Direct2Dell

I've found one which is made in China, I wonder if it's fake or no? This card should make my wireless-laptops perform even better! Thank you for the information.

Sorry for shouting,

WHEN WILL THE UPGRADE TO 8800GTX BE MADE AVAILABLE IN THE UK, AND AT WHAT PRICE?

Tks, for listening, a response would be appreciated as well.

I'm new to the post, and I have read about 90% of them.  Ending up with disgust!  With the POSTER, NOT Dell.  Where do most of you get off coming to the "realization" that Dell OWES you anything, other than the warranty that YOU paid for?  Hello reading!  Get this people, the world, nor does DELL evolve around you.  Most of you whiners act like Ritalin addicts.  This is my 5th Dell, and I am POSITIVE it won't be my last.  I did "RESEARCH" before buying my first & last cpu.  I made an informative purchase when I bought mine.  I knew that Dell would have some issues getting this card out.  Wait a little while guys.

  Bust out that game that DREAMT of this hardware configuration and BLAZE away!  I dual booted and BF 2'd with XP Pro, and guys it ROCKED!

  I knew that most of the rumors were that excactly,... RUMORS!  About 200.00 trade ins of old video cards.  Cheap prices for the cards.  Come on people, if you can afford to lay down 4k for a system, then you MUST be able to do so for video cards.

  How many of you price/age whiners are 1st Gen iPhone owners I wonder!  It's the price you pay, for paying the price.  If you cannot afford it, get a better paying job.  Or get another one delivering pizza.

  Personally,... I cannot WAIT to call and order my new video card.  Congrats James,... I know your having a great time.

,..................  my opinion anyway.

cant we find other duel 8800 sli cards and make or buy some new kinda edge connector? the clevo, sager, nvida sells them i think some kinda edge adapter could work right?? 

hei guys,

This is probably the dumbest question. 

Is there any chance that i can just go to a Dell store in U.S. and buy the videocard and the upgrade installation service.

I dont live in U.S., but i am going to visit U.S. end of this year for holiday, so might as well stop by Dell store to get the upgrade.

I used to live in US and purchased this laptop when i was there, but i move out from US back to Japan not long after i bought the laptop.  I kinda feel  I got cut out from all Dell support now T_T and i cant find any dell store in Japan that sell and support this product.

@ Pilot44

@ Barry

Yeah I've asked that question back in July (more than three month ago) and I'm still awaiting the answer. Personally I'd prefer them telling us that "it would be available soon" or "we don't know"  than being ignored for so long...

It is a new Dell part so there is still a one year warrenty on it and you can always pay for the tech to install it.  But believe me I understand where you are coming from.

Bob

Yea, I know you can get it through ebay. But ofcourse if god forbids something happens to the video card noone will be there to respond for me. Not to mention if I put that in and something happens to my comp (tech wise) DELL will be in all the freedom of simply pointing to the alien video card and saying it was the video card's fault.. So, thats a vulnerability I do not want to be in, especially since its worth 1000 dollars and even more so after seeing how DELL has treated their costumers through this blog. I just cant trust DELL with that kind of stuff anymore.

You guys do know that you can buy the part on ebay  from Sotalaptops? I'll bet he ships to other countries.

Bob

@Barry:

How long do you think it will take to get an answer to your questions?

Unfortunately, the time frame Dell chooses if too often, the 12th of Never.

What is the link I need to buy the upgrade from the UK?

Or id it still only available to the US?

Thanks

Barry

Well guys, I just came out of Hurricane Ike and was without power for 10 days! The good news is that without power, I couldn't use the "beast" because of it's less than satisfactory battery -- resulting in the best performance I've had with this heavyweight cow patty since I bought it. 

BTW, Bob Walters is right. If you think that DELL is bad, Alienware is a shade worse. It would appear to be a match made in heaven.

I did take me some time to wade through all the insightful comments from Lionel and John. But after about 3 seconds, I'm up-to-date.

How long till these cards are offered in Latin American sites like Puerto Rico? Right now we cant even build a new M1730 with 8800's. I think DELL needs to allow us to build new M1730's with 8800's.... and also allow those who were unlucky enough to get the M1730 with 8700's get the chance to upgrade to 8800's.

I see both of the 8800M boards are again showing in the parts section.  I still say there is no difference between the part that lists for 2 grand and the part that is $i000 and when I have asked about it no one can tell me any differences.

Bob

In all fairness Alienware has traditionally been just as slow to provide drivers as Dell.  I have found one tends to be on one's own when buying a gaming laptop. 

Bob

the above is exactly the reason for why dell should get out of the gaming industry and stick to mainstream computing.

leave the advanced, high-end, staff intensive sector to alienware.

can't even sell a promised upgrade, nine months down the line...

