XPS 730x General Hardware Discussion thread

Mark, yes, I've had posts in this thread removed by Dell - and yes it was extremely frustrating.

To be fair here, one of the posts contained my e-mail address (I was pleading for somebody at Dell in America to write me and help me out). Dell apparently doesn't want us supplying e-mail addresses in the event that we might provide a false address that doesn't belong to us. Okay, fair enough.

Another post, however, seemed to be deleted for no reason whatsoever, other than the simple fact that I had written about the incompetence of Dell's Customer Support, and also about how my estimated shipment date, before I ordered the computer, was automatically re-adjusted as soon as Dell got my money - in one second my estimated shipment date went from 5 days to two weeks. Later on it went from two weeks to a month, although I had to phone eight... yes that's correct... eight times in order to find that out. Dell should've notified me of this delay themselves. Customers shouldn't have to go digging for that information, especially when the order is over two thousand dollars.

When that post got deleted, yeah, I was angry. Really angry.

I'm hoping that my Alienware X58 will be great - but there's a part of me that still wishes I could've gotten the 730x, as I believe it's a great machine. The thing is, I was having such a difficult time with the Customer Care Reps in India (I phoned eight times over the course of a month) that I reasoned - if something is wrong with this machine upon arrival then it's possibly going to be a nightmare to get somebody to acknowledge my problem... I'd maybe better cancel this order.

The straw that finally broke the camel's back for me was when one of the Customer Service Reps in India lied to me. He told me that my order would be arriving on Monday. It was Thursday, and I pointed out to him that my computer hadn't even been built yet, and that I was in Canada, and that the Dell plant was in Texas, and that there was no way a computer could be built and then shipped and delivered in that amount of time. He then said, suddenly, that, oh, he had 'new information from America': my order, he said, would be arriving in another two weeks. At that point I realized he was just making stuff up. 

You can't do business with liars. That's what my father used to say all the time. At that point I cancelled the order. At that point I'd had enough. I sure hope that Dell gets its act together, because I once loved this company - and I'd love to order from them again in the future.

Honestly, that 730x - it looks like an amazing, amazing machine. 

Oh well, maybe next time.

(And for what it's worth, my Alienware X58, shockingly, has just shipped! I just ordered the thing last week!)

WabeWalker100,

I am glad to hear you are finally getting your system.  I hope that it works well for your needs.  And yes, I am furious with Dell over their declining integrity.  I had no idea that Dell censored or removed postings -- live and learn.  I seem to be doing a lot of that lately with Dell.  They are not the company they once were.  If they did not have the best computer systems, I would look elsewhere.  I'll live with the problems that my computer has, they are minor, it's just I paid for a new working system out of the box, not one that was defective and had to be repaired.  I still have minor issues with my alienware lighting system, and rear fan does not work.  Nevertheless, when all is said and done, complaints and all, I will probably buy another down the road.  The xps 730x is the fastest computer I have ever used.  I just wish that the Dell tech support and customer service were as good.

Have fun with your new computer system.

Mark

Mark, I hear ya.

I just wish that Dell would hear us!

We're not saying that we hate Dell products - it's the exact opposite of that. Most of us have had superb experiences with Dell in the past, and would like to continue to do business with them in the future. It's just that when a problem does arise it now SEEMS that nobody at Dell is there to provide us with assistance. (I got very, very frustrated while talking to one of the Customer Service Reps in India, and started shouting at him, which is something I've never done over the phone - in hindsight, I'm a bit disappointed with myself for having lost my cool like that... I mean, I was really, really mad).

But in my opinion, if your rear fan isn't working, then Dell should get that fixed. That fan must be there for a reason, right? Well, it should probably be fixed then? (What do other people think of this - how important is it that his rear fan be functioning?)

As far as the lighting is concerned - in my opinion, that's just a cosmetic enhancement, and I wouldn't worry about it at all. Quite to the contrary, with the lights off, the XPS 730X, in my opinion, is an awesome looking machine. On that particular machine - again, just my opinion here - the lights make the system look a bit goofy. I like the clean, aluminum look of that case, with the black plastic on the front. Me, I would've turned the lights off right away. And I would've left them off.

Still, your problem with the fan sounds fairly minor - maybe you could visit an enthusiasts forum and ask for help, and fix the fan yourself? In the end, I think you've got a great system there. The 730x is the most amazing computer that Dell has ever put together - it's odd because the quality of the product has actually risen, whereas the quality of the service has gone down? 

I found the dell chat support easier than phone.

I used Dell chat and it was fine accept it took 2 hours to determine what I told them in the first 2 minutes.  My card reader has never worked since I got my system, they sent me a card reader that did not have bluetooth (and was refurbished) and then sent me a card reader that is bluetooth (also refurbished) for me to install.  Why are they sending a customer who purchased a brand new 730x refurbished parts for those that have never worked?  Simply does not make any logical sense.  And why do they have these forums if none of the concerns that are outlined within said forum are ever addressed by Chris who I am assuming is charged with addressing said concerns.  Unfortunately this forum has become a great tool for perspective Dell 730x purchasers to consider another brand of computer.

VonCarlos,

Is there something specific in that "wiki" that we should be reading? By the way, posting the same message in multiple threads is spamming.

All,
Doing any of the following will result in your post being deleted. You will get an email describing the violation.
1. Using character substitution to circumvent the profanity filter.
2. Unauthorized solicitation (gathering information against Dell, spamming, advertising).
3. Providing Dell employee name, email, phone number, case number, tracking number, customer number, order number, service tag number.
4. Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, vulgar, profane, explicit, obscene, racially or ethnically offensive.

The Liaison role is not to supplant technical support. Our role is to gather the data, look for trends and send it up the line. We also will intercede if technical support fails twice to resolve an issue.

The bluetooth media card reader is actually here for $56.

I also notticed Dell is not giving an option for SLI GTX 280's anymore.

Anyone know why not?

Hi Fellow XPSians :)

Just to check, is your booting up slow?

I mean at the first screen, the one with the 730x bar, not the Vista loading bar.

Thing is, after i reformatted, the boot up seems slower due to the loading of the first bar.....I did not change any other settings in BIOS.

I did installed the Matrix Storage Manager, JMicorn and Silicin Integrated Systems driver....these are meant to be install correct?

Thanks  in advance.

Yes Very slow boot

Yes - they all boot up VERY slow and hopefully there will be a BIOS update that will address this.  To date after multiple postings, I have yet to see anyone from Dell address this obvious issue.

1.0.1 Bios is much faster, it is supposed to be coming soon. I had my motherboard replaced and I have the new Bios version.

Yes, that first screen after booting/rebooting is too darn slow.   10-15 seconds is way too slow and I hope a BIOS revision fixes it.