Hi Lionel,

How long are you planning on leaving XP Pro as an option on the small business systems in the US? Business users don't seem to want bleeding edge technology, and I've had a number of inquiries about the Australian website only having Vista bundles, particularly on the Precision mobile workstations.

Ben Stephens
Dell Kiosk Chermside, Brisbane Australia
 

Hi Lionel

Thanks for the update. Website seems to work really well. There's only one snag. I was sure that at the time of ordering my 9200 I was told that I could chose the version of Vista to upgrade to, paying a suitable amount extra.

My machine arrived with XP Home although I'd ordered it with Media Centre (I was only charged for Home) but I didn't think it was a huge loss as I could go for Vista Home Premium or Ultimate via the upgrade system.

Filling in the form now I'm only offered Vista Home Basic, which is certainly not what I'm looking for. Is there any way of altering this?

Thanks for your attention and taking the time to keep the blog up to date.

Graham

Well, on 5 February, I have contacted customer service of Dell Italy to know why Dell Vista upgrade site does not recognize my service tag number of a Precision M65 that I have buy in late December.

They say (pretty embarrassed)...Sorry but Dell doesn't provide express upgrade for Windows XP Professional in Italian language ( and I remember this was the only choice available through the web order page). More than this, THERE IS NO PLACE where Dell notify that the future upgrade to Vista will not be available for the Italian version of XP.

I don't believe that DELL can do such a misunderstanding with customers.

Please let me know your position on this.

Thanks for your attention
Stefano

Hi Lionel,

 Need to say that I faced difficulty in getting the upgrade site to recognise my machine's service tag which seems weired though I purchased my Dimension 9200 more than three weeks back!

 would't be possible to get this fixed?

 will highly appreciate your comments.

I looked up my order status on the upgrade site, and it says "pending". Does that mean it has processed?

Nick: Thanks for the comment. To answer your question, yes. Pending = processed.

I just added an update to my original post to confirm this as well.  

I have ordered an eligible Windows Vista Capable computer from Dell the 14 of December 2006. I have Windows XP media center in the italian version.When I enter the tag number I have an error message, could you please help me.

will highly appreciate your comments.

Why is it that an "express" upgrade wont even be shipped until almost a month after the release of vista. Maybe you never intended on having them ready for release, just a way to sell more computers to make the year end numbers. I feel like a chump, thanks for all the delay and poor excuses.

I wish I would of bought an apple.

This is crazy...

 HP owners already have their 'express' upgrade.  I purchased my machine in November and expected to have my DVD as soon as it was released, not at the end of March.  Dell has dropped the ball on this.
 

Shipping the Vista upgrade nearly 1 month after it's released is absolutly pathetic!!. Any Issues with drivers should have been resolved by now since Vista was released to manufactoring way back in back November 2006.

John

Hi Lionel,

I have my confirmation email for the upgrade but the site will not display my order status. It doesn't matter what information I pace in the Order Status window, it comes back with nothing. Please have customer service contact me.

Lionel,

As regards the XPS 710 H2C graphics driver issue, the following is what appears on a very similar SLI system for alienware:

"Windows Vista does not currently support NVIDIA SLI functionality. If you choose Windows Vista with your SLI system, only a single graphics card will be enabled. Alienware will notify you once a Windows Vista SLI driver becomes available. "

If Alienware can do this, why can’t Dell, its parent company, provide this alternative option for those who do not wish to wait until end of March for SLI graphics drivers? It seems to me to be the most sensible route to take? (Is bureaucracy, due to the sheer size of dell, preventing common sense from prevailing?)

I have also made queries to the alienware sales team who all had technical knowledge of the issue and proposed solution. When asking the dell sales team the same question, based on my experience, there seems to be a collective shrug of the shoulders and hope that it sorts itself out with time, rather than actively addressing the root cause of the issue like alienware has for its customer base. Given the apparent capability within alienware to adapt quickly and effectively to unexpected issues, it does highlight how difficult it has become for dell to rapidly respond/change to the same issues with any degree of competency/effectiveness. After almost 10 years of buying Dells PCs, at this point I am reluctantly considering making an alienware purchase unless something radical in the dell vista roll out changes for the xps 710 series over the next few days.

