Comments on Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC

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B4z

11:46 AM on 6 January, 2009

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The N-Trig problem is just the tip of the iceberg - the Dell XT is the most unreliable computer I have ever owned.





Just run a search on the Dell XT at www.gottabemobile.com/forum and you'll see what I mean.





My 1st Dell XT had regular ATI driver hangs, tries to run through the driver recovery process 3-times then BSOD. I rebuild all with a ground-up install of Vista Business and all latest drivers etc. - same problem.





Dell diagnose 'hardware fault' and replace the mainboard. (Then wireless switch won't work any more, physically stuck - turned out to be the routing of the wires in that region).





The repair engineer informs me AFTER completing the work that the replacement mainboard is not a new item but a 'refurbished' item, this is quoted as being 'standard policy' with Dell.





Same problem re-occurs and Dell diagnose a 'hardware fault' and propose to replace the mainboard - I tell them that I am far from happy with them replacing my mainboards with 'refurbished' items. If your new car had an engine failure you wouldn't expect the manufacturer to replace it with a secondhand engine now would you!





I request that they provide a brand-new replacement but they insist that they must be allowed another repair on the existing unit - I agree on the basis that if this repair does not produce a unit free from problems then I will expect a new replacement.





So the engineer comes out again and replaces the mainboard - this produces a unit with a keyboard that doesn't work. Dell diagnose a 'hardware fault' and propose to replace the main board(!) - now I start to get a little testy!!





I had to firmly remind them of the verbal agreement I had entered into, I had made a note of the full name of the support manager I had dealt with, and that it was high time to replace the unit - which they did.





So, 3 mainboards later (including the original) I have a replacement unit - has it solved my original problem.. no! Although not as frequent as before I still experience regular hangs from the ATI display driver and they result in regular BSOD's.





I also experience continued;





1) Regular black screen 'flickers'


2) Regular failure of the N-trig Digitizer driver (as written about extensively elsewhere on the net)


3) Regular 'fits' from the screen input driver, where the cursor goes into a feverish dance around the screen which is only rectified by resetting the Touch Tuning (which is very tricky to do when the cursor is having a merry dance!)


4) Extremely unreliable wireless connectivity, requiring me to disable/re-enable the wireless connection every time I start the unit (whether from cold-boot or sleep) to gain connectivity. Sometimes I have to do this 2 or 3 times before it connects, so it can regularly take 10-15 minutes of fiddling around to gain a wireless connection.


5) Wireless connecitivity regularly drops requiring a reboot to re-connect.


6) Regular failure of the TPM chip/module to initialise on cold-boot.





Oh, and the charger failed and had to be replaced also.





Like others, I expected some 1st-generation issues - but this amount of hassle crosses the line, particularly with the typical non-ownership run-around you get where Dell blame the driver vendor - the driver vendor blames the operating system - and the operating system vendor blames the hardware vendor !





Once I have the funds to replace.. it'll be the end of my relationship with Dell!