7950 GX2s, which were the ONLY one in the 7900 line with a check mark for HiDef video editing (I do recruiting video and general sports).  The tech couldn't get the cards working, so I faxed directly into CEO Jen-Suhn Huang's office at NVidia because I was getting keystroke macros "Contact Dell".  I got the call back and a floor liason showed my tech how to configure the cards (I have the whole email anthology in a PDF file book),  What does the tech do, sends it out with 7900 GTXs and says we'll figure a way to swap them later AGAINST my ABSOLUTE PROTEST.  I had to buy the cards myself to replace.  Dell reimbursed me kindly after 6 months of calls to explain.

Then, I used an NVidia applet only to see that I was getting a plethora of read/write errors with the WD3200KS drives and the video editing wasn't easy because of this.  Called Level II Western Digital only to hear the sharp tech tell me that using the KS versions of the drives in a RAID array was asking for a major malfunction because their error correction was WAY to slow for all that HiDef data rate,  He said the YS drives had superfast error correction, so I bought 4.  Of course, the restore disk isn't capable of configuring these drives (non-starter).

Had work backing up.  It's nearly a year since I ordered it.

Had PC Club build me a machine around the newer dual 8800 GTXs and a quad core CPU.  Everything else the same except the YS drives, which the 20 something year old KID new was the right drive to use when I started telling him my tale of pain.  It hauls bananas and I'm beginning to catch up on work.

I can always use another video editing station with the quantity of work.  But, EXPEDIENCY AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL needs to be a renewed UNIFYING PRINCIPLE AT DELL.

I am a customer for 15 years.  I got my medium sized company that I work with to use Dell in 1993.  The do to this day.  But, they know my story and your competition is breathing down your neck.  I want to go on being a Dell customer for a long time.  BUT TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK IN THE MIRROR,,,,,AND THEN....TAKE SWIFT ACTION,,,,,NO DANCING IN THE BREACH,  OK ?

Thanks,

TheDoctor

Mission Viejo, CA 

Hi...

I was planning on purchasing an XPS 700 from the Dell Outlet.  I wanted to ensure thia would qualify for the Motherboard upgrade... I see numerous other people begging for an answer also...

Could you please confirm if this infact does qualify... Please let us know and thanks!

I have one of the original XPS 700s and I just recently purchased (2) Nvidia 8800 graphics cards. Initially I was unable to get both to work properly even without SLI but since the bios update mentioned at the start of this thread I am now able to use both cards and enable SLI. However, whichever card is in the secondary graphics slot (I have tried swapping them) performs poorly. I have tried XP/XP64 Vista/Vista64 and it's all the same.

This motherboard exchange program. Will it be a 710 motherboard or something even newer... perhaps with the 680 Nvidia chipset instead of the 590 version?

Bios Update

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

Good morning. 

I was just curious if there was an estimated timeframe on when the MOBO replacement program will start and how XPS 700 owners will be notified. 

Also, I was curious as to whether or not there is a date surrounding the release of the XPS 700 BIOS update.

If any one could post an update that would be greatly appreciated.

 Regards,

Matt

Thanks Dell, I always had trust in you even during the recent Dell/customer mobo war. I'm glad to see you guys back up your products! no wonder they call me  Mr. Dell at work (long story). anyways, i have a couple of questions:

what type of processor upgrade choices will we have? will there be any new quad-core processor coming out at the end of the year? and will these new faster processor be a part of the upgrade choices?  I hope dell doesn't hold back the latest processors from the upgrade program?

as for the Mobo upgrade, do we get to keep our old mobo? just in case for any reason the new mobo don't work properly etc.  you never know....

well we be able to add the H2C system to the new mobo as well? 

Vista OS upgrade option, i've already used up my upgrade with my present mobo, will this create a problem when upgrading to the new mobo?

I'm sure there will be more questions, but in the meantime, the above are my queries for now.

rraallpphh13

XPS 700 X6800 Black Tower Raid0 80gb raptor 10k rpm 160 10k storage x1900

Lionel, when I purchased my Dell Turbo, back in 1984, I was told over the phone that it would be upgradeable. It has the Intel 8088 (running at 8 MHz!) and I wanted to put a QX6700 in it. Will I be able get this mobo as well? After all, the rep said (over the phone) that it was upgradeable.

 Sorry for the sarcasm....I couldn't resist.

Thanks for doing the right thing Dell. After seeing all of the non-700 customers that suddenly feel like they also deserve a free mobo, I'm starting to understand why this resolution took so long. You will be looked upon as a much better company for it though.