I had no trouble installing the new drivers from NVIDIA as they are written specifically for certain laptops. This is somewhat unusual as NVIDIA normally does not offer mobile drivers.  Just make sure you pick either 8800M or 8700M from their drop down depending on what you have.  One can also download drivers from laptopvideo2go along with updated inf files so the drivers install although you might run across a few quirks so your mileage may vary.

If you were still using 156.61 I can see why you had problems as most of the Crysis fixes did not find their way into the drivers until 169 something.  When I was playing Crysis I played at 1280x800 with most of the settings set to high and I did not see any perform ace issues. 

Bob

@Alexi

Don't feel too bad Alexi. I'm not sure DELL is providing a 8800 upgrad for US customers either.

I'm not really sure, but I don't beleive that DELL ever provided a new 8700 driver either.

Eventually, DELL will pay a big price for thier disregard for good customers. As the number of disenchanted customers rises, they will each point out to 25 of their friends how bad DELL products/customer service has decayed.

Can you beleive how DELL has handled the GPU situation? We can hear the crying in Austin all the way down here in Houston. But nary a concern on our part, I can assure you. It's just become something enjoyable to watch.

Very soon it will be a year since I bought this "beast" and Dell stil isn't providing a 8800 upgrade for non-US customers... Is Dell ever going to provide it?

@Bob

I was also using only Dell's drivers with my 8700.  I was able to play Crysis on 1680x1050 last night everything on high (Dell 174.31).  Before with the 8700 I was only able to play at 1024x768 all on medium.  This does make a difference.

Well it took a long time to get these cards, I am sure it will take even longer to get good drivers.  I try to stay with Dell's recommended becasue when I call for support they always ask.  Even if I tell them I am using the additions driver selection from their site (ie.. recommended 156.61 for the 8700 compared to Dells Performance drivers 174.31) I was unable to get support installing the 174.31 because the support person said they do not fully support those drivers and he would not be able to assist me.  So for my 8700's I was only able to use the 156.61 drivers.

>>I think it has to do with the fact that 3DMark Vantage uses DirectX10 whereas 3DMark06 uses DirectX9.  That may be the difference.<<

But my 3DMark Vantage score is twice yours and I have the same GPUs.

>>Do the nVidia drivers for the PhysX do better or is it just becasue they own it now?<<

That is a really good question.  To be honest I'm not sure that PhyX does anything other than play its own demos.  For example I played Gothic 3 on my old XPS Gen2 notebook and now I am replaying it on my M1730.  It is supposed to support hardware physics and but that part of the game does not seem that much better.  Sure the graphics are faster but the dual 8700GTs are much faster than the 7800GTX go and there is no comparision between my old CPU and the new one.  I also played the downloadable UT3 PhysX content and I am just not impressed.  Oh well

Bob

@Bob

I think it has to do with the fact that 3DMark Vantage uses DirectX10 whereas 3DMark06 uses DirectX9.  That may be the difference.

Do the nVidia drivers for the PhysX do better or is it just becasue they own it now?

>>8700 card was getting P997 3DMark Vantage<

I can see why you are unhappy.  I do not understand why your score was so low. My M1730 with dual 8700GTs gets P2196 with a graphics score of 1783.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dmv=117327

I'd suggest that you did not have SLI enabled but in order to get a 3DMark2006 score of 8917 you have to have it on. Very Strange.  BTW - for all and sundry -  NVIDIA has very recent drivers available for the M1730 on their website.  the current one is 175.32 and while it is not the 177 series it is still current. I stopped depending on laptop vendors for current drivers a long time ago.  You can also download newer NVIDIA PhysX software and use it with the on board PhysX board.

Bob

@Pilot44

You are right... it should not have been this additional cost involved in order to get it working from "The Chipmunk" to "The Beast".  Even thought I did purchase this notebook, and waited for Dell's Performance Drivers to make the 8700 cards what Dell advertised them to be, Dell should have been up front in their decision to deceive us with these 8700 cards.  They should have said something like... These 8700 cards are not up to our original specs and if you wait till the end of the year the 8800 cards should be ready. I know upper management was the decision makers saying "Hey lets just put these 8700 cards in, even though the original specs were to use the 8800 cards."  You see the 8800 cards were going to be delayed and Dell wanted to release the M1730 for the Christmas rush so their numbers would look better for the years closing.  You do not want to disappoint the stockholders. I guess they were hoping no one would notice.  And if they did, what could they do.  I mean we fell for it and here we are today.  Like I said before, I have four years with dell.  This notebook better last every single minute.  Well let me rephrase it... This notebook will last every single minute.

@James

Scores look pretty good to me. Seems to me that they are in the range you paid for originally. But what the heck, a grand more and you're in the game.

I expect we'll find out what's the scoop with the removal of the "upgrade program" when John or Lionel get back to us. I heard they were going to discontinue the 8800s, so that's probably when we will be offered the Beast for the Beast.

