XPS 1645 WLED scratches cause?

Ive had the scratches since January(got my system in Dec 09). Im unable to determine the cause of the scratch at the bottom and top of the screen.











EDIT: The scratches were there before the keyboard cover.
I applied the keyboard cover a month back because my hands are always oily.
I cleaned the laptop before I took the pics and I clean the laptop every week or two.

1. Lots of NBR members have complained of these kind of keyboard scratches on the XPS 16.
2. Many NBR members agree on the faulty design(not lack of care) of the 1645 in this part of the issue. According to Dell employees, we owners are not wiping the screen hard enough.

On using the keyboard cover the scratches have not increased. Im not sure whether a keyboard cover will increase scratches.

The bottom line is if I get a replacement, the new screen could suffer the same scratches.

 

Im under complete cover? Can I opt for screen replacement?

 

From lack of care? Do you have a keyboard cover when you close the lid?

 

Is a keyboard cover required? I have had other model laptops and none of them needed a keyboard cover, and my screens remained unscratched.

 

If you have complete care you should be able to get a screen replacement. Before you freak out have you tried to wipe the screen with a little bit of lukewarm water and drying it off with a microfiber cloth? You'd be surprised how many times I thought I had scratches on my screen when it was smudge marks.

That's how screens usually get scratched.

 

People here recommend Shaggy keyboard cover? or something like that. I personally use the white foam cover that came with my laptop.

 

Mine has the exact same scratches/line across the bottom of the screen (the one that starts about an 1" above the Dell logo and runs left across a good portion of the screen). I've been thinking about calling for a replacement, but I'm afraid that the new one will suffer the same issue. I really don't want to have to use a keyboard cover every time I close it.

Best I can tell based on the position, the line is coming from the top of the Function keys or the plastic edge right above it (the edge below the power button, xps logo).

 

There is no point in replacement if you aren't going to take care of your system since same thing would happen again. Not to mention, you will risk your new screen with possible refurbished screen replacement.

 

What does "that" refer to? Lack of care, or use of a keyboard cover?

Is there something unique about the Studio XPS 15 that causes its keyboard to scratch the screen? I've had many laptops, never used a keyboard cover, and had no scratches.

 

The latter. The XPS screen has an extra layer of plastic surface which touches the keyboard when you close the lid, thus get scratched.

 

I see. That seems like a dumb design.

 

Yes, your Complete Care should cover that. What you need to do is decide if you want to get it taken care of under your Complete Care Warranty.

There is nothing wrong with Complete Care Warranty. I had to use it, and it work out just fine for me. Not all refurbished screen replacements, are "bad".

Try what RodK. suggested in cleaning off your screen, first and see what the results are!

If you get a new screen replacement, you may want to invest in something like that Shaggymac (as suggested).

I have it, and it works out great on my 1647. : )

"Lack of Care" that's generalizing, and OP has had his system since 09, (I would say he has taken pretty good care of it since then, if he is now commenting on his screen). It "could have" been caused by the keyboard, and that's not "lack of care", if so.


Cin...

 

Lack of care as in what it means, not taking care of your laptop. I don't have a fancy keyboard cover. I use a foam cover that came with one of my laptops and I have no scratch on my screen so far. If he can't do that because if he needs to take his laptop to class and etc, then I don't see the point of getting a new screen replacement since it's going to end up the same result.

 

We don't know what exactly caused his cover to do that. Maybe, he was trying to do what he could to protect his screen.

And, OP...what sort of Plastic do you have covering your Keyboard??? That looks thick, and may be causing some of the abrasions on the screen??

I know I try to take extremely good care of my lappy (and, I have/been..& and am known to be accident prone)

If he has Complete Care coverage, and his screen is bad with scratches, he should very well (if he wants), take advantage of the warranty he paid for & get it replaced. Start over & take precautions to avoid having any future issues going forward.