Lionel, I purchased my XPS 710 Red March 01, 2007 and when it was purchased via telephone, I asked about previous upgrade issues (XPS 700).  The rep advised those issues were taken care of in the 710 and that faster memory would be no problem (800 mhz +). I was on hold while he checked prior to my purchase.  Well, now I have my system and have found out my motherboard is not able to handle the faster memory and that there are several limitations to my next gen MOB?  What exactly is being done to accommodate the new XPS 710 guys that are not so happy.  FYI, I have three dells all in my home and two at work.  They are all several years old but do the job, this was my first chance at a high end gaming computer.  Locally I could have bought the high end computer I wanted that was upgradeable (memory, MOB, ect) at about the same price.  The catch is it would have done what I wanted and I would be enjoying my new computer much more.  Please Help

Mike.

Thanks!!!

But DDR 800 when? Next BIOS upgrade?

And thanks for "XPS 700 customers worldwide" please make sure XPS 700 customers in CHILE (Latin-America) have the chance too because when my XPS 700 become delayed no one call me for the proccesor upgrade.

Neil Hand VP worldwide marketing for Dell said later this year we will offer XPS 700 customers the option to exchange their original motherboard for Dells new XPS gaming motherboard. Mr Hand was very clear and concise in his statement. He did not make any conditions or caveats regarding this option, only condition was that you are an xps 700 customer of Dell. The question has since been asked by some if the XPS was purchased from Dell outlet would they be eligible for the motherboard exchange. Based on Mr Hand, since you are an XPS customer, of course you will be eligible, unless by some strange Dell rule, if you purchase an outlet computer you are not considered a Dell customer. If anyone from Dell does not agree with my view on what Mr Hand said, please advise me at the earliest possible date. 

 Thank You

Wow, I thought that would never come. First the Bios-Update in the next view weeks and later on this year the motherboard exchange.

How will the exchange procedure look like (in Germany)? Will the customer support call me, will I get an e-mail from Dell, or will I have to contact Dell?

Can DCSE certified owners of the Dell XPS 700 systems receive just a mobo and install it themselves?

 I think this would save you a bit of money and make my life a bit easier.

I bought my xps 700 from the dell outlet. Am I eligible for the free motherboard upgrade?

Lionel,

Could you elaborate as to when and where a XPS700 had/has to be purchased to qualify for this promotion?  The question has been raised on the forum as to whether or not a refurb XPS700 from Dell outlet qualifies.  I think this defeats the reason for the mobo swap since the misleading advertising ended with the launch of the XPS710.  I would appreciate you clearing this up.  Thanks again to everyone at Dell for generously taking care of your customers. 

Also, if you can elaborate as to what limits of EPP memory will be supported with a BIOS update I would appreciate it.  I am looking at purchasing some, but I need to know what speeds and voltage are supported.  Thanks

Steven: No. Your hard drive will still have your original OS installed.
 

If we swap motherboards, won't we have to buy a new copy of Windows?

I bought a "build your own" XPS 700, with an OEM version of Windows XP MCE.

WHAT A GREAT NEWS. I PRAISED YOU, DELL

 I purchased my XPS 700 through a promotion with coupon combined. Can I still apply that promotion and coupon toward quad-core processor instead of taking 25% off.

my current cpu is c2d E6300.. can i choose other cpu like E6600 or E6700 instead of quad-core in this program while still apply 25%off or my promo/coupon (whichever is best)....

Thank you Lionel for such a great news/update

Lionel,

 Three items not addressed I'd like to know the status of:

 1. Many of us were offered $200 gift cards during the XPS 700 delay this summer and did not receive them.  (I am probably not the only one who would like to apply the card towards a processor upgrade).

2. Is their a software update or other solution to the lack of Hardware Dolby Digital support for the Dell Xi Fi sound card?

3. The front panel hardware is poorly designed.  The start button is misaligned and the plastic pieces are flimsy (I had the part that opens the floppy drive break off while opening it). 

Otherwise I do appreciate Dell's generosity and look forward to the upgrades soon.

Thanks,

David

WOW.  I'm in disbelief.  I guess I'll be skeptical until I have a new mobo in my XPS700, but if this goes through as suggested, this won't be my last Dell system. 

Will all XPS 700 customers get an email when the exchange program goes live? 

Lionel,

I'd like to ask three things. First of all, is Dell going to send emails to XPS700 owners when this motherboard exchange program kicks off, informing them about it? I most certainly would not want to miss this by forgetting to check this website for a week or two.

Secondly, Does this offer count for non-US customers as well? I currently live in the Netherlands and bought my XPS700 from dell.nl .

 Last but not least, what happens to our old core 2 duo processor if we choose the option with the 25% discount off the quad core processor. Is it possible to sell it back to Dell or something similar?

 Thanks in advance,

Alexandros Tzortzopoulos

Lionel,

Is there a supervisor I can contact regarding my complaint.

