So I purchased a new computer(Dell XPS 8300) in January this year, and about a month later I received a letter from Best Buy, informing me that the machine I had purchased was affected by the Intel recall of its Series 6 (Cougar Point) chipset.

Information on the recall:

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2011/01/31/intel-identifies-chipset-design-error-implementing-solution


My letter indicated that I could either bring the machine in and get a full refund, or exchange for a similar model. Replacement models would be available in early April, and if desired, data would be transferred from one machine to another at no cost.(time, 3-5 business days)

If full refund was desired, your data would be placed on a 320gb Western Digital hard drive, again, yours at no charge.


Now, while I was completely satisfied by the way the exchange was handled, I know it is only because Intel is paying for it all. These "fixes" even apply to machines that are out of their 30 day period..I personally opted to just save all of my critical data to my 2 TB backup drive, reformat the machine, and just swap it out cold...foregoing the "free data transfer"..

Another option (offered by Dell), was to have a technician come you your location, at your convenience, and exchange your affected motherboard for an updated one, free of charge. Again, with Intel footing the bill.

I cannot help but remember the "bad capacitor" fiasco that affected so many Dell machines a few years ago,and how poorly Dell handled that... (replacing bad motherboards with the same bad motherboards, denying the problem existed, etc etc)....and in comparison to that I have to say that Intel is doing it 100% the right way.

1. Intel was made aware of the problem, and admitted it was their fault.
2. Intel is going to any and all lengths to correct the problem in affected machines.
3. Intel is erring on the side of the consumer, (like with these full machine exchanges), knowing it will cost them some money in the short term, but save their reputation in the long run.


If you haven't heard about this issue (before reading this post), it is likely because there is nothing for anyone to complain about. Intel is stepping up big time to make things right with their customers.

If only every company stood behind their products this way.

Way to go Intel.

 

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The free data transfer and recall are tools used by the gov't to collect personal data and search for child porn.

You heard it here first brah

 

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LOL

 

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I'd rather back up the data myself, then wipe the Dell drive and do a system restore before sending it back.

 

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That's what I did..but it is cool they offer that for people that aren't computer savvy.

 

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A free 320gb hdd is awesome in any circumstances

 

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True, but then they look at all of your pr0n.

 

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Share the wealth, I always say!

 

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Thanks for the Intel kudos. I'm one of the thousands of people that works at Intel inside the cleanroom, making the chips. I was directly involved with the increased manufacture of the "new" Cougar Point chips and we've been spending the past several weeks pushing as much as we could as fast as we could to satisfy the OEM computer makers. We never got told exactly how much this replacement program was going to cost Intel, but we are running at regular production again and have been told that the OEMs have all the chipsets they need now. Oh, and Intel has learned a valuable lesson from years gone by: anyone here old enough to remember the Pentium floating point fiasco from the early 90's?

 

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I remember the FP division problem ...something about bad tables or something along the line causing computational math errors.


I was not affected by that one, as I went from its predecessor to the Cyrix 6x-86...then then another pentium after that machine got old.

Stormy, again, I tip my hat to you, your co-workers, and company as a whole. Please feel free to tell your co-workers that at least one person affected by this issue is 110% satisfied with the end result.

I'm about to replace my 2nd machine as well, and I will definitely be buying an Intel based system again.(probably this same model)

 

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