M11x R3 hinge problems on the horizon?

I've pasted the email I sent to Dell/Alienware and posted on the Alienware Facebook page after having a terrible tech support experience below. For background, my left hinge on my M11x r3, about 2 1/2 months old is starting to creak more and more, so I called Alienware tech support to see what they'd do about it if it breaks.

Alienware my hinge started creaking on my M11x R3, and I've read quite a bit about all the problems owners of previous M11x generations have had with their hinges. I assumed this problem would have been taken care of by the time the R3 came out, but it seems that is not the case. As you can see here Re: m11x R3 beginning of hinge problem? - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community others are having similar problems. Why am I complaining here? Because when I called your tech support (some call center NOT in the US, by the sound of it), they told me in no uncertain terms that the warranty does NOT cover defective hinges! Not only that, when I asked to speak to her manager, I got disconnected after she put me oh hold. I called back, spoke to someone else, gave my info, and then got disconnected again. Fine, that happens, except they said they'd call me back and they never did.

But really Alienware, how can you sell a premium product with a warranty that doesn't cover the part most likely to fail, as history clearly indicates? I spent the extra money to get this laptop because I EXPECTED a certain level of service to come with it, and that's not what I'm getting. I even reviewed the warranty and nowhere does it state that product defects would not be covered, which means you think I deliberately sabotaged my own hinge, or am clumsy enough to drop it (I carry this thing more carefully than most fathers carry their newborns, btw), and that's pretty insulting.

So shame on you Alienware, and even more so on Dell for this shoddy customer experience. I will never buy a Dell product again if this is a typical example of the quality of service you provide. Which, honestly, makes me sad because I really love everything else about this laptop. ​

From the threads I've read here on people's experiences with the R1/R2, it seems Dell/Alienware did fix them under warranty or not. Anyone else run into a similar roadblock that I seem to be facing?

 

So hinge breaking is starting to happen to M11x R3...
I am very sorry to hear that.

I've been using the newly designed hinge for more than 7 months now.
I am happy to report that the new hinge for my M11x R2 is in fine condition.

 

Hmm.. I think i have hinge anxiety all of a sudden. My R3 on the left hand side has started making a slight creaking noise. I'm not sure if it's a sign of failure or just the plastic parts around the hinge moving together as they touch near the push snap joints.

 

Yup. Approaching month 5 now with my new hinge in the R2. So far so good. But then again, it took about 10 months before the old one went kaputt.

 

err creaking when moving it? on one side?

What happened to me was i bumped it, and possibly due to shabby build quality, the gap between the plastics at the very bottom was moving a little bit and making crackling noise, i sprayer a little lube on there so the plastic wouldn't rub against plastic so hard... Now its fine...

Haven't read other posts, but has anyone actually had the hinges break on an R3 or is it just this creaking etc.?

 

My New design hinges on my m11xr2 are working great after a month also if u think dell has bad service try sending a accer to get fixed my brother had to buy his own box to send it in talk about good service so i let him have my box that dell sent to get mine fixed :]

 

To update: it looks like I just had a bad tech support call experience, talked to some woman who didn't know what she was talking about. I received a reply from Chris on the Dell community forum linked to in the OP and he clearly states all hinge problems are covered by the warranty. My left hinge creaks when opening the lid (quiet when closing), which I've read is a sign of eventual hinge failure. They gave me a different number to call and I'll try that later to see what they recommend I do. Another problem is that I'm currently abroad and am not sure if my warranty will cover me here. Anyway, my frustration is somewhat less now.

 

Ha ha ha. Take two of these tablets and call me in the morning if things haven't improved.

Have an original M11xR1 circa March 2010 and thus nearly two years old.

Still on original monitor/screen and opened/closed nearly every day for those two years.



The monitor wobbles when the base is jiggled, it squeaks when opened and closed, BUT the casing of the monitor containing the screen has not 'opened' nor has the action of opening and closing the monitor changed. It's just the way it is.

Interestingly I found some of the squeak/noise comes from the plastic trim that houses the on/off button and the notebook status indicators.

When the base is jiggled/moved, the bases' external frame moves against the indicator strip as the monitor lid transfers the stress of it's movement down into the base frame.

In my case it's just good luck holding shoddy design together and the squeaks have just become an endearing trait of an Alienware M11xR1 which Moores law has left languishing in the wastelands of time.

Not knowing what Dell does when a monitor/hinge needs to be replaced with the one-off 'courtesy' replacement (M11xR1, no warranty) when one is living in the frontiers of the planet. One is thinking maybe it'll just be replaced with whatever they have to hand. Maybe that'll be an M11xR2.
Maybe it's been outsourced to a man in a van, who replaces M11xR1 monitors when not fixing photocopiers. *sigh*

The snail mail office for Dell New Zealand is Dubai, distribution is located in Australia and support is based in Asia .. go figure and God help us.

