Have Dell killed my laptop?

gotan

I have had a Dell engineer here all day and he has just left. The motherboard on my 2003 Inspiron will have to be replaced for the 3rd time in recent months, the fan for the 2nd and there is no audio at all. The internet connection now drops sporadically. It hasn't dropped once in over 14 months with my ISP. The keyboard will not read the pound sign and has @ at the " sign - this latter may be simply fixed. However even more annoyingly, I now have to peer at the screen display which, set to my chosen resolution before the visit, of 1280 x 1024, is now very small although clear. That isn't its native resolution, which originally was/is even higher. Instead I am being forced to set it to a slightly fuzzy, large 1024 x 786.
I called them out because of fan noise and faulty audio and it appears that they have killed off my PC. Other than getting them back, which will happen, is there anything I can do re these various issues? I feel that I should have just got the fan replaced and left the rest alone. I have only the one PC and its excellent screen is the main reason. The current crop of laptops do not have screens this good.
Many thanks for anyone's knowledgeable advice. It is very disappointing.

albertross_2

Did they reinatall the operating system, the resolution and pound sign shouldn't have changed with a motherboard swap

if you search the techie forum for "pound sign" you will find the answer to that problem, you have an american kb setup.

I'd call Dell and try to get the engineer back while they are in the area

CHR15

It does sound like he re-installed the OS.

The keyboard layout is fixed in Control Panel

Regional and Language Options

Set the keyboard to English UK.

That will swap the " and @ signs back.


The resolution issue is due to the Graphics Driver.

If you know what graphics are installed, try updating the driver to the latest version (assuming you can stay on the net that long!!)


However, I do agree DELL should have sorted this lot and ensured you were happy before leaving.

gotan

I have this spec: Pentium 4 processor 3.06 CPU 1.59GHz, 1 GB RAM (it came with 512; I added another 512 as it had a slot free); Graphics card is ATI Mobility Radeon 9000. Small hdd - 40GB. Inspiron 5150 from 2003. It weighs a lot because it is metal cased. Even the CD-ROM drive is metal.

I don't blame the engineer who backed me up with Dell tech and spent several hours here and told them the PC needs yet another motherboard, fan etc as these are faulty.

I got a call tonight saying they were offering to replace the laptop with another one 'with similar spec', model tbc. All they said was it was a hdd of 80GB. I pointed out that when I bought this laptop, I paid a lot more for it than they cost now (upwards of 1500 pounds) and it was a top spec one then.
I fear they will offer me the bottom range one. Plus they insist on taking this one back, which I don't want. I am in a one year warranty situation.
I think they will offer me the 1501 or possibly one of the others but with integrated graphics. They have been helpful really but I don't know how you compare like for like with a well made, but old machine.

Btw the settings are set to UK English but the keyboard will not change.
How do I upgrade the graphics drivers on the ATI Radeon card please?
very many thanks. I will have to let them know tomorrow. I think they do not think it cost effective to repair the laptop.

Little_John

So how long have you had the laptop? 3-4 years? and dell are still forking out on a warrenty?

3 motherboards over 3 years would be more than I would accept. I would be contacting dell and using the sales of goods act to get either a replacement or a refund. You have given them plenty of chances to supply you with a working laptop. They have offered a replacement the replacement can not be of worse spec as what you bought from them originally. I definatly wouldnt be accepting an inspiron 1501

Back on release the 5150 was a really high end laptop, things have moved on since then but they were very expensive £1200 ish I remember as I was looking for one back then and I got a different make same spec but a 60GB drive for a couple of hundred less. it has had a new board and cooling fan the board was due to breaking the power connector inside. the fan just stoped working after about 2 and a half years of use I managed to replace that myself by contacting the fan makers direct and I received a "sample" and just paid for postage from the US.

So I would be expecting somthing similar to that spec as a replacement, I would make a point of sticking to an intel CPU and ati graphics and point this out to them as your minimum spec, the intel 950 graphics isnt brilliant so you insist to them you dont want any laptop that uses that graphics chip. similar thing on the CPU side jsut tell them that is all you want.

the result should be you will get s shiney new inspiron 6400 as it is the lowest spec they do with intel cpu and ati graphics, T5300 1.73Ghz core2duo, 2GB memory and a 160GB drive DVDrw and a 15.4" widescreen what ever you do don't take a 14" widescreen unless you want a small screen priced at £750. If I could get them to agree to that I would be reasonably happy with my self. The other higher spec ones come with 17" screens and they may complain at that, if you want one of those maybe you could pay the difference, it would be worth it as they come with the T7 core2duo processor and would cost you an extra £150 maybe worth it.

All you can do is wait for what dell come back to you with, but the inspiron 6400 is about the equivalent or as close to what you bought back then. remember you play games like need for speed on it and need the graphics power.

totorochic

Unfortunately, Dell has pretty much screwed up the design of the Inspiron 5150. Having had it myself since 2003, I have had it break down once last year and had to ship the laptop back to Dell to get the motherboard replaced for free (with additional costs from calling up their helpline, the guy on the other end was no help to me).

Dell have made a class action settlement with regard to the Inspiron 5150 as can be detailed here: http://www.lieffcabraser.com/dell-inspiron-2.htm

My advice is to get a new machine.

Little_John

The Class action settlement strengthens your case for the laptop not being suitable for purpose and inherently faulty

DellCAJohn

@gotan-

My name is John, and I work at Dell headquarters. I would have to agree that if you are still having problems after the service technician left, this is something we should definitely be addressing. Given the service history you describe, feel free to contact me, and I'll be happy to see what we can do.

[EMAIL="customer_advocate@dell.com"]customer_advocate@dell.com[/EMAIL]
ATTN: John

Since I am in the US, I would have to coordinate my efforts with someone in the UK to get anything done, but then again, I'd be coordinating the entire affair from corporate headquarters. :T

Little_John

Good luck with this gotan, I would hope the input from a dell customer advocate will have some sway in sorting this problem for you, but don't forget about consumer law in the UK states that you need to give the supplier sufficient opertunity to provide you with a product that is sutable for the purpose it was intended. 3 boards in a known problematic machine would sugest that they don't have a solution that actually works.

Keep us informed how you get on.

gotan

No reply from me for a few days as the laptop died during the night on Monday. It would not turn on. Dell didn't call back. I called them on the 0870 line. I could not get online to find the cheaper alternative!
I will email John right away - thank you. The situation is that they offered me a 6400 with 80GB hdd, 1.73 dual core processor, 1GB RAM but say it will take up to 2 weeks to reach me. When asked what must I do for 2 weeks, will they lend me one, they said to 'go to an internet cafe'. Voila, here I am.
Excuse me if I don't log in soon, but I do not prefer using internet cafes.
They also want to get me to give them back the old one, rather than get it fixed. I am reluctant.

DellCAJohn

@gotan-

I haven't heard from you yet. I am guessing that the internet cafe experience isn't exactly conducive to writing emails to tech guys in the US. Our techies often use the "Scotty" (Star Trek) technique at guestimating timetables, so hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised with your replacement this week

If you need me, let me know.