American computer maker Dell is being sued by a customer in California, US over the company’s claims that its Alienware Area-51m R1 laptop offers “unprecedented upgradeability,” according to a report in Tom’s Hardware. According to the report, Alienware user Robert Felter is accusing the company of running a “false and misleading” marketing campaign where Dell promised that the laptop’s core components including the CPU and GPU can be upgraded for more powerful models. However, a year later the laptop’s successor was announced with new components not available as upgrades for the previous model.
The report quotes the lawsuit as saying that consumers were misled by Dell’s false and misleading marketing and paid a significant premium for the Alienware Area 51m R1 laptop under an incorrect belief that the laptop’s “Unprecedented Upgradeability” would save them money in the longer run by allowing them to upgrade their laptop’s core components rather than having to purchase a new device. Now, looking at the promises Dell made for the laptop, it hasn’t broken any promises technically. The company said that the laptop would support Intel CPUs that used the Z390 chipset, which was compatible with he 8th and 9th generation Intel CPUs that powered the Alienware Area 51m R1 laptop. However, with the R2 model, Dell announced new 10th-gen Intel CPUs that used a 400-series chipset. Given it was Intel’s decision to change its chipset, this decision was arguably out of Dell’s hands.
Dell announced the Alienware Area 51-m R1 at CES 2019. The laptop offered a variety of 8th and 9th Gen Intel CPU options and graphics cards options including Nvidia’s RTX 2070 and 2080. However, when the Area-51m R2 was announced the following year, it offered 10th Gen Intel CPUs and new GPUs including the RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super that were not available as upgrades for the R1.
Now, while Dell may have a way out of the initial claim that the laptop is not upgrade-able despite the promise, the suit alleges that Dell should have been aware that Intel and Nvidia’s unannounced products wouldn’t work with the laptop. It claims Dell works closely with both companies, and that it should know the specs of their products prior to them becoming public.
Dell declined to comment on the lawsuit. The customer is seeking damages, relief, and attorney’s fee for himself and other affected customers in the filing.
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