All I know is that my beast just lays around and acts like it's got rhumatoid arthritis. Those 8700s are just "a 'hummin." It's a sheep in beast's clothing! Almost as good as my 4-year old PC. I'm so proud. I show it off to as many future DELL buyers as possible. No DELL buyers to date. I just tell them that this is what DELL can provide you for a mere $4500.00. Sort of a goodwill ambassador.

8700 card was getting P997 3DMark Vantage (DX10) score (CPU Score 7453 - Graphics Score 769) and 3DMark06 (DX9) score of 8917.

8800 is getting a 3DMark Vantage score of P6401 with a significantly better graphics score (6056) and a 3DMark06 score of 12395.  This makes the notebook perform more like it is supposed to.

Got card last night. Followed video above, and was able to get card swapped out in about 30 minutes (was easier than I originally thought). Using 3dMark06, saw about a 40% increase in performance score, can probably get a little higher once I tweak it a bit. I wish there was a program to turn in the old card for a small refund or credit, since it's still perfectly good.

Parts should be available after all the XM888 is in stock and I really doubt it is much different from the one that was listed prior to this.

Bob

Card shipped last night and will be arriving today (the upgrade, not the spare part). It was delayed over 2 months, but at least I finally got it (for better or worse).Still am very disappointed it took this long.

Guys - Is the upgrade for real or no?

Unlike many on here (who of course have the right to feel how they do) I thought the price was fair, and I didnt feel I was getting a raw deal.

That said, I am feeling like this whole upgrade process is a mess and Dell has gone silent.  Did people hating the price kill it?  NVidia chip issues?  I really dont care, but I would like to know if it exists or not.

Thanks

I need to get my believer fixed because I am not believing this... my order shipped.

@Alejandro Lopez-Araujo

I appreciate your suggestion; however without the upgrade the laptop is nothing more than an overprices boat anchor.  In order for me to be somewhat happy with this purchase I need that card.

@DELL

Any one home? DELAYED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

@John

Come on, throw us a bone.  Give us some info.  Treat us with respect.  Send me the card already.  It has been long enough with this blatant lie. I see your company won another human rights award... I am human too.  I am a customer of yours.  I made a big purchase, compared to other home buyers.  I deserve your attention. 

I wonder if I check the Remember Me? checkbox below this entry area will make you pay more attention?  Remember Me?

Lets start over with this relationship.  I order a computer, and you bill me.  Lets see how that goes.

@Lionel / John:

So where is the ugrade program? Come on now, give us an answer.

The time is now. We're not going to forget how we're being treated!

James I think you need to start calling people at DELL to give you your money back. If they dont, you should contact some kind of institution where you can complain about cosumer rights. Theres something here in Puerto Rico for that kind of thing; when the costumer's rights are violated. You probably have one like that in the US no? Cause, this is unacceptable. We are talking about 1k dollars here and months and months of waiting!!!

-Alejandro Lopez-Araujo

Well... It was delayed yet again.  Dell, how about a $1000.00 gift card for my troubles.  It is the least you can do for lying and stealing from me for so long.

I wonder what Michael Dell thinks about all this?  Does he really read these things I know I would if I were in his place.  There are actually a couple of things that could be done depending on the direction they wanted  to take the XPS line that would be greatly advantageous to us M1730 owners and to Dell.   As to Dell's Blogmeisters, no offense, but I doubt they have any authority.  They do not appear to be department heads, Manager, Vice Presidents or whatever.  They are just PR people trying to do their jobs.  What we really need is a way to show the Dell powers that be that they could turn this to their profit.

@Bob Walters

Bob, I know that you don't want us to pick on John or Lionel, but could you suggest who might answer our questions on this thread?

This is not interesting. It is  painful -- painful to  customers and painful to  DELL , inasmuch as they  have done everything possible to  put  a bad taste in everyone's mouth over  their  "upgrade program."

And to not speak to our questions in over a month is ridiculous. I don't care if they're busy wioth the Nividia debacle. We've been waiting for nearly 8 months now.

And to think we are venting our anger in a thread designed to announce "A Beast of a Card for A Beast of a Laptop." The very program that John and Lionel "bent over backwards" to get for us poor (former) customers. So why don't they address the situation?

So Bob, forgive me if I get upset with John and Lionel -- the very people assigned to keep us updated. Are you happy with their performance in this area?

I think we would have appreciated a "we're looking into it" response. But nothing.

This gets more and more interesting.  For awhile there were 3 variants of the 8800M GTX shown in parts.  There was the one with the installation, one without the installation and last one for about twice as much as the others.  Oddly enough this is the only one that appears to be in stock.  Now only the $2000 part is listed. It is probably not intentional but this now becomes bait and switch.  Unfortunately, bait and switch is illegal.

