XPS 730x System Exchange

Good question. I am actually in the same boat as you are right now. They are going to exchange my system within the next week.

My specs are:

XPS 730x Stealth Blue Anodized

Intel Core i7 965

6GB DDR3 Ram

XPS H2C Cooling

Dual 9800 GT's

2x 750GB in RAID 0

XFI Titanium

What system did you end up getting? I am anxious to know, because I dont want to end up with a studio XPS.

Any updates on what either of you got? I have a similarly configured XPS 710 they're replacing, no word yet on what I'll get, and I'm a little nervous about what it might be.

We've got a thread going where a couple of us are anxiously awaiting word on what we'll get, all with 710s. One even asked for a 730x from the outlet store, they said no, and that they were getting him an Aurora. But he has no word on any details.

I've got a quad core extreme edition (overclocked, etc). My big concerns are matching the SLI 8800 GTXs (which still perform very well), the 1KW power supply, the expensive hard drives, etc. I also had some parts like a dual tuner TV card and a PhysX card that they no longer offer. No idea how they'll handle that.

Any idea how they figure out what's comparable? How can we talk to someone to make these requests? All I get is 'we don't know, call back in a week'. I've read another message where a customer was shipped Studio 8100 without him even being notified, and was most unhappy with that as a replacement. How do we avoid this?

Edit:

Here's my specs for comparison:

Core2 Extreme quad core overclocked to 3.2GHz

4GB of ram

Dual 768MB GeForce 8800 GTX

Raid 0 dual 10,000 RPM drives (160gb each)

2x DVD drives (one writer and the other just a reader)

X-FI XtremeMusic

Ageia PhysX processor

1KW PSU

Combo TV tuner

XP media center. (Think they'll give 7 ultimate for that?)

I also had a Dell 715 that was 3 years old. I had a 4 year waranty. Dell offerred me an exchange. I ask for a credit on a new Alienware of my choice so I could control the spec's. Dell gave me a generous credit for the XPS 715 and a $100 credit for packing up the old XPS 715.

I was concerned that so many XPS 715 and 730's were dying and replacement parts (mother boards, power supply, and video card) could not be found so I was happy to get rid of the XPS 7`5.

I wanted a new PC any way so this is like a trade-in.

I got a Aurora ALX with a 1.8 GB GTX 295 video card which runs all my games and C++ compiler super.

I ended up getting an Alienware Area 51 for my exchange, with the specs in the sig. Not too bad.

I would assume since you are on a Core 2 Duo or Quad, they will most likely get you an Alienware Aurora, or maybe an Area 51 depending on your specs.

I know a person that ended up getting a 730x for his 720 H2C. It all depends on what they have in stock. In my case, since they had nothing comparable, they built me a brand new alienware instead.

Just hope for the best. You can make some requests too, such as case color etc if you picked a specific color on your XPS, but again, depending on their availability.

Was it their computer exchange program? I looked into that for giggles, and they were offering me like $275 or something for my system. Laughable, since a system with equivalent benchmarks would run at least $2000 or more, depending on what I put emphasis into. But, they said they'll exchange it anyway. I just don't know with what. Who did you talk to at dell about the credit/exchange?

I dont know exactly how much credit they would give you, but I would assume its not as much as the new system replacement would be. My original XPS 730x was only about $2900, which is still pretty expensive. My new Alienware is priced at a nice $4500 bucks, so I think they did a decent job. I had dual 9800GT's, that replaced my overheating 4850's, and now I ended up with a pair of 5870's instead. But I lost my Killer Network card, as there is not another PCIE slot. But they gave me a better CPU instead of my 965, and more RAM. So they compensate for pretty much everything.

I would just stick with the exchange. My system took exactly 1 month to arrive at my doorstep, so it will be a while. It takes 10-14 business days to process the exchange data and calculate all the components compared to your system, and another 10-14 busiiness days to build it, pack it, and ship it. They will probably send it by overnight shipment, which is what I got.

The My Tech Team was an optional thing I purchased with the XPS 730x that gets me straight to American Tech Support specializing in XPS and Alienware systems. You dont have to be transferred around to a dozen "departments" until they start working on your issue. No offense to them, but you dont have to deal with "indian" tech support. Its quite nice actually. you might want to call up and see if you can get it with the new Alienware system if you are interested.

I do have an H2C cooler in it. That's comforting to know it'd be an Alienware system at the least. But I've been told repeatedly I have to wait at least 15 days before I'll get any word on it, or even someone in charge of the exchange. Is the My Tech Team a special warranty thing you have? It wasn't offered when I got my machine, but I did have the best warranty offered at the time. XP Media Center was an extension of XP Ultimate, which is why I ask. But that's not a huge deal I guess.

I'm also curious about the credit for an Alienware option. I paid a -lot- of money for my system (basically the most money you could spend on one), so I'm wondering what they'd offer as credit. And, if that's faster, and I get to pick components and whatnot, might be the best way to go.

During my exchange process, I just talked to My Tech Team, and they asked me if I had any requests on Case Color, Lighting Color, etc. They did not allow me to pick the hardware, as they have a support team that calculates everything comparable to your system. Also, I would talk to the people in charge of your exchange and specify that you dont want to end up with a studio XPS, which is what I did.

This is exactly what the techs had told me: We will make sure that the new system is equivalent or better in any way possible. If you have an H2C Cooler, you pretty much automatically qualify for an Alienware, because they cant match liquid cooling in a Studio XPS machine.

My system was fairly newer, which is why I guess they got me an Area 51. But I know a couple people on another forum that got Brand New Aurora systems in exchange for their XPS 630's.

They also told me that if I recieve the system and I felt it is not really comparable to my original, they will work with you to correct it. Honestly, you guys have nothing to worry about really. If it ends up being an Alienware system, you might be waiting a while since they will probably building a new one for you.

This was their PC exchange program, but my system was replaced because they could not fix it, which is why they got me a new system.

For XP media center, they will probably get you windows 7 home premium or professional. I wouldnt be too sure about getting ultimate.

It was an option last year when I bought my XPS 730x. I wouldnt recommend buying it from the website, as it says its about $1k. LOL

I would just give them a call and ask about how you can purchase the warranty and service.

I'll definitely be looking at extending the warranty when I get the new system. Or if this takes too long, before hand. Mine ends in a month and a half. I do get routed to Indian XPS support, which has been more expedient. They're very polite and try to be helpful, but it doesn't seem like there's much they can do. But it only took about an hour and not much hassle for him to realize it was a bad motherboard and tell me they'll replace the whole system.

I spent about $6500 on my machine (I had a lot of money burning a hole in my pocket). Some of that was a big monitor and fancy mouse/keyboard, and taxes. Maybe $5500 on the machine itself. So I'm curious about what they might send. I'll play with Alienware's configuration thing and see what I come up with, trying to match things one for one. But, like I said, there's a couple of things they don't offer, which were kind of expensive upgrades.

How do you get My Tech Team? I didn't see any options for it on the Alienware site, or my Dell warranty upgrade options. Course, doesn't mean I didn't just overlook it.

I to have an XPS 710 that their replacing. i have no clue as to what i'm getting yet..i wasnt even offered any types of systems or configurations..all i was told was that i'll be getting an upgraded system.

Join us over here: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19323193/19680047.aspx#19680047 if you haven't already. Got a little thread going for people getting XPS 710s replaced, and no idea with what.