E1705 woes

I've had my E1705 since 2/15. Sadly, I should have upgraded the warranty to on-site repair. I contacted Dell Support via online chat last night for a few issues.

If any E1705 owners are seeing the same issues please post what you done/are doing to correct them.

1. Electrical hum/whine originating near the AC power connector on the rear of the lappie chassis. This noise is very evident when charging a discharged/partially discharged battery or when on battery power. Noise is not heard when running on AC power with a fully charged battery (Battery is a Dell/Sanyo 9-cell).

2. Excessive light leakage after extended system up-time. After about an hour or so I can see approx. 1.5 inches of light leakage at the base and top of the LCD. LCD is a Samsung.

3. Just started happening: Right fan will startup and go full bore for 60-90 secs then shutdown and repeat after several minutes. This happens at all times regardless of power source, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, gaming or just plain surfing the net. Vid Drivers are not an issue as I currently have the stock Dell drivers installed - so no OC'ing.

Arggghhhh... I love this lappie but with these issues I'm a bit frustrated with Dell.

The Dell Support Rep stated I could send the lappie in for service and it would be returned within 7 days. I'm a bit hesitant to send it in - I'm worried they might just replace the thing and send me one back with some cheesy ATI card or god knows what... LOL

Any thoughts?? I've had one person suggest I contact my sales rep. I'll try that tonight.

(Sys specs are below)

Thanks!

 

Well, I would tell Dell that you need your laptop. It is just over your 30-day return policy for satisfaction. Ask to talk to a supervisor and explain to him about the problem and story that you need the laptop fixed ASAP and that 7 days won't due.

Most likely they will send a tech out to you for free. That way you won't have to wait a week. Dell will most likely do it.

I don't know about the specific problems, but the whining sounds like it could be a loose connection. Light leakage is a problem on the Samsungs and if it is expanding they should replace the screen for you too.

Let me know what happens.

Good luck.

 

As USAF said, I would contact dell. I doubt they will send out a tech because Dell is pretty picky about their warranty, but you might be able to upgrade your warranty to at home repair if you can afford the extra cost. You can try talking to your sales rep, but if they do like they normally do, they'll tell you to talk to tech support because they have no control over anything after you receive your system.

One suggestion that I do have when contacting dell is to ask to have the parts shipped to you, verus sending your laptop in. If you can make a case that you need your laptop, dell will send the parts to you. I do this all the time, but i'm hoping that your "mail-in" warranty doesn't cause a problem with that. Of course, only do this if you feel comfortable doing laptop repair.

2.) are you able to see that light leakage during boot up? I've never really seen it get worse during up time, but anything is possible.

3.) Its most likely due to Dell's settings on the fans. Dell recently changed from having the fans going all the time to have the fans run hardly at all. Normally, it is based on temp, but I'm sure there are other factors that cause it. On mine, my fans always turn on at start up and run full blast, but then calm down and hardly run for the rest of the day.

 

I've seen light leakage get worse, the base of the LCD gets excessively hot especially under AC power, and apparantly it effects the light leakage.

 

I need to carry my notebook everyday. Can you tell me how heavy is the E1705 please. I like the WUXGA display and the E1505 won't offer.

 

How can you tell what display you have? I am having light leakage problems too.

 

Reguarding Question 3 - you might try updating the BIOS for your system and see if that helps any with your problems.

I also have noticed a slight electrical hum when charging as well (6-cell battery), but it isn't a major downer. For the light leakage, I second what SG and USAFDude have said.

 

Well I finally found the time to contact Dell Support.

After a 68 minute call I was disconnected. LOL Go figure. The rep spent the first 20 minutes trying to get her system up and running (or so she claimed).

After I was disconnected, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and waited a few minutes to see if she would call back - no such luck.

Second call:

95 minutes and after several 'unplug this component, try this, try that' it's off to the Rapid Response Depot (glorified name for those of us who DID NOT opt for on-site service). I am SOOO kicking myself for not ordering this option. But, then again, maybe it's better it goes back to Dell.

The buzzing noise is still present. The LCD issue is much easier to resolve (I hope). I better get this thing back fixed or I plan on releasing the hounds of HELL on Dell.

Odd the rep told me to leave my HDD installed in the lappie when I send it back. She said it needed to be there to confirm the buzzing sound isn't being caused by the drive. Arggghhh - now I have to wipe the drive and re-install when it comes back to me. Hmmmm - maybe its time to buy Ghost.

What I was able to learn from this situation:

1. ORDER the on-site service plan NO MATTER WHAT

2. Call before your 21 days are UP! I kick myself on this one - I figured it was better to let the system 'burn in' a bit. Even going round and round with the rep about sending a tech out didnt do a thing.

3. Hope to high heaven you get a rep based in the US - sorry, I have nothing against India (I love the food!) but it is so hard to get things resolved with those reps.

Now I just sit back and wait for the DHL truck to show up with my box.

Oh yes, in case any of you are interested - I was able to find this on the noise issue:
Dell KB HO1094197


Ha! Nothing to do with C3 power state. The noise is present when the machine is shut down and the battery is charging.

Thanks again to SG and USAir - you two are always a big help!