M11x-R1/R2 New Hinge Design (see post#1)

I thought that's what was on page 44 in this thread

 

No, as far as I can tell no one has taken a picture of the new hinge design. What the pictures on pg 44 show are two things:

1. srbbnd shows pictures of how to properly fix the hinge yourself without having to have a technician come.

2. EthioKnight then shows two pictures of how the hinge connects to the body of the m11x, which is NOT where the problem is. He says there is little difference because there needs to be no change to this portion of the hinge.

Why the old hinge fails (and what the new hinge hopefully changes):
I'm not sure if anyone has really described what happens with the hinge and why it is failing, but here is my attempt at describing it. Below is highlighted picture from srbbnd's post.

What you're looking at is the left hinge as it connects to the lid of the m11x. The front bezel of the LCD has been removed. The green part is the metal that makes up the structure of the lid, running completely around the LCD itself. The blue is the hinge as it extends into the lid portion of the m11x. The yellow is all the plastic that makes the outer shell of the m11x's lid. You are looking at the inside of it. The problem, however, is with the three red highlighted screws. As you can see they are popped out of their placements right now. However, they aren't unscrewed, but actually have broken away with the threading that they are supposed to be securing the lid with still attached.

You see, the threading that these three screws attach to is NOT attached to the strong structural metal of the lid (green), but they actually attach to the weak plastic of the outer lid casing (yellow). It is no wonder then that over time all the torque applied by opening and closing the lid eventually causes the screws to rip out of their threading in the plastic lid.

The reason the whole LCD has been replaced has been because the metal structure of the lid has probably been changed along with the hinge itself, allowing the hinge to interface with the strong metal instead of the weak plastic.

So, to manually fix this, all someone has to do is get some super strong epoxy and just slather it onto the backside of the hinge interface and the metal structure of the LCD. I did this repair and my hinge works great now.

I am really at a loss on why they would design it this way. Its not like the metal wasn't there to attach to. It literally is up against it, but unfortunately provides no additional strength to the joint as it simply surrounds the screw interfaces.

 

Good day,

I just got off the phone for my screen. It took half an hour, but, the representative was aware of the hinges problem. Everything went like a bang. He knew about the slightest detail, to the plastic insert. I'm not dissatissfied and my next laptop will probably be an alienware. Now, let's take a look at the tech when he comes around.

 

i was about to start a topic but saw ur post

just had a rep replace mine, he was sopposed to come yesterday and made me wait all day but he got here at 8:30am (australia) and changed the screen.

Good points
- Very nice, knew what he was doing (said he changed 4 m11x screens a month, all from hinge damage)
- said he could source an intel 6300 wifi card for me
- gave me a little tiny bit of info on the new inspiron duo coming out (says its bigger, but has 8 cell battery) as im revamping a wholesale store and will use them as tablets with android x86 for barcode scanning, as well as use windows 7 when plugged in (anyway thats another story

bad points
- replaced the black screen i had with a silver one that i dont like
BUT
as with that part, he said ring again, and let dell know that they have sent the wrong screen, and they will come out and replace it with the proper black one, and until then i can use the silver screen.

quality seems to be the same, i see no difference dead on or from the side, so i guess they're both the same lcd.


so,

the tech guy was nice, informative and well trained
the customer care over the phone is a bit crappy but only a little bit

hope that helps with your expectations

 

yup they have great customer service the only problem i had was that they didnt update my new number which i gave tehm so they called the old number but eventually they called the right one and he replaced the hinges in about 20-30 min and gave me a free bezel

 

pics... I want to see a combo color 11x

 

Lol. Though I'm sure if you wanted, you could ask for a replacement of the opposite colour. If I could I'd get a red screen with my black base (yes I know that isn't available for m11x r2).

 

Well, the screen came in and the Dell contractor came in to replace it.

He missed the power button ribbon cable and had to disassemble the laptop a second time to plug it in.

He then forgot the keyboard led ribbon cable and I had to remove the keyboard after he left and fix it.


All in all, happy with how everything turned out even though Dell shipped the fisrt screen to the wrong address and the contractor forgot a few ribbon cables.

 

I'm getting an m11x tomorrow, and it is about 2 months old. Anyone know if it has new hinges or not? I'd love to get a new screen/bezel to make it look newer.

 

It won't unless it's an R3.

 

Then I'll contact them to replace it unless I have the better screen type.

 

I must have jinxed myself; I emailed as per the first post this past Tuesday, and not an hour ago, I opened my R2's screen and heard the left hinge (the one above the fan) snap.

