Alienware m15x warranty renewal options

So I got the m15x at the start of 2010, and is currently not supported by any warranty. Over the course of 2011 I've experienced many problems with it that seems to be gpu related. The screen would freeze at random times but the sound would keep playing, it would flicker different colors then completely crash, and also the occasional BSOD would occur. I've reformated the laptop and all that, and I'm pretty sure that this is a hardware problem

So I was wondering what my options were. If I purchase a new 1 year warranty (about $328) will they fix/replace the laptop or is it too late?

 

If it's the GPU it's easier to fix yourself. There are threads here where you can even UPGRADE your GPU for around that money, and it's relatively easy to do. Alienware pretty much made the laptop so that you could pull it apart with relative ease.

 

Actually, you could update the GPU and add additional Ram for $328.

 

Could you post a link to one of those threads!? I have an older M15X I think? It has the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M.

 

I brought my laptop orginally with 1 Year warranty and let it expire. In typical fashion, after the 12 months were up, little 'niggles' started so I tried to buy additional warranty. When I phoned up to buy it, it took about 15-20 minutes of 'sweet talking' to get Dell to sell me the warranty! They wanted to know why I had let it expire, if there was ANYTHING wrong with my laptop and such. I explained that I'd just not got round to updating it, and that it was peace of mind that I was after.

Six months in I still havenet made a claim. I still have one or two 'niggles' but nothing major at all.

 

I got my my M15x from Dell as a warranty replacement for a seriously malfunctioning Studio xps 16, around march of last year. There was about 6 months left on the original 2 year On-Site Warranty/Service plan that I purchased with the laptop. I received a relatively low spec'd Alienware as a replacement, delivered to me with 8Gb ram, i-3 processor, and the ATI 5730 graphics card. To renew my 2 year warranty on the new Alienware was around 600$. I wanted to upgrade the CPU and GPU and couldn't afford all of that.

My solution was to purchase a 3 year SquareTrade warranty for the laptop. I got full AHD coverage for three years for 270$. The biggest downside of this route is that if you get a warranty repair on your laptop, you have to take it to a local shop or mail it to them, depending. However I purchased the warranty as a backup plan for a cup of coffee getting spilled on the laptop or other such awful situations. The reviews online of the service you get from squaretrade as far as funds to replace an item are excellent. Basically they give you cash (paypal transfer) equal to the original purchase price of the laptop, if it cannot be repaired. This is not a current value/prorated amount, but the actual original purchase price.

In my case they accepted a price quote from the dell website coupled with the actual specs of the machine that were included in the shipping confirmation email from dell as verification that those were the actual specs of the machine.

Anyway, SquareTrade is an option if you just want peace of mind that should something bad happen to your little alien baby, you won't just be out a laptop. In my experience, if a machine starts seriously malfunctioning a total replacement is often in order anyway.

Just food for thought. SquareTrade is another option outside of the Dell warranty.