Petemitchell's blog: Dell Technical Officer

This is my latest encounter with Dell's Technical Officer. I did say to them that my Studio 15 is still having a problem. I still could not flash the onboard BIOS to A11 even though the overheating problem have been solved! The Dell technical officer said that they have sent an engineer three times to replace the motherboard and heatsink but at the moment something is just not right!

I could not imagine the sheer pressure mounting on Dell's software developers in getting things done the very first time.

The list below were my problems with the Studio 1555:

(1) Laptop overheats and shutdown after 30 minutes of playing Need For Speed: Undercover;

(2) Can't flash the motherboard BIOS from A09-A11;

(3) Can't install Quick Set ( which allows me to eject the DVD/CD by pressing on the eject button on the

keyboard); and

(4) The integrated Intel Wireless 5100 is not behaving properly

The Dell engineer was really patient and thorough in going through my laptop. It was the same engineer who came to pay me a visit for three times.

For the first visit, the Dell engineer was really annoyed as Dell has sent him the wrong heatsink/fan and a defective motherboard. That was why he has to come back the second time.

During his second visit, I still could not flash the BIOS although the issue of overheating was solved. It was found that the PWR control on the motherboard was defective.

For his third visit, the motherboard was replaced and yet I could not flash the BIOS. I called Dell Technical Support and they said that there is nothing which they can do about it. The most which they can do is to ask me to send the unit back to them for a thorough checkup before sending it back to me.

I said that is unacceptable. First of all, the reason why I have a Dell engineer to come to see me is because I am not happy with my laptop being sent to them not knowing what would they do to my laptop. They could have downloaded all private and confidential materials which I would not like anyone else to have a look at it. They rejected my suggestion even though I said that I will be willing to pay for it. They have not able to solve the problem!

At this moment, I am totally dissatisfied with Dell. I did say to them that I could not install Dell's Quick Set although it is designed to run under Windows 7 64 bit. They rejected that I could not install so I've asked them to remotely control my laptop and have a look. The Dell technical officer then agreed. He also agreed that the software is not compatible with Windows 7 64 bit although it was designed to do so.

Apart from that, he also confirmed that the BIOS Utility software is not compatible with Windows 7 64 bit although it is designed to do so. However, there was nothing which he could do as his manager does not allow anymore callouts!

What is the point of sending my laptop back to Dell when their experienced engineers onsite could not solve the problem? Flashing the BIOS has nothing to do with the OS apart from the fact that the BIOS Utility is incompatible with Windows 7 64 bit.

I am totally disgusted with Dell for their ignorance. May God have mercy on them!!!