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193670
Dell XPS 17 (L701X) - Does it live up to its design for customers?
Hi,
Let me start off by saying that I have been a faithful Dell purchaser, user, and hardware endorser for over 15 years. I am a programmer and developer by trade and have 20 years behind me and clients that rely on my recommendations to locate and purchase good products. I am starting to have serious doubts about the support from Dell on their own product line.
I purchased a Dell XPS 17-L701X with the express requirement that the RAM has an upgrade path from 4 GB to at least 16GB... when purchased it was and still has a maximum capacity of 16 GB... the trouble is Dell does NOT SUPPORT the 2x8GB chip sets.
HISTORY:
Purchased Dell Laptop XPS 17-L701X with 4GB Ram, Windows 7 (64bit) - November 2010
I contacted Dell support last week (Friday) and with the technician reviewed the supported size and he confirmed the 16GB RAM in 4 x4gb chips is what my mother-board needed. I purchased the chips... so far great service
The chips arrived Tuesday and today I tried to install them with the help of TS... bad move!!! It turns out that this mother-board only has 2 slots for RAM... Dell does NOT support the 2x8GB RAM sets... Dead stop with no solution being offered by Dell
It turns out that not long after starting the build of the XPS machines there was a design change. It seems they knew then that it turned out to be unsupportable for RAM and Video... Dell re-designed the Mother-Board to now use 4x4GB RAM & a 3GB Video chip... no notice was sent out to existing buyers of the change
The options I was given by Level 1 TS, which are unacceptable, are
- Purchase & have uncertified 3rd party 2x8GB Ram chips installed
- Upgrade the mother-board from Dell (to the version 2) for $800 (this would provide support for the 4x4GB Ram)
Both of which would incurr additional out of pocket expenses on my part. Over and above my original purshase price and original upgrade costs.
I find neither option acceptable as...
- will end up and a war of finger pointing where I end up with a busted laptop.
- I buy a new machine when this one should be able to last me at least 3 years if not 4-5!
What do I expect from Dell?
- Provide me with 2x8GB RAM chips
- Replace the mother-board so Dell can & will support the 16 GB Ram promised.
Bay Wolf
4.4K Posts
1
December 21st, 2011 22:00
I found this on Dells website for the XPS 17
Up to 16GB dual channel DDR3 memory with i7 processors; up to 8GB dual channel DDR3 memory with i3 and i5 processors 1066MHz memory standard with i3 and i5 processors; 1333MHz standard with i7 processor
It's on the Spec tab under Memory
www.dell.com/.../xps-17
Apparently it is processor dependent on whether it will accept a maximum of 16GB or 8GB.
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 12:00
Hi,
Let me start off by saying that I have been a faithful Dell purchaser, user, and hardware endorser for over 15 years. I am a programmer and developer by trade and have 20 years behind me and clients that rely on my recommendations to locate and purchase good products. I am starting to have serious doubts about the support from Dell on their own product line.
I purchased a Dell XPS 17-L701X with the express requirement that the RAM has an upgrade path from 4 GB to at least 16GB... when purchased it was and still has a maximum capacity of 16 GB... the trouble is Dell does NOT SUPPORT the 2x8GB chip sets.
HISTORY:
Purchased Dell Laptop XPS 17-L701X with 4GB Ram, Windows 7 (64bit) - November 2010
I contacted Dell support last week (Friday) and with the technician reviewed the supported size and he confirmed the 16GB RAM in 4 x4gb chips is what my mother-board needed. I purchased the chips... so far great service
The chips arrived Tuesday and today I tried to install them with the help of TS... bad move!!! It turns out that this mother-board only has 2 slots for RAM... Dell does NOT support the 2x8GB RAM sets... Dead stop with no solution being offered by Dell
It turns out that not long after starting the build of the XPS machines there was a design change. It seems they knew then that it turned out to be unsupportable for RAM and Video... Dell re-designed the Mother-Board to now use 4x4GB RAM & a 3GB Video chip... no notice was sent out to existing buyers of the change
The options I was given by Level 1 TS, which are unacceptable, are
Both of which would incurr additional out of pocket expenses on my part. Over and above my original purshase price and original upgrade costs.
I find neither option acceptable as...
What do I expect from Dell?