I have been trying for weeks to overclock my XPS 700 w/ Extreme 6800's. nTune tool will not work on the motherboard. If I am understanding this announcement, is that because the bios does not support overclocking the Extreme 6800's and that the new bios will fix the problem.  I have called XPS support many times and I have to tell you....none of them know anything about overclocking much less why mine was not working.  So is it me or the Bios?  Please let me know, I have spent many nights at this.  Thanks  Gene

""taylor775: You are right that the XPS 710 is based on the Dell implementation of the 590SLI chipset. The key difference is that your board accommodates quad-core processors. We had to make system-level board changes to the 710 based on Intel's revised guidelines.

Since the 710 supports quad-core, you have the option of upgrading to upcoming processors with your existing board. To upgrade, you'll need to purchase the next-gen motherboard""

 Lionel,

I know about quad core, but thats not the question I was asking.  My question was that I had orderd my computer last month via over the phone and was disclosed what kind of motherboard that was included in the computer.  I know the 710 over the internet was advertised correctly but if you order of the phone it's not.  Will some of the 710 customers that ordered over the phone get the free upgrade to the motherboard.  I am not considering and upgrades to quad core or anything else.

I honestly feel as a customer that we should be entitle to the same free upgrade to a current motherboard just as the 700 users.  I know there are ways to verify who ordered the computer over the phone.

Thanks for yourn time.

Lionel this is great news and will go a long way in restoring our confidence in Dell.  We will be holding out breath to see what you deliver.

The big question now is how are we going to be notified when the motherboard swapout / cpu deal are available?  Can you create somewhere we can register our interest and you send an email when its available? 

Chris (Dell XPS 700, Dell 30inch LCD, numerous Dell laptops)

UK

I was about to order a new XPS 710 H2C, but the comments here have left me somewhat confused/concerned. Is Dell about to upgrade the mobo to say a Nvidia 680, if so should I hold on the order until it does this, or will it offer such an upgrade if I order now? Incidentally I am in the UK, so does it apply to UK orders as well?

 
Thanks 

I see that Bob D asked:

I am wondering whether this is XPS 700 motherboard upgrade is ONLY available to those who come to the forum or blog?

Is Dell going to officially notify all the XPS 700 buyers/owners of this free upgrade (either by snail mail, email or phone call)?

I also see that Jim Parsons asked:

Is Dell going to be proactive and contact all customers who have purchased XPS 700's? How can I be sure that I am not overlooked?

Lionel, would you please answer these two posts for the rest of us?  Thanks in advance.

I'm glad Dell is finally doing the RIGHT thing here. While I am a bit disappointed that there isn't a better discount on the Quad Core CPU, I am glad Dell is providing the motherboard upgrade free to all XPS 700/710 customers. I can say that I am very excited to get the BIOS update and for the upcoming motherboard.

 Lionel, any way you can comment on which chipset the new motherboard will have?

Whackmonkey,

Have you not read any of the 14,000 posts about this issue?  There are plenty of us who purchased this system because it was supposed to be mobo upgradable.  We have been begging Dell to offer us an upgrade path as they are the only company capable of doing so with our XPS Chassis.  Dell have gone above and beyonf our expectations by not only offering a upgrade path, but by offering it free and in home service.  They have also listened to the customers and have started to open up access to the features that were missing on the original mobo.  I see this a VERY generous on Dell's part and the fact they have incorporated our ideas into the Bios update and hopefully the future mobo shows how much they listen to the customer. 

As far as why someone would want the new mobo without a processor upgrade, I have a E6600 CPU.  It will mildly overclock with ntune.  But, if you add EPP RAM and a 680i or better chipset, the FSB OC should be much more stable.  Nvidia made a huge mistake with the Intel version of the 590 chipset.  It never lived up to the AMD version.  Only Dell and one other company ever used this chipset.  The 680i is a MUCH stronger performing chipset.  We all are hopeful it will be incorperated into the Next Gen XPS mobo.  As far as the QX6700 offer, it depends on the price Dell offers it for.  If it is 25% higher than Newegg with a 25% discount, I still may get it if I can use 0% financing.  At this point, I would spend the same money at Dell because they have earned my business and trust.  If Dell's retail price is equal to the market price(NewEgg), than many more people are likely to upgrade to the QX6700 from Dell and it makes this offer that much more generous.  Time will tell on that.

