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My Horrible Dell Experience
As the title suggests, I am going to share ongoing issues that I am experiencing with my Dell XPS 8500. I bought it a little over 2 months ago. Here I go...
It all started about a week after I purchased the computer. The hard drive started to become really loud constantly when using the computer. I called Dell, and they went ahead and replaced it. At about the same time, the computer suddenly stopped recognizing the graphics card. I contacted Dell, they replaced that. Everything was fine for about 1 week after that. And believe it or not, the hard drive again started to make nonstop noises whenever operating the computer. It became so unbearable that I decided to go ahead and not use the computer at all. I called Dell once more and after much convincing, had them replace the computer for me.
About 1 week later, I received the computer, inside of it was an Nvidia 620 GPU. The computer I was using had a Radeon HD 7570 - a much better card for gaming. This is one of the reasons I bought the computer in the first place. After calling Dell and being transferred from one call to the next, they finally agreed to have a technician come by my house and swap the card.
From there, everything was fine up to today (about 1 week later), I purchased a new Acer 23" 1920x1080p monitor. Everything looked very small on the monitor. I Googled for a while and discovered that I need to change the UI scale (or something like that) in the Catalyst Control Panel. For some reason, this panel wasn't installed on the computer. In the Device Manager, the Radeon HD 7570 appeared with no problem whatsoever, just the Control Panel was missing. I used Dell's live chat to contact someone. He went ahead and uninstalled all of the GPU related drivers. However, he was unable to reinstall them. Suddenly, the support technician disconnected from the remote access. He never called me back, and I didn't get an email from him.
During this time I also found out that my CD drive didn't open for some odd reason. Again, I contacted someone via the online support. After doing a lot of testing, he said that I needed the following parts replaced: My motherboard, Graphics Card, Power Supply, and Optical Drive. Pretty much everything except for the case and the hard drive in the computer. I asked if I could simply get another full system replacement. The support technician said I could - but I would get the downgraded Nvidia card. He said that the previous replacement for the card (for the last replacement) was just a "courtesy" from them. I find this just plain unfair. If I were to send to Dell a Radeon HD 7570 card, I expect you guys to send me back a system with a Radeon HD 7570 card. NOT a card that belongs in a netbook.
This is where it all stands right now. I am getting all of the indicated parts replaced. I am absolutely with Dell. I will never be doing any business with them whatsoever. I am also advising anyone reading this also heads this warning. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that my family, friends, and colleagues never buy Dell products - unless this is all fixed.
Alexander11
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March 22nd, 2013 14:00
A technician came to my house just a few minutes ago. He replaced the motherboard, graphics card, power supply, and optical drive. The graphics card is STILL not being detected by the computer. This is just ridiculous.
rdunnill
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March 22nd, 2013 14:00
If you're not gaming, then a replacement unit is the most expedient solution.
RoHe
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March 22nd, 2013 17:00
Are you -perhaps- connecting the monitor to the on-board VGA output port which is disabled when there's an add-in PCI-e video card installed, or just not available if certain lower end Intel CPUs are installed in this system? The VGA port can be enabled in BIOS setup if you want to connect a second monitor.
The first monitor can be connected to the video card by DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort, depending on what ports are available on the specific card. If the DVI port on the card is DVI-i you can also use a VGA input on the monitor with a suitable DVI-i>VGA adaptor on the cable.
What input port are you using on the monitor? And do you know this monitor actually works?
Have you removed the graphics card and tried the on-board VGA output?
Alexander11
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March 22nd, 2013 17:00
No, it's connected to the graphics card. The technician verified this. He tried to configure things in the BIOS setup, and we tried it on a different monitor.
The monitor works on other computers with no problems.
The technician has tried all of that.
Alexander11
17 Posts
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March 24th, 2013 22:00
Then why the did Dell sell me a computer with a graphics card that does not work? In this case, I simply don't understand how Dell manages to maintain a business. If the graphics card that they sell me doesn't work in their own computer, then they shouldn't have sold it to me in the first place. I deserve their sincerest apologies and a prompt refund. Is this not fair?
Alexander11
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March 24th, 2013 22:00
You are acting as if Dell is a perfect company with perfect products. The truth of the matter is, their ratings are still very bad. It is not just me that is experiencing issues with them. I'm happy for you that you like Dell so much, however after this experience I will not be buying any more Dell products. I really just hope that Dell will stop playing games with me, and give me a refund. I have proof of all the problems I am experiencing. Like I said earlier, the technician who came to my house was shocked to see that the computer was still not detecting the card. Please stop trying to reassure me that Dell is a fantastic company. It's not.
rdunnill
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March 24th, 2013 22:00
rdunnill
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March 24th, 2013 22:00
Dell makes good machines: you won't find eight-year-old Apples working with the latest version of OSX, but you will find eight-year-old Dells working with the latest Windows.
I don't know why this XPS 8500 is causing so much trouble; it's like no machine I've ever worked on.
Alexander11
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March 24th, 2013 23:00
I understand that, I'm getting in touch with the seller on Ebay. When I was talking to Dell about getting a refund from the seller though, they seemed to be very upset about it. They said that either way the process would still come to them or something. They tried a lot to convince me not to contact the ebay seller. This whole post was mainly to describe my frustration towards the process and quality of Dell computers.
The power supply is made by Dell, the RAM is no name brand, the motherboard is no name brand. The technician wasn't able to get the malfunctioning parts functioning several times. I honestly feel bad for the guy having to come to my house twice a week at this point replacing parts and then watching them not work. The only thing he can do is leave a note that it is still not working and that he saw it not work. I would LOVE it to be the end of the story - but it's not. I feel cheated on the warranty. What am I supposed to do, keep having to take a day off of work to have a technician come and replace parts until the warranty ends? I feel like Dell is just playing games with me. They have no clue what they're doing. The computer STILL doesn't work properly at this point.
rdunnill
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March 24th, 2013 23:00
If you bought the computer on eBay, you won't get a refund through Dell. That comes from your eBay seller.
As for Dell products, they tend to be made from parts sourced from the same OEMs that Apple, HP and others use. A technician should be able to get a malfunctioning Dell (or other machine) functioning after replacing all the innards. End of story.
rdunnill
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March 25th, 2013 00:00
Dell doesn't make its own parts. They're made by the big OEM suppliers like Foxconn.
I'm tempted to buy an XPS 8500 motherboard just to see for myself how much work it is to get it functioning, but it's $150 and that is without the IO shield.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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March 25th, 2013 07:00
Alexander,
I now own this. Let me start by saying that there will not be any system upgrade nor will there be a refund. You never actually bought the system from us. Your refund should have come from the ebay seller way back when you first had issues, not us. If you legally through Dell transferred the ownership from the ebay seller into your name, then we will uphold that warranty for parts replacement only. I am locking this public thread. Via private message (click my username and then click Start Conversation) send me the following information =
Email Address:
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Computer Service Tag Number: