Dell announces free SoundBaster Audigy Advanced MB upgrade for Vista

Doug Peeler, a Dell Audio Engineer has posted on Direct2Dell.com ..."Later this month, we plan to offer this software to customers via download for free." Keep in mind, he means it'll be free for Dell customers who purchased it previously with Windows XP.

The software Doug's referring to, is a Windows Vista version of the "SoundBlaster Audigy Advanced HD Audio *Software Edition*" also known as "Audigy Advanced MB".

It's not an audio driver. It's a suite of tools for enhancing and working with the audio on your Windows XP loaded notebook or PC. In this case, it's intended to be installed on certain model Dell notebooks and PC's that have certain Sigmatel (a company recently purchased by IDT) audio chips, also called codecs.

Note: If you are a Windows XP user, there is also a separate DRIVER also named "SoundBlaster Audigy Advanced HD Audio" that has to be installed A) after the Sigmatel audio driver, and B) before the XP version of the software suite of the same name.

If you'd like more info, and to see the original post by Doug, you can check it out here: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/04/05/10661.aspx

And let him know how much we appreciate the info and work Doug has put into getting this done.

Dell Support came through this week...

This is copy of feedback I posted on Dell's Blog at www.direct2dell.com. Here's a link to the original post: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/01/23/5124.aspx#comments

"Congratulations on the recognition you're receiving for the ongoing improvement in customer/technical support. I'd like to relate a mostly positive experience my wife had with Dell technical Support this past Sunday.

On Sunday night, my wife had the opportunity to take advantage of the Complete Care warranty she has on her Inspiron E1505 notebook. All that was required, was a replacement keyboard, which yours truly would install for her. No need to ship the notebook anywhere, no need to send a Dell technician. Lucky her, I'm sufficiently qualified to handle the task.
So my wife chose to use the online web-based Dell Support chat.

Initially, it looked like she was about to have another horror story to tell. The technical service reps records weren't accurately reflecting her Complete Care warranty status. Whooops. But, the technician did a little more digging, and while the warranty was valid, my wife was asked to check back the next day, so the record could be updated accurately.

The next day, she tried again, and with little fuss, the new keyboard was shipped. Today, my wife is happily tapping away on her notebook.

The End.

I brought this story up because just a year ago, from experience, I believe she would have had to go through a series of headaches to get the account record updated. And from there convince a support rep to ship a keyboard, and not insist the whole notebook gets shipped back to Dell.
So, I see the improvements occuring, and I welcome the continued efforts Dell is making to improve their quality of service.

Also, I have always found that the support reps English skills have always been far better typed than spoken. While I prefer using the phone to get an issue addressed, Dell's online chat support has consistently been an easier method to communicate more complicated problems to support reps. But, I'm glad to hear that phone support is improving. Kudos.

Regards,

-WhatsUpDell"