Andy emailed me to say that after persisting, he's had Dell UK replace the motherboard on his XPS M1210 free of charge due to the GPU bug. You can see the forum thread where he's discussing the matter with a Dell rep. here.

So, once again: if you have a dead XPS and Dell refuses to replace the motherboard, stick to your guns. So far everyone I've spoken to has eventually received a free replacement.

I just received an email from someone called Rahul, who has succeeded in getting Dell to repair his XPS M1210 outside warranty. The laptop failed due to the notorious GPU fault common to those models.

I sent their technical support an email last Wednesday and had a reply next day suggesting that my system was out of warranty so they can not help. I replied back quoting the different case numbers where they fixed the system even after the warranty has expired but they did not bother replying. So called the XPS hot line today. At first the person I was talking to was very blunt to put it mildly. He straight away said that there was nothing much he could do to help because it's been quite some time since even the extended warranty has expired. Then I said I know people who got their systems fixed outside the extended warranty. He said he was not interested in other peoples' cases and insisted that there was nothing he could do.

Then I asked him why I was being treated differently and he said he could not comment on that, that's when I asked him to put me on to his supervisor. He put me on hold for next 10 min, came back and said that they would repair my system this time free of charge (change the motherboard, heat sink, thermal pads and fan) and any future repairs would be out of my pocket.

...

My system was fixed and now works fine. Motherboard, heat sink and the fan were replaced.

I've updated my warranty repair case numbers to include Rahul's case number. It looks like quoting some or all of these case numbers is a great way of getting your XPS repaired.

Here are some case numbers, including my own, some gathered from NotebookReview.com, and some emailed to me directly. Each case number represents an XPS that was repaired for free outside of the warranty period as a result of GPU failure.

Several people have reported success by quoting some or all of the case numbers when dealing with Dell representatives.

United States of America

• Scott - 633668288
• Nick's - 631589518
• Ollie - 637788486
• Naveen Nimmala - 637608694
• LAN MAN - 639036103

Australia

• Duncan Bayne - 2032568
• Rahul - 3424916

I will update this list as I discover more case numbers. If you have one of your own, please email me and I'll add it.

I recently received a few emails from Craig, who managed to get Dell to repair his dead XPS M1210 free of charge.

This is one awesome little machine. It ran well until last week. Then it blinked off. Ironically, it sat for two days and wouldn't boot, the power test indicating the video card being the culprit. But on day three it booted up and ran without a glitch. Then yesterday, it died again. That's when I saw the article you had contributed to.

Accordingly, I bit the bullet and contacted Dell, held my ground for almost an hour, to avoid the up front troubleshooting charge. I was sympathetic with the support agent who sounded so exasperated because he didn't have a clue what the GPU glitch was. He got so frustrated playing the gopher intermediary between me and his own staff, he finally put me through the extended warranty group. Now ACT II.

The $199 test charge and $399 repair I finally negotiated down to a flat $391 with tax. And being that I'd will have a warranted unit afterwards, I'm pleased. As an afterthought, If I hadn't jumped the gun, I could have just reinstated the lapsed warranty, and then called technical support.

...

CANCEL that last email to you.

I tried one more time and reached XPS Tech Support. I found a list of case numbers online that had success getting their M1210s included in the recall. I referenced one of the case numbers to them.

Dell said that my machine is so far out of warranty that even if they extended the warranty one year it would still be out of warranty and not covered. Nevertheless, they agreed to repair it free of charge.

I have posted a list of case numbers here that includes the numbers mentioned by Craig, as well as my own case number and those of people who have emailed me. Each case number represents an XPS that was repaired for free outside of the warranty period. It's definitely worth following Craig's example and quoting those case numbers when requesting repair of your XPS M1210.

I just received the following success story from Mark Blake; Dell replaced his motherboard for free even though it wasn't the GPU that failed (and the extended warranty for GPU failure expired 6 months ago).

Here's the timeline he sent:

[See Another XPS M1210 success story for further advice on dealing with Dell, including some case numbers to quote when requesting repair.]

I've received a couple of questions by email relating to my experience with the dead Dell XPS M1210 GPU. I've reproduced, edited & answered them here ...

How do you preform the LED tests, I have a dead machine and the only light that ever comes on is the battery light.

To perform the POST (Power On Self-Test), hold down the Fn key and press the power button. The machine will then self-test, and a particular combination of LEDs will be turned off / on / flashing depending upon the problem.

