Dell have announced on their Direct2Dell blog they will be offering extended warranties for those customers affected by Nvidia GPU issues.

I have previously written about these issues here and here.

From their Post

“Dell will offer a 12-month limited warranty enhancement specific to this issue. For all customers worldwide, we plan to add 12 months of coverage for this issue to the existing limited warranty up to 60 months from the date of purchase.”

The affected Dell models are the:-

Dell Inspiron 1420

Dell Vostro Notebook 1310
Dell Vostro Notebook 1400
Dell Vostro Notebook 1510
Dell Vostro Notebook 1710

Dell Precision M2300

Dell Latitude D630
Dell Latitude D630c

Dell XPS M1330
Dell XPS M1530

Considering Nvida caused this problem Dell are taking a lot of heat for it. So are HP and the other OEMs.

Reading the comments on the current announcement this is still not considered a satisfactory solution by the majority of users. A product recall/replacement is.

Link: Direct2Dell (Comments)

Another Interesting Link on this topic: Link

I posted here about the Nvidia mobile graphics cards that Nvidia themselves reported as “failing in the field at higher than normal rates.”

Dell have now announced the list of possibly affected laptops and has issued Bios Upgrades that change the fan profile.

These include the

Inspiron 1420

Latitude D630 and D630c

Precision M2300

Vostro 1310, 1400, 1510 and 1710

XPS M1330 and M1530

What do end users need to do?

Well you basically download and install the Bios update. The change to the fan profile will probably mean the fan’s kick in earlier to keep the system cooler. Step by Step Instructions are here.

Some people have commented (on the direct to dell blog) that this isn’t really an acceptable solution.

Tip1: If you purchased one of the above laptops with only 1 years warranty I would definitely contact Dell and upgrade your existing warranty to 3 years to give you some additional protection. Upgrading the Bios can only do so much.

Tip2: Normally I would recommend installing this immediately but in the comments of the conversations below there have been some people with bios install problems. I would hold off for a couple of days then check for any known problems.

Link: NVIDIA GPU Update for Dell Laptop Owners

Other online Conversations about this topic.

Dell explains NVIDIA GPU issues, throws out BIOS updates to help

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/10090995/Replace_All_Faulty_Nvidia_Laptop_GPUs

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/07/25/nvidia-gpu-update-for-dell-laptop-owners.aspx#comments

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=dell+nvidia

I wrote a post about this issue on 6th May 2008. (See here).

However…

Two chaps on this link purchased Vostro Laptops within the last 7-10 days only to receive their Vostro’s with this known problem (as pictured).

Hopefully this is just a faulty batch and is relatively isolated.

So if you are affected by this issue follow the link below or contact Dell.

Link: http://direct2dell.com/smallbusiness/archive/2008/05/08/europe-vostro-keyboard-issue-what-we-re-doing.aspx

Dell say: “A limited number of Dell Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops in Europe have been sent out with the wrong keyboard layout. We are working diligently to offer a solution to impacted customers and correct the error before any additional units are shipped. We will be contacting impacted customers directly to both apologise and instruct them on next steps. This issue is under investigation and we will come back with more detailed information as soon as possible. We will be acting as quickly as possible to find a satisfactory solution for our customers.”

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacobgordon/2455618195/in/photostream/

Dell are running a trial: They are using Dell Technical Support personnel to offer additional products and services to end users.

I take a dim view of this. As a Dell reseller I am under near constant attack from Dell contacting clients directly and altering their perceptions about technology offerings.

At this juncture Dell and I disagree about what product ranges my clients should be using.

Dell direct market my Clients Dell Vostro. I on the other hand recommend Dell Optiplex/Latitude.

So you can see why this latest approach is unwelcome to say the least.

Related Links

Link: http://consumerist.com/343132/is-dells-tech-support-staff-trying-to-sell-you-things-yet

Dell Respond: Tech Support Selling- What’s Going On-