List of Owners of M11x That Have Hinges Damaged or Repaired Already

Another below-the-belt punch from Dell. Nothing new there. I remember not that long ago, there was a report Apple does the same. Unless you spammed them.

On this forum, there are already 2 threads about hinge problems (this one and the big one) and 1 about DIY hinge fix. I, too, think those are probably fine to post in.

 

That doesn't give me much confidence in Dell's intentions regarding this issue. I guess I will try to enjoy my M11x and hope for the best, but don't think I will be doing business with Dell again. Too bad, because aside for the potential hinge issue, I love my little alienware!

And yeah, I know, I know... if I hadn't been reading the forums I wouldn't know about the issue and would not be worried about it. But the fact is I DID read the forums, I DO know about the issue, and I DO worry about it.

 

That's interesting in light of the fact that Chris, a moderator of the Dell Alienware forum, called out Apple for deleting negative posts in their own forums.

Twitter / DELLChrisM: First lesson of Social Med ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/493140-m11x-hinge-screen-touching-keyboard-discussion-r1-r2-70.html#post6634275

Since Dell doesn't garner a fraction of the scrutiny that everything Apple Nation enjoys/endures, I guess that means it's fine for them to do the same thing knowing that the chances of those actions being publicized are just a smidge greater than zero.

 

wow i guess dell is contended with the replacement of the Cover latch where the plastic hinge holder is located. but how bout the hassle of such replacement. i guess marketing wise its easy to make hinge replacement than to make re design holder of the hinge.

anyway i just make some suggestions and hopefully these would trigger a positive brainstorming of ideas to aid a little info to dell

 

side to side

dell can make a bracket and can make it from the replaced cover latch that are taken from those who have claim warranty. if i were dell, i make this return cover latch and make a prototype for such a bracket.



There is still a good space between the outer edge of the cover latch and the magnesium alloy that's where the metal hinge laid.

i am positive they can make it stick there at side and still retain the plastic holder which where the golden bolt is casted. the bracket is only a reinforcement. and i bet hinge problem will be a thing from the past.

 

Add me on: left hinge broke after 6 months of use. Screen changed (now a Samsung one).
The positive side is the SAV service is actually quite good: il took me 30 seconds on the phone plus a photo by email to get everything fixed the next day morning.

 

am I missing something or are the screws in the metal assembly screwn into glue that erodes with time?

 

nope the bolt of the screws of the metal hinge is not glued, it is casted inside a thin plastic seen in a broken little pieces in the below pic



so just imagine a plastic that size handling the pressure of the metal hinge in a closing and opening rotation. VERY poor design....

 

Somewhere in a alterate multiuniverse this hinge design actually worked. I plan on scaring children this halloween by letting them watch me open and close my M11x lid.

 

OK, now that's just extreme...

 

No extreme is when you realise that all over Hollywood foley sound artists are throwing away their unsafe rusty hinges. They are being replaced with nice clean M11x,s to get the creaky hinge sounds into the next FRIDAY THE 13TH movie.

 

Lol OT now, hmmm I can't imagine such a luck of having a 13th hinge replacement by the end of 3yrs warranty lol.

Now back to topic. updated list already. Whooa such an alarming number. And I can't wait having to include CHRIS of Dell in the list... sooner or later, well see hehehe

 

With any luck the corperate executives of dell were presented with a free M11x. Don't tell me that their hinges are any better than ours. Will their names be on the first page soon?

 

As a side note I found my screen was getting a tad wobbly, so pulled the little sucker apart and found the screws were lose, 4 of the 6 needed to be tightened, checked the fittings all looked OK.

I have no warranty - so pulling it apart is not a problem for me.

 

How is it that you have no warranty?

 

Probably took it apart in an obvious way?
has r1 but he didn't like the field techs last time....

 

just be careful in tighting it up because the plastic holder can be easily broke up...

well... keep an eye of that hinge it will pretty soon gave up too.... cyah soon bro

 

To all, what is the best way to process a repair/replacement hinge/LCD bezel. I never had an issue with my hinge until recently and now it feels like if I keep opening and closing it anymore it is going to snap.

Should I email or call, if so, which emails and what phone #.
Thanks!

 

Go here: Dell Contact Technical Support

Choose Alienware tech support (telephone) and write down the express service code, then type with tone dial or say it on the phone when it asks you.

1-800-ALIENWARE

Choose Tech support. DON'T call Dell regular support, they'll waste your time and someone with a pinch of brain will eventually tell you to call AW support.

 

That's what I was pointing too, so why is there plastic in there in the first place? Is the plastic what the screw screws into? Why doesn't the screw's just screw into metal like normal screws? lol...all these screws talk is screwin with me..