Bob

Well I went on Dell's site today and they have removed the upgrade again.  What is going on John?  Why do you ignore me? 

The new vaporware anonymous meeting notes.

Hello my name is James and it has been over three months since I ordered my last video card update from Dell.

I know everyone will not believe this... My card HAS NOT shipped yet.  It was delayed again.  I wonder if Vegas has odds on this card actually shipping.

@John,

It is time to make me feel better about doing business with Dell.

@Todd Smart, Community Laison:

Todd, perhaps now that Lionel has issued his 12-month warranty extension for Nvidia GPUs, he may be willing to answer a simple question on this thread -- namely, does DELL have sufficient 8800M SLI cards to satisfy those who wish to upgrade their 8700 (far less than a beast) cards.

This has been an underlying question every since the "phantom" program got started. Can you find out who can answer this very difficult question?

Great my post was published... August 12, 2008 10:07 AM

My Bad

@Todd Smart, Community Laison:

 Todd, I think a lot of what is being posted is out of frustration. Your mention Terms of Service.  Early in your Terms of Service is the following:

Rules of Engagement for Direct2Dell Readers

1.  Direct2Dell is all about conversations.  You are encouraged to speak in an honest, informal voice and to foster productive, candid dialogue that can help us learn from each other.  We’ll listen, as well as post, and ensure we engage in two-way conversations. Our intent is to provide a timely and accessible alternative to more formal, one-way channels of communication.

Our frustrations often occur because since we haven't heard from a DELL person in over a month, that should be a violation of you Terms of Service as well. I think Dell personnel are falling short of your rules to "ensure we engage in two-way conversations."

I'm sure we would all appreciate a little less focus on semantics and a little more attention to someone from Dell addressing issues surfaced in this forum.

My last post was not published... Guess I hit a sore spot.

I think the way the whole process is handled is poor on Dell's part.  First of all you spent alot of money purchasing a product that was to perform as advertised, in my opinion it has not.

Secondly, we (XPS 1730 owners) were promised an "upgrade program" to the 8800 cards when made available.  Finally Dell has released the part, however the "upgrade program" is not really an "upgrade program" rather it is a spare part that costs $$$$$.  Think about this, you probably invested 3,000 + dollars on a machine and you have to shell out an additional 1,100 + dollars to have your machine operate as advertised?  I though (as I'm sure many others) that the cost of the part would be no more than $700.  The way the whole "upgrade program" was handled is very very poor in my opinion and bad business practice.

Thirdly, my dual 8700 cards were giving me problems (artifacts, washed out colors, etc).  I found out through research that these cards are defective.  Dell has also identified this issue but no mention of the 1730.  What is Dell solution to the problem, update the BIOS!  On the Direct2Dell blog it mentions that they (Dell) will take it on a "case by case" basis.  One question I have is this:  If it's been identified that these parts are defective (which it has) why don't you replace the cars and not say we have to look at it on a "case by case" basis?  I feel that it's just being "cost effective".  Oh and another thing why are you still selling these cards if they are identified as defective.  Check out this website: 

 http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/09/nvidia-g84-g86-bad

In closing I had this laptop for a period of four months and I have spent a large sum of money on it.  On there website you can purchase an XPS 1730 with Dual 8800 SLI cards, a better processor, and larger hard drive space for what I paid for mine.  I can't comment for other people but this is very disturbing.  I have pushed to have my XPS 1730 returned to Dell, however it has fallen on deaf ears.  Based on this experience I will never purchase a laptop from Dell again.

Come on people it is not fair to pick on John or Lionel it is not their fault.  They didn't make the policy and I suspect any lack of response is also not their fault.  What I would like to see is a response from someone who actually has some control over the situation.  After all we are not the ones who are buying the $499 specials but rather we are the ones who buy the high profile and high profit units. The sales of the M1730 may be a lot lower but the product and users are also a lot more visible.

Bob

@DEAN:

Geeze, after reading your experience, I doubt if either Lionel or John will have the guts to get back on this thread.

However, if you've read the previous posts, you'll see that several of us predicted the failure of this ridiculous upgrade program and still others suggested that the program really didn't exist.

I think we're coming pretty close to a real case of deceit, misdirection and frankly, other seriously poor business practices. How can DELL still have the 8800s listed with their "usually ships within 1-2 weeks."

The comedy continues...

@James:

I believe we have lost John and Lionel once again. They always seem to be MIA when the heat is on. I know the question is difficult -- do you have 8800s to fulfill requests for teh upgrade program? -- but come on, let's man up and take a shot at answering something.

Boy, the true colors of DELL are coming out.

@John Blain:

Sorry John, I forgot this was your blog. Can you reply to what James said about the 8800M SLI cards not being available. I think alot of us would like to know if the upgrade program really exists. It is somewhat important inasmuch as the status of the 8700s (a.k.a. overclocked 8600s, a.k.a. G84) continues to drop further in the toilet as a result of the defective GPU issue.

