XPS8700 Issues; need feedback

Yes mine does almost immediately after turn on. It's a very soft short single beep. Seemed normal to me (not a loud long beep that indicates trouble) and the computer runs fine. I was concerned about your previous post (I think it was yours) about returning one because of this. Did you exchange the 8700 for another one or are you just following up? I did update the bios from A01 to A03, if that is relevant. My 8700 was purchased in August and has been running fine for 2 months. 

Edit-- A Single beep is not significant according to the the beep codes. A Repetitive single beep means a motherboard problem. Beep codes are HERE

That must be why some techs are giving incorrect info and Dell Support should correct this. A problem would be-- one beep, a pause, another beep another pause and so on.

I returned the XPS8700...since I could not get a positive response to the issue, and, I had a few days left w/I the 30 Day free return policy......and quite honestly I got the feeling Dell didn't care.....I decided I did not want to invest my money with dell and take a chance I might have a defective PC.  The 30 Day return Policy runs from the day the 1st PC was mailed...in my case, the 1st XPS8700 mailed was the wrong Build....it came with an i5 whereas I ordered and paid for an i7.....and yet even the error was Dell's....and I lost 8 days of the free return time...which didn't make me happy at all.  It did not seem to phase anyone I spoke to at Dell when I called to report they sent me the wrong PC.  Something is simply not right at Dell.....there are issues that need immediate attention.  Why should we...the customers....have to interrupt right from wrong....the Experts at Dell should be.....and they could not in my case.  

I experienced diagnosing a Power On Beep issue with a friends PC...also a Dell....it was 6 beeps...Video card issue and those beeps did not repeat....you got the 6 beeps....one time. 

That's scary when you have the manufacturer representatives giving you that many different stories. I am having the same problem and will see what response I get from them. I have the same outlook on this as you do. Thanks for posting this,  I am a more informed consumer thanks to your input.

Hi all,

Sorry for the confusion arising for this. For this particular model, only repeated beep codes indicate an error condition. One single beep will indicate that the system has passed POST tests and can continue to boot to the installed operating system.

I'm sorry that the issues experienced by denmarfl resulted in them feeling they had to return their system but I'd like to reassure you that a single beep for this system is normal and will not affect the performance of this system.

Kind regards,
John C

Not to drag this out, but in my situation Dell handled the matter very poorly.  I as wrote, I spoke with 5 dell Support techs, a1 a Supr another a Manager (and these 2 people where referred to me by Dell Executive Customer Service).......these 2 high level Dell Techs informed me my 8700 issue, one beep.....indicated a Bad Motherboard.  In fact, I made the final decision based on what these 2 Dell techs told me.  I mean, being told this from a Supr and a manager.....why shouldn't I believe it as the truth.

I purchased the 8700 when it was offered at a very great price and so I lost out because if I where to re-purchase it now I would pay more.  I am extremely anger with Dell over this matter.  I should be able to contact a tech person at Dell and all should be able to give me one correct answer especially on an issue like this....something that occurs every time the PC Powered On.....  This wasn't an intermittent issue, this wasn't something that really in my opinion required a lot of research or high level tech to diagnose....

Sorry, but reading yet another reply from John C .....after my experience gives me no more proof the One beep is correct because of my past contacts on this matter.  There mist be something in writing as the source, that should be provided by link in this Post.  Furthermore, there are other Posts in this community regarding this same issue, any of which end by the customer being told the 8700's Motherboard is bad....

As Mary and John already said, a single beep at POST is normal. If the motherboard were faulty, it wouldn't boot to the Windows desktop.  

And if the motherboard was faulty, you wouldn't get just one, and only one, beep. You'd get a series of repeated single beeps, separated by a bit of time. 1 beep - 1 beep - 1 beep, just like you'd get a repeated series of beeps for other error codes, eg, 2 beeps - 2 beeps - 2 beeps...

In the olden days most PCs gave a single beep when they completed the POST.  (My Dimension 8400 beeps once at every boot, even after 10 years of daily use.)  And if they didn't beep once, they failed the POST. Guess that feature was brought back for the XPS 8700.

John, thanks for trying to help but I just received a reply to the ticket I had opened up with Dell tech support and they are saying that I will need to replace the motherboard and will be glad to set up a time for a tech to come and replace  it. I think maybe you should go over to the (XPS8700 short beep) post and read some more on this. I am so confused by the confusion at Dell! I can understand now what the original poster was referring to!!!! Looks like I will be returning my system also.

I am very disappointed that after all this time.....and at least 10 Dell Tech Support people involved regarding this issue thru calls, email contacts, and this POST that the matter is no where closer to getting resolved as to what is the right answer than it was 3 months ago when I decided to Return my 8700 under the No hassle\Free Return shipping Dell Policy.  Surely enough people at Dell have been involved that all should now be providing the "Right" answer...whether it be this is a Normal Startup beep or, its indicative of a Bad motherboard As was told to BeepsWhirls 11/6....  Its clear Dell still isn't getting this one right.........whatever right in this case is!  I'm just glad I decided to return my 8700.

I have an 8300, its only a few years older than the 8700.....it does not MAKE any Beeps at Startup. 

Reading BeepsWhirl Posts he wrote exactly the same issue and the same responses I got, I don't understand how you can write our two explanations are confusing.

He wrote One beep at Power on, same as my issue.

He wrote tech informed him he had a bad Motherboard, same answer I got from 3 out of 5 Dell techs I was in contact with before I returned the 8700.

Like I wrote in my recent Posts, its 3 months since I went thru this and you would have thought by now thois issue would have gotten corrected so that ALL the dell Support where responding to others with the ONE correct answer answer...and it is obvious that is not happening.

The recent case by BeepsWhirl proves that.......Dell should care "plenty" because I wonder how many MB have been replaced in the 8700's that should have?  What might be the Costs to dell for these replacements....but bigger yet is, how many customer, like me, because of this has lost faith in the Dell brand and I have been loyal to that brand for over 24 years, have owned over 10 Dell PC's, currently have 4 Dell PC's in my home......

I saw you request for emails......  Are you are Dell Tech Employee and your title...please.  If you are employed by Dell and really want to dig into this I am more than willing to assist....but I will need you to Post your Email (your Dell email.or your Dell Phone # and Ext ) and I will contact you via that email.

I purchased the 8700 because I wanted a new PC, it was very disappointing when the 1st 8700 I received was the WRONG Build....it was a less expensive build....and that didn't make me happy.  But having to send it back because I couldn't get the ONE right answer to the Power ON BEEP issue, inexcusable from one of the largest PC manufacturers in the world.   

Thank You, I hope BeepsWhirl and myself have now am ally at Dell.....time will tell.

Hi Denmarfl,

Sorry, looks like my reply was also confusing! I was apologising for the confusion caused by you receiving incorrect information rather than saying your reply caused confusion.

What I'll do is send my Dell e-mail to you by private message, you can then send me an e-mail and I'll respond to this - hopefully that will be sufficient proof for you that I am a Dell employee.

I can certainly understand the frustration that you've experienced, not only with the answers you received from technical support but also from the incorrect order as well. This is why I want to investigate and make sure that this does not happen again in future.

Thanks again for all your time and I look forward to receiving an e-mail from you.

I have a Dell XPS 8700 and this thing is junk. First one crashed bad after a couple days. Returned that and the one I have now did the same thing....Dell support turned into people that provide lip service not solutions.