Dell QC issues?

I've been having one hell of a hard time getting a working XPS laptop. My struggle began when my wife snagged an XPS 13 9360 off of the Dell outlet for me for Xmas. Great idea, but damn did that start a nightmare scenario of trying to get a single working laptop.

XPS 13 #1: had trackpad issues where the mouse would jump on screen randomly
XPS 13 #2: had a usb-c port issue where the audio and video would corrupt anytime a usb-c charger was plugged in
XPS 13 #3: Dell just sent me XPS 13 #1 again, saying it was fixed, and it wasn't.

Finally just sent the XPS 13 back to Dell for a refund.

During this struggle, I thought I'd try out the XPS 13 2-n-1, so I went to buy one from Best Buy.
XPS 13 2-n-1 #1: Wouldn't suspend nor would it resume from suspend. Would randomly wake up in my bag overnight and overheat, also draining the battery.
XPS 13 2-n-1 #2: Displayport USB-C port was dead, wouldn't do anything but charge.
XPS 13 2-n-1 #3: Wouldn't easily suspend nor would it resume from suspend. Would blink hardware error messages anytime the power button was pressed after a rarely successful suspend
XPS 13 2-n-1 #4: Finally appear to have a good one. But the suspend functionality seems problematic, especially after unplugging it from power after suspend. The laptop will wake and won't go back to sleep unless I open the lid and force it to suspend.

Am I having really really bad luck or is this par-for-the-course for Dell these days? I've got serious doubts as to whether I should keep the FINALLY working XPS 13 2-n-1 since it's obvious the hardware has potential issues.

Thoughts?

 

No, thats just the state that Dells QC (or rather, lack of) is these days. Just can't understand how they can make any money considering that their Customer Service is really great and they offer refunds and replacements without too much trouble.

 

Dell QC is pretty infamous by now, especially with newer models of the XPS. Though, I think your case is a bit extraordinary. The vast majority of consumers are happy with their product, and the minority who aren't are going a be a bit more vocal about it. It's just that the minority here is a good bit larger than with, say, Apple, or Lenovo (depending on the product).

 

I would say that most users are rather ignorant and happy as long they can do facebook and browsing and have no idea what they might be missing. And for what its worth, I wish I was one of them as life is much easier that way and the problems, on a global scale, really is to be considered minor. Instead I am watching everything like a hawk with HWInfo etc and mostly see problems

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

Dell QC problems are mostly physical and very noticable. Apart from poor pasting, you shouldn't see much wrong with HWInfo. Instead, common problems are coil whine or bad backlight bleed.

When you do get a model that works, the XPSs themselves have very good build quality.

 

My point was that problems might be more or less obvious and that some problems might affect users but still not be obvious, like unnecessary thermal throttling due to poor pasting etc

Sent from my ASUS_A001 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the feedback! I'm still very much on the fence as to whether I should keep this laptop given the issues Dell seems to be having. I do admit that their customer support has been rather good, even if it's been India based, but there's little a support rep can do to fix defective hardware. And field stripping a week old laptop to replace major components isn't a satisfactory solution, since that generally creates more problems than it solves.

If you were shopping for a 2-n-1 device, what would you suggest I look at? The new Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 370 looks good, but it isn't even been released yet. The X1 Yoga is too expensive, and frankly, too damn big plus I can't deal with PWM dimmed screens, which Lenovo continues to use in their devices. The 13" X360 is nice, but it has its problems, and the trackpad not supporting 4 finger swipe for virtual desktops is a real downer.

 

I would rate Apple at first position when it comes to quality. Then no one in second place and then most well known PC vendors in third place. Lenovo has some good products but unfortunately seem to put crappy screens in many of their laptops. Dell has some really nice products with good screens, but unfortunately seem to have no quality control at all (but good customer service).