Hinges on m15x gave up - what are my options?

I am pretty darn angry at this point. The hinges on my m15x broke, plastic feel out, brass felt out, screws obviously wont tighten and I am scared to even touch the screen in fear of all of it breaking. I read the thread and saw that loads of customers have the exact same problem, I wont upload pictures because it looks exactly the same as other customers.

At this point, I would like to know what my options are. I bought this laptop on January 22nd 2008 and only bought a one year warranty with it. I bought it online when I was in the US but now I'm in Europe for the whole of the summer break. What should I do at this point? Who should I contact? How does it work when a laptop was bought in one country but I am in another country?

I appreciate your help!

 

Given that it is already out of warranty, the only thing you can do is either pay to have it repaired by Alienware, or to sell the unit as is in order to recover some of it's value toward your next machine.

Personally I would recommend selling as it is, since repairing it won't really fix the problem; the hinge will eventually break again.

 

I don't know who would want to buy a laptop with broken hinges and how much of the original value I could get out of it. Does anyone know how much it would cost to get it repaired by Alienware?

 

You will have to get it repaired by Alienware.

Youll have to call them to find out a exact price.

 

And what about the issue of me being in europe and having bought it in the US?

 

Im just guessing but I dont think that would be a problem as long as you have your account number or order number.
I think you would just ship it to Ireland....could be wrong but Im sure you are not the first guy in this position.

Good luck mate!

 

Why do you have to send it in? Can't you just buy a new one?

 

you can find the hinges on ebay

install them yourself


or get AW to do it

thats all you have to do

 

Truthfully I would call up alienware and flip at them. This is a widespread problem and AW should do it's best to satisfy its customers

 

I can't give you an exact number, but manufacturers always charge exorbitant prices for their repair services. You would be better off selling the unit as is; there are plenty of buyers on the internet who would then scrap the unit and sell the parts individually. As broken as it is, there are still plenty of parts that are worth quite a bit.

Btw, I'm giving you this advice so that you may recover as much value as you can from the unit because this model is well known to have this problem; I repeat, repairing the hinge does not fix an inherent design flaw. The hinges will break again and again, incurring additional repair costs. It would be wise to cut your losses early and bail out; sure, you will lose money, but you will save yourself trouble in the long run.

 

^^^^thats a good idea

i was looking for a m15x once....

 

I am going to try to find some hinges on ebay or something. Hmmm, this sucks, no matter how long the warranty goes, this is a design and quality flaw, 3000 bucks and it breaks after a bit more than a year..

 

Actually, do you guys think a Skullcap panel would give me any problems? I have a Ripley design, just wondering if it would give me any problems.

 

most have said skullcap doesn't break i have heard of 2 breaking vs 1000000 ripley lol


any way off topic but does yout tx1000 overheat like a mad man?

 

I don't know if I agree Bog. Alienware knows that the first batch of m15x cases that were sent out have defective hinges and yours happens to break around 1 year of purchase and your warranty is now no longer valid. Call and talk to a supervisor, explain the problems, ask for a prepaid shipping label or some type of discount on getting the hinges repaired and see where that gets you. I don't recommend ranting and raving because sadly that will get you no where. Best of luck and keep us informed!

 

Does anyone know if it's relatively easy to replace the panel?

 

it's easy, I'm sure Moo has a how to guide for it.

 

if it's a known defect in the manufacturing than it should be replaced for free regardless of warranty status, especially from a company like alienware that should stand behind their products.

 

LMAO.. Your joking right!

Once warranty is up there is no way AW is going to fix that. Heck I don't even recalling AW admitting there was an issue. If they fix it they will be opening up a can of worms.

No way in hell AW is going to fix that FOR FREE

 

I was under the impression it was a known defect AW admitted to in it's first batches of m15x's. If so the right thing for them to do is fix it if its a flaw on their end. Now if they are going to deny there ever was a problem and go down that route than yeah they aren't going to pay a cent.

 

I can't seem to find a guide on how to replace the panel >.<

 

Just to clarify, my advice really applies if you are certain that all the m15x hinge assemblies will eventually break. I have read that, according to mr moo, only the rippled case design has this problem. If that is indeed the case, then selling the unit is not necessary; the problem could be fixed permanently.

 

@Bog: Alright that makes much more sense.

 

Does anyone know of a guide on how to disassemble an m15x?

Thanks guys!

 

Ok, I tried to get to the hinges today and the whole assembly, I failed. Does anyone know where I can find a guide for this? I googled but nothing came out.

Thanks!

 

I googled for almost an hour last night and was unsuccessful. How about contacting Alienware and asking how to replace the hinges because your warranty is void? Just a thought...

 

I had my hinges repaired in Europe (UK) a few months ago. And thank goodness for 3 year warranty it was free. The cost in my hive showed £184 though so I assume it should be under £200 for you.

 

are there any in my sig?

 

first your gonna need to do this

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...iZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PW0xNXg*&p_li=&p_topview=1


then the top part should pop up ...not sure

then you should have the touch panel removed

then you will be able to see the hinges

they will need to be unscrewed and then your going to have to remove

these cables

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...SZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PW0xNXg*&p_li=&p_topview=1

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...SZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PW0xNXg*&p_li=&p_topview=1

then you should unscrew the hinges and it should come right off



i have never even seen a m15x im just going by what it should be if Quanta had any sense

 

Thanks man!