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

Why is everyone copying the entire list in their post when all they need to do is ask to be added and give a little detail?

 

list update have reached 100 now but i cant imagine the list outside our forum. hope they can find answer for this issue.

anyway, please just put on the details on your post and you will be added to the list in the first page. no need to copy the whole list anymore. also pics are a welcome addition to your post. thanks.

 

Just got my M11xR1 today..Looks pretty solid overall but I can see the lid is not aligned nicely when its closed lol, the right side appears to have gap while left side doesn't. Guess its just a matter of time before it fails. Sigh.

EDIT:-
I just felt like doing something stupid. So I decided to stress the hinge.
I tried opening and closing the lid rapidly for a hundred times, the hinge still working fine.
So I'm now actually thinking it's the heat that causes the deteriorations of the hinge...
touchwood*

 

I don't think I posted in here before, but my friend and I both had to get our hinges repaired... Got mine at launch, he got his in summer.

 

You can add me to the list, but then again I thought you were specifically talking about broken hinges, not things that are an result of crappy hinges like a scratched screen...

 

Same as above...I have had two with misaligned hinges/screen touching keyboard. My 3rd or present system has the key touching issue and there is still a slight gap.
I didnt have them repaired, just exchanged. I am sure there are many more like this but the title implies completely broken hinges.
I think I still have my photos of both old systems somewhere. They are in a couple of old threads here too. Screen touching keyboard thread I think.

 

I also thought it was only if your hinges had broken and you had requested a repair. I bought mine at Best Buy in Sept. So far the hinges have not broken, but there is a larger gap on one hinge then the other and the screen definitely touches the keyboard. I am hoping it hangs in there, I am being very careful of it and tend to leave it open on my desk so as not to stress it at all. I hate worrying about it so much as it tends to zap the joy right out of it, as well as defeating the whole purpose of this little beast - which is portability so you can be gaming on the run.

But I have to say, if it weren't for this hinge issue this is the best computer I have ever owned.

 

It's not heat that's leading to the LCD assembly breaking.

 

We've known for some time now that Dell has been a) aware of the issue and the threads here at NBR dealing with the M11x's hinges and b) been conducting an internal investigation. That news is over two months old. We know that this issue has been brought up weekly in meetings with the product manager during this time. We should be able to assume that the proper teams at Dell have already been working on this issue and how best to take care of the customers who have been impacted by it and those that will be in the future.

Don't get me wrong; I think it's great that Dell is reestablishing any kind of open dialog on the matter. However I think all of us were really expecting a bit more than a reiteration of what's already been said publicly.

 

Any idea?
Cause if frequency of opening/closing is, my hinge should be broken by now lol.
Been doing the same thing since morning and whenever my hand is free.

 

There have been reports here from owners with broken hinges who have essentially done very little open/closing of their lids. The plastic is going to give when it decides to give. One theory is that during assembly some units are having their hinges over-tightened.

 

Dear dell representatives, I understand that it may be near impossible to answer this question accurately, but could you please shed some light as to whether we should expect a fix in the immediate future, or will the permanent fix come for the R3 revision of the machine?

 

Same here.

 

I have an issue with mine, It is not cracked, but when you close it. The LCD goes up in the back, and I must push it back down to get the LCD flush with the base again.

 

Oh yeah, it's cracking - actually as soon as it does that, it's already partially broken. I had the same thing on mine. Call Dell and get it replaced as soon as possible.

 

This problem could be solved with a revised hinge design with replacement LCD assembly's (based on pics that's where the problem seems to originate) being sent to affected customers. Guess the third time (R3) is a charm. Fortunately the current M15x (not to be confused with m15x that had hinge issues) and M17x are free of any physical problems because they are built of sturdier materials. It's the reason I was one of the earliest critics of the M11x build quality, I felt it was too compromised compared to it's bigger brothers..

 

Ugh. Ordered the first day it was released.

 

So i'm planning to get the m11x R2 soon. Maybe refurbished or new.

I ask the Dell Sales agent about the hinges issues and here is his response...

Is this true?

 

We cannot speak to such questions at this time.

 

Added giangn626, Fraggable, theneighborrkid, Tears, sagman76, root to the list.

 

In the past few months Dell sales and support staff have made such claims which were either proven false or denied by other Dell representatives. Can't say for sure whether this particular claim is true, but frankly I wouldn't put any stock in it. If you're purchasing then do it with the understanding that nothing has changed (yet).

 

It's a complete lie, as you can see on this board, official Dell Reps are forbidden to talk about it.

It's just a sales pitch man, the last person you need advice from is the guy selling you the product.

Personally as an owner of a broken laptop that has not been used in a month due to broken hinges and slow dell response to a fix, I recommend not buying it until this has been sorted.

For what it's worth, a dell guy in this forum led us to believe back in June/July that this was already addressed, but I forget his name. eransomething?

