XPS 1645 - Keyboard outline on screen

Hi guys. I went through the owners thread and it appears some of you are experiencing some keyboard marks on the LCD screen when closing the laptop due to some design flaw that causes the keys to press on the screen when closed.

What I'm experiencing is what appears to be condensation/grease marks of the outline of the keyboard on the screen everytime i close the laptop. Is this normal?? I originally had an XPS13 that crashed all the time. I received a refurb'd 1645 that I returned bc I had to wipe down the screen everytime I opened it.

Dell sent me another 1645 and it has the same issue. I'm beginning to think this is just a design flaw caused by the heat and the design but I'm not seeing anyone else complaining about this. Is this something you guys are just living with or should I try to get yet another laptop. Thanks

 

Personally, I've never had/noticed the problem, but then again I never carry my 1645 around too much and cause that kind of screen to keyboard pressure (which is probably one of the main causes of the markings). Although these systems share the same model number and components, each individual one is different. And the markings tend to show up in varying degrees from laptop to laptop.

However, I do think it is a design flaw on these models (especially since it's an edge-edge screen), though it's a minor one when compared to the "more popular" throttling and heat issues. This THREAD discussed the issue and many people seemed to resort to purchasing a shaggy mac keyboard mat. I bought a custom one with THESE specs. and it works great (doubling as a screen wipe). If you decide to buy it, search for a coupon online and save a little money. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I did read that part of the thread and I'm debating getting the mat. However, i've never had this issue with other laptops and find it a bit annoying that i have to wipe the moisture off the screen with a cloth everytime i open up my keyboard. Dells willingness to replace my laptops suggests this isn't something other people are experiencing.

 

hi poncekim,

i have the same problem, but to a lesser degree. normally i do not care much about finger smudges and the like, but when the keyboard "markings" are all over my screen it can sometimes be hard to discern an 'i' from an 'l' with the reflections the screen panel causes (office lighting is now my second worst enemy). this is especially the case when in an IDE such as Visual Studio with courier type font, and at a distance of around 4 feet away, certain letters look awfully similar behind those smudges/marks. even though i use external monitors at work, i still use my in-built LCD panel as my "code reference" screen (code i'm not working on, but still need to access).

to combat this issue, i just use a piece of plain white paper from the printer tray (8.5x11) and slide it between my keyboard and screen when i close my lid for long-term. this keeps most of my keys from contacting my screen, particularly the raised spacebar. it's not quite the fancy Shaggy solution, but i find that it works quite well. i have lots of smudges on my screen from my home/pg up/pg down/end buttons (i use them more than anything else) but they are at the edge of my screen where it doesn't matter.

been thinking of nabbing a legal size sheet of paper. should fix my home/pg/end smudges as well

just my 2 cents...

 

Thanks, I guess it won't matter if i get yet another replacement. Sounds like I'll just have to deal with this minor annoyance long term.

 

Yeah, greasy fingers on the keys transfer quite easily to the screen. I got one of those Shaggy Mac's as well, and it works great. I got the generic 16" one and it fits perfectly, but the price is the same so there's no reason not to get a custom-fit size if you want. Plus, now I have a handy screen cleaner for whenever the kids decide to put their fingers all over my screen...