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

Well, I have joined the list of folks who had their hinge issue repaired. My hinges started out fine, then steadily got tighter, and started making the legendary cracking sound. I finally stopped closing the lid for fear of breaking the lid completely off. Small pieces of black plastic were falling out of the hinges as well.
Even tho these computers should not have such a problem, I was VERY happy with their handling of my problem! I called Alien tech support yesterday, and today, to my surprise, a service tech called me to ask if he could come to my house and make the repair. He came and replaced the complete LCD assembly in less than an hour, and was on his way. I was super happy with this service to say the least!!!
While he was reassembling my laptop, I took a good look at the problem hinges. In my case, the hinges had somehow gotten Soooo tight that I could hardly swivel them by hand! Not sure how they could get so tight, but they did, and this caused the plastic to break around each of the molded inserts that were use for fastening the hinge to the lid. It looked like quite a bit of engineering went into this hinge design, but there is some flaw that allows them to tighten up to the point of breaking the fastening points. I sure hope the new hinge does not have this same flaw. Anyways, I must give Alienware credit for such quick service.

 

Had my LCD replaced TWICE. despite the great customer service, i am incredibly disappointed with the build design.

 

Nope, nothing.

 

Well after 5 years I finnally find out that I own another computer that has hinge problems. But at least it took 5 years before it broke, unknown to me my HP laptop had a hinge replacement until 09 now that offer has expired and as you can see I will have to fix this one myself. So far my M11X replacement screen hinges are holding up.






and the temp computer stripped look

 

Called AW today, told them my hinge problem and they had the nerve to try to sell me an extended warranty because mine runs out in 80 days.

They told me the problem is with the screen - not the hinge, which is completely BS. This is an defect in the engineering.

When I run out of warranty and this happens again, I will go out of my way to convince everyone I know to never deal with AW again.

This is total crap. I know it's going to happen again, it's their fault for designing this crap hinge; I'm stuck with a defective product that either Dell or AW is trying to hide.

 

Correct mine "profile" i got 2 broken screens, both hinges problem. Now i'm on third display. Russia.

 

Well mine have also just failed, LHS all three screws pulled out of the holders - I have no warranty so have just applied some araldite - and see how this hold up.

 

Why don't you have a warranty? Dell warranties can be transferred from one owner to the another.

 

The number of people reporting multiple hinge failures are what should be the biggest cause for concern for every single M11x owner. It's one thing to have a high rate of component failure in a laptop model. It's an entirely different issue when the item is then fixed with a part that is just as likely to fail.

This is bull-dookie, Dell.

 

Do you guys think they'll have a solution within the next year?

 

Here is my solution - if mine fails on this third screen, i'll repair it by warranty (which ends on 3/2011) and sell it. I really love this laptop, but that's not ok when i can't count on it.

 

Yes. You renew/maintain your warranty.

Anything else is just myth and rumour.

 

I buy my laptops in ausi from graysonline normally costs 1/2 full price which i then salary sacrifice (paid $740 delivered). So my m11x has cost me around $500, before I depreciate in my tax return as i use for work. Would have to buy a warranty and in my view i see little to be gained spending a further $300 odd dollars.

So i dont get a warranty, figure most things i can fix myself - worst case sell good bits for parts

The araldite seems to have worked fine - suspect stress cracks may occur in the future so if needed may redesign hinge, I have a full engineering workshop at my disposal so will get them to fabricate the solution.

The problem is the stress is only placed on the 3 screws each side not across the entire display. Was thinking of installing a base plate behind screen and bonding this to the plastic back cover. But time will tell u never know araldite is pretty darn good, has held my washing machine pump together for 12 months.

 

What's the best deal you guys have gotten on a warranty? I just phoned Alienware to have my second LCD replaced. My warranty expires 04/11, and the guy told me I could buy a warranty for "like two hundred dollars I think".

He said I need to buy "complete care".

I don't want to spend $200. If I can get a warranty for <$100, that'd be ideal. Actually, Dell coming up with an appropriate response to this mess would be even better (e.g. free warranties, more permanent fixes, free R3's (haha).

