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Precision M6600 video chip died, expedite next business day support?
Hey, wanted to share my experience with Dell Precision M6600 laptop.
The story: about a year ago on a several month old laptop clutter on the screen, vertical lines, X icons in random places, parts of the screen changing places. F12, Diagnostics shows Error Code 2000-0332 Validation 99573 Msg: Video memory - Video memory integrity test discrepancy. Windows does not boot up even in safe mode. External monitor shows the same clutter on VGA or DVI connection. Docking station shows the same effect. Was happy to leverage next business day guarantee, a tech came and replaced the video chip which 2-3 hours job.
Spring 2013, same thing happens. Updated drivers, flashed BIOS, no luck. Tech comes again, replaces video chip and the motherboard. Laptop does not start and tech cannot initialize BIOS.
A week later the laptop goes to Dell return center and the motherboard and the video chip replaced, again (third time).
Summer 2013, international trip, the laptop dies with the same symptoms. Russia never heard about next day warranty, so it took about a week of downtime to get it fixed (4th time). Dell US could not help.
Three weeks ago. Again, surprise? Nothing was done to the laptop, it died on the table in the office. Now Dell says the video chip is the design flaw in Precision series and starts the replacement procedure... to a newer model. Two weeks downtime with partially working laptop. This reminds me m6400 where video chip gets disconnected from the motherboard.
Three days ago it dies completely in a customer meeting. Guess where the loyalty is now?
Tip 1: booting in VGA mode and disabling the video card leaves clutter on the screen, but it boots up.
Tip 2: cool it down, this helps.
Next business day support? Be ready it is up to 21 day you are left in limbo with non-operational system while waiting for a magical replacement. Not that they do not have them in shops...
Dell precision is not a laptop. I went through Thinkpads, multiple Asus models, Dell XPS, HP... and never had that repetitive hardware problems which cannot be solved in weeks with corporate level warranty. The place for Precision is on your desk in the office without any trips, even to a conference room. Battery life, overheating, two DVI, weight, USB 3.0 weird behavior. I am terrified what I am getting next (m6700 I guess).
Max
Dev Mgr
9.3K Posts
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October 30th, 2013 17:00
This just happened on a family member's laptop as well. It is an M6600 that came with the ATI FirePro M8900 videocard. The replacement card was several months on backlog, so they replaced the laptop, but that took 3-4 weeks.
I have an M6600 myself as well with that same ATI M8900 card and I'm dreading running into the same issue in the next 1.5-2 years (warranty time left (may extend it for a bit more peace of mind).
maxims45
5 Posts
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October 31st, 2013 13:00
Yeah... Do you think Dell could come up with some sort of how-to? A utility to prevent the chip overheating? Recommendations on what to do and what not to do?
maxims45
5 Posts
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November 3rd, 2013 15:00
Hello everyone! An update. The new M6700 came in. Moved files over, updated drivers, etc.
12 hours into the process:
No words... Video problem again? Do I run all kinds of tests? Ideas?
Rodrigo de Reze
2 Posts
0
November 8th, 2013 07:00
I had a similar issue (apparently they are having lots of problems with M6600) and they have also offered me a M6800 as a replacement system.
The 20 business days wait time is unacceptable, though. They could at least have offered a temporary replacement to try and honor the 24h service they are meant to provide.
maxims45
5 Posts
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December 15th, 2013 08:00
Just found this http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2008/07/25/nvidia-gpu-update-for-dell-laptop-owners.aspx "NVIDIA GPU Update for Dell Laptop Owners" which describes the same problem from 2008!
2008 to 2013... ???
EternalWorth
4 Posts
1
March 26th, 2015 07:00
I know this is an old post, so I apologize for "resurrecting an old thread". Wanted anyone who runs across this to know that L2ComputerInc.com fixes all motherboard issues for a flat fee of $109.95. A week w/out your notebook & $100 guaranteed fix is a ton better that what you all where experiencing. I, too, am a Precision m6600 owner, but a happy one, as that vendor repaired the m6600 I was working with & now it's bulletproof. This one was using the AMD ATI FirePro M8900 graphics card, but had wide blue vertical lines on the display, top to bottom, that wouldn't go away. Bottom line, motherboard issues. That's generally the one thing we normal IT/tech folk can't repair & those guys did an awesome job. Bam, no more worries. They are on eBay, as well, as laptop_mb_seller. Enjoy.