PCWorld or Dell for laptop help?

morg_monster

I bought an Inspiron 1564 from PC World in March this year which came with Windows 7 64-bit. I tested out the integrated webcam a couple of times when we first got it and it appeared to work OK. Now I want to use it for Skype and am having no end of problems; basically the webcam is not recognised by Skype, dell webcam central, messenger, etc. Very occasionally it fires up OK and I can skype successfully but other times the light flashes on and off or doesn't light up at all. There are no updated drivers for it on the Dell website (next job I am going to try is to reinstall the Dell webcam central software).

Assuming none of my attempts to fix it work, I'm unsure whether to take it back to PC World or just call Dell customer support straight off? Presumably I am entitled to go to either as it is still in warranty?

Can anyone tell me what the likely course of action is with either option? As the rest of the laptop is working OK I am loathe to have to send it off for weeks.

The other possibility is that from other posts on dell support forums etc, it seems like there just aren't any drivers for this webcam on Win 7 64-bit! Which is rather ridiculous, if this is the case- how could Dell sell unsupported hardware like this?!

Anyway would be very grateful for any advice on what I can likely expect with trying to get it sorted at either PCW or Dell. Thanks!

closed

Dell will probably tell you to backup your data and restore to factory settings using the restore partition, pc world will probably tell you to call Dell.

morg_monster

well I use livedrive so at least I have files already backed up online...
this kind of thing terrifies me, have never had to do a system restore before, ahh well, hope they will talk me through it!

MrMuttley

Turn computer on and start tapping F8 on the keyboard once a second or so

Choose repair your computer and press enter

Choose UK keyboard

Log in with your windows username and password.

Choose Dell factory image restore

Watch for 30 mins as your hard drive is wiped clean and everything is set back to how it was when it came out of the box.

This WILL DELETE EVERYTHING ON YOUR COMPUTER.

Bargain.hunter_4

To be honest.... and this is not money saving advice, but moreso practical... maybe its just worth spending a five to ten pounds on a new compatible cam.

I had a similar problem with hardware and rather than spend hours resetting the PC, re-installing everything, remembering my account configs and setup specifics, etc, £5 solved the problem.

Up to you really, but if you have to call a 0870/0845 support line, are put on hold, etc, it will cost you just to do that.... Also, to take the PC back, whats the fuel/parking cost and how long will you be without your pc for?

Also, this is assuming the fix they put in place works and assuming you dont lose any data that you may have forgotten to back up etc.

64 bit can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but keep searching the forums. I would only go back to the supplier in the case of a hardware failure.


Hope this helps

JasX

As above i'd avoid either option.

PC world the more so as you never know what additional problems they'll leave you with due to being largely inept.

Dell would probably prove more reliable but either option above is likely to leave you with no laptop for several weeks minimum while they faff with a problem you can workaround for as little as £7 ish. (even tho its their fault i'd rather spend £5-10 than be without my machine for an extended period)

I'd suggest trying the self help options, factory restore and/or faffing with drivers and updates over time and it may well come back to life. meantime buy an independant webcam to use in the interim a then you'll always have that as an option and if your laptop webcam ever does spring back to life you can keep the other one as a spare or for another PC or pass on to a friend/elderly aunt who doesn't know much about PCs but wants to use skype too....

DatabaseError

if you do buy a separate cam, don't be fooled by cheap "10 mega pixels, infra red...." sales pitches, just buy logitech or microsoft and it'll work out of the box.

macman

It's PCW's responsibility as the retailer, but if you take it back to them they frankly won't have a clue and will no doubt advise a Factory Restore just to get rid of you.

morg_monster

I hadn't even thought of a separate cam, that's a great idea.
I do have a slight niggle that it might be a hardware thing though; as it comes on sometimes, and i'll have have been skyping for a couple of mins and then it'll go off and not come on again, it's almost as if there's a bad connection somewhere? I had hoped to keep this laptop for a loooong time, so would be good if I could be sure it'd work again one day when the drivers are finally updated, but if it's a hardware thing...
Anyway thanks very much for the ideas, I will have to weigh up the options. I don't have that much stuff on my laptop, so might do a factory restore first, and if that still doesn't work, I'll just leave it. Sending it off to either party does seem like a massive faff.

millwalll

Do you know if the webcam shows up in device manager? Both companies will tell you to restore the machine to find out if it hardware of software. If it still does not work after a restore then its a problem with your webcam. If you take it to PC World they will book it with Dell for you or you can book it direct with Dell.