Issues with my M1530

I ordered an M1530 from the Dell outlet a little over a month ago, and I really enjoy this computer! There are a few problems with it though. First thing is I hear static through any pair of headphones I hook up. This isn't a huge deal to me by any means. I've gone through the forum and tried to do what some of the other members have suggested, but nothing seems to clear that problem up. Secondly, i've noticed I do have a bit of backlight bleed at edges of my screen. Again, this isn't really a huge issue for me. The last problem I have is the most annoying though, it's the constant "morse code" like sound that eminates from under my keyboard. I can't stand the high pitch squeal it makes. I tried the rmclock utility to work around the issue, but that's really not doing it for me.

I'm just wondering if it's worthwhile to pursue this issue with Dell? This makes the third computer (Inspiron 530, Inspiron 1525) that my wife and I have bought from Dell since November of 2007, and really this is the first thing that's bothered me. Part of me being wary of contacting Dell about the issue is that i'm computer technician, and after 8 hours of working troubleshooting machines at work, I really don't feel like spending hours of my personal time troubleshooting yet again. I feel like from what i've read that at the very least it will take a motherboard replacement from Dell to fix this issue, and possibly more. I'm also worried that i'll get squeaks and creaks if a Dell tech comes out to replace the board, and so far my 1530 has been creak free.

Also if I use an online chat option will it be as effective as phone support?

 

It's really a matter of if you can live with these problems or not. If it's just going to keep annoying you (especially the high pitch noise) then I would look into getting it fixed.

As far as phone or chat.. in my experience, neither is very helpful. Try to get them to send out a tech to check the problems for you and skip all the troubleshooting BS that they go through.

 

I ended up doing a chat with them a little bit ago. They wanted me to run the Dell Diagnostics stuff, which came up clean. I guess the person I talked too was thinking it's a fan issue , which I know it isn't. A Dell tech is supposed to call me back between 8-9 pm so I'll see how that goes I reckon.

 

Well after an hour on the phone, we've run diagnostics on the HD and CDROM. Both came back fine. Also uninstalled the audio driver to verify it wasn't that. The sound isn't there in Safe mode either, but is present in Linux as well. I mentioned the whole RMclock deal and Intel Speedstep stuff, but that fell on deaf ears. The person I talked to is going to talk with a senior technician and get back with me Saturday. I really hope they're willing to do something because I don't wanna have to mess with it that much myself.