John, we could use a little more interactivity here as well as in the GPU update forum. Unfortunately, DELL is loosing a bunch of loyal customers due to lack of communication.

@Lionel

Well Lionel, would you care to reply to what James said about the 8800M SLI cards not being available. Given all the problems DELL is having with GPU cards, I would think you would like to get the issue of your "upgrade" program resolved.

Do you have 8800M SLI cards available for your announced upgrade program or not? This is flat out ridiculous.

I placed my order for these cards in the first couple of days following the release. Since then, the order has been delayed every week, and canceled twice, even after contacting Dell.

I have a very nice customer service rep helping me out and I can hear the pain in his voice every time we talk. Just today I received a call stating that these cards are end of life and MAY no longer be available.

What in the world is going on with these cards? What is going on with Dell and has anyone even received one yet?

Of course, if you purchase ANOTHER new m1730 you will get the 8800's. As far as I see it, selling my laptop on ebay or locally to a coworker is the only solution that is viable right now. Not only are the cards not being shipped, they are being canned and we are being left with exrtremely bad cards and game performance. The whole idea behind early adopting was the availability of the 8800 in the future.

I really hope Dell comes through with my cards. It won't restore faith but at least I won't have anything to complain about.

@James

Well, if DELL can't logically figure out how to handle the M1730 upgrade program in a reasonable manner, can you imagine how bad they will handle the defective GPU problem that confronts them.

Lionel and John must be spending all their time on the other forum because I haven't heard them respond to you issues or others for quite some time.

Wait a minute. Lionel hasn't responded to, shall I say, a boatful of complaints and questions on the other forum either. Must be the new DELL SOP for handling sensitive topics.

Unfortunately, DELL is revealing just how bad their current state of customer service really is. This has got to put a real dent into their current and future sales. But, my sympathy for DELL has eroded to the point where I really don't care about DELL anymore. I just monitor the forums to see how deep a hole DELL will dig for itself. This could get very messy. This situation may knock that chip off their shoulders that they have  been  carrying  for  several  years now.

Maybe we can figure out how to get some 8800s from another manufacturer if DELL can't even provide their good customers with some of their precious stock.

Yeah this so called non existant upgrade program is a slap in the face.

I bought my laptop back in January...about 2 weeks before the 8800 were released on the website. I called in to return my laptop and was told they were on back order anyway and they have an upgrade program coming out soon just hold off.

Wow they threw in a extra yr warranty and now want me to pay $1200 for a so called UPGRADE  when building a system is only 700 more...

Take back the 8700's we don't want or need them...they were supposed to be a means to an end...

Have to say ...sure glad you aren't GM or Dodge would hate to see you passing off a sports car with a 4cyl engine when it was prommised with a 8cyl then find out you have to pay more to get what you were expecting in the first place.....

@Pilot44

You have got to be kidding... I do not expect to receive the card.  I expect Dell one day to say we can not ship this card, cancel the order and then give us another option to order the same card but with a different part number.  This way they can just keep delaying us, and delaying us.  Just think it we had received the card first and delayed on paying them, what would happen?  Maybe they can not ship the card because they are involved in talks with Nvidia regarding the bad parts and must somehow make it right with us.  At this point, with no one from Dell giving us any information, anything goes. Then again maybe the moon is really made of cheese.

I ordered a card on 6/17 and have had the ETA bumped each week. The next ETA is 8/6/2008, but I fully expect that to get bumped another week as well (but keeping my fingers crossed). I was initially hoping to have the card delivered and installed for the July 4th weekend, but now I honestly don't think I'll have it by Labor Day. It's frustrating in that there are many games I have been holding off on to play till I upgraded (i.e. Mass Effect).

Has anyone ordered and RECEIVED this upgrade? I curious if DELL is just jacking us around with an offer than doesn't exist.

How about you James. Did you ever get your "upgrade?" You were one of the first on this forum to indicate you ordered.

hmm.. thank you very much. usefull information

Well I just view the mass of emails from customers upset about the faulty GPUs Dell/Nvidia have put upon the unknowing public.

As we have stated in this forum for months now, don't expect DELL to do anything. I don't consider the BIOS update to be a solution for the customer, only for DELL. Keep the computer alive until the warranty is over.

Have you noticed the complaints that eh warranties have skyrocketed. Only DELL could figure a way to make money on the problems encountered by their customers.

I will continue to wait out DELL. I have 3.25 years to go on my warrantly and am confident that the 8700s will not hold up. Gave my cooler to my brother for his HP. I'll just run the stock DELL cooling for the time being.

Give our antique driver -- yes, the one that has not been updated since September, 2007 -- that should escalate problems as well.