Thanks again to Dell for listening to the customer and putting us before the bottom line.  This is very rare in today's world.  There will always be those that are never happy, but I believe you will see alot a people come back that may have swore off Dell in the past.  A special thaks to Neil, we have seen a much more timely response since you were put on this.  This tells me you understand how patient we were, but also how important a quick response is.  Thanks to Lionel and Chris, who were our main form of communication.  I have seen great strides here, but it is still the one area Dell needs to work on(timely communication).  Finally, thanks to Mike Dell.  I am so glad to see you back at the top.  I see that you see customers as important to the future of your company as the bottom line.  If you guys continue to listen to the ideas of your customers, you will see your company grow back to the leaders they once were.  Thanks Dell.

This type of offer was only dreaned of by us all during the process. I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Dell thas was involved in this process and to David as well. I always thought that if we stayed on course and kept lawyers out of this that we would all benefit and we have.  I call this a win win situation for both sides.  Dell will retain loyalty and have it grow and there is already a lot of talk from people that cancelled the XPS 700 or sold it regretting that decision. I personally wish this was put out ASAP to the big hardware sites that covered this in the beginning to further the proof that Dell is a solid standup company.
This phrase is so appropriate, WOOT
 

The motherboard exchange is utterly useless.  Why would anyone waste their time only upgrading their motherboard and not get a matching cpu?  What is the percentage of dell customers that actually upgrade their cpu's?  I bet its less than 1%

 Then if you accept the above as a valid argument then your only option is a "free" motherboard and a 25% discount on an already overpriced quad core cpu?  If its an exchange then isn't that the same as saying the customer has taken the depreciation and now dell is buying back the "older" motherboard and cpu for 25% the cost of new quad core cpu, while the customer pays the rest of the cost.  At best this seems more like a break even scenario, and pr scheme than a benefit to the owner.  The only cost to dell is the service, which probably doesn't cost them much, because they already have contracts in place and it won't matter whether they replace 1 board or 1000.

 To use an analogy, I feel like a customer walking into a car dealership with a 1 year old car to trade it in while the dealer sells me another new overpriced car and pays a fraction for my older car.
 

my xps was purchased through my company (time warner)  will i have a problem getting the upgrade?  or will i have to go through my company

Also, will the processor offer be available through the EPP site? Many of us purchased our XPS 700 through Dell's Educational Personal Purchase Program, and the $200 Dell gift card (remember this?) can only be redeemed on the EPP site.

 
It would be very bad if we could only purchase the new CPU in Dell's Home store because I wouldn't be able to use the gift card... Thanks.

Lionel, this is great news!  Incidentally, is there any update on when we might get an update on the availability of pre-installed Vista on the 710/H2C?

Thanks  

I have a question?  I am a 710 owner and I ordered my computer over the phone.  When I ordered the computer I was not told that the xps had the discontinued 590 sli board.  I directly asked the rep if this 710 computer had the newest nvidia sli board and the rep put me on hold then came back on the phone and said the 710 has the newest nvidia/intel sli board.  I at no time ordered the computer over the internet.  I had no idea that the board used the 590 series board. 

 Now that I have read the statement that Dell has made are the 710 users that ordered via phone going to be entitled to the free upgrade.  I honestly dont feel that 710 users that ordered via phone should have to pay for this board no matter what the cost.  I have no problem not getting any kind of other discounts I just want a the newest motherboard that I was told that I was going to get.

 There are other 710 users that have also been lied to and its a known fact that when you order over the phone that the reps dont disclose what kind of motherboard the 710 has.

 Please Dell help out the 710 customers, we are not lying.  We 710 customers also have a legitimate grip and feel that we arent getting a fair shake in this deal.

Wow Dell... I never saw this coming. I thought at this point Dell was done with the XPS 700, and wasn't even thinking of compensating it's purchasers any longer. I'm very happy to see that the people at Dell stuck to their word and are finally taking care of the XPS 700 customers.

Looking forward to the mobo exg. I love my system, but I was a bit saddened when I had heard I couldn't install a QC proc. Now that I can get one at 25% discount, plus a new mobo, I'll definitely take advantage of that. Plus upgrade memory another 2GB.

 Thanks,

Jim

I am wondering whether this is XPS 700 motherboard upgrade is ONLY available to those who come to the forum or blog?

Is Dell going to officially notify all the XPS 700 buyers/owners of this free upgrade (either by snail mail, email or phone call)?

Well, I had my doubts, and thought Dell would never make a comment, and would simply behind the words "Soon" and "Be Patient", but alas, Dell has stayed true to its word!  I have not had the time to be as active in the forums in the past several months, but will begin to do so now, as the excitement builds for this future implentation.

Does Dell have a strategy as of yet of how to coordinate the motherboard switches of these systems?  I should hope it would be easier than the phone call method of last year.  I will be very impressed if Dell pulls this off, and may actually start recommending Dell again.

Good job Dell! :) 

WOW !!!

What motherboard will the new motherboard be? NVIDIA 680i?