To Inspiron 9200 Owners:

Did you buy the "in-home" warranty service? Or did you only have the "mail-in" warranty service?


I am curious to know if Dell covered the cost of the in-home swap, or if you are simply getting the service that you pre-paid for and would normally expect.

I see the 9200 WUXGA "sparkle" screen problem as a disasterous failure on the part of Dell's Q.A. department. The 9200 is Dell's first (and so far only) 17" laptop screen -- they should have been very careful about supplying a quality LCD screen to their customers. If Dell is correcting this for free, then I can forgive them (mistakes happen). But if the only thing you got was the hassle of fixing a broken screen on your brand new laptop, then Dell has some explaining to do.

In home warranty. No hassle, good support. By the way, the other screen wasn't broken,
just hard to read.

I can vouch for Rufasdedog's "good service"   I received my 9200 with the W5412 screen in mid December.   I complained via e-mail and after a couple of e-mail exchanges they agreed to replace the panel. At that time I did not know about the Samsung Y4014.   Just 48 hrs after I sent my original complaint there was a tech in my home replacing the panel.  You cannot get much better service than that.

The Y4014 screen still has the antireflection coating, but it is much much better than the original W5412, which by the way was made by LG Phillips.

Sounds like the service is better in the States than in the UK. I got mine at the beginning of Dec, complained, they sent an engineer who swapped the screen for an identical one, swapped the machine for another one only to find exactly the same problem, called tech support to tell them that they needed to replace it with a samsung screen, wait 3 days to hear from them only to be told today that "there's nothing wrong with the Philips screen" and that they won't replace it.

I feel like strangling someone....

I just tried to order a replacement screen.

The tech support guy told me that his replacement part ordering system didn't list the Y4014 Samsung monitor in his "compatible parts list" that he could choose to service the warranty under. He only had my (bad screen) part number available.

I spent 6 hours on the phone over two days trying to get a replacement part Y4014. I'm convinced it can't be done, and so I am returning my 9200. (I'm in the United States.)

I can't even begin to tell you how badly I wanted that laptop. I've wanted this since the Apple 17" laptops came out.

To be fair, a "Manager" is supposed to call me tomorrow; but I've already spoken to one "Manager" and one "acting Manager", so I am skeptical of making any progress.

I am looking at 9200 with the W5412 screen. I don't see any sparkles? What resolution are you using? What drivers have you tried? Do you see it in safemode?

Message Edited by DELL-ChrisM on 01-14-2005 08:02 AM

Both the i9200's i've had have been W4554. And its nothing to do with the drivers or the resolution (the picture is crystal clear on an external monitor) it is because of the anti-glare coating of the screen. Have a look at a W4554. Also have a look at the comparison between my i9200 with W4554 and a Inspiron 1000
http://www.granite.34sp.com/dell/

Do you think that is acceptable?

ChrisM, if you can't see the frosting on the screen then there are indeed several variants of that particular screen. My W5412 is distinctly frosted, no doubt. Next to my old Inspiron 8000 UXGA it looks terrible, like there's a plastic wrap over it. It's ok when watching DVD's but for word processing, it's almost useless.

Chris M,

Please view this offsite forum. It gives pictures and LOTS of customer complaints and information (such as all the different Part Numbers) regarding the LG Philips screen.

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=55769

It also says there that Part Number W5412 is sometimes shipped as the bad LG Philips screen, and sometimes shipped with the good Samsung screen. That would explain why Chris M does not see the "sparkles".

Please see this other thread on the Dell Community Support Forum:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=127857

It has additional details.

Unfortunately for me, the laptop I would have gotten had Part Number W5409, which is always the broken Philips screen.


The customer dissatisfaction on the 9200 is 40% on the CNET forums due to this screen problem. You'd think that would catch Dell's attention.

any one having part no D8987? How it goes with ? Do they have frosted/sparkly effect? My Y7116=W4554 by get-edid will be replaced by D8987.

D8987 is the Y4014 kit, so you are in good shape!!:smileyvery-happy:

Chris,
You could be looking at a W5412 screen that's a Samsung display not Phillips LG. I am just heartbroken that my hubby spent around $2000 for this laptop to surprise me, and everything I look at is like looking at something with a frosted pane of glass in front of it. Explain why my packing slip says I have part W5412 and then when I go to DELL website and place my service tag number in, it says I have part #W4554, which is supposed to be the worst of the worst display by Phillips LG. This laptop is my first, and I am so upset with this. Called customer care several times but it was no help in trying to get this replaced with a screen I can actually see. DELL forced us to have to by an extra flat panel display, just so I can view anything on this laptop. This disgusts me, and we are very good DELL customers giving this company a lot of business. In my opinion, you are the worst company to deal with. Why would you force us to buy another display after we spent $2000 on this laptop. Those of you who claim that you have received excellent service, you are leaving out a very important fact; that you purchased the extra warranty at an additional $300 for on site service. Please include all the facts when posting, and don't mislead. Those of us who did not purchase that extra warranty are stuck. If I am incorrect and you received this great service and did not have the extra on-site warranty, then fill in the blanks please, and let us poor unfortunate souls know who exactly to contact, names, extension numbers, etc. Thanks.

I have summarized my experience with this problem here:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_video&message.id=127970

Hope that helps.


Thanks,
Derek