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Stoutfella
19 Posts
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1673
September 8th, 2000 05:00
4100 fans: Not the final chapter
Greetings,
I posted here Thursday after receiving my "new" fan, the NMB Model # 3610kl-04w-b67, replacing the JMC Datech Model 0925-12HBT-1, for my 4100/933. The replacement made very little, if any, difference. While the fan noise is by no means bad enough for me to pack up the computer and send it back, it is a noticeable buzz and definitely louder than most of the computers I use at work. Last week I called Dell and a tech named Philip assured me that a new, much quieter fan was in the pipeline, that 100,000 fans were due to arrive at Dell on or about Sept. 7, with 10,000 earmarked to go out ASAP to existing customers. He said I should expect to receive mine about a week later, i.e. Sept. 14. Lo and behold, Airborne Express delivered a fan to my door Thurday, Sept. 7. As noted above, no improvement. I called Dell back and this time a tech named Spence apologized to me and told me I had not received the "new" quiet fan, but had gotten the one shipped in previous attempts to fix the problem. Further, he said I had been "misinformed" about ship dates. The new, improved fans won't be available for "a couple of MONTHS." And, he said he had no way to notify me when the new fans were available, meaning, I suppose, that there is no "list" to put your name on. Spence told me to keep checking back, either by phone or the Web, to find out when the fans materialized. In the meantime, he suggested I "turn the stereo up a little louder." He meant it as a joke, but for people who find the fan noise intolerable, I suspect this advice wouldn't go over very well. At this point, I have no idea who to believe. I told Spence that there was a lot of confusion among users about what was going on. He apologized some more but couldn't offer any more information. Judging from the posts here, it seems as if a fresh batch of fans like the one I got Thursday is going out to customers as replacements. Some are quieter, some aren't. Why? Who knows. At any rate, I agree that it's definitely time for Dell to make an official announcement with REAL information about a strategy and timetable for resolving this issue and to get its people ON THE SAME PAGE about this. I'm very happy with my computer except for this relatively minor problem, but one of the main reasons I bought a Dell was because of the company's rep for great support. Sorry to say, I'm not real impressed right now.
Cheers, I guess,
Stoutfella
I posted here Thursday after receiving my "new" fan, the NMB Model # 3610kl-04w-b67, replacing the JMC Datech Model 0925-12HBT-1, for my 4100/933. The replacement made very little, if any, difference. While the fan noise is by no means bad enough for me to pack up the computer and send it back, it is a noticeable buzz and definitely louder than most of the computers I use at work. Last week I called Dell and a tech named Philip assured me that a new, much quieter fan was in the pipeline, that 100,000 fans were due to arrive at Dell on or about Sept. 7, with 10,000 earmarked to go out ASAP to existing customers. He said I should expect to receive mine about a week later, i.e. Sept. 14. Lo and behold, Airborne Express delivered a fan to my door Thurday, Sept. 7. As noted above, no improvement. I called Dell back and this time a tech named Spence apologized to me and told me I had not received the "new" quiet fan, but had gotten the one shipped in previous attempts to fix the problem. Further, he said I had been "misinformed" about ship dates. The new, improved fans won't be available for "a couple of MONTHS." And, he said he had no way to notify me when the new fans were available, meaning, I suppose, that there is no "list" to put your name on. Spence told me to keep checking back, either by phone or the Web, to find out when the fans materialized. In the meantime, he suggested I "turn the stereo up a little louder." He meant it as a joke, but for people who find the fan noise intolerable, I suspect this advice wouldn't go over very well. At this point, I have no idea who to believe. I told Spence that there was a lot of confusion among users about what was going on. He apologized some more but couldn't offer any more information. Judging from the posts here, it seems as if a fresh batch of fans like the one I got Thursday is going out to customers as replacements. Some are quieter, some aren't. Why? Who knows. At any rate, I agree that it's definitely time for Dell to make an official announcement with REAL information about a strategy and timetable for resolving this issue and to get its people ON THE SAME PAGE about this. I'm very happy with my computer except for this relatively minor problem, but one of the main reasons I bought a Dell was because of the company's rep for great support. Sorry to say, I'm not real impressed right now.
Cheers, I guess,
Stoutfella
153
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Posted September 8th, 2000 12:00
Stoutfella: Tx for the fan update. I installed the replacement received a week ago and not much improvement. Called Dell support (took 3 attempts after being on hold 15 minutes+ each time and ran out of patience) on Monday and tech said did'nt know about "new" fans and suggested I call back (take a deep breath for patience!) in a couple of weeks. Maybe in the meantime I'll spray sound insulation foam over the fan shroud (just joking, but???). Have a more irritating problem w/Win Me and AOL connections which Dell say's it's Microsoft's and AOL's problem (a ...issing match) that's addressed on another forum.
Tx, again and keep the updates coming.153
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Posted September 8th, 2000 14:00
I too have a new 4100 with a noisy fan. The current noisy fan is a replacement for the original noisy fan. There really is no noticable difference between the two. I have been scanning these posts in hope that Dell will in fact do something about this problem. I have experienced a great deal of frustration trying to contact tech support (on hold for at least a half an hour or more and then getting a tech who professes to know nothing about this problem.)This has happened more than once. I sent an e mail and got no response whatsoever. It seems as if Dell has not been responding at all to posts in this discussion on most topics lately. I too wonder how Dell has maintained its reputation for service given all the dissatisfied folks here.153
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Posted September 8th, 2000 17:00
A little tidbit on the 4100 fans:
I just ordered a new 4100 - the sales rep tracked down someone (of course she wouldn't specify who) and she was told that the new fans are in and all new systems are being sent with them. Incidentally - the sales rep had never heard of any prior problems with the fan until I told her about this discussion here at DellTalk. On the other hand, I called Customer Service to see if they could ensure the new fan would be installed on the system I ordered - and she indignantly explained that there was no way anyone in Customer Service could contact Manfacturing about anything, period, and there was no way she could find out if new fans were being installed or not. So much for Customer Service.153
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Posted September 8th, 2000 19:00
After receiving my 4100 July 11, and since following the saga in this forum, I hardily agree with your thoughts. I want to get on DELL's list that want a fix, too. It's past time for DELL to issue a firm statement of what they plan to do. Here us, DELL?
blwaller
8 Posts
153
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Posted September 8th, 2000 12:00
Please address the questions posted by Stoutfella - we need some answers.
Thanks.
Brian.