Oh, I'm sure that this forum will not receive any attention from DELL personnel until they resolve the other fire in the DELL mansion.

If you want a good laugh, just use the forum link Jason was kind enough to provide. I sounds like this forum. Does DELL have ANY satisfied customers?  Not for long.

Now that Dell has finally announced a known issue with the Nvidia cards, how long before we get the new card for our 1730's?

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/07/25/nvidia-gpu-update-for-dell-laptop-owners.aspx#comments

@John

It was delayed.... AGAIN!!!!!  I wish I could find the words to relate my anger and disappointment with Dell at this point without cussing and causing my post not to even be looked at.  Please....Find out what is going on. Why release this news, make the product available, and let people order it and not even bother to ship a single one.  I would be willing to bet not one customer who has ordered this card has received it.  You have my email address if you care enough to contact me to the my order details ti investigate. This is totally ridiculous.

*waits for an australian release update*

I wonder where all the people who are happy with this upgrade plan are.  Hmmmm...

Pilott44,

I agree, as I said before it is the first time I heard the term Vaporware used to describe hardware.  I know the people who are buying the new systems are of course the most important, until they buy it.  I also know Dell does not have any emotion what-so-ever concerning those customers who have already purchased EXPENSIVE machines from them.  We can call, complain, scream, and at the end of the day they just say, Next.  I will say if you actually get XPS support they are good, really gamers, and do help.  Customer service on the other-hand is at the bottom of the list compared to the numerous companies I deal with.  They have IQ's below 100, no personality, and offer no creative solutions to any problem or situation.  It is like they read from a flow chart and give answers that only benefit Dell.  What ever happened to creative thinking, win-win, make the customer happy.... oops sorry... I said make the customer happy.  I really hope Dell stands up and says, ok lets make these customers we already have happy too. 

James,

How can this be? The website says it usually ships in 1-2 weeks.

I'm certainly sorry for yor situation James, but you probably know it comes as no surprise to anyone who has written in on this forum.

Why do you want to give Dell anymore interest on your money? Why don't you cancel your order and wait until you are sure that they are really supplying cards? Are you afraid they are running out of cards? Hey, you're dead last on the totem pole my friend.

Well now we can refer to this whole situation not as an upgrade program, not as a spare part program, but as a PHANTHOM program.

Nothing yet has convinced me that any program of any kind is real! I have a 4-year service agreement and believe me, I'm not going out to buy any expensive coolers, etc. I'll just let the quality of the "beast" run its course. At least I'm having some fun having IT personnel laugh at the performance of the 8700s.

OK, I know nobody wants to hear this again.  My order has been delayed again.  I do not ever expect to receive this card.  At least Dell is making interest off the money I sent them without even doing anything.  This is unbelievable. John... will this card actually ship one day before my 4 year warranty is up?

It is even worse for those of us who purchased it before the 8800M was released as we had no choice and the unit was just as expensive as it is now with the 8800s.

Bob

   On some positive notes; because even though my posts reflect that I am very mad, which I am, there is still some positive to see: I am very glad to hear that DELL decided to include the 8800's into one's warranty plan if we ever did this "upgrade". I think that is a very good move in the right direction to ensure that your costumers regain some love for DELL. I for one would never even consider buying this upgrade if my warranty didnt cover it fully. I always purchase 4years warranty and I do not want to have any part in my computer that is not covered for those four years as well. It is a liability that DELL could easily take advantage of and just point to the video card whenever something bad happened to the comp. Its just something I do not want to get into. So kudos to DELL for that. In addition, I think its a step forward to actually decide on selling these over the net for us unfortunate costumers who purchased the computer with 8700's. Now, if you would only work on the pricing! ><

Again, I aint buying them till I see a significant price reduction. Im talking about $400-500 taken off that thing.

 I think DELL is asking of its costumers to do something they are not willing to do: to have complete disregard for money. Why do we have to pay $1,100 more for this and yet DELL cant give us some kind of substantial discount? We have already handed out multiple thousands of dollars for this system which simply does not fulfill what DELL tricked us into beleiving when we purchased it. It is DELL who should be asking for forgiveness and doing some kind of deal to repair its reputation amongst these disgrunted costumers? Dell, take a loss and show that you really care for gods sake. Every move you move to try to fix what you did ends up making it worse.

I for one will NOT purchase this upgrade until its cheaper. Show some kind of responsibilty for your mistakes DELL.

-Alejandro

@ laurel

I had a good experience with Dell Technical Support. They are very good as long as you are asking the right questions and their ability to send an engineer to fix your computer within 24 hours (at least here in the UK) is quite impressive. There is however a huge quality gap between call centres you're redirected to with Scotland and Canada being my favourite.

