Dell replacement monitor defective also? Doh!

[Spydc]

I bought a Dell p991 flat trinitron monitor last year thanks to the hot deals forum for $289. Anyway, it's been acting up the past few weeks. It would experience a lot of noise and flicker problems. It supposedly has a 3 year warranty on it, so i called dell and they agreed to send me a replacement. Little did i know that the replacement is a refurbished p991. When i first powered it on, it sounds drastically different from the other p991. And when changing resolutions, the screen gets distorted and the desktop fades and shrinks like if it were briefly running at an unsupported refresh rate. It's annoying as heck. By the way, I'm running at a refresh rate of 85hz at 1152x864. However, after the monitor has been on for a while, then it would change refresh rates and resolutions with no problems.....but....if i turn off the monitor and let it cool down, it will experience the same weird effect after a cold power on. In addition, the position of the display is shifted to right a bit and i would have to re-adjust the position. This is so annoying. I just got the replacement monitor yesterday and i am about to ship back the other p991 tomorrow. It's hard to ship it back because there is no pick up service. I have to take the monitor to a drop off location but the package is huge so it doesn't fit in my car. I have to take off from work just so i can borrow my friend's minivan. Nevertheless, they sent me an invoice that if i don't return the defective monitor within in 10 days, i would have to pay $315. lol..it's funny that the refurbished monitor costs more than the monitor brand new. Anyway, what do you think i should do now? Should i just wait it out. So much for their customer service.

 

[tenoc]

I'd be hard pressed to think of a hardware mfgr that doesn't ship refurb replacements if available.

If your monitor had wonked out in 20 days or had been DOA, a new replacement would have shown up.

So, it's not just Dell. Printers, hard drives, etc.

 

[BornStar]

I've had 7-8 Dell P991s before I finally found one that I was happy with. Dell is notorious for sending out refurb products after 30 days of purchase. I've recieved some that don't even work. Just keep sending them back until they send you satisfactory one. I had a slight advantage though cuz Airborne would pick up from my dorm.