 

I estimate the probability of 99.9999999% it being a lie.

erawneila (=alienware backwards ). I agree, as amazing as m11x otherwise is (and by that I mean freaking awesome), it's kind of important to have it in 1 piece! Unlike all the bugs they had on m17x, this is not something they can fix with new drivers or a BIOS update.

 

erawneila (Brian) never made any such claim. However back in early July he did state that the weekly reports he was seeing wasn't showing a significant number of hinge failures.

EDIT: Or if he did, he didn't make that statement here in these forums.

 

I'm just wondering... I've had mine for about three months now, and there's no sign of hinge failure as of yet. Is this something that happens to ALL m11x users? Or are there some lucky ones out there? I always have this gnawing fear in the back of my mind every time I open or close the lid.

 

the hinge of the m11x is a best design, the culprit is the design that is holding the hinge. When my hinge broke down, I eventually just decided to open it up and take a look. To my dismay, there are 2 screws holding the two halves of the hinge together and they are casted into PLASTIC. I cant really imagine if the plastic that hold the screw can withold the pressure of the hinge. So of course the plastic was stripped and pretty scredded up like the pics below.





now if i am to solicit some idea, there are 4 type of plan of actions

the bracket reinforce type




or the EPOXY BOND bracket reinforce type




and the magnesium alloy casted bolt




Lastly, the epoxy bond reinforcement to be done by a professional DELL repair technician. As far as we owners who DIY fix our hinge with the epoxy bond reinforce, we can say that it is really a total fix, we never get to worry of our hinge anymore and it is REALLY COST EFFECTIVE. and it would not void the warranty if it is done by DELL techs. here is the pic for the DIY bond reinforcement

 

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Here's the post:

We can argue semantics, but to me, it clearly seems he's reassuring everyone there's no hinge issue, or it affects a very limited number of systems. What's a limited number? Only they know. But turns out it affected me, so...

Around that time I remember seeing someone post something about a Dell Rep telling them that computers made at the end of june/july were free of this issue or something similar. I recall this because it's when I bought my machine and I was wondering if mine would be defective or not.

 

Thanks everyone for the info.

If I buy one i'll be sure to add the 3 year warranty support. So they will be stuck repairing each time. I guess it's just the down time for the repair that bother some people.

So the options at the moment is...

1. DIY bond reinforcement by a certified dell tech. (How would one go about this if you end up with the issue at some point and how will Dell know that it was done by a dell tech?)

2. Wait for Dell to own up the the hinges defect and possibly at a later time swap the laptop with a replacement or a permanent fix from dell at no cost?

 

So if Dell doesn't own up to this issue would they provide you with a swap to another system at no cost like people with the xps 1340?

I'm planning to get a 3 year warranty and i'm sure they will get sick and tired of dealing with the hinges issue at some point.

 

I have no idea, I doubt it. And I got the 1 year warranty so this machine will last me one year, minus 1-2 months for downtime, minus whatever else when it breaks again. I was thinking of buying a 3 year warranty but I feel it's just throwing bad money at a bad investment.

 

My hinge is making loud cracking noises when I open it, as well as being loose. When I close it, the lid is quite obviously out of place. Count me in as one of those unfortunate

 

sad but welcome bro.

we know that one of the most reliable solution for this hinge problem from not re occuring is the BONDING REINFORCEMENT. can DELL just accomodate this course of action to the claims of hinge problems? for my part, i can do the DIY Bonding Fix but i always consider still the value of warranty, not just to the hinge but to the entire m11x components. i think doing the DIY Fix for the hinge will void my warranty. So, i cant claim if by any chance my other components may burned up. That is why, i hope DELL will come up with a fix or just this temporary BONDING FIX to be done by DELL professional technicians so that we wont void the warranty. The replacement option is alright but the hassle and the possible hinge breakdown would counter the idea.

The idea here is making the laptop durable and reliable. software and bugs can be fix but this hardware breakdown is too much even for an ordinary guy to solve for himself. Just imagine your in a trip and the laptop would break and you're far from making a replacement, more so the chance of having a replacement parts and technicians to be available. That is why the replacement scheme would defeat the idea of reliability of the laptop itself.

well, we will be hoping and counting on DELL to turn over stones to cover and find a fix to this mess... hopefully before christmas would come. if they do, Dell would be giving themeselves more of a christmas Gift and for us a christmas bonus.

 

just curious. if the hinge repair (i.e. epoxy bonding, etc) is done by an authorized dell/alienware distributor/service center, will that void the warranty?

 

nope they have to make it official first before it will be part of policy in warranty coverage. but i guess they will still go for the replacement policy.

now another redesign suggestion on the magnesium alloy hinge holder hehehe Nothing to do here for now

 

I wa number 46 on the front page; just wanted to post an unfortunate update.

I think it's been about 2 months since I noticed that my lid clicked whenever opening and closing, and had become wobbly.
However, now my left hinge makes a horrible cracking sound and actually splits open whenever I close the laptop lid (I need to snap the two halves back together) =[

 

Did you use CAD to draw out a hinge? That's dedication if you did!

