gedeyenite's Full Review: Alienware PC Systems M7700 PC Notebook
makes some very fast and fancy computer systems. However, you better pray to the god(s) of your choice that nothing ever goes wrong with it.
4 months after I purchased mine the video card burned out. I spent 4 hours (mind you I was in Baghdad with the military when I had to do this) to determine that they needed me to ship it back (at my expense) and have it fixed. They offered me no substitute, apology or consolation for the 1.5 months I was without it for mail time and repair.
After I received it back it worked for another 6 months before it started shutting itself off after about 15 minutes of on time. I noticed soon that the fans, which are rather loud, never turned on anymore on their own. I was able to force the fans on into a full force mode with a few key combination presses on the keyboard. This workaround was not however an acceptable fix as it was loud and constant and was no doubt a strain on the fans. And it didn't always work when the PC was in full-use mode with video and other processes running in the background.
Fearing the inevitable service call I finally spent another 2.5 hours on the phone with tech support. We finally determined that the fan controller (like a thermostat) was no working. The PC even overheated when we booted it to the CMOS screen and just let it sit there for 15 minutes. So I boxed it up and sent it via FedEx, to the company.
After several days I did not receive a notification that they received it, but I did get a pre-fab email that read as if I had sent them a question via email and they wanted to know if my issue had been resolved. I responded to this with my actual concerns and reason for sending in the laptop and they responded telling me that the memory chip in question was found and would be replaced once I called to make payment for it.
Mind you now, I paid for a 2 year full extended coverage warranty. So at this point I was perplexed that repairs were awaiting my payment for a part...and for a part and issue that was not what I had sent it in for!
I promptly called customer service and tried to explain this problem to them, but costumer service had no concept of the computer problem I was explaining to them. They did clean up the issue of me paying for a covered part. I tried to get them to understand that I was severely concerned that the fan controller issue was not going to be addressed and they told me they would note this issue. I then asked if I could be transferred to tech support, but they politely refused. So I hung up and called tech support myself.
After trying to explain my concern, and them trying to ensure me that the memory chip was the only problem, I got them to look back in the service call records and find the fan controller problem. They found it and then said they would send a message to the service center to fix the fan controller problem. I told them I wanted updates as to the status of the problem.
I didn't hear or receive anything for another week at which point the computer showed back up at my house. I popped open the box and the invoice read "memory chips replaced" with absolutely no mention at all about the fan controller. Needless to say, I was (and currently am) livid.
I am fearing the next call I have to make in which I am going to demand refund for my shipping expenses, request a full apology, get an ensured statement that they will repair it, and demand my extended warranty be refunded ($350!).
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 3500 Operating System: Windows Processor speed: 701-800 Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches RAM: More than 256 Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
Alienware M7700 Video Card D900T D900K - 7800GTX 256MB Compatible with Alienware M7700 systems. Clevo D900T, D900K. Some systems from ProStar and Sage...More at Amazon Marketplace
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