L702X USB Problems

Hi,

I've had my L702x (non 3d) for about 18 months, but it has always had USB problems, in that it won't stay connected for long to anything and transfers are painfully slow on the USB 3 ports, mostly well below USB 2 speeds.

After much reading, I have found that there seems to be an issue with this laptop and its USB daughter board, which makes sense as the eSATA/ USB port on the right hand side stays connected just fine.

Tried all available drivers, system restore, fresh install of Win7 x64 from disc, latest drivers and latest BIOS but the issues still persist.

As I'm outside of warranty, but had this issue from new, and as it is a known issue with this laptop, will Dell either send out the parts or fix it for me? 

Any help will be much appreciated, thanks :)