 

That looks more like solidworks or google sketchup

 

Thats the same issue I had. Your screen hinge is about to totally seperate from the body and when it does your screen will lay flat on it's back at 180* open. When that happens you may loose the ability for it to register as opened and as a result, the screen won't come on. Also your hinges may not open, while the screen opens because it's not longer attached to the hinge. I suggest calling Dell asap to get a tech to replace it.

__________________________________________

Well to update my status (#5 on front page), I finally made back home from Iraq two weeks ago. A dell tech came out and swapped my screen so now I can finally use my M11x again after several months in Iraq with a totally busted and seperated hinge on both sides. The screen seems good but I'm sure I will be extending my warranty to cover the next screen replacement. Anyhow nice to have it back.

After the tech replaced the screen I had to correct a few errors she made. the left bottom corner of my keyboard wasn't flush and stuck up a bit. Needed to be popped back into place. The power button plastic strip was also not flat to the right of the power button so I had to reseat that plastic strip. Overall I'm just glad to have a working screen after about 3-4 months.

 

its google sketchup. nah its just simple sketch but its so handy to do sketch.

yeap but i know that dell is looking for this problem in any angle. but the questions is if DELL will make revision ECONOMICALLY APPLICABLE (hmmm i dunno if that will be the right business and diplomatic term )

 

i didn't read this whole thread, but i Bought a R1 the other day and the Hinges were creaking all to hell & the previous owner had tried some sort of fix, i called dell and told them it was making noise and it felt like it was going to break, and i had a replacement screen assembly in 2 days. was the easiest time ive ever had with dell. i was pleasantly surprised for sure, hell the thing is like bran new now. i did have to totally disassemble the thing to replace it, but i sure wasn't going to let some tard Dell tech replace it. thought id post a positive experience since most of the time these threads are all about hate.

 

I was just going to update and say that mine still has not been repaired because it took me almost 3 weeks to get a box in. I can't be mad though, at least it is in the process of a repair. I almost want to open mine up and see how they repaired it when it gets back, but I'm afraid to void my warranty now!

 

*whew* ...

 

hmmm would there be a chance that dell already make revision on replaced lcd assembly hinge?

hmmm just curious if they might did a little bonding thing on current replacement now hehehe

 

My m11x's left hinge broke internally a few months ago. I just call Alienware this past Sunday and they scheduled a tech to call me some time this week.

 

Hey guys. Add me to the club. Same old story; my right hinge started making the noise, now it's broken internally.


I'm going to have to call Dell & get them to fix it. My right speaker is dead as well.


*sigh* I want to like this thing, I really do.


Also, I'm not sure I want some tech messing around inside of my notebook....those are the ONLY two problems I have....I don't want him to break stuff and/or add more problems.

 

Welcome home!

 

It's all very well if say Dell decides to do bonding the hinge etc but even before the hinge is broken There is still the fact the screen hits the keyboard and leaves smudged or scratched screen.
My hinge in my 3rd system is ok at the moment. Using since Aug/Sep. But I am still not happy about the slight gap difference left to right and the fact i have to use the piece of cloth that came with it between screen and keyboard. The keys still leave a mark through this though.
Now Dell have admitted the problem it should be a complete re design of the hinge assembly and all units on the list recalled. If they can't then a free upgrade to a newly designed R3 anyone?

 

If you're thinking of Dell on-site tech doing the DIY fix, you are out of your mind! These guys can barely open the laptop without breaking half parts.

It's like expecting a dog to tutor you in nuclear physics.

 

Well that's reassuring

My Dell rep says he's coming in a few hours, I wonder if he's not going to make things worse, everyone says bad things about the Dell techs...

Just to clarify, I don't think anyone that bought this little machine thinks it's bad, on the contrary. I personally thought it was the greatest lap I ever had, it's a hell of a little tank, even the Optimus driver issues are very low on the importance scale.

But being the best is meaningless if the thing's gonna break in less than a year...More like 6 months.

What I mean, for most of us owners, it's not hate, it's regular frustration. And to avoid this frustration (which is not the first time), I decide to not deal with Dell again. You might take that as hate, but it's not, I see it as expressing frustration.

If it was hate I'd be opening those "Dell Sucks!" webpages or something I guess, but I honestly don't care that much.

 

Well look, just whatever you do - don't leave him alone with the laptop. Watch him like a hawk. When he starts putting the parts back, watch the laptop from all angles, especially from the sides. Make sure EVERYTHING is lined up. No cracks, things misaligned, etc.

Btw, tell him to be VERY careful when he lifts the (you can tell him you heard it can easily break) latch cover (the plastic that covers caps lock LED etc.) as its so easy to break the small tips.

My guy broke latch cover and a bottom panel. And honestly, he was trying to be relatively careful...