Again I realise this is nothing to do with your personal willingness to address issues highlighted on this website, but more so with the various problems and ineffective solutions surrounding the vista roll out, I believe that dells behind the scene problems are so deep rooted it may take years before it returns to the once customer driven focused company it once was.

Regards,

Noel

"Vista Ready".  Hmm.. Sounds like it's not ready.  Isn't that called false avertisment.  Come on!  I had to return my 1st XPS 410 for another due to hardware failures, and now I have to wait for vista to get shipped to me 1-2 months after the stores release it.  It's a wonder why HP has retaken the Desktop market.  This is my 4th Dell XPS, and probably my last.  To much hell..  I should of just waited till after Vista released and purchased another brand with the same equipment for less $$.  So much for consumer loyalty Dell.

I placed an order in mid december and entered the service tag # to check out the status and it said pending. after that i tryed it again and now it doesn't do anything, i called just about every number they gave me to contact and some of the #'s weren't even hooked up.  for example 1-866-634-7426 is not working.  i just want some answers!!!!!!!!!    we should deffinitly received the upgrade by now.  whats with this company?

If someone here anything please let me know

(should have got a MAC?)

Hell lionel_

Ok I included my email because the dellvistaupgrade didnt recognize my service tage. I would be very gratefull to you if someone from customer care took action and solve it.

Best regards (  dell lover)

The upgrade website died in the middle of my order.  Now it says my COA was already used, but my order doesn't exist. (Order status doesn't recognize it, and no auto-reply email came.)

 I ordered 11 laptops, only 1 did not work.

I bought a laptop in December and the site is not recognizing my tag. I have called the upgrade center to no avail. Can you help me?

 Thanks

It looks like the "express" upgrade problems are an industry-wide issue - see the blog/news links below.  Toshiba isn't shipping for another 6-8 weeks and it looks like Microsoft's main upgrade sight was down last week as well - maybe that's why Dell was having problems.  At least we don't need to send in receipts for the PC in the Dell program - that's what the article says that other programs require.  All-in-all though, this looks like another example of where Microsoft is throwing their responsibilities on the backs of PC makers and customers. 

Instead of being slaves to Windows, maybe its time for a change.  Can anyone say Ubuntu :)

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/104011/vista-chaos-upgrades-go-awol.html

http://thevistaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=6973

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic77883.html

http://help.wugnet.com/vista/express-upgrade-Vista-ftopict26481.html

I really think it's a shame that we who purchased our Dells in November have to wait till April (or later) to receive our promised Express Upgrades, when anyone purchasing one since Vista was released to the general public get it IMMEDIATELY at the factory.

This is NOT RIGHT!!!  NOR is it FAIR to us who took a chance on Dell before Vista was released.  You have our money, now where's our products?

In addition, this excuse about "drivers not ready" just doesn't wash, since all the Vista drivers we need are on your Support downloads section at this minute.  In addition, Dell is updating them daily.  I don't need Dell to hold my hand to download and install a driver in Windows.  I've been doing it myself since the 80's.   I'm sure there are many others who would agree.

SEND OUR UPGRADES NOW.  We can take care of any needed driver updates ourselves.

After this, STOP using Microsoft's Offer Fullfillment services.  They are NOTORIOUSLY SLOW.

Donald McDaniel

I am one of the many who cannot upgrade to Vista because my service tag # is not recognized.  I kept calling the number that Dell said to call and it was a non-functioning number.  Finally they sent me a new number and yesterday it seemed to work--I spoke to someone in India and they took my information ie. service tag, coa #, email address, etc.  They said they would respond in 5 to 7 days.  Can I believe them or not?  Can you help me?  My service tag # is: FMRHBC1

Thank you.

Lionel,

Can you also help me with my situation?