 

Yes one of my favorite things to think about! "Tegmark estimates that an identical volume to ours should be about 10^10^115 meters away from us (a number larger than a googolplex(Carl Sagan estimated that writing a googolplex in numerals (i.e., "10,000,000,000...") would be physically impossible, since doing so would require more space than the known universe provides.)).

 

I guess the best solution is casting just one bolt into the magnesium alloy ang keep the originial design to the other bolt which is casted inside the platic.

 

OMG i tried posting this list in the DELL community and they just delete it even before it gain grounds WOW they cant HIDE and ESCAPE from the TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH.

anyway they said i violate posting rules of using bad language anway, have to post again less the language, have to edit first.

post you updates soon of this hinge odyssey

 

You can add me to the list if you want. Hinges were damaged, were repaired within warranty one day after calling Dell (new lcd).

 

Please do not make posts advertising other site's forums. If you want to discuss something, you do it here. Don't direct our members off this site.

Thank you.

 

Hey folks-

Just wanted to let you know that we're very aware that some Alienware M11x customers have experienced issues with the laptop hinges. Being aware of the issue, we've engaged the relevant internal teams here at Dell.

When we have more details to share, we will.

 

Thank you for the update and assurance that Dell/Alienware internal
teams are taking actions to resolve the M11x hinge problems.

I'm a potential Alienware M11x customer willing to spend money
on an M11x, knowing full well that there is a high chance the hinges
will break in the future.

I'm planning to return a notebook I recently purchased and
buying a M11x instead.

I'd like an assurance that Alienware is implementing a redesign
of the hinges. Not just Alienware techs frequently replacing
parts from a poor hinge design.

I've read horror stories of Alienware M11x owners having field techs
regularly visiting to fix broken hinges.

I definitely don't want to have constant fears of just opening and closing the M11x to have it break and get regular visits by Alienware techs.

 

Thanks for the update, John; I'll put an article up letting our readers know you are working on it.

Dell is the most responsive large company on this forum and I can tell you that people greatly appreciate you looking out for them.

 

I'd recommend in general always keeping things civil, specially when posting in their business website.

I know how frustrating it is to buy something like this and have it break, and then having no response from the manufacturer, but I prefer to vote with my wallet. I feel like Dell screwed me over, obviously not on purpose because they're a business, but I'll be moving on.

Imagine a customer who doesn't visit this website, what a terrible experience.

Gotta give props to that guy who figured this out soon and returned his m11x, who was it? Ninja something. Should've followed his lead back then, but I was too excited to buy this laptop.

 

good move. let me suggest that alienware first recognize this as a manufacturing/design defect and will do all replacements regardless of the type of warranty. probably some form of recall will be very welcome

this way, you will surely make all your worldwide customers happy and ensure the future free global movement of the M11x

 

To what list are you referring? Remember, on our Forum we do not remove threads if the content is anti-Dell. We remove them for the following -
* Using character substitution to circumvent the profanity filter
* Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, vulgar, profane, explicit, obscene, racially or ethnically offensive
* Unauthorized solicitation (gathering information against Dell, spamming, advertising)
* Providing Dell employee name, email, phone number, case number, tracking number, customer number, order number, service tag number

 

Nice to see Dell-ChrisM on this forum. He's one of the best at Dell.

 

The point of posting is to show that we are listening and letting you know that there is discussion going on at Dell. Neither John nor I mentioned a specific time frame.
"Just wanted to let you know that we are very aware that some Alienware M11x customers have experienced issues with the laptop hinges. Being aware of the issue, we have engaged the relevant internal teams here at Dell. When we have more details to share, we will."

 

Yeap please no attack on the person, Chris can manage to report this and this well make us plus points in the revision dept, so it can help DELL in making necessary step to make things better.

the thing about using the replacement option for the hinge problem is costly to DELL but more so than making the DELL brand as a whole undesirable, would cost it even more.

now, i cant think that DELL would make any surgical revision for current m11x hmmm i guess this would be more effective and less cost design if they do hehehe



also they can use this for the next revision, less design overhaul but effective solution hehehe

hey chris, i am fine with the link above which is an edited version of your team if it would be posted to DELL Community forum.

that would be another plus for us alienware user in general. Thanks man.

 

Add me to the list, I broke one hinge last month. Got a replacement laptop. Now the left hinge on that one is getting a little loose and moving around more, my guess is it will break with in the week as thats what my last one did. I open my laptop once in the morning when I get to work, then close it before I leave work. 5 Times a week, so im not over working the hinges.

 

ejohnson,
Added to the post in the thread.

 

Thank you for clearing that up, Chris.

I just wanted to reiterate that not only are we having discussions about this internally, we're having discussions with the right people. Chris and I are active participants in the discussion, so as soon as there is something to report, you can rest assured that it will be.

 

This is reassuring news.