It's all to scary to worried about when the base and monitor have not completed separation or even indicated it's going that way.

Embrace the squeak I say

Update - Good to hear 'Dell' or should I say Chris is still listen to it's(his) clients and that Chris is still running a one man support team for Dell.

Update II - True, I do always open my monitor lid carefully and NEVER exceed much more than 100˚ in opened angle, HOWEVER, looking at it more closely (like right now) I think my hinge may have detached from it's mounts on the left side over the outlet vents a while ago and it's just good sealing of the monitor lid that is holding it all together. Still seems to 'function' OK though, and no noticeably major problem.

 

I have my R2 since Aug. 2010, no problems. I do close and open the laptop very slowly and carefully though, not sure if other people do this, but yea no problems with the design. No sounds.

 

I've not have my R3 for a month yet and just now I heard a small creaking noise on the left side of the hinge. Upon further inspection (lightly pressing the side) it's like the plastic hinge is loosening horizontally...

Didn't bother to make a big deal of this before but I find that the casing has a lot of areas where the parts don't touch close enough, leaving area for dust to collect which I have to routinely blow out and the back part right under where you plug into the battery looks/feels fat as if there's things stuffed inside and the casing can't hold it in.

Frustrating, I feel as if I got duped, paying a grand for this baby and I can't even get it to survive long enough...

I've rarely brought it to places and always treated it with top notch care as it's very precious to me so it hopefully shouldn't be me who caused the problems. Feel like I got something refurbished...

 

Not that it will excuse anything - because you DID pay for a product. I would like to point out that if you think its better elsewhere it would be wrong. It CAN be better elsewhere but not because of a brand name.

IOW if you think Dell duped you then there are some brand x folks out there that likely think the same.

 

I'm not worried about that I just hope my R3 can last long enough to make its money's worth. =|

 

i gone through the posts in dell community, and i didn't notice a single person reporting an R3 that actually had the hinge broken... my left hinge was making the noise as well, it was creeks from the gap in the plastic between top and bottom covering the hinge on the monitor panel.

Stop flaming on it, i had mine since release, was not one bit careful about opening/closing it even fell off the table few times(onto a carpet scratch free~) NO ISSUES WITH THE HINGES AT ALL.

Simply carefully sprayed some WD-40 and wiped with a tissue quickly onto the gap where the two parts meet to oil it up so they wouldn't creek when i open the laptop at a certain angle (was roughly at 110-120 degrees open.) cause it was too bloody annoying.

If noise is actually coming from the inside, then its a different story, but at least from all the posts i did read, IT IS NOT.

Would anyone who had R3 hinges break post please? if not i rest my case. Stop talking about it and spray some WD-40 there. Seriously... Just making other people paranoid about problem that isn't there anymore.

 

I'm super paranoid now but thanks for reassuring D:

 

Have been using mine for about 6 months with no issues.

BUT then -two weeks ago it happened. No creaking or squeaking though, the hinge simply became wobbly.

Fortunately my warranty is still on, so I will be getting it fixed sometime next week.

 

Unbelievable!

The hinge has deteriorated rather rapidly from being wobbly to full blown cracking apart.

And this is the R3 model I have

I have however, contacted Dell, and their technician will be coming over in another 2 days with replacement hinge and display panel.

Also I was informed that this replacement will be free, but should the same problem occur in the future, I will have to pay for the replacement.

Sure hope one fix is all this alienware needs!

Here's a photo of the hinge.

 

I have an M11x R2 that is a year and a half old, the origional hinge failed and they replaced it with the new model that was supposed to be better. recently the hinge has started to go again. I will be calling them soon about this.

 

Dam that really sucks, I'm scared mines going to become like that too. I can feel it being loose ;(

 

mine feels solid... Though some people had em replaced 3 or more times even with R1's... it is a problem dell has, surely they would replace it even if it fails again?

 

Exactly the same thing happened to my R2, thats pretty bad if they still havent fixed the issue on some R3s.

Actually its still broken now, snapped right through, as Im abroad and need to wait until I get home before they fix it.

 

If, no WHEN I get the "R3" style assembly for my R1 I'll probably 'poxy it up. If however the laptop is years old already by then I wont bother.

Currently using a replaced assembly but it was before the updated parts were in the channel. Seems ok still.

 

could be an isolated case? knowing the chinese worked, i was missing a few screws, could be they just recycled the screen, same way there was a guy with his palm rest in a used condition? at least by the way it sounded.