After 10 years, I believe Dell is lying to me again.

10 years ago, I started this blog, because of fallacies I was told as a Dell customer regarding an audio issue, in which the Windows Sound Mixer/"What You Hear" functionality was being crippled out of the box on some of their systems, and then Dell offered an "upgrade" for sale to restore said feature. There was a lot of "misinformation" being communicated by Dell on the matter, which I believed to be outright lying.

Eventually, I ended up sitting at a table with Michael Dell at the 2007 CES, along with a small group of others, and Dell worked to resolve the issue. That was a good thing.

It's now 10 years later, and having heard good things about Dell Alienware systems, and having recently worked with a dozen of their Alienware laptops over an intensive four days of convention gaming, I decided to give Dell another chance.

This time I excitedly purchased a Dell Alienware PC, and I believe Dell Lied to me, again!

It'll take me a few days to collate all the information and recordings with Dell's Alienware Sales Rep, then a few days later his Sales Supervisor, and a Dell Alienware Premium Customer Support Technician, in which they all very clearly, confidently, and repeatedly informed me the Aurora R7 computer system I ordered is liquid-cooled on both the CPU and Nvidia GTX 1080Ti (11GB) GPU.

I've since received the computer system. They were full of shit.

I'm now being told by a rep in Dell's "Advanced Resolution Group" that it was just a "miscommunication at point of sale" - which itself I believe to be a lie. As this rep is trying to "handle" me to return the computer system, accept a refund, and go on my merry way after wasting my opportunity to take advantage of other Black Friday sales (meaning the same amount of money won't go as far now), wasting the two weeks it took for the system to arrive, wasting all the time I spent post-sale on the phone with Dell/Alienware reps to make sure my new computer would have the components/features I was told I was purchasing (it doesn't), and to top it all off, the Sales Rep "miscommunicated" enticements unrelated to the system configuration, in order to get me to sign up for Dell Financing (DPA) instead of taking advantage of the cashback offers available by purchasing through Dell's website with a credit card.

Ten years later, and I Believe Dell Lied, Again.

Recent Dell update on Stero Mix aka: "What you hear"

Once again, Dell is listening to their customers. It only took a few years, but Dell's Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca, has announced that the decision to remove stereo mixer recording at the hardware level, is being reversed for some future products. You can read all about it at the direct2dell.com blog post here:

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/08/15/stereo-mix-record-functionality-and-dell.aspx

Now, for older/current systems, they did release XP drivers which enable stereo mixing in software, but it wasn't so easy for them under Vista. So yes, this is good news for future consumers.

New Info

Please check http://whatsupdell.blogspot.com for new information regarding Dell and the Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD Audio *Software Edition* also known as "Advanced MB"

Update on the whole Dell / Sigmatel / Sound Blaster Audigy issue

I've posted the news here: http://whatsupdell.blogspot.com/2007/03/info-update-on-dells-sound-blaster.html

Dell PCs or notebooks with Sigmatel audio eg: - Inspiron 6400 - E1505 - E1705 ...etc

If you experience the issue where you cannot utilize "what you hear" or the Windows sound stereo mixer with a Sigmatel STAC92xx audio chip, then check out this post on the Dell Community Forums:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=30141&jump=true

If you have trouble installing the Sigmatel or Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD Audio drivers for your Dell PC or notebook, check this Dell Community Forum FAQ

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=cc_faq&message.id=356

Update on the Dell Inspiron 6400 & E1505 integrated Sound Blaster Audigy advanced HD Audio issue

The "I Believe Dell Lied" website was established to describe a problem related to the advertising and functionality of the integrated Sound Blaster Audigy advanced HD audio upgrade, offered on certain Dell notebook computers. This blog will have updated information.

While related issues are still in play, the problematic advertising has been addressed in a mostly satisfactory way by Dell. There is still room for improvement, but the fundamental discrepancy in the advertising has been resolved.

• Dell has changed the manner in which this *software* upgrade is listed on their website, as not to continue to confuse customers into thinking the upgrade is in hardware. They have added the phrase "Software Edition". The word "integrated" remains.
• Dell has shown me that they are working hard to resolve this issue with customers as best they can. There has been no single solution that suits every Dell customer, so Dell is addressing each customer on a case by case basis.
• I am convinced that a class action lawsuit would not benefit Dell customers. Making a lawyer wealthier, while customers receive a few dollars out of a settlement that does not rectify the actual problem, is the wrong course of action.
• This overall issue has been brought directly to the attention of various Dell directors and executives, online, on the phone, and in person. I continue to have an open dialogue with them, and am continuing to pursue additional problems with Dell that have come to my attention.

NOTE: As of 8/30/06 Dell has updated both Dell.com and the Dell Outlet websites to better reflect that the "integrated Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD audio" option is a *Software Edition* (Software only) package.

It is not a sound card. It is a CD with software. It does not "come with" a hardware Sound Blaster Audigy upgrade on the E1505 and some other Dell Inspiron models.

Dell still uses the word "integrated" which some people may infer to mean "hardware on the motherboard", or "onboard sound" which it is not in this case.

To clarify, Dell means they are selling Sound Blaster Audigy software that is integrated with audio utlities into a software suite of audio tools, without Sound Blaster Audigy hardware.
The software they provide, virtualizes the "Audigy" features.

In other words, it uses your system processor to emulate the features of a "Sound Blaster Audigy" in software. I'd like to thank Dell for making this change to their website(s), and hope they will take the extra step to clarify the "integrated" issue.

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