While I'll probably be okay with at least having the warranty extended for all owners on the hinge issue,

it would be awesome if some kind of fix could be come up with to be applied by an in home service tech or something.

This is just wishful thinking on my part, but I've gone through 4 display panels on this machine, and my current one has the best PQ by far out of all even though it is the same make and model as 3 of the others.

I'd hate to lose it due to a breaking hinge, have to do a panel replacement, and get a display panel that wasn't manufactured as well at the factory, even though it's the same make and model, so I get an inferior PQ than what I'm enjoying now.

Of course, there is always the possibility of getting an equal or better PQ in a panel replacement, but I don't want to roll the dice on that.

Happy to see the problem properly addressed. And by more than one rep, too. That for me, makes a difference as it shows it's definitely being acknowledged.

I've heard this was a similar problem in the M15x models.

I'm trusting this isn't a widespread issue as I'm heavily eyeing a M17x with a crossfire or SLI rig and I'd hate to drop that kind of coin to have to worry about this kind of issue.

Thanks again for letting us know this is being taken seriously.

I believe companies like Dell and Asus understand how much gamers make up the nexus of their buying market.

And how gamers, with their enthusiasm for hardware because of gaming, are the go to experts from friends and family when making common computer or electronic purchases. And if the family member or friend hears from the gamer that they trust that the PC brand being considered isn't reliable to the gamer, then the PC manufacturer will most likely lose that sale every time.

Never underestimate the word of mouth power a gamer has for PC brand purchases. That is who friends and family trust when buying computers and electronics.

Dell gets this. Alienware gets this. That's why this will get fixed.

Now, if we can just get those 265 drivers from Nvidia to fix PB, then this will be the month the M11x comes fully into it's own and can really be enjoyed as intended.

I'm looking forward to it.

I've been dying to carry it around and show everyone it's Pimp stealth

 

I'd like to thank Dell for contributing to the NBR forum.
I'm aware Dell has no obligation to do so, but it is appreciated.

I look forward to the findings of Dells engagement with the different teams regarding the M11x hinge issues experienced by some of Dells clients.

I'm really happy with my Alienware M11x and I'm sure Dell would want it's clients to maintain such a view of their products in the future.

With a healthy range of manufacturers and Netbook/Notebooks on the market today there is no reason for Dell to lower their clients expectations when I believe Dell is striving for excellence in their field.

 

This is great info for us John.

would there be any chance of making a fix with the old design or just sticking to replacement scheme? I can see that, in many locations, replacement of the broken hinge part have gotten and are met with quality service attention but Would that hurt more with regards to quality of AW product? With each replacement is painting a contrasting image to Alienware Products which are aimed to be the premium category of dell. Its like the Lexus of laptops. However this issue is like the brake recall of toyota.

Premium reputation like this is top priority and I am grateful that we are met with premium attention from John and Chris. We are just hoping that we will be given with premium end result soon... Better late than never.

 

Good to see Chris and John over here. Even better to see Chris linking a repost of the list on Dell's forums so we know they're not taking the "delete and deny" approach -- I had seen rumors that reviews mentioning the hinge issue were being removed from their site.

 

Name_User, All,

First, post are never actually deleted. They are moved to a hidden board. Second, we do not move post based on content, rather for very specific infractions -
Profanity
Character substitution to post profanity
Unauthorized solicitations
Spamming
Attacking of other users or the Liaison
Post of Service Tag numbers, etc.

 

99. giangn626 - (US) I've had my hinge replaced the first month after I got my M11x. My hinge was pretty much gone at that point. Now, the hinge sits unevenly and I have a ton of scratches from the keyboard and the top piece. The scratches don't bother me enough to have the whole screen replaced again. I will before the warranty is up.

 

engadget posted this one.. you might want to check this out. Alienware M11x hinge issues? Yeah, Dell knows -- Engadget

 

yeah like always, this forum is their source.

 

Jeez, finally, and it only took... 3 months. Another 6 months to implement a fix, and another 3 months to notify users about the fix, and most will be out of warranty n_n

 

100. Fraggable - (US) I've had my M11x for about 5 months and have had keyboard smudges on the screen and a larger gap on the left side of the hinge than on the right for the entire time. Hasn't been worth trying to have it repaired yet, but if Dell releases a fix plan/recall I'd love to have it corrected.

 

wow, and the list just gets longer

 

now our NBR made a short article too. please read it here pls click

 

It made Engadget:
Alienware M11x hinge issues? Yeah, Dell knows -- Engadget

Anyway I've personally never had a hinge snap on me, but I did have to get the screen swappeed becuase the keyboard scratched the screen. Seriously, Dell needs to make the screen recessed or something to keep this from happening, and make the hinges stronger. Hopefully they will offer a fix for R1/R2 owners,and we don't have to buy the R3 to get the fix.