@Anodize, did you not get the Thin Black Sleeve with your 16xx when you received it? You could use that to help protect your screen. : )


Cin...

 

Good idea, but I have no idea where I put it. I think the foam cover I'm using now came from a refurb system.
I am going to buy a screen protector or that shaggy cover soon.

 

I edited the main post guys.

 

OOT question. I see you have some kind of silicon keyboard skin. Do you mind telling me where you got one from? I'd love to get one to try. Thx.

 

My dad got it for free when he purchased a dell retail laptop from malaysia.

I wouldnt recommend it because my dad's cover came off in 4 months. But atleast it protects the keyboard from my oily hands. Mine hasnt come off yet

 

What does OP stand for?

I dont have much details on the keyboard cover.

 

Original Poster. In this case, you.

 

Probably a design flaw.

When you hear reports on certain laptops that suffer from a particular problem it usually means the design was well intended but it caused another problem. I remember reading about one particular Dell laptop that would block the exhaust air vent when opening the screen when leaning it too far back for a better viewing angle.

Sometimes when laptops are designed, particularly for style and ergonomics it's important for tolerances to be such that things don't rub against each other so as to cause future problems such as yours. You can try a keyboard cover. Dell sometimes sends out a keyboard cover (Vostro V13) that's placed over the keyboard when the laptop is shipped to the customer.

That's a good indication that the design of the machine is pushing it's clearance tolerances. If that's the case use it when you close the screen lid to protect the screen from keyboard scratches.

 

Thanks.

The issue you are talking about concerns the same XPS 16 laptop we are talking about. The screen when opened blocks the exhaust at the back.

 

Lack of care? Is that a joke? You are not required to insert a stupid piece of foam inside of a laptop when you close it. That is why it has the rubber pieces on the edge. The SXPS laptops are the only ones I know of those have this issue.

Dell stupidly copied Apple's Edge-to-Edge screen and instead of using glass like Apple, they used flimsy, easily scratched plastic. This is a design flaw, not lack of care.

While I really like my SXPS 13 and no longer care about the scratches, I would have preferred if they kept the M1330 design with the slightly recessed screen (as it is on every other laptop). I was upset when the scratches first appeared on mine and got it replaced once, but I just gave up once the replacement developed scratches. I only paid $800 for my machine as a refurb, and the scratches aren't visible when the screen is on unless you really look for them.

Still waiting on the SXPS 13 successor.

 

I know what you mean. The SXPS 16 has a lot of defects. First it was cpu and gpu throttling, now scratches on the screen.

 

peterf: I agree with you on design flaw, but you can still avoid damaging your laptop by using a keyboard/screen cover. That's what I mean by lack of care. Why do I have the same laptop and still 0 scratch on my screen? See what I mean?

 

It is just a ridiculous requirement. They need to state that in the manual or anywhere if it was necessary not to scratch the screen.

 

The most obvious answer here is scratch from pressure and micro-rubs of the keyboard against the screen. I'm not sure how rough you are with your laptop, but I've not had any scratches on my screen after 1 yr of use. It could also be b/c your laptop construction was off by 1 mm or so, as to cause this problem in a more exaggerated fashion. I would HIGHLY recommend, 1) a replacement screen, 2) get a ShaggyMac microfiber cloth.

1 x 17"-19" Custom Shop Laptop Screen Protector (SPCustom17)
Color Alloy
Width 15 1/8 in
Depth 9 in
Make & Model Dell Studio XPS 16 $17.95

The above are the dimensions I would highly recommend (it's something I've determined after 2 wasted purchases with slightly smaller dimensions).
The above dimensions is enough to cover the entire keyboard surface from edge to edge of the laptop on left/right, and spans the top edge of the screen down to the past row of pixels right above the Dell logo on your screen. I would not recommend dimensions any less than this one.