 I am from Puerto Rico and also purchased the M1730 recently with 8700's thinking it would be just as what DELL marketed it to be, A BEAST of gaming. Nope, not at all. I am INCREDIBLY disappointed. And I have been a DELL fan ever since my first DELL Desktop lasted me more than 5 years with nothing going wrong; i just simply retired it.. Before the m1730 disaster of a buy that I commited, I wouldnt have thought in any other company when buying a computer. Next time it will be very hard to think about DELL first after the lack of trust that this company has created on me. I simply cant trust your products or you guys on anything anymore. And not only was I a DELL fan, I was a dell advocate, I told everyone to get DELLS.. My family members, my friends, EVERYONE that talked about computers I would always say that I was a proud DELL owner and wouldnt have it any other way; not anymore.

Dell, I think you need someone to take you to business class again and teach you the basics. DELL should take SOME KIND of hit $$$ wise in order to please the costumers because after all we did take a very high $$$ hit ourselves. I think DELL gains more taking some kind of loss by dropping the price to $700 by regaining the faith of many of its costumers, costumers that are usually enthusiasts that are some of the most valuable to a computer company. Its as simple as that, is it better for dell to actually make a profit out of this debacle and have people sick and tired of dell or is it better to take a loss and please your costumers so that they will come back in the future? Or, is DELL thinking that their mistake was so monumental that they probably wont be getting those costumers back so might as well squeeze another 1000 out before they leave? DELL is really spurring very reputation damaging questions amongst their costumers. This is the kind of stuff you should avoid at all cost because it ends up hurting you more than taking a little $$ loss.

@ laurel

Yes, I had a good experience with Technical Support.  I don't know where you are located but I dealt a few times with Technical Support people in Kanata, Ontario.  They were always very professional and very helpful.  For example a graphic card (refurbished) has been sent to a remote village in Michigan and I had it in my laptop in less than 24 hours from the time I made a phone call.  It would be hard to do better.

But I had a horrible time with Customer Care, regardless of where they were located.  I bought this laptop with 2-year warranty but in the specs it stated it had only 1-year.  I noticed it a few days later, didn't have time to call though since it usually takes more than a few minutes to go through all the hoops.  Finally I talked to the Senior Sales Associate who sold me the computer, he remembered the case well and sent internal email to rectify it with a copy to me.  Well, Customer Care people decided that the purchase specification was the binding one and did not allow that second year of warranty.  They made a liar of their own senior guy and me, a customer.

Btw, I am not sure if this will be posted so I am making a copy for future reference.  My last message was not posted.  No reason given.

@John Blain:

As David L pointed out in post (http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/06/17/a-beast-of-a-card-for-a-beast-of-a-laptop.aspx#89961) I think you have done a stand up job sticking it out in the thread and trying to explain whats going on. 

As a 8800m owner, I'd like to ask, when will see an updated driver?  I think most people purchasing the 8800m to replace their 8700m would like to see an up to date driver as well.  Having to go to a hacked driver website is rediculous. 

I would like to see Dell update this driver and provide timely future updates as they are released. 

Several times I have heard the response from XPS Support that driver releases are determined by NVIDIA releasing a driver to Dell for testing. 

The Quadro in the M6300 is up to 174.75.  I think an update to the 8800m and 8700m cards is in order.

Thanks for looking into this!

Has anyone use Dell Customer Service and received good results?!

I have had the most dreadful experience with Technical support.  I have spent hours from February 2008 to July 2008 trying to get a new laptop fixed with no avail. 

I need assistance with this or I am taking legal advice as well as take it to media.

Alexei,

I concur with your point that the article is speculative. I am however, disappointed that John is not addressing issues that could clear up the confusion and soothe frayed nerves.

Pilot44,

There is too much speculation in that article, but I wouldn't be suprised if it was all truth. After all I did have my GPUs replaced on my m1730 three times in less than half a year. If that's the case then the free upgrade is definitely in order and Dell could bill Nvidia for that.

John,

say something, it's been more than a week since I posted my question on ETA in the UK.

@John Blain:

John, could you please address the growing issue of defective Nvidia 8700 (and other) graphic cards and chips and how this will affect the upgrade/spare part offering from DELL.

I make reference to the following:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/09/nvidia-g84-g86-bad

This article states that 8700s are potentially defective. Now we're not in an upgrade/spare parts issue, but a bona fide repacement environment. WHAT IS DELL'S POSITION. You answer hard questions such as when will Singapore be offered the program. Now we want you to answer the question, "What is DELL's position on REPLACEMENT OF OUR 8700 CARDS (that are potentially defective) with 8800 cards. The costs shoudl now be FREE.

Thanks Dell.  Next time I'm buying Sager.

I ordered a card on 6/17 and is there a realistic ETA on when these cards will be available for shipping instead of a (seemingly) automated script that adjusts the ETA by 1 week every week? Even if it's end of September, would just like to know. Thanks.

