XPS 8100 - Certified refurbished vs. new
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From: skeeter on 18 Apr 2010 18:00 "Just me" <gearl.no(a)spam.comcast.net> wrote in message news:9mmms5l8a4b3irupifl45sfdmkk5sqq2m6(a)4ax.com... >>On Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:25:29 -0400, Ron Hardin >><rhhardin(a)mindspring.com> wrote: >> >>>I buy only refurbished or scratch'n'dent systems. >>> >>>You have to wait for a price you like, is all. It may >>>take a few months but bargains turn up eventually. >>> >>>Their pricing makes no particular sense. It goes up and >>>down. >> >>Well, I'm having my first certified refurbished experience. >> . . . snipped . . . > > The certified refurbished experience is not going well. > > First time I tried to boot up this 8100 a fan inside took off at full > throttle, sounding like a jet airplane, and stayed there. The fan > howl finally stopped when the PC shut itself down while it was trying > to paint the desktop for the first time after initial Windows 7 setup. > > I tried booting up again but I didn't get past the Dell screen with > the F2/F12 options (or the fan howl) before the PC shut itself down. I > got the same result the next dozen or so times I tried to boot up. > > I called Dell tech support. I was lucky. I got a good connection with > a good guy in the Philippines who spoke English very well. Over the > course of an hour and a half we rebooted many times. Each time the PC > shut itself down, sometimes in seconds, but never longer than about 5 > minutes or so. He had me open the case to try to identify the source > of the fan noise. It was the video card. He had me yank and reseat the > video card. No change. He had me yank 3 of the 4 RAM DIMMS. That gave > me 2 beeps repeating every few seconds and the PC wouldn't boot. > > After consulting with his supervisor he set me up with a home visit > from a service technician who is supposed to replace the motherboard, > the power supply, the RAM and the video card. > > Stay tuned . . . > > > George > gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net i'm very interested to hear how this turns out.
From: Cmplx80 on 18 Apr 2010 18:09 Just me wrote: >> On Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:25:29 -0400, Ron Hardin >> <rhhardin(a)mindspring.com> wrote: >> >>> I buy only refurbished or scratch'n'dent systems. >>> >>> You have to wait for a price you like, is all. It may >>> take a few months but bargains turn up eventually. >>> >>> Their pricing makes no particular sense. It goes up and >>> down. >> Well, I'm having my first certified refurbished experience. >> . . . snipped . . . > > The certified refurbished experience is not going well. > > First time I tried to boot up this 8100 a fan inside took off at full > throttle, sounding like a jet airplane, and stayed there. The fan > howl finally stopped when the PC shut itself down while it was trying > to paint the desktop for the first time after initial Windows 7 setup. > > I tried booting up again but I didn't get past the Dell screen with > the F2/F12 options (or the fan howl) before the PC shut itself down. I > got the same result the next dozen or so times I tried to boot up. > > I called Dell tech support. I was lucky. I got a good connection with > a good guy in the Philippines who spoke English very well. Over the > course of an hour and a half we rebooted many times. Each time the PC > shut itself down, sometimes in seconds, but never longer than about 5 > minutes or so. He had me open the case to try to identify the source > of the fan noise. It was the video card. He had me yank and reseat the > video card. No change. He had me yank 3 of the 4 RAM DIMMS. That gave > me 2 beeps repeating every few seconds and the PC wouldn't boot. > > After consulting with his supervisor he set me up with a home visit > from a service technician who is supposed to replace the motherboard, > the power supply, the RAM and the video card. > > Stay tuned . . . > > > George > gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net Assuming the heatsink hasn't fallen off, this sounds like a rare case of a faulty CPU. Frank
From: Just me on 22 Apr 2010 18:37
On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:00:02 -0400, "skeeter" <yeayeayea(a)righyoh.com> wrote: > >"Just me" <gearl.no(a)spam.comcast.net> wrote in message >news:9mmms5l8a4b3irupifl45sfdmkk5sqq2m6(a)4ax.com... >>>On Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:25:29 -0400, Ron Hardin >>><rhhardin(a)mindspring.com> wrote: >>> >>>>I buy only refurbished or scratch'n'dent systems. >>>> >>>>You have to wait for a price you like, is all. It may >>>>take a few months but bargains turn up eventually. >>>> >>>>Their pricing makes no particular sense. It goes up and >>>>down. >>> >>>Well, I'm having my first certified refurbished experience. >>> . . . snipped . . . >> >> The certified refurbished experience is not going well. >> >> First time I tried to boot up this 8100 a fan inside took off at full >> throttle, sounding like a jet airplane, and stayed there. The fan >> howl finally stopped when the PC shut itself down while it was trying >> to paint the desktop for the first time after initial Windows 7 setup. >> >> I tried booting up again but I didn't get past the Dell screen with >> the F2/F12 options (or the fan howl) before the PC shut itself down. I >> got the same result the next dozen or so times I tried to boot up. >> >> I called Dell tech support. I was lucky. I got a good connection with >> a good guy in the Philippines who spoke English very well. Over the >> course of an hour and a half we rebooted many times. Each time the PC >> shut itself down, sometimes in seconds, but never longer than about 5 >> minutes or so. He had me open the case to try to identify the source >> of the fan noise. It was the video card. He had me yank and reseat the >> video card. No change. He had me yank 3 of the 4 RAM DIMMS. That gave >> me 2 beeps repeating every few seconds and the PC wouldn't boot. >> >> After consulting with his supervisor he set me up with a home visit >> from a service technician who is supposed to replace the motherboard, >> the power supply, the RAM and the video card. >> >> Stay tuned . . . >> >> >> George >> gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net > >i'm very interested to hear how this turns out. Second update: At this point things are going very well. My call to Dell support was on Sunday. On Monday Dell shipped overnight replacement motherboard, power supply, heat sink and fan, and RAM (8GB). The local Dell tech picked up everything from the Fedex depot and came to my place Tuesday afternoon. Only the power supply had a 'refurbished' sticker on it, but the video card bracket had marks on it that looked like it had had a screw tightened against it. The Dell tech replaced all the components, we fired up the PC, it booted up without the howling fan and it stayed on until we shut it down. Since then I have successfully run the Windows Experience test and I have let the PC idle overnight the past two nights without incident. The fan(s) has not howled at all and the PC has not rebooted itself. Running the Windows Experience test is the most I have pushed it so far. Before all the replacement parts were installed it always croaked and shut down during the graphics segment of the test. I want to repartition the hard drive before I start installing software and then I'll be able to push it more to see what happens. I was pleasantly surprised by the quick service from Dell support and their local tech. So far so good. If this keeps up I'll be very happy. :) George gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net |