Straight from the Direct2Dell blog, Alex Gruzen, Sr., Dell Vice President of the Consumer Product Group, has word of the goings on concerning the Dell XPS M1330 and the delays customers are currently experiencing in receiving their laptops.
He mentions a couple of things that are holding up production:
1) The paint process for these laptops. To get the kind of appearance they were looking for, resulted in an increase in delays in regards to dust contamination, etc. As a matter of fact, the “Pearl White” color has now been discontinued – it was taking five coats of paint to achieve the effect they want. The “Crimson Red” is also heavy on the painting, with the end result being that “Tuxedo Black” has been the only one to consistently meet their standards. If you ordered a “Tuxedo Black” finish, chances are you will get your M1330 before customers who ordered other paint schemes get their’s.
2) As big or bigger than #1: The LED backlit LCD display. Mr. Gruzen mentions This relatively limited supply base combined with stronger than anticipated demand-the number of orders has simply exceeded our expectations-has contributed to the delays.
As far as what has shipped and is shipping, quote:
Right now, we are focused on shipping as many systems as we can. Currently, we have worked through about 10% of our backlog and will focus on improving this going forward. Despite our best efforts, we may not be able to ship some orders before the original estimated ship date we gave you. In those cases, Dell will be contacting affected customers to let them know. Details will vary by region.
When you order a system, the estimated ship date factors in our best currently available information, including the number of orders in front of you and the availability of parts. It should not change unless something impacts one of these factors. If that happens, we will contact you.