You can then check out this list of error codes to translate the particular combination you're seeing into a problem description. If it's the GPU that's failed, you're likely to see this pattern:

... at which point follow the steps I outline in answer to the next question, & Dell should replace your motherboard even though the system itself is out of warranty.

When you switch the laptop on, all the lights come on as if its booting but the screen remains black and it will not boot.

I have spoken to Dell who say that it sounds like the motherboard and that it will cost $975 to replace it!!! I notice you had some luck with Dell, but I also note that the XPS 1210 is NOT included on the list of affected machines:

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/08/18/nvidia-gpu-update-dell-to-offer-warranty-enhancement-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx?PageIndex=1

Just wondering whether you can give me some advice on how best to deal with Dell with this issue?

The fact that the M1210 isn't listed in that post doesn't matter; Dell has replaced many 1210 motherboards under a limited extended warranty, as a result of the dud NVidia GPU fiasco - mine included. If you search the Dell forum, you'll see many more.

To an extent, how you're treated by Dell or any large company is a matter of the luck of the draw - specifically, it's a matter of how helpful the CSR you're speaking with wants to be. In my experience, Dell have been very good but other people report having to argue for nearly an hour and a half with tech. support to get traction on the issue.

I'm assuming they've lead you through the troubleshooting process and isolated the issue as a video card (GPU) problem. If not, follow the steps above and figure out whether the problem is in fact a dead video card.

Once you're satisfied it is, then ...

• Call Dell tech. suppport, and explain the problem is that your GPU has failed.
• Tell them you know that Dell is extending the warranty on certain Dell machines as a result.
• If you don't have any luck, ask that your call be escalated to a supervisor. Don't take no for an answer on this - some companies pressure their CSRs not to escalate calls but they will do so if you're sufficiently persistent.
• Point out that other people in Australia have recently had motherboards replaced under a limited extend warranty, so you know that they've acknowledged the problem in some cases.
• Demand that you be treated identically to other Dell customers who have received the replacement free of charge.

If you still don't have any luck, email me again & I'll see if there's anything further we can do; e.g. I still have the contact details of the people who helped me with my machine so there's a chance I can have it escalated to the right person.

[See Dead Dell XPS M1210 - Q&A for details on how to perform the diagnostic steps I mention below, and how best to deal with Dell if they prove unhelpful.]

[Also see Another XPS M1210 success story for further advice on dealing with Dell, including some case numbers to quote when requesting repair.]

Andelys' Dell XPS M1210 just bricked - initially I thought it was the result of a Windows Update (after Windows Update bricked Armin's Thinkpad). However after running through some diagnostics suggested on the Dell site the problem turns out to be a dead video card.

This gels with some of the comments Andelys had been making about unstable video on her XPS in the past few weeks.

A bit more digging turned up the fact that this is a known issue; essentially a bunch of Dell machines were shipped with dud GPUs. Fortunately Dell has acknowledged the issue, and seems to be trying to help customers who are experiencing problems.

So I sent the following email to Dell technical support ...

The video card on my Dell XPS M1210 has failed; I have verified this by using the POST test and observing the LED diagnostic codes.

Dell has extended a limited warranty on models including the XPS M1210, due to a known fault with the NVidia GPU on those models. See:

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2008/08/18/nvidia-gpu-update-dell-to-offer-warranty-enhancement-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx?PageIndex=1

... for details.

I am hereby contacting Dell Customer Support as instructed by Lionel Menchaca, in order to request that my unit be repaired or replaced. I can be contacted by email on dhgbayne@gmail.com, or by phone on (+61) XXX XXX XXX.

Thank you for your time.

... and I'll post updates as I receive replies.

Wed, 22/04/2009: I received a call from Dell on Monday (my weekend - I work Saturday and Sunday, hence the late update). They took me through a couple of diagnostic steps (which I'd already performed myself & detailed in the email I sent) and then told me that I am eligible for a free motherboard replacement, even though the warranty on the machine has expired. The technician is due tomorrow, & I'll post an update after he's worked his magic.

All in all I'm very happy with Dell; they owned up to the problem and offered a fix even though they'd have been within their rights to refuse to do anything about it.

Thu, 23/04/2009: The Dell technician came around as promised, and replaced the motherboard free of charge. The laptop now works perfectly - no performance problems, no weird video corruption and most importantly it actually boots :-) Top marks.