 

Look into Square Trade. There are people here who have opted for their warranties due to the cost comparison and/or not feeling like Dell should be getting the money in light of the hinge issue.

I'd wait as long as you can to see how/if Dell is going to take care of their customers with hinge problems.

 

Check out this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/510198-squaretrade-vs-dell-complete-care.html

I paid $89 for my 3yr extended warranty.

 

maybe there is a point in pinning this thread?

 

When service man was fixing my laptop he said that its not a common issue for dell laptops to have broken hinges. Much more ofter he fix such on asus laptops. Interesting and pathetic, after 10-20 years of laptop history they cant create cheap and durable hinge.

 

In my view they will simply wait it out until all the warranty's have expired then you will simply have to fix it yourself or pay for extended warranty's which again gives them a revenue stream.

Believe this will not be resolved until the R3 sandy bridge is released - probably be called the N11. With a totally different look etc screen probably won't fit R1 & R2. So suck it up lads there is nothing you can do except a class action, and do you really think there are that many M11x people out there who care that much to pay for a lawyer, I think not.

So Araldite will become your best friend, so far my 'fixed' hinges on the LHS are all good - suggest you don't wait until the hinge is totally stuffed as the posts will break. Don't bother bonding the entire front like shown in the first few photo's the issue is not the front but the rear posts which house the steal screws. Simply use a good two pot adhesive and glue these back into the posts, the screen comes off very easily just use your fingernail start from the bottom after the alienhead power from top cover is removed the sides simply click out the top needs to slide down slightly then this to will simply click out.

You can now see the problem on the LHS and RHS, if your lucky the posts will still be OK if not you have a bigger problem to repair. Come to think of it - that would explain all the bonding adhesive used on the first photo. At this stage I have not fabricated a solution if the posts are gone, if anyone has a broken screen I can design an internal repair, at this stage the only two solution I have are.

1> weld the screws to the metal side plate in position where the post used to be - this however will stress the two side plates and while the load will be spread I don't know if the remaining posts will hold. (refer the front photos - this means adding the hinge onto the two side plates also secured by 3 screws)
2> make entire new side supports using existing as design template join LH & RH sides together to spread load over bottom of the display - this will have to be bonded to internal rear case, probably by plastic weld or adhesive
3> cheap and nasty - as someone else showed drill rear display attach steal plate to rear of display and screw through this.

My preference is the internal solutions as these won't show externally - but right now there is little that can be done except using a good two pot adhesive on the posts and re-attach the metal screws. Cross your fingers and hope yours don't fail.

 

Yes, but "they're aware of it and are now addressing it internally with the right teams!"

/sarcasm

And thanks for posting your findings and recommendations on the DIY approach. I have a feeling I'll end up on that path. I refuse to extend the warranty for this one issue.

 

In first post there are more then 100 people with broken hinge. I wonder how much of forum members have their m11x from the beginning and have no problem with hinge? )

 

a class action suite would be nice and not so hard to accomplish. Ive seen on the net something about a class action against clorox because of false advertising on a certain toilet cleaner. Noone here a lawyer? Let's sue their asses...

 

quote from Catzero

"that is why it is really a DESIGN FLAW because the hinges usually break not by wear and tear but the plastic that hold the golden bolt of the hinges easily break. DELL should have cast the golden bolt inside the magnesium chassis so it wont break. that is why it is a design flaw because the plastic is not design correctly and not for the task of not proportioned for the pressure of the hinges to the plastic holder. even if you have replaced it, tendency is that you the hinge plastic holder will break and break, again and again."

This is 100% correct - the steel screw is pressed into a plastic holder, 3 screws each side. The flexing and stress simply causes the steal screw still secured into the hinge to break out of the posts - the next worse thing to do is keep flapping the hinge open cos this will destroy the posts.

Once the posts are gone it will become a real pain to repair, and regardless on how often they replace the screen this weakness will always be present, unless the use a magnesium back for the posts - and I can't see that happening any-time soon except in the R3

 

I am potentially coming into some decent money from a bonus for my job.

I've got some pretty powerful attorney friends here in Los Angeles as well.

