Some additional information about my new XPS 435 Desktop machine (the 435T):

• I replaced the pre-loaded ATI Catalyst Control Center (CCC) and Display Drivers with the latest ones from the AMD web site.  Version 9.3 for Windows-Vista & Windows-7 in 64-bit was released on 3/17/2009. If you do this, be sure to uninstall the current Catalyst software first (this is an option on the installation tool).
• I replaced the pre-loaded Intel® Matrix Storage Manager software (Version 8.5) with the latest version from Intel's web site (Version 8.8.0.1009 from 3/13/2009).  I was having an issue with the software "initializing the volume" on the RAID-1 mirror; however, I now believe this actually resulted from installing the new BIOS firmware. BTW, re-initializing the mirror volume (500GB) took about three hours. I read at least one post from someone with RAID-0 (striping) who installed a BIOS upgrade and then couldn't reboot his computer.  I'm wondering if one of these BIOS upgrades has modified the RAID firmware? If so, a RAID-0 matrix may require re-installing Windows and a RAID-1 will re-initialize the mirror volume.
• I've completed many software installs, including Office 2007 Enterprise Edition. For almost all of my 3rd-party software, I've been able to locate & download Vista 64-bit versions from the internet. No problems yet.
• Those of you who have purchased the upgraded video card for your XPS 435 may want to download and run the ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series Real-Time Demo "March of the Froblins" available at http://developer.amd.com/documentation/videos/pages/froblins.aspx

TomCat

:emotion-9: BOO-HOO :emotion-9: I got the dreaded delayed shipment e-mail.Moved to 4/15..

After going through the website and checking several different desktops, I see they no longer offer the Dell wireless keyboard and mouse. I bet that is the problem!

If you purchase it separately in accessories it says usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks!

:emotion-9: BOO-HOO :emotion-9: I got the dreaded delayed shipment e-mail.Moved to 4/13.. After going through the website and checking several different desktops, I see they no longer offer the Dell wireless keyboard and mouse. I bet that is the problem!

If that is the case, Dell could email us and give us the option to upgrade, change or delete the keyboard that's out of stock  and send out the units.  Or just send out the computers without the keyboards.

double post

Great review! I have installed bios and raid controller updates without consequence to my current raid 0 setup.

Wonder what caused the "re-install" problem?

:emotion-9: BOO-HOO :emotion-9: I got the dreaded delayed shipment e-mail.Moved to 4/13..

This is what my current status looks like:

Yes, read through the thread, interesting reviews, mostly positive.

Vancouver,

Congrats! Take your time and put it through the paces. Can't wait to hear what you think!!

IT HAS ARRIVED!   My 435T just arrived via courier.  One day earlier than the original delivery date of April 2.   Will hook it up later and report back.

Koam,

You think it could be that simple but no. I didn't even want the KB/Mouse but had no choice. My nephew wanted a wireless KB so I ordered it to give to him. If you change ANYTHING, it has to be cancelled and re-ordered.

Still have no idea what the deal w/ Dell is but CS has a huge issue and they are definitely NOT being straight w/ customers.  Don't companies understand that while most people don't like delays they are more acceptable of them and deal better with them if they are kept in the loop and provided INFORMATION as to what is transpiring. Have spoken with CS a few times and get constantly different inconsistent answers.  Most of the time they are clearly READING from the SCRIPT.

I ordered my 435MT on 2/20 w/ a ship date of 3/9 and delivery date of 3/16.   Delivery delayed to 3/19, 3/23, 3/27, 3/31, 4/3 then the same day 4/7.  Then delivery delayed to 4/10, later the same day 4/13 and still later that same day 4/14 which is where we stand now.

This is RIDICULOUS!

Off to the HP web site (as blogs seem to indicate they are keeping their dates at this point) and to the brick and mortar store this weekend to again shop for a computer.  If my Dell ships before I buy or order another unit then great but not likely at this point.  Otherwise I'll just cancel when I order/buy the new one.