This is the first time I have heard of Vaporware used to describe hardware.  Put on delay again.

Well I don't know when it will reach the rest of the world.  I know I have had an order in since 6/17/2008 and it still has not shipped.  Dell has my money but I am still empty-handed.  Go figure.

Well i am not going to cry about the price i think its worth the money as long as it delivers the power but..... the only question i do have is when this upgrade option will be introduced to ather countries like Czech Republick and if there is no eta on that when will we know , and why isnt it on high  priority couse i believe we deserve same treatment as any ather dell costumer and we did pay same or higher prices for that machine.

John,

I understand everything you have done for us Dell customers and would just like to thank you for replying on here.  A lot of people are angry with you because of the price but I completely understand.  Thank you for being honest.

Dave from Toronto (PS When in Canada?)

Any ETA on this reaching Canada?   I don't like to ask, but finding the upgrade on the Dell.com in the US is hard enough without going through this blog for the link, so even if it were to show up I'd probably never find it.

>>No, this is not a "trade in". This is an upgrade option, just like you would upgrade a desktop's video card.<<

However, it should be a trade-in for those of us who did NOT have a choice when we purchased the system.  We all know that the leftover Dual 8700s that we replaced are of no use to the us.  There is no one who will buy them at least Dell could render them for their components or metal and sell that.  Please remember that we would have willingly selected the 8800M if we could have and that we were told an upgrade path would be available. 

Perhaps if Dell gave us the option to purchase ones that only had one working video chip then we could both be happy.  Dell would have an outlet for otherwise unusable parts and we would still have our 8800m at a resonable price.  After all one 8800m is better than  2 8700GTs.

Bob

When is this upgrade option going to become available in the UK?

if i own a m1730 bought in singapore, and i purchase this card and install it myself. will it be competible as well? i've been waiting for this upgrade...

So basically if I purchase the  upgrade on the dell website I will have an extra 8700m GT laying around at home?

Also as Pilot44 stated above that Nvidia has announced that they sent out many graphics cards with overheating problems. Can Dell ensure the ones they sell for $1099.99 USD on their upgrade/part website will not have the overheating issue?

Dell, from what i heard a few months ago the upgrade from 8700m GTX to 8800m GTX costed $700.00 USD. On your website,  I see the 8800m GTX for $1,099.99 USD. My question is when you first offered the upgrade it was a simple " trade in my old 8700m GT for a 8800m GTX for $700.00 USD. "

Now I am wondering, is the trade in still availible for $700.00 USD or do we have to buy the 8800m GTX for $1,099.99 USD or is it that horrible that we have to TRADE IN our 8700m GTX and PAY another $1099.99 USD for the card? I hope not.

Hopefully you will respond to this because if you are still doing the $700,00 USD with the 8700m GT trade in, I still find it buyable because who needs an 8700m GT laying around when they have a 8800m GTX in their XPS m1730?

Still no word from DELL?

Well it looks like they must be spending their time talking with Nvidia about Nvidia's admitted problems with graphic cards prior to 8800s.

See link for info on Nvidia's admission of problem on July 2, 2008.

http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/17183/nvidia-cops-to-defect-in-notebook-gpus

Apparently there are some overheating problems. Now if we didn't use drivers outside of DELL's most recent (September, 2007) and we didn't monitor our fans and just left to the M1730 system, then I wonder what the temps woul;d be with the 8700s?

We may have a replacement program insead of a spare part program in the future.

But we sure could use some communication from DELL.........

@John Blain

Is this upgrade available in Canada? I've spent quite a bit of time on the phone with dell and nobody seems to know about it.

Well DELL, is this the old carrot on the end of a stick trick?

Don't you feel you owe it to your customers to get someone on the blog who can tell us what has happened to the "stand alone part offering?"

WOW! The appeal of the program keeps rolling along doesn't it?

This is not an 'upgrade program'. The failure to set the price point at the same level as simply opting for the 8800 cards at system build has ensured you've lost a customer.

What greed.

I think this is one for the Harvard Business Review. We can title it, The DELL Business Model -- Revisited!

This is as bad as the waitress bringing the Ketchup to the table after it has already been 25 minutes waiting on your food.  I think the "You can order the 8800 cards now" is just Dell bringing the ketchup to the table to make us think the food is on the way.  Of course I bet I will not see this card before they try to cancel the order again.

Is this blog still alive? What is status of 8800M SLI spare part?

Why the part is to available anymore?

I think the resounding sentiment of the commenters encompass the sheer frustration that many users have experienced in purchasing "the beast." After purchasing the XPS Gen 2 and now the XPS M1730m before the 8800GTX SLI upgradfe was available, I will honestly never purchase Dell again and will echo this feeling to all my friends and clients.

$1100???? What about the availability in Canada? What would be fair is $700. Not a penny more.