If Dell/Alienware hasn't given a proper solution by the time my bonus comes, I am seriously considering using that bonus to file a class action against Dell/Alienware on this issue.

Many will argue it's not worth the hassle. But it's the principle that matters. I'm sick to death of companies hustling customers the way Dell/Alienware is by trying to force you into an extended warranty because of a design flaw.

I'll have more of an idea the possibility of actually filing a class action suit on this next month

 

I think we can all agree that an overwhelming number of M11x owners have not had any problems with hinges compared to those that have. No one here has ever tried to characterize the issue any differently. You can also safely say that for every report we see here there are multitudes more owners out there that never make it here to share their experiences as well. When it comes down to it, we're never going to have a clear idea how widespread the issue is or is not.

However, what we do know about the way that hinges fail on these things would lead one to believe that it could happen to any one of us regardless of how well we treat the notebook. It could happen out of the blue after a few months of ownership or 3 days after the standard 1 year warranty runs out. We know that Dell's policy of replacing the LCD assembly does not necessarily fix the issue as it's being replaced with the same parts that are failing in the first place. We can see for ourselves that the hinge and LCD panel was poorly designed.

The issue that's important for us as owners of the M11x is how stand-up is Dell going to be about a design and/or materials flaw in what is otherwise a great product.

 

+ rep to you man.

hmm but i guess there are many lawyers nowadays that doesn't ask for a fee and spend their own money if they see that the case is winnable. however they make agreements to us who will be part of the class suit to give these lawyers a 30% to 50% cut in the damages claim that would surely be worth millions hehehe some people will sue because they ought to have lost huge amount of contracts or deals because thier M11X have failed to operate well in one product or business presentation (because of broken hinge) hehe

anyway, in any case, i guess it would be our right to claim when dell would simply just make no good of their promise to deal with this problem.

but for the love of God hope dell would make our christmas merry and let santa deliver the messiah hinge fix we are all longing for

 

Im with you on this all the way! Its unacceptable, its already happened once on a previous model, how dumb can they get?

Im all for alienware and want them to do good buisness but this is just not a good thing for anyone, it pisses alot of people off is about it. For every one customer that hinges break, and with alienware already under enormous scrutiny by hardware enthusiasts when someones hinges break it causes a continuous cycle of flaming to everyone that person knows that alienware is a crap company so alot of sales are lost down the road. Its like running a buisness into the ground the hard way, cause it costs them more money to fix each screen all while still running it into the ground.

 

Isn't there a way we contact engaget, cnet and other reviiew sites and convince them into making waves and bad publicity against Dell. Maybe if there are some official complaints from some reputable review sities it will wake up the retards at headquarters and make them take action towards resolving this problem.

 

Well, here we can count all m11x forum members and exclude those 130 people who have damaged hinge, that's how we could have some clear number.

I won't believe that we have here over 1000 people with m11x. Maximum 200. So 200-130=70 eee?

 

Well, i see article about our issue
Alienware M11x hinge issues? Yeah, Dell knows -- Engadget
and i see some bull here "The company acknowledges the issue and is "engaged the relevant internal teams here at Dell.""
So they promised but didn't do anything. I also see an author of this pice of news Ross Miller -- Engadget Editors and there we see an email

My english is not good, so maybe you guys compose some clear message for him, that alien+dell decided to forget about our issue and maybe will fix it only on r3.

 

Russia, M11x R1: Broken hinge after roughly six month of use, display and hinges replaced after 5 days.

 

Not like Dell REALLY cares, but I'm on my 3rd hinge, and its very evident that I'll soon be calling for my fourth hinge.

My first replacement was...... 4-5 months after I got it? It's in this thread i think somewhere. I had that one replaced a couple months ago as it completely failed and I couldn't close my screen.

This one I'm on currently, (same side every time, mind you) is creaks and clicks when you start to open or close it, and theres a good centimeter of mis-alignment during the process that i can "push back down" when it's closed.

Real awesome, Dell. You guys need to fire your engineers. Bunch of idiots if you ask me "Lets just screw this hinge into the plastic!"

idiots.