I have 30 days left on my warranty.

The laptop itself sat on a desk open 95% of the time and can't have been closed and opened more than a couple dozen times.

I called up Alienware support since I have not received a reply to my email, and a tech should be calling within a day or two. I'll see if I can get pictures of what the new hinge looks like.

 

Just had my screen replaced. The tech was very good, everything was done in 15 min flat. The difference between the old model of hinges and the new one is not apparent, at least not visually. It's in the "barrel"-like part of the screen. The new screen feels sturdier and doesn't wobble anymore.

 

well, my hinges just blew. A few months ago, I heard a loud "crack," and the screen got gradually... looser. Now, after a trip to CeBiT2011, FL, and almost every workday, the hinges finally had enough, lol.... After I get this fixed, I'm selling my m11x and going for a m14x. I recently got a CR48, and it's really caused me to revaluate my m11x's current useage.

It used to be my primary machine, however, my new desktop has stolen all but web surfing from it, since my m11x's screen is too small for my work and hobbies (this really didn't affect me in the past - I've had 12" laptops since I got rid of my ancient IBM Type 2600 - but my U2711 really opened my eyes, lol), and the CPU is severely underpowered for gaming with friends (SC2). Since the m11xr3 seems to also downclock on the battery, the decision to go m14x was only made easier for me. Hopefully, the m14x will be a much better "mobile gaming" platform for me. The m15x was simply too large, IMO. I hope this works....!!

 

Question, I have a burned pixel on my new screen (installed today). What is Dell position on burned pixel?

 

Unless there are a lot of them on a small area they will try to weasel out of replacing it

 

I must correct myself: I have a stuck pixel (always on, always red). Is there an easy way to unstuck it? (Currently running UDPixel, 1st attempt).

Thanks

 

Well.... that was fast. Inbetween calling Dell and a service tech replacing my monitor? Less than 24 hours o.0.

 

They're finicky. Sometimes they go away on their own, sometimes not. I don't think there is any easy way to get rid of them, I'm not sure that UDPixel helps very much

 

do u think dell in kuwait would replace my screen ?
nothing happend to it yet

 

I have no idea how Dell in Kuwait operates. I'm in Canada. In my case, there was a bit of a creaking noise when opening and closing the lid, and the hinge on one side was slightly out of alignment.......however this is how it was since the beginning and it really didn't get any worse after 5-6 months of ownership. So......even though no major problem was apparent, I was still worried (like you are) and called Alienware. Within 5 mins of explaining my situation, a decision was made to send out a technician the next day who replaced the entire LCD on site (with excellent results so far).

 

The first photo of the new hinge design is found in this thread here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/583314-new-hinge-photo.html#post7562128

Cheers,
Stain

 

Just in time...
Got my m11x R1 during black friday sale, and now the hinge makesks a cracking sound everytime I close it
I send an email to the addy in the first post yesterday
How long does it take typically for them to reply?
Thanks!

 

From the looks of the new hinge, I'll just take my chances and bondo mine if/when it breaks, maybe even before. Doesn't look like the new design is much more robust, and don't want to get a crappy screen.

 

Has anyone reported the new design breaking? If not I would call it more robust

 

I never did get a reply, not even after multiple emails to that address. Call support directly.

 

I just got a automated response from them with tracking info, took under 24 hours to get my reply.

 

I send an email to them yesterday 3:30pm, and got a reply this morning 9am
But they just tell me to call support

I did
Got a case number
and I am expecting a technician call back tomorrow for an appointment

I wonder if I can ask the tech to let me keep the current LCD assembly, as he swap the new one in

 

It hasn't been around long enough or enough people that got it replaced to know for certain. Maybe it will last a little longer. Maybe it will hold, but IMHO not worth it to risk getting a crappy screen when I can fix it myself.

 

The original hinge design had many failures by this point.....you are quite the pessimist!

 

I am a pessimist but I am also an engineer that may make me a pessimist!

Just because failures haven't been reported doesn't mean there aren't any, and doesn't mean that it won't fail eventually. My whole point is that it looks like a band-aid approach at fixing the issue and not a robust solution. I understand there's probably design considerations and cost they considered, but my whole point is that I can do a band-aid fix as good as if not better than what they offer. That's all.

 

If I was out of warranty and my screen hinge broke I would fix it my self, the new hinge, while being better, is still not as good as what we can do slathering it with epoxy.... now using the updated hinge with the epoxy and you would have a bomb proof hinge

But since I still have a year left on my r1's warranty, I will not be doing anything like that.

