I'm not sure where to post this, but I've noticed a few people on here who recently purchased an XPS 420 with Digital Cable Tuners from Dell (myself included). It sounds like Dell is currently unable to ship the DCT's. I've heard it mentioned that the DCT's ship from somebody other than Dell (maybe ATI, maybe CableLabs).

The most recent status check of my order revealed that my XPS 420 shipped today (5 days early, thanks Dell) Unfortunately, the DCT's show an expected ship date of 1/28/07. When I made the order, the expected ship date was 1/21/07, but one day later it was already pushed back by 1 week.

What I would like to see in this thread is comments from people who have ordered an XPS 420 from Dell with DCT's and let us know what the status is of the DCT's.

One user here has already said that Dell cancelled their order for the DCT's... I hope that doesn't become common practice. I'm hoping that we start to see people who receive their DCT's so that those of us who keep watching the ship date get pushed back still have some hope. Thanks.

-Scott

I got my 420 on 01-04 2 days early and my cards got delayed 10 days to ship 1-15 but they shipped yesterday for me.  Hopefully will have them for the weekend!!

That's good news! At least they are still shipping the DCT's. Hopefully mine will ship sometime next week. -Scott

Dell told me the ATI digital cable tuners they use are internal. Is this correct or are they using the external ATI?  I want the internal OCCUR like Velocity micro shows as an option. Dell does not list internal or external.

Dell only offers external tuners.

Chris - Moderator:

Dell only offers external tuners.

Unfortunately, that is the only option. I would LOVE to get the internal tuners... I saw a thread somewhere here where the external DCT's were modified to fit into the case. Basically, the guy pulled the power from one of the internal floppy disk power connectors, then mounted the internal guts of the DCT inside his case. I guess anything can be done, but it would certainly be much nicer if Dell offered the internal option. That being said, I'm assuming that the DCT's produce some amount of heat, not to mention that if they were internal they would block some of the airflow inside the case.

The one advantage the external DCT's that I see is this... I will be using my XPS 420 as an HTPC, and it will be in my living room sitting in some custom built shelving. I can actually place the DCT's on the other side of the custom entertainment center (behind a door) and they will be out of the way, and this will mean that no extra heat from the DCT's is introduced into the XPS 420 system.

Okay, back to the topic at hand... Just checked again, still no change. The Dell website says the expected ship date for my DCT's is the 28th, yet it still says 6-day delay for new orders. That seems pretty messed up that they are still telling people it is just a 6-day delay.

-Scott

Same problem with my order.  Placed XPS order on 12/30.  XPS shipped on 01/03 but tuners originally stated expected to ship on 01/22 but they both shipped yesterday.  So it does not appear that the delay is as long as they they think.

My order just shipped out a week earlier than they had anticipated as well.

Sweet!!!!

NGH99:

Same problem with my order.  Placed XPS order on 12/30.  XPS shipped on 01/03 but tuners originally stated expected to ship on 01/22 but they both shipped yesterday.  So it does not appear that the delay is as long as they they think.

That's good to hear.  It sounds like they are giving a "worst case" shipping date but that they are shipping earlier.  Since mine shows an expected ship date of 1/28 (6 days after your expected ship date), I'll assume that they will ship 6 days after yours, which would be the 15th.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  Thanks for the update.

-Scott

Jeep4JB:

My order just shipped out a week earlier than they had anticipated as well.

Sweet!!!!

When you say your order, do you mean you XPS 420 or the ATI DCT's?  I really hope you mean the Digital Cable Tuners!

-Scott

Scott,

For my XPS order with the dual DCT's Dell split it into two seperate orders.  One for the XPS and a second for the DCT's.  I have the XPS but the estimated ship date for the DCT's was 1/22.  Dell did not indicate this at the time I ordered this on the Website.  Now the siteindicates that it may delay the order.  The actual ship date for the DCT's is 01/09 so hopefully they should arrive either today or Monday.  Now just waiting to see if they resolved the "missing remote" issue with the DCT's as one did not arrive with the XPS.

Nigel

Well I received my tuners today.  They only ended up being about 4 days late.  All  in all not too bad.  No remote though.  I guess Dell still does not have it together yet.  I will have to call.  Just wish I had it.  Would make it easier to navigate channels.  Now to get them setup.  My cable company is scheduled to be here Wed with the cards.

Just got off the phone with Dell.  I must say excellent support.  Got connected right away.  CSR knew about the issue and is sending them out now. 

Yeas, i think i was the first person to *** about it (before xmas) and get a remote.

They send out the RF one from the parts list.

The delay on the tuners seems to be new - it didn't happen before xmas - everything arrived togther.

PS don't forget to update the firmware and if you have issues getting them to work uninstall norton / trend - this breaks the cards (the CSR solved this for me - i was impressed with their support)

reddog5050:

Just got off the phone with Dell.  I must say excellent support.  Got connected right away.  CSR knew about the issue and is sending them out now. 

Hey reddog, that's good to hear.  Could you do me a big favor and send me the phone number that you called and what prompts you pushed (if you remember)?  I received my XPS 420 on Friday with no remote.  I am assuming that the remote is supposed to ship with the DCT's, not the XPS, but I would like to call Customer Service ASAP so that when the tuners do arrive I can start to use them immediately.  Thanks.

Oh, and if you don't like posting the phone number on here, just shoot me a PM.

-Scott