Stefano Colombara said:

Dear Lionel,

can you update us on the 710H2C Vista situation? ...Alienware France starts to ship their 51+Vista in 7 says .. it would be nice to have at least an idea on when the 710 will be ready... thanks

So if I wanted two weeks to place my order I would have had a machine with Vista sooner than the "Express" Option.    I had planned demo's on this machine but was unable to use it because they needed to be done with Vista. (CodingDemos)

Greetings-

While I eagerly await my Vista upgrade, I'm concerned about the Sound Blaster Audigy Software Edition and audio drivers for my E1705 laptop. I was under the impression that 1- there was actual Sound Blaster hardware installed in the laptop and 2- that this would function under VISTA when I purchased this system in December.

My intention with the system is to use it for recording studio purposes, and I'm really hoping that there will be advanced audio funtionality under VISTA with the sigmatel hardware. I have tested the laptop and VISTA functionality by upgrading it to VISTA RC1 and since discovered a lot of bad press regarding the Sound Blaster Audigy "software edition", and the loss of audio control emulations, sound banks, equalizer, and other options present in the XP and Audigy software- and I'm not happy about what I'm finding in the user forums regarding the issue.

Will Dell be providing Sound Blaster drivers for this system for VISTA? Or should I request a refund for the amount paid for the "upgrade" I believed involved actual Creative hardware?

Last December the 7th I ordered for the XPS M1210 with the Windows Media version.

Trying to enter the service tag for the Vista upgrade failed: not recognized. Meeting the requirements, can you tell me why the service tag is not accepted? Would appreciate some help.

Wim

would like to know what pending means on my order, I have the inspiron E1705 it said vista capaible. went to alot of sites but couldn,t fine any information on it, please let me know by e-mail when to exspect my order. soon i hope

thank you

janet dixon

Just chatted with one of the Dell Customer service, and said they’ll begin shipping express upgrade after February 22 2007. Can anyone confirm this?

Listen Mr. Blogger Dell Man,

Walk into the boardroom at your hed office there and tell them to hire people night and day to start shipping these discs out now!!  We paid our money!  Where's our promised goods?  This just makes you guys even worse with your poor customer service reputation!

Wow, and I ordered my E1505 due to the "old wives tale" (pure marketing crap) that  Dell has good service and equipment, and are quick about things. Now I have to wait until the end of February, possibly later, for my Vista Express Upgrade??? Oh yes, ant its already in stores everywhere???

On top of that they are still charging me about $20.00 to get it home late? Shipping a DVD on time costs a bit less than $4.00 nowadays.

I just got owned by Dell.

But I will own them back later ...

...I know who I'm NOT considering on my next purchase....

I Purchased a Inspiron 1501 laptop from Dell in November 2006,

First of all i stated when i placed the order i wanted a 2x core Cpu and the Sales rep stated that it would come with a turion cpu and mentioned a model number that meant nothing to me at the time but i thought none the less il`d asked for Dual core so it must be ok. When the laptop arrived it was a single core Mk 36 (I`ve done some research now) So i contacted Dell and asked why this had happened and was told that was what had been ordered So Sales rep makes a mistake and now i can`t change it to the CPU i wanted in the first place as i was nastly told that it was built specially for my iorder ( Durrr i didn`t want that one when i placed the order).

Secondly: I too registered for the Vista Upgrade and had my service tag rejected i spoke to customer Support and was informed that Dell were struggling with weight of numbers trying to redeem their upgrade offer, but the site would be updated soon with later service tag numbers. Fair enough this happened and my tag has been accepted now BUT i haven`t recieved a confirming E-mail even though my Order Status is set to Pending, Do i assume that everything is ok with my order?

I too feel let down with the customer support and the attitude that i`ve been shown so far by Dell:- Wrong Hardware, Missing Service Tags, and then to Cap it off Late Arrival of Available Software. It strikes me as a classic case of we got your money what u gonna do about it, we`ll decide whats gonna happen with your order when we see fit or can be bothered to deal with you.

It`s my first experiance of ordering with Dell many friend tried to put me off but i thought they`re a global company and they can`t be as bad as people say, Boy was i wrong. It`s really opened my eyes to just what other people have said about Dell and it`ll take a lot for me to ever trust them again. I`m just in the process of compiling an account of my experiances to submit to my local newspaper so hopefully other people don`t have to suffer what i`ve gone through. £700 for a laptop i could of purchased at any local Store for £449 shipped with vista.