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 15:00
Sorry no "send message"...
I click on signature and I get the jpg image only...
I click on your name on the header and I get your detail page with "My Stuff" lower down the page... but No "send message".
What am I missing here?
Phill
DELL-Terry B
3.5K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 15:00
SquireDude
I am sorry to read of the misinformation. To my knowledge the XPS L701x had four dimm slots and could use up to 16 gb of memory. If you would like for me to research this further please shoot me a private message with the service tag of the notebook, your contact info and any case numbers that you may have received from tech support and I will be happy to take a look.
TB
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 15:00
How do I Email you directly?
Sorry first time I have had to use the forum!
Phill
DELL-Terry B
3.5K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 15:00
Just click on my signature and then click send message.
TB
Bay Wolf
4.4K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 17:00
Terry,
It does appear that the Dell XPS 17 (L701X) Motherboard has four slots. On th one side, it says DIMM A and DIMM B and the other DIMM socket says DIMM C and DIMM D.
Bay Wolf
4.4K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 17:00
SquireDude
To send him a message, click on
Then click on "Start Conversation".
Bay Wolf
4.4K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 18:00
My notebook only has half of what the picture shows. My notebook only supports 2 DIMMS and not 4. They actually stack on top of each other. Here is a picture of a XPS 17 (L702X) which is very similar to yours. Notice how the DIMMS are on top of each other.
Click on the image for a full size view.
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 18:00
Hi Bay Wolf,
I had seen this and just checked again. There socket is NOT a double socket, it DOES say Dimm A, B, or Dimm C, D as you note... So does this mean that the other 2 sockets are on the opposing side? Under the keyboard side of the MB? This socket does not accept 2 boards.
Phill
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 18:00
Thanks also for the pointer on using the "start conversation" button.
Bay Wolf
4.4K Posts
0
December 21st, 2011 21:00
I found another picture that shows the slots for the DIMMS.
In this picture there are only two DIMMS installed but if you look close enough, you will see the other two empty slots.
I also found another post in another forum where the user said that he had only 2 DIMMS installed when he received it from Dell. They were installed in the A and C slot which are the top slots hiding the two underneath. You may have the same situation - the two bottom slots are hidden.
DELL-Terry B
3.5K Posts
0
December 22nd, 2011 08:00
So I have researched a little further, and found that XPS L701X notebooks did have two memory configurations depending on the video card. If the 3 gb video card was selected the system board would have 4 memory slots, if the one gb video card was selected the system would only have 2 memory slots.
I am sorry for the misinformation, but to get four memory slots on the notebook, Squire Dude you would have needed to order the upgraded video card.
TB
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 22nd, 2011 08:00
Of course it is hard to determine what was offered at the time of purchase but I do NOT believe that the i7 was an option it seems to me that Dell changed their design as the original design could NOT BE SUPPORTED. The new version of the motherboard does seem to support what it brags about.
This machine is now essentially useless to me... I am a developer and my machine is my lively hood and essential to making a living. If I can no longer rely of Dell to support its own design specifications at the time of release then is should offer a FREE upgrade to the machine it offered and I expected to purchase.
I have no choice now but to do my best top make sure my voice is herd that Dell no longer supports is designs and technical specifications and leaves it customers hanging with useless machines that can not be upgraded as designed and supported. As I stated at the beginning with Dell's refusal to support its own design specifications I am now forced to withdraw Dell from my Preferred Vendor list and make sure it is OFF everyone's vendor list that I can.
Thanks
Phillip J. Seaman
SquireDude
20 Posts
0
December 22nd, 2011 08:00
Hi Bay Wolf,
I ran the Dell Support Center and it tells me that I have an i5 CPU but the Bus Speed is 133MHz and that the RAM is 4.00 of a supported 16.00GB running type DDR3-SDRAM (1333 MHz)...which confuses me as it a mixed answers for the i5 and i7?
I checked carefully and the RAM slots are NOT stacked they are single sockets...
The big issue for me is that when I originally purchased this machine it was with the express requirement that it have an RAM upgrade path to 16GB or better. Dell's own Software reports it as supporting 16GB Ram and so I need to have the motherboard exchanged for the correct one that DOES support 16GB Ram.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can resolve this issue without having to resort to messy and unpleasant battles?
Phill