Latitude D630 Nvidia Card (yes, yes...)

Recently bought a surplus D630 from work for cheap. Surprise, surprise; it's got the Quadro NVS 135M in it which has begun going all to hell.

Here's the problem: while time-wise, Dell should still be covering the nvidia card's replacement under the special extended warranty, they're claiming they don't have to because the system shipped with a different motherboard (which didn't have the Quadro in it). So as of right now, I appear SOL.

Any ideas? Is that really the deal with the warranty? Because that doesn't make any sense whatsoever - the problem is with the specific motherboard, not the system as a whole. Grrrr... In any event, this just solidifies my preexisting convictions not to buy from Dell ever. Thanks for the help.

 

System warranties only cover the original equipment that was shipped with the system. Replacement parts will carry the remainder of the system warranty if the parts were ordered from Dell, and they will ask you for the order number.

Unless you can get the order number for the motherboard (or find the original system that the motherboard came from and use its service tag), why should Dell provide warranty coverage something that they did not sell?

 

I'm going to try and get that information; good call there.

As to your latter point, here's why Dell should be covering it: a) it's a proprietary motherboard, as almost all Dell components are, and thus at some point Dell did in fact sell it (albeit not to me directly), and b) it's not even a cost to them as per the settlement with nVidia. Also, you know, it's the right thing to do.

 

Just because Dell sold it at one point or another doesn't mean that it has a no questions asked warranty. It's not only enough to verify that you are the original customer (or registered owner, if the warranty has been transferred), but they also need to verify if the part is still covered by warranty (90 days for standalone parts, remainder of system warranty if parts are installed). Failures are not covered indefinately, and I think the Nvidia settlement is already over.

You might want to act fast if you can find the required information, many of the extended warranties for the D630's have already expired (mine expired in April) or will be expiring soon.

 

I already checked that - the system warranty expired in January (e.g., January 2012), and thus the extended part warranty is good until January 2013. A Dell tech confirmed this point. The sticking point is that this particular system supposedly did not ship with the nvidia-equipped motherboard, which I think is a ridiculous cop-out. The part's the problem, and it's a known problem; who cares about its provenance?

But hey, what do I know? I'm only a consumer.

 

Do the service tags on the laptop itself and within the BIOS match? If you can find the service tag of the Nvidia board (given that this was a user-performed, not Dell-sanctioned "upgrade") you can see if that board is still under warranty/extension and they should really send you a new one.

The way it is now, though, if the motherboard really wasn't the original board, there is no reason they should honor the warranty. It's just the way the Dell bureaucracy works, and I'd be fairly certain most other manufacturers would do the same.

 

If it's installed in a different unit then it doesn't matter, the warranty is not valid unless it is in the original machine. I can't see how a D630 would have warranty until 2012 unless it was bought as a refurb in 2009, and I'm not sure Dell covers refurb for the 1 year extension the same as the original batches of D630's in 2007.