To Noel Burke

 Dell acquired Alienware in the 2nd Quarter of 06 (from memory).

 Considering Alienware has operated as it's own entity since the buy-out, hopefully you won't run into any problems that the hundreds of Dell customers are.
 

My wife and I have been trying for over 1 MONTH to update our cc information for our Vista Upgrade Order # V2019603.  We have been directed to 1-866-634-7426 and to www.dellvistaupgrade.com.  The phone number does not work - the operator that I had try to dial it states that it is not available in my area.  The website is a farce because it only applies to US residents.  Hello here....I am CANADIAN!   We are happy with our dell products.  We just want to change our credit card info as the card on file was lost and is being replaced with a new one.

Can someone contact me or explain to me WHY THIS IS SO DIFFICULT!!???

Signed,

2 very unsatisfied customers!!

Please tell me how to update my credit card info.  Your website for upgrade does not work and the phone numbers you gave me don't work either.  The upgrade is already very, very late in getting to me and I really don't want to hold it up any longer because of an upgraded cc number.

Please email me what I need to do.

Thanks in advance.

Kevin: You can change your order details (including your credit card #) through the www.dellvistaupgrade.com site. Click on the Order Status link, then click on Update Your Order Information. You will be able to change your credit card information there.

See the middle part of this blog post for more information.

Lionel,

 can you PLEASE tell me why the european 710H2C version comes non-overclocked only?! ... at Dell France they tell me that "parts included in the usa-configuration are not integrated in the frech configuration" ...does that meen that it's a different PC? ...so if I read a review about the 710H2C somewhere on the web I don't have the guarantee I will buy the same system...?! ...I don't get it...!!! there is NO update on the vista situation either.... I don't mind buying it and running it on XP for a year but why is it not possible to have some sort of information on your websites?!  ... on the German Dell site they jump back and forth between a configuration with 2x 8800 cards and one card. Today it's back to 2... I'm getting frustrated with this!   bottomline...I have to buy a PC by the end of THIS WEEK and if someone could inform me about overclocking/vista issues I would be very greatfull...merci & danke

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Just thought I'd lighten things up a bit...)

Not shipping until the end of feduary is bad enough, but Dell are also saying you should then wait 4 to 6 weeks for delivery! how are you shipping them? carrier pigeon

In my opinion this is miss selling this is not an Express upgrade when you are told to expect to recieve your upgrade 2 and a half months after release. The driver excuse is unfounded because I can an identical machine with vista already installed.

Obviously dell cares only about winning new business not looking after loyal customers

Hi all,
I've bought a new Dimension E520 (Xp Pro) on Jan 12. The only Operative System language available was Italian and in the Vista Express Upgrade site is still CLEARLY written (https://www.dellvistaupgrade.com/faqs.aspx):
Can I upgrade Windows XP Home Edition, Media Center Edition or Professional to Microsoft Windows Vista as part of the Express Upgrade to Windows Vista program?
Yes! During the eligibility period, there are several express upgrade paths for qualifying systems. For US, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Nordics, Italy and some countries in Latin America, the following upgrade paths will be available (anticipated pricing noted for US only; subject to change).

No words about limitation on the OS language.
I was surprised to hear from Dell that the upgrade is not possible starting from an italian OS!!! Could someone explain WHY????
It's really frustrating to hear such discriminations!
Of course, Microsoft said that they are not understanding the behavior of Dell Italy: at the end, it's a Microsoft 'added value': why loose use such opportunity (that - by the way - all the competitors are offering to their customers...) ???

Any reply will be appreciated.

Regards,

Luca Papisca

I have talked to your Dell representatives so much now - I don't want to talk to them any more.  All I'm told is to wait 5-7 business days and everything will be resolved.  From there the upgrade site and the phone numbers are pushed at me.  Do you honestly think if I could get the upgrade site to accept my cc information, that I would be wasting my time, trying to resolve this?

Let's recap shall we?  Here is step-by-step what I am doing once I reach your upgrade site:

1.  www.dellvistaupgrade.com

2.  I click on order status.  A new page opens up and I enter in my info to view the status of my order.

3.  New page opens.  I can now see that my order is pending.  I scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click on the link to update my order information.  New page opens up.

