Dell sued over Alienware laptop computer’s ‘unprecedented upgradeability’ claims

Dell is being sued in California over its claims that its Alienware Area-51m R1 laptop would provide “unprecedented upgradeability,” Tom’s Hardware reports. Alienware buyer Robert Felter is accusing the corporate of operating a “false and deceptive” advertising marketing campaign, through which it promised that the laptop computer’s core parts, together with the CPU and GPU, could possibly be swapped out for extra highly effective fashions. A 12 months later, the Area-51m R1’s successor was announced with new parts not out there as upgrades for the unique mannequin.

“Shoppers had been misled by Dell’s false and deceptive advertising marketing campaign and paid a big premium for the Space 51M R1 below the wrong perception that this ‘unprecedented upgradeability’ would save them cash in the long term by permitting them to improve their laptop computer’s Core Elements quite than having to buy a wholly new upgraded laptop computer,” the go well with alleges.

Dell introduced the Alienware Space 51-m R1 at CES 2019. The laptop computer supplied a wide range of eighth and Ninth Gen Intel CPU choices (together with the i7-8700, i7-9700Okay, or i9-9900Okay processors) and graphics playing cards together with Nvidia’s RTX 2070 and 2080. Nevertheless, when the Area-51m R2 was introduced the next Might, it supplied 10th Gen Intel CPUs and new GPUs together with the RTX 2070 Tremendous and RTX 2080 Tremendous not available as upgrades for the R1.

In case you return and have a look at the precise guarantees Dell made when it introduced the unique laptop computer, it doesn’t appear to have technically damaged any of them. It mentioned the laptop computer would solely assist Intel CPUs that used its Z390 chipset, which was appropriate with the eighth and Ninth-generation processors within the authentic R1 laptop computer. Nevertheless, when Dell introduced the R2, the brand new 10th-generation Intel CPUs used a brand new 400-series chipset. Contemplating it was Intel’s choice to vary its chipset, this choice was arguably out of Dell’s fingers.

In the meantime, in the case of upgrades for the laptop computer’s graphics card, Dell advised The Verge on the time of the R1’s announcement that it’d “like to have the ability to say sure [to new GPU upgrades]; proper now, we don’t know.” Successfully, clients may improve a decrease finish model of the laptop computer to a higher-end mannequin, however solely throughout the similar era of parts. That left clients who purchased the top-end mannequin out of luck when a brand new era of parts rolled round.

Screenshot: Dell.com

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The go well with alleges that Dell ought to have been conscious that Intel and Nvidia’s unannounced merchandise wouldn’t work with the laptop computer. It claims Dell works intently with each firms, and that it ought to know the specs of their merchandise previous to them changing into public. “But, regardless of being in possession of such designs, and with the total information that the design of the Space 51M R1 couldn’t accommodate future NVIDIA and INTEL chipsets, Dell launched a worldwide marketing campaign to mislead the general public that the Space 51M R1 was upgradeable,” it says.

The query now’s whether or not meaning Dell’s claims about “unprecedented upgradeability” (that are still live on its web site) had been deceptive. “Dell’s commercial to the general public didn’t place any restrictions on the upgradeability of the laptop computer,” Felter’s lawyer David W. Kani advised Tom’s {Hardware}. “Additionally they by no means disclosed that these with the very best spec CPU and/or GPU that their system wouldn’t be upgradeable.”

Dell declined to remark to Tom’s {Hardware} on the lawsuit, and didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Verge. Within the submitting, Felter is in search of damages, reduction, and attorneys charges for himself and different affected clients.