 

Tech just came by and replaced my LCD
Since I am at work, I can't really find time to take pictures of the new assembly/etc
Let him in, get into a conf room, and leave him alone so he can get it done asap

For those who is not sure about the new screen type

Per Device Manager -> Monitor -> Hardware Ids, it's AUO105C

I have bad eyes, so I can't say, with authority, whether the new screen is better than the old

The only thing I can say is the new hinge does not make any cracking sound, so I am happy

My warranty will expired early December. Hopefully anything that'll go bust will happen before that time...

 

Dell Tech came today to replace the screen (I'm in France).

Note that my previous hinges were making cracking noises and screen was slightly missaligned, but the whole stuff was still in good shape (I really thought it would have broken at least 4 months ago with my daily use...).
Anyway, I still wanted to change the screen.

Everything went good (the tech was nice and skilled, he took good care of my m11x ).

Now the whole assembly looks good as new
I didn't have time to check if the new screen was brighter or what was the assembly part n°, will do that tonight.

So far, so good

 

i broke my replacement hinge a few days ago.

when my original hinge broke, it was replaced last november 2010 with another hinge but still of the old design

unfortunately, my m11x is already out of warranty

will i still be eligible for the one time replacement to the new hinge design?

 

afaik the hinge replacement will be fixed regardless of warranty status.

 

God, How bad it would be if someone's new hinges had broke...Or if the technician cracked a small piece of the new LCD or did not properly connect the webcam or something. What would you do or has that happened to anyone?

 

I think once you get the new hinge / lid / lcd assembly you should look it over carefully and make sure everything works fine. I'm sure if you called within a couple months on something that could have been related to replacing the lcd assembly they'd fix it.

I still intend on fixing mine myself. My screen is nice, and don't want to end up with a crap one.

 

Somehow I find that calling Dell in a week or two after you find a problem with the new LCD and they coming out to replace it without any type of warranty to good to be true. Knowing the so kind support of Dell, they will most likely leave you in the dust with some simple, generous, kind, words "You have no warranty, get off the phone."

 

Not if what they replaced it with is crap.

 

If the technician comes to replace your LCD and he does not hook up the camera and microphone correctly, Dell will not aid you unless you have a warranty. What if you broke the microphone or camera after the technician left? Dell would refuse to do anything.

 

So if a tech replaces one broken part with another one, then it's ok? I don't think so. If a replaced part breaks or has something wrong with it noticed relatively quickly that the tech replaced, and you told Dell, I am certain they would have a look at it. You can't replace one faulty product with another and if your warranty expired the next day just say sorry. There's customer protection laws against that.

 

Eeh, can you show me those laws? Is it the lemon law? I might need to save them just in case I get this very rare experience. I'm very fearful that something like this would happen to me, no matter what my chances are.

 

Look up the laws yourself, I'm not the one worried about it but probably under lemon laws. And think about it. If someone comes to replace your LCD assembly and a few days later it has a problem short of it being broken, it would be bad business practice if anything else to not fix it. Heck, my LCD failed on my Vostro 1500 a month or so out of warranty and they replaced it, and that wasn't even their fault. Why? Customer loyalty. Why would I shop again at a company with a hard ball attitude?

 

thanks

i just fired off an email to dell and quoted what chrisdell posted in this forum

lets see what they will say

 

can i put alienware m11x r2 motherboard in the chassis of r1 since to change laptop?

 

You can but the ports on the left side wont line up with the holes in the case.

 

That's what a Dremel is for!

 

Sent my R1 off yesterday. The right hinge was unseating when I was closing the lid and the plastic would have a gap. Decided it was on its way to breaking. I used the email in the first post and got an answer in 24 hours. I was out of warranty but they are allowing 1 replacement for out of warranty people. They gave me a number to call. I called and they tried to up sell me on an extended warranty, which wad $200, no thanks. Since I bought mine at Best Buy I had to send it to the depot. No big deal I got a box the next day, took out my hard drive (they don't need to that replace the hinges and I didn't want to risk a "oops reformat"). So hopefully I will get it back soon. As a bonus I think there was something between the plastic and the LCD screen anyway so if they replace all that, it would get rid of that. Only issue I have with the R1 is the SD card reader doesn't work.

 

Have exactly the same issue with the SD card reader, don't know why - the good news is the replacement screen which I installed around 6 months ago is rock solid so the new design from my perspective seems to be working.