Dell complaints

[wel]

Bought a DELL 2300MP projector for the office in February 2005- £1,388 (about $2300). It's now out of warranty.

It failed last week with a warning light that the lamp required replacement. Strange as we'd used it less than 100 hours for occasional presentations. Bulb life is supposed to be >2000 hours. I ordered a replacement lamp unit and fitted it. It still would not come on. After working my way through technical cutomer service on the other side of the world for half a day one guy said "theres a firmware fault on the main board which affected most of the units made at about that time". Why did they not recall them for replacement?

Its out of warranty so they will not replace it and cannot/will not repair it.

So for less than 100 hours of use from a projector we must scrap it! AND I'm now battling to get a refund on the replacement lamp unit.

Anybody else had projector problems like this? I notice that the 2300MP is not available for sale now. How strange.

[KE7EHA]

Is there any way possible to flash the formware to the projector? Most computer items have such firmware [BIOS], and most can be updated. Personally, I have updated many devices, but never something like a projector or even a monitor.

You know, this shouldn't have happened. Bugs in the code for the projector should have been caught before this point. I would take up a complaint for this with the BBB or with dell, as it was a known issue that they did nothing for... Dell should be punished.

Unfortunately, from what I saw in the manual, it doesn't talk of this.
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"The art of Engineering is knowing what you can safely ignore." -Dr. H. Hess

[wel]

Thanks KE7EHA

Our IT guy will only take the thing apart and "flash" it as you call it as a last attempt when all else has failed.

In the meantime since I posted this note I found a review site where buyers can comment on their projectors. http://www.projectorcentral.com/Dell-2300MP.htm

Out of 62 reviews posted there are lots of users with this same problem. I really wish I'd looked at reviews before buying it....

example......
"Personal Experience

I have had my projector for almost 3 months now and what a nightmare it has been. I am on my 4th replacement unit. I never get more than 10 hours on it before it dies. I wanted my money back and Dell wouldn't do that. The picture quality is great when it works. I use this as my complete TV and all. I see others have the same issue I have. Turn it on, nothing hapens, lamp light comes on and its dead...again.

Problems

Calling Dell and talking to Indians is never fun. I regret buying the unit and would recommend a NEC becuase they have always been good to me. This one is the most unreliable unit I have ever seen."

So it is NOTHING to do with the way we've used/handled this useless piece of kit. Its a manufacturing fault. Thanks anyway......

[FallenAngel]

Research definately pays off, and I can't stress that enough.

[sickofdell]

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

Yes, tell them it smoked. (As possible hazard evidence, they want it in their hands, not yours. They'll give you a comparable current model to get the old one back.) You don't have to worry that they'll come back at you when they discover that it's not burned--the guys who look at hazards and the guys who charge customer accounts don't talk to each other at all. And it's possible for smoke to come out and leave little or no evidence (not really 'smoke', but a cloud of capacitor electrolyte that does smell bad but not necessarily 'burned'.)

Anyone considering purchase of ANY display product from Dell should be aware that, if it breaks outside warranty it's a doorstop--period--no matter how much you paid for it or how little use you got out of it. Dell buys these things from vendors who do not have any support (parts) network whatsoever.

There used to be a Federal law that vendors must make parts available for 7 years after manufacture. That law has either been rescinded, or Dell has found a way around it.
_________________
Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[wel]

An Update on our original problem

We threatened DELL with legal action but eventually felt it was wasn't worth wasting our time. We have not bought a single DELL product since their appalling "washing their hands" of the problem and dreadful customer service experience.

However after our busted projector sat around unloved and unusable for many months our IT guy decided to take it home and tinker with it.

The Guy is a STAR. He fixed it. So not only do we have a projector that we can now use again (although it was replaced with another manufacturers model for our office based presentations so this will become our spare) but the original bulb works as well as the replacement bulb that we purchased unnecessarily.

WE WILL STILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER DELL PRODUCT AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE.

BOTTOM LINE... If YOU have a similar problem with your MP2300 projector our guy can fix it. infoatwarwickenergy.com

[stubadub]

2200MP...same problem, the web link listed above does not work, please let me know what i can do to fix it or to get in contact with your guy.