My theory:  Dell is delaying shipment to those that purchased w/ coupons (20-25% off) in hopes they will cancel so Dell does not have to honor the sale. 

While I order w/ a coupon and got a good price 2 months ago now the price is nothing special as there is substantial availability at other sites and in brick and mortar stores.  At some point a bargain is no longer a bargain.

Here's some more information about the RAID issues:

First, some of the earlier versions of the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager software had bugs that were supposedly corrected in the latest version. If you have not already installed the latest version, I would highly recommend installing it (Version 8.8.0.1009) from the Intel web site.

From what I've read, there is an "initialized" status bit in the BIOS firmware that indicates when the RAID-1 mirror has been initialized. There are also some initialization progress indicators that keep track of the last initialized sector.  I can corroborate this because the initialization process on my system continued from where it left off when I did a system reboot.

There is also a "dirty" status bit that indicates when the RAID matrix needs to be verified. This usually gets set whenever the system is not shutdown properly. In this situation, the Matrix Storage Manager will start the verify/repair process on the next Windows boot. I believe this status bit is used by both RAID-0 and RAID-1 arrays.

I don't think any of this status information is shown anywhere on the BIOS screens; however, these status settings are probably wiped out during a BIOS re-installation. That would explain the nebulous RAID behavior after re-flashing the BIOS.

If your system begins performing the verify/repair after a BIOS re-flash, or at any other time, and you're reasonably certain that the verify is unnecessary, you can open the Matrix Storage Manager, go into Advanced Mode, right-click on the RAID, and then cancel the verify/repair operation.

One, final word:   If your RAID system is performing a verify/repair or initialization, please be patient during a shutdown and/or reboot. It may seem the system is hung, but that is not the case.  It can take significantly longer than normal to shutdown or reboot Windows because of all the high-priority disk activity.

TomCat

I just checked the stats for this thread and it had 16,612 views

Impressive, keep up the good posting all!

My theory:  Dell is delaying shipment to those that purchased w/ coupons (20-25% off) in hopes they will cancel so Dell does not have to honor the sale.  While I order w/ a coupon and got a good price 2 months ago now the price is nothing special as there is substantial availability at other sites and in brick and mortar stores.  At some point a bargain is no longer a bargain.

Well - I'd have to disagree with that - as I ordered with the system (435T), *with* a delayed part (4850 GPU), and I also ordered the system with a 25% off coupon.  I originally order 2/26 (with a 20% off coupon) - canceled and re-ordered on 3/1 (25%off - upgraded the video card) and received my system on 3/19. 

From what I can tell of reading this thread, the 435MT, in particular, has experienced massive delays (your scenario being no different).  I'm not sure what, exactly, the delays are attributed to, however, as I've heard everything from 435MT case shortages, to processor shortages, to "standard" keyboard shortages.

With regards to the 435T - I'm not that surprised that there are some delays with the unit - primarily due to the expectation that there would be some assumed delays just based on the fact that it's a "new" system.  Unfortunately, for some people, it's turned into a longer delay than others.  I ordered pretty much the "base" system that was offered on the site - the only modification that I made to the order was the addition of the 4850.  IMHO - if you have an order (for the 435T - the 435MT - I think is just currently have more production issues than can be explained) that has anything but the basics (i.e. Blu-Ray, Wireless keyboard, etc.) - then you're probably in a wait queue for those particular parts.

Remember - Dell actually ORDERS the parts you select to build YOUR system.  If there's anything affecting delivery to Dell of even one of those parts - your system will be delayed as well.

With regards to Dell's CS department - I'd have to somewhat agree with you there... The "Dell" that I ordered my original PC from 8 years ago is not the "Dell" of today.  And in order for the "Dell" of today to make it in this market / economy - I firmly believe that they need to address it.  I own/use PC's from HP, Acer, and Dell.  I've also had just as bad service from these companies as well (HP - bleh - Acer = non-existant).  My next purchase will probably be determined more by customer service than solely price/performance.