4.  I double check my shipping information.  Everything is fine here.  I scroll down a bit to update my billing information.  I make the necessary changes to my information here and scroll down the page some more.

5.  I place a check mark in the box to verify that I want to change my credit card information.  I enter in the updated cc information.  I click on the link to update my order and guess what happens??  I won't leave you in suspense - IT BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO THE SAME PAGE!!

You see, when it brings me back to the same page, it is requesting that I enter in a state.  When I chose my province from the list and click on the link again to update my order - IT BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO THE SAME PAGE!!  I go through this for a few times until it tells me that it cannot verify my information!!  Do you know why it cannot verify my information?  I choose PE in the state field.  PE stands for Prince Edward Island.  It is a province in CANADA.  You do not have anything else to choose from in the COUNTRY field.  The only choice listed is USA.  I am not American.  I am Canadian.  So if someone within your company could update the source code on the website to allow for CANADA to be chosen as a country, I probably wouldn't be having this problem.

So, since I can't update my information by calling anyone AND apparently I can't update my information on your website - how am I supposed to do it?  

I purchased an Inspiron 9400 in early January 07 and was told it qualifed for the Vista Upgrade.  I have tried many times to enter my service tag and each time was informed that the service tag did not qualify.  I have read the eligiblity information and from what I can tell, my machine is eligible for an upgrade.  I have emailed Dell three times to ask what the problem is and have not received a reply to date.  This is VERY frustrating!

Service Tag: 8N27BC1

Order Number: 457961681

Lionel,

 I'm waiting for the XPS 710H2C to ship with Vista Ultimate. I have no problem waiting til you've resolved compatibility issues and bug-free drivers are in place. It would be great though, if you could give people like me  some sense of when you're going to start shipping it. Will it be March or April as posters are suggesting? And will Dell be upgrading the chipset to the Nvidia 680 sli?

The only thing that I have a problem with is the fact that Dell is the only 'express upgrade' provider that I have found who charged for the upgrade.  I could have gone with a Gateway, HP, or other manufacturer purchased through Best Buy and paid $0 for my upgrade to be sent to me. (Another person at my work did just that, and he has his express upgrade already)

 So, why is it that Dell requires a $10 fee + now is causing a wait of over 3 weeks for the express upgrade disc to ship?

I bought a copy of Ultimate for my other Dell PC that is Vista Capable, but was ordered a month before the express upgrade.  I just want the license key so I can install Home Premium, but I think I'll be waiting on that, now too.  I should have just bought the $50 upgrade for a second pc that came with my Vista Ultimate.. sure, it would have cost me $40 more in cash, but it would save me several hundred $$ in my time.

Im swiching to apple  

Okay, today is February 15, 2007 and If I'm correct that would be considered the latter part of February (2nd half). Can't you just give an estimated date that it will ship out...will it be a week from now?

Thanks,

Tom 

Like most of the people posting to this blog I am really disappointed it's taking so long to get the "express" Vista upgrade.  But I don't understand Dell's excuse.

If Dell's drivers are not ready then what drivers are they using for new computers with Vista?

Is Dell saying Vista will not work on a Dell machine if it's purchased through a retail outlet?

Sorry if you have had these questions before – reading all the complaints would take too long.

When responding to the above questions please post the correct answers.

Just called Dell ones again, and told me now my upgrade won’t be arriving until March. What is it with all these delays? Dell should have shipped our Express upgrades shortly after the release (Jan 31^st) , and then we would all be happy campers.

Now, why should I wait 4-8 weeks, when I could just run off to Best Buy, and get windows Vista now? This is quite frustrating to wait this long, for a much anticipated Express upgrade. Please send us our CD’s now.

Lionel, as with others who have posted their comments on this blog, I am a little dissatified with the slow response of Dell to sending our express upgrade disks. I ordered an inspiron 1501 with a turion 64 X2 and MCE in December 06. I have been trying to find out if Dell will be shipping a 32 or  64bit version of vista home premium but no one can give me an answer ( I keep getting passed between customer services or tech support).. I would prefer the 64 bit version as I have been told it is more secure and the Dell web site has drivers for all the hardware I have on the system. Do Dell intend shipping the 64bit version for users who have 64 bit systems as a default? If not how do users specificly request 64bit versions and are you offering the 64bit version as an upgrade option?