 

The reality is your hinge has already failed, these clicks and creaks are the steal nuts, pressed into the plastic hinges destroying the posts. Suggest you replace a.s.a.p hopefully your warranty has not expired. Once your warranty has expired you will need to repair this pretty much straight away or you will simply destroy the posts making a repair almost impossible.

I have written the below to Ross - don't expect a miracle, but just maybe this will help.............


Hi Ross – I thought I would drop you a quick line on the issue surrounding the m11x hinge problem. The members of the forum who in many respects are notebook enthusiasts are considerably disappointed with the approach Dell – Alienware have taken on this model .

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...11x-have-hinges-damaged-repaired-already.html

Above is the actual thread on the issue which I know has been mentioned on engadget however there seems to be very little action on this other than the constant replacement of the screen with faulty designed attachments onto the rear of the screen.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/05/alienware-m11x-hinge-issues-yeah-dell-knows

The design fault will continue to plague this series of otherwise a very clever notebook, I myself am an owner of the M11x which I enjoy for the extended battery life coupled with the ability to play a game when life, family and kids don’t get in the way. Regardless it is the (to my knowledge) only 11 inch laptop which has a backlit keyboard and dual video cards.

What we are all frustrated about is simply the actions being undertaken which consist of simply replacing a broken screen with another – which clearly still contains the design fault and will also fail. There seems to be little desire for Dell – Alienware to actually fix this design fault. In fact they continue to market this laptop with the current design fault, my suspicions nature believes they will simply recommend extended warranties which will ensure a revenue stream until 3 – 4 years has passed which by then will make this a dead and expired product line which will simply fade away.

It’s clear the new sandy bridge model will have this issue corrected, however again I suspect this improved solution will simply not fit onto the current R1 & R2 models. I would like to be proved wrong but feel while Dell – Alienware have acknowledged this fault intend to do absolutely nothing to resolve this other than release a new model.

What we would like is simply a spotlight shining on this model exposing the fault in the clear light of day in the hope that this spurs some form of action from Dell – Alienware to supply replacement screens on those that have failed with a solution designed to correct this issue. Currently we believe while they clearly know there is a problem they intend to do effectively nothing about their current customer base, and simple extract as much revenue from this current model, while hoping the problem passes away in the night.

I write this not for myself – my laptop warranty has already expired and I have the capability to repair my own system, plus the income to buy another one should I ever desire to, but for all the younger university or collage students who rely on this and can’t afford or are unable to fix or pay for an extended warranty. In my view this fault is significant enough to warrant a stronger response from the supplier of these systems to show they support their client base with an effective solution.

Anything you can do to assist the members of this group is most appreciative – thanks Phil

 

I just discovered that NBR has user opinions for notebooks here. I just filled one out for the M11x.

http://www.notebookreview.com/price/opinions.asp?productFamilyID=1545&pid=266314

Unfortunately it doesn't show up after being submitted. Perhaps there's a delay before it gets posted. There currently aren't any other opinions posted. Perhaps it's a new feature that hasn't been fully implemented yet.

In any case I briefly spelled out the current state of the hinge issue under the cons, rated each of the categories 1 - 10 and gave it a not recommended. No idea if Dell will care, but it's something I suppose. Feel free to give it a try, positive or negative.

EDIT: It would appear that opinions have been posted for other notebooks here, so I suspect that there is in fact a delay before anything is posted. That's good news. Let people who come here to look into the M11x what you think.

 

Thank you philby and slickie88 for your efforts. I honestly belive that making noise about the issue in as manny places as possible is the most dirrect way to put pressure on dell into doing something about the issue. I will live a review myself at notebookreview.com

 

Philby, you're right when you say it is already broken. I unfortuneatly have a lot of experience with the flaw at this point. The "creaking/snapping/popping" is essentially the bolt slipping in the plastic socket, or perhaps chunks of plastic being ground up in the hinge.

Whatever the case, Dellienware should be embarassed, but the real problem is that they just dont care. They have the cash reserves to replace screens over and over without any impact to their revenue. Even if word got out and people started to realize what a ty line of products Dell releases for their consumer-end line, they have thousands of business owners who will continue to use the business line of laptops because they are affordable. I order them at the lawfirm I work at mainly because thats what we already have and what all the attorneys want.