 

First thing its not plastic it is plexi glass. 2nd who wants an extra 2 pounds for a sheet of glass covering our screen. Also its not a design flaw the rubber bumpers are on the side of the palm rest to stop this. And lack of care is pushing on the top of the laptop causing the screen to sink into the keyboard causing the scratches. If you take care of your laptop you won't have cosmetic issues. A keyboard cover is a good idea on any laptop. Especially on the macbooks because grease from the keyboard transfers to the screen.

 

The rubber bumpers, unfortunately, is not sufficient to prevent the keyboard to rub up against/press up against the screen. BECAUSE Dell chose to use plexiglass, this screen is quite flexible/bendable. Glass would not have this problem. I can twist and bend the screen several degrees, and I can see a few mm would be enough to hit the keyboard, esp if you're carrying it in a bag, and have things pressed up against it. or esp if you have things weighing down on it when you put the bag down.

 

If dell had chosen glass cost would have gone up, weight would have gone up and the screen would easily shatter. The great thing about plexi glass is it is as durable as plastic and will not shatter into little pieces and it has the optical clarity of glass. And if you have something between it no scratches. If you can't live with it sell it and buy a macbook pro. My friend has a macbook pro and he uses a shaggy mac as well because grease transfers from the keyboard to the screen so obviously it touches the screen as well. It is not a design flaw

 

I know what you mean. The design was intentional, for sure, with benefits, but the 'flaw' is, of course, certainly unintentional and circumstantial. The only scratches I ever experienced were at the bottom on the black border across from where the battery sits. I can easily see an issue there.

Regardless, taking excellent care to prevent unintentional injury to any laptop will require some accessories. The ShaggyMac cloth is an excellent one, at that.

I would like a macbook pro someday, when I can afford it. but I'd be booting to Windows onto that thing =P

Cheers,
entrance002

 

Sorry, just have my cellphone camera, so not the best shots. But it shows that the troublesome areas are common between laptops... which really leads me to think that there is a design flaw in terms of the screen making contact and rubbing.





edit: Just thought I should clarify...I did clean the screen, but the flash/lighting does show a couple of things I don't normally see. What I do notice is the two horizontal scratches (along the bottom middle to left, and the top middle-right).

 

that almost looks like it corresponds to the border between the glossy black panel with the media touch buttons and the Function1-12 buttons. Very likely that something had been applying pressure on that area.

 

resize your pictures!

 

Screen protectors are the way to go I think. I'm not a big fan of keyboard covers as I don't like the way the keys feel under the protector.

If Dell were switched on they would have applied a screen protector for us from the factory that way they won't have to replace screens all the time.

Basically the scratches occur because dust and other stuff gets either on the keyboard or on the screen. When the screen is closed and placed into a bag and a small amount of pressure is applied to the top part of the laptop (where the Dell logo is) the screen will bend and rub against the keyboard, palm rest and battery. And thus you'll get these marks.

Only remedies I've seen thus far are:
1. Screen protector (applied to the screen)
2. Micro fibre cloth applied between the screen and keyboard while the notebook is closed.
3. Wiping all surfaces clean before closing the notebook.
4. Selling the notebook and getting a different one.

I've gone for the first option. A new one just needs to be applied once you can't stand the scratches anymore.
The second option will eventually require you to either clean the cloth or buy a new one. Too much work for me.
Wiping everything clean. Is a little too excessive compulsive for my liking...

 

Hey everybody

I will get my screen replaced tomorrow. I m so happy of that.
Now I will take care of it for sure. I m going to use double protection.

1. ShaggyMac Keyboard Cover (i figured out that is the best one)
2. Screen protector --and i have a problem to choose the best one. I m afraid that the foil will decrese the display performance. Also I would like to chose the best protecting one.(invisibleSHIELD??)


thanks for advice

 

I've had my laptop for nearly a year now, and all I've ever needed was just the shaggymac cover... not a scratch, mark, or anything on the screen.

 

You are right RacingGun
there is no need to have the screen protector when the shaggymac cover is applied