Pls get back to me

Mike

Noel: My apologies for not responding to your inquiries, and I'm sorry that led to your not ordering an XPS 710 or 710H2C.

 I don't have any update on Blu-ray availability on the system yet. Will blog about it when I do have details.

Here's a response to you and to Baboxy regarding overclocking and a bit about our approach to Vista drivers.
 

Jim makes a great point - if there are driver issues, how can Dell be selling the same computers from their website with Vista installed? Are they delaying the delivery of new computers until March (I'd think not)

I still like Dell's computers but I'm beginning to think of them like I do my  deep discount broker or a budget motel.  You get an adequate product from them, but don't expect concierge service.

I feel ashamed. I feel ashamed that Dell managed to pull that Vista scam on me. I feel ashamed and embarrassed that I am forced to deal with that hopeless heap of biomass Dell dares to call "Customer Support".

It is degrading having to waste hours with broken websites, fake phone numbers and "support representatives" and heading nowhere. There are liars, dammed liars and dell employees.

I am done. You won. Keep my money, it's worth not having to deal with you lot any more. I will put up my Dell gear on eBay. Have a good laugh on me, promote  the ones who came up with that scam and rot in hell.
 

Its hard to believe that we are still waiting on these CDs.  I purchased 1 machine the day before Vista was released, and 1 identical machine the day after it was released.  You'll have a hard time telling me that the drivers aren't ready.  I even went ahead and installed Vista on my XP Machine, assuming that my express upgrade was in the mail.  I sure hope it doesn't time out while I wait.

 Where is the legendary customer service that dell is supposedly known for?  Perhaps the "legend" was composed over in India by the customer service reps in the call center???

Can you say OEM at newegg in just a few days.

$149 for 64bit business

$199 for 64bit Ultimate

One of the real reasons for the delay: (in addition to Moduslink's delay in getting media to Dell)

Dell cited initial customer demand and server problems for part of their own delays, but now that everything is working, the company is still saying that Express Upgrades will not ship before the end of the month. Furthermore, the company states that orders are filled on a first-come/first-served basis, so some users have longer waits in store. Indeed, the company is warning users that shipping itself may take 6-8 weeks.

Things aren't better at HP, where the company web site says that Express Upgrade kits ship "within 6-8 weeks" of the Vista launch. Readers on the waitng list have said that they are receiving shipping notifications telling them to expect their upgrades in the middle of April, almost eight weeks from today. Ars contacted HP for a response, and a spokesperson told us that "HP is working on an aggressive schedule with the fulfillment vendor and the software product supplier to deliver customer upgrades as quickly as possible." According to HP, the first upgrades would be sent out later this month.

So what's the real cause of the delay? On the record, everyone I've talked to has depicted the issue as one of order fulfillment. Off the record, the matter is more complex. One source at a major OEM who spoke with me on condition of anonymity said that the real issue is that OEMs are still not sure which PCs are really ready to support Vista, and which PCs aren't.

Here's the rub: customers who qualify for an Express Upgrade also qualify for OEM support for Windows Vista, even if their machines came with Windows XP. The last thing a Dell, Gateway, or HP wants to do is start sending out upgrades to customers who might have video cards that do not have particularly stable drivers yet (or sound cards, or RAID controllers, etc.). This could be a support disaster. So the delays appear to be driven, in part, by OEM efforts to essentially whitelist hardware components and configurations, which becomes a matter of testing.

This is probably cold comfort to customers eager to see their Express Upgrade, but as someone who has been wrestling with GeForce 8800 GTX problems in Vista all week, I can tell you that the wait will probably obviate a lot of anxiety for users.

Noel: I have never got an answer to my questions here. I don't know why they call this website direct2dell. If they would call it directFROMdell I could understand. Anyway, I've bought the 710H2C with XP. At least I'll have a troublefree year before I upgrade to vista. good luck with your alienware, I'm sure it's faster then mine but I just couldn't get over the 'alien' look... I'll be around the next couple of weeks just to see Lionel's blog about H2C & vista as promised. Now they can take their time, I don't realy care any more.