TL;DR: Dell is a ty company. Even people who say "I got good service when I called Dell" will tell you that they had to wait on hold, talk to a foreigner, answer a bunch of canned questions, etc.

In fact, it's almost like Dell is determined to be awful. I wouldn't be surprised if customers in India get American reps on the phone...

 

I just finished writing a letter to the editors of Gizmodo asking for them to put some power of the press into this and put some pressure on Dell.

Here's to trusting they'll address it on their site as well..

 

+ rep to you philby

its getting frustrating when things are getting slow to response from dell. however i think i am sure the PR team are listening to this issue intently. but the truth of the matter is that this issue might not make it thru the bigs in DELL. the poll is gaining ground and the result somehow point us toward a new redesign hinge holder that would be durable and reliable than the current design. if only dell would be firm and swift in dealing this faulty design, and i really think that the sales will really double becuase many users for now will confidently promote the m11x to all his friends because of the extra ordinary package of power and portability m11x has... the users who has this hinge problem actually exceed the 130 numbers we have in our list. i am trying to post the list and share the link to all m11x users that might have this problem, and counting the 130 users in the list, the actual hinge breakdown might double considering the number of hinge replacement in each 130 users have (some have even had 4 or 5 times their hinge replace). i hope we get concentrated effort to inform anyone who have had this problem and enlist. i guess a stagering 500 users can really make a case.

for now, i am really planning to buy my second m11x with the i7 cpu but the hinge problem is the only hindrance that i will be getting another one.

 

Why would you even consider doing that when they haven't even fixed the underlying problem? One way that we can maybe get them to listen is to hurt them where it hurts most.....their pocketbooks. No sales = no revenue = no paycheck to take home?

 

thx philby

guys, how can i give rep here? i see no menu for it...

for now, i am really planning to buy my second m11x with the i7 cpu but the hinge problem is the only hindrance that i will be getting another one.

well, you are a brave man then i won't buy anything until r3, and only if i'll be sure they have fixed the issue.

 

knock knock, anybody home? any solutions??????

 

The problem will be more of an issue once existing warranty has expired, people are not to concerned right now as they feel protected, However once that warranty expires and the assistance from Dell stops then you will need to make sure you repair the hinges early.

 

I guess it would be very unfair for us if DELL would only opt an offer to let us pay an additional warranty to counter or as a solution in addressing the breaking of the hinge holder because hundreds of broken hinge makes DELL be accountable to shoulder this delimna and not the paying customer. Even Toyotas make a recall even only with a handful of documented parts failure. Likewise with such hundreds of documented figures here in this list, I really hope that this warrant a scheduled response that we, as m11x users, are rightfully given due attention.

I guess what I wish DELL would do to make us happy this christmas if they can't give a fix solution is to suspend for the meantime the warranty expiration and add additional days, weeks and months starting from the official statement of chris and john acknowledge the seriousness of this hinge problem of the m11x.

 

When my girlfriend laptop died because of motherboard failure, service center replaced mb and prolonged guarranty for 6 month. Her md died for 3 times... you can count...

 

If i would count the numbers of broken hinge in this forum i can say that we actually are in almost 300 cases of broken hinges. Many m11x users have their hinge broken and replaced even 5 - 6 times in their single m11x alone.

 

I wonder if there's a chance that the M11x is manufactured in more than one location? And maybe there's one spot that is just fubar'ing their production line and shipments are directed regionally and that's why some are getting repeated issues.

I don't know, it's probably more wishful thinking than truth, but it feels and seems like my replacement unit is put together and feels sturdier much better than my original machine..

(Jinx! Cue first sounds of hinges creaking...)

 

Finally got Dell to send me a replacement screen despite the fact that my warranty is about to run out ;D
What do you guys think? Epoxy now or wait until my hinge breaks again?

 

Did your guy's technician leave behind the LCD screen?

Mine did.



Going to eBay.

 

may want to call - parts are supposed to be returned via the tech. Granted the tech dropped the ball for not taking it, but you just might get a bill. just a thought.

 

Can't believe people still consider buying more items from Alienware. Personally this was my first and my last.