Noel and Baboxy: Sorry that I haven't answered your questions. It's nobody's fault but mine on not getting the answers to you.  Here's a couple of things I can say:

Regarding Overclocking: Confirmed with my UK contacts that we offer the same QX6700 quad-core processor that we do in the U.S. on the XPS 710. Currently, we don't offer the H2C in the UK. We do offer the H2C in the UK. The H2C version is different in that it offers liquid cooling and ships from Dell overclocked to 3.2GHz.

The non-H2C version still allows users to overclock the QX 6700 up to 3.2GHz via the BIOS. The difference is that the H2C ships from the factory that way. You as a user have several different clock speed options from the standard 2.66GHz all the way to 3.2GHz. Here's a review from Firing Squad that talks about how CPU overclocking in the BIOS looks on the XPS 710.

Here’s the link to the UK website configurator that shows the QX 6700:

 Regarding Vista drivers:

There are some guidelines Dell follow sin terms of shipping WHQL-certified Vista drivers. That's part of it. However, the other part of it is a judgment call. When we test drivers, we test for performance, functionality and stability. We also look at the overall experience in terms of users.

Again, my apologies to both of you for not responding sooner.
 

Lionel: Welcome to the inaccuarate and confusins world of Uk and Ireland Customer Service and sales team.... unfortunately the information which you were given is incorrect. Currently, the UK and Ireland DO offer the H2C in the UK.  Links can be found here (for the UK version) and here (for the irish version). As can be seen via these links, the 710 H2C in europe doesnt ship from Dell overclocked to 3.2GHz. (Also only has integrated sound rather than Xfi and not even dual 8800 GTX as standard .) Why any one would want a H2C is beyond me with this way below par configuration???? (Main selling point of the 710 H2C is that it ships with overclocking from Dell?)

I like Babboxy have given up hope on this and on Dells customer service and I have purchased an Alienware system. Again, i have to say if it is this hard to get infromation from dell when a person wants to hand over money of 5000-8000 euro, what level of service can be reasonably expected, when we are a cost to the company via complaints and issues. I hope you can clear up the information above for other customers who may still want the 710H2C in europe. Hopefully by the time I upgrade again in 2-3 years time, I will return to the dell fold if the customer service has improved from the dire state it is in today. (I would definitely suggest that Dell should look at the Alienware support model as I have found all information readily available and more importantly consistent throughout)

Lastly, Thank you for your efforts to help us out as I know they are genuine and well intentioned. I appreciate you are only one man and can only do so much in your day especially with the ongoing vista upgrade issues. The incorrect information being given to you on the 710 is not your fault, but it is an indication of the internal confusion within the company, even with its flagship home desktop system.

Regards,

Noel

Noel: The mistake was mine. The information I received from my U.K. contacts was accurate. I didn't see it on the one page I checked. My apologies for the misinformation on my part. Have updated my original comment with a strikethrough and correction that we do offer the H2C in the U.K.

I still need to confirm that the 710 and H2C units use the same BIOS (I'm think they do). If that's the case, both the US and the U.K. offer the same BIOS version (version 1.1.0, dated 12/12/06). Will confirm that the 710 and the 710 H2C use the same BIOS, and let you know. If they do, you'll have the ability to increase the clock speed in the BIOS up to 3.2GHz.

this is typical of Dell doublespeak, Express actually means that they will Express your money away from you as soon as possible and, if you dare complain or contact customer service, you will get to speak with  some third world outsourced customer service dweeb who will apologize and apologize and not do anything except put you on hold after asking if it is ok to do so for 1 to 2 minutes.

 My daughter is going off to college next year, I'm buying an overpriced Apple because I don't want her to have to deal with Dell.

I am waiting for my upgrade to ship also and I too cant figure out the hold up. I would like to know why is the same model (m 1710 7950gpu) that I ordered a month ago still waiting for drivers when the same model can be ordered from your web site now. thnxs in advance.