Extremely flimsy/flexible lid

I just got my Studio 1555 today and am having some major issues with the lid. When it's closed, if I press it lightly the lid has a lot of flex. When I open the laptop and lightly press my fingertips into the lid I can see the imprints of my fingertips on the screen! The quality of the lid is equivalent to that of a cheap plastic child's toy.

I contacted technical support and the rep was trying to just replace the lid with another...the SAME one. I asked her how that would help if it was of the same quality? Ugh. Anyways, she is having someone call me back tomorrow after they have done "research" to see if anyone else has had issues with the lid. I'm sure I will mysteriously be the only one.

Anyone else have the same issues? If so, what did you do/what did Dell do? I contacted returns and they said I would be charged the 15% restocking fee if I returned it..although it's not my problem their lid sucks. What should I do?

 

Not only that, but there appears to be a smudge "inside" the screen itself. I can really see it on a black screen. It's about 1/2 of an inch long. I've tried wiping the screen with a microfiber cloth and it does nothing (hence the reason I believe the "smudge" is on the inside).

 

I have the same problem with my Inspiron 1545 with regards to the flex in the lid. I have to assume it's because they have the same lids regardless of whether you go CCFL or WLED, and the WLED displays will be a little thinner. It doesn't bother me that much, it's only really in the centre of the lid I notice it, and I don't tend to push down on it for fun

The smudge though, sounds daft, but Dell will probably get you to do it, turn off the computer, and press the Fn key at the same time as the power button, then release both to power up the machine. This will launch some diagnostics. Let them run until you get to the display part and make sure you can still see the smudge whilst it's cycling through the various pretty colours of the diagnostics. If you can, and you can't clean it with some screen cleaner + microfibre cloth, then you're probably right and should contact Dell about that little puppy.

 

Thanks for the reply Fragilexx. I am just shocked at the lack of quality in the screen/lid. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't plan on taking this with me to classes/clinics but I don't think this would last long in my backpack. My old Inspiron E1505 is 10 times better in the quality department. They really should have thought out the lid better.

I'll try what you said about the smudge. I seem to only see it when the screen is black.

If they can't fix the smudge and replace the lid to something durable I am definitely going to return this for a different model. It would really suck since I waited so long to get this.

 

Could you define what you mean by "light pressure"? I have to put what feels like some 8-10lb to get a reaction from the screen on my studio 17. I have a normal CCFL LCD if that matters.


Could you also take and post a picture of the "smudge"?

 

Barely pressing on it causes it to flex a lot. I'll make a video of it tomorrow and upload it to youtube and post the link here.

ETA: I have the black chainlink lid. I wonder if that one is more cheaply made than the others?

 

Shroom has a 1555, I think. You can ask him about the lid on it if he shows up.

I'll be waiting the pic of that "smudge", I want to see it for myself.

 

Yikes. I'm really curious to see the video. My Studio 1555 went into production today....

Honestly, I had to get them to waive the restocking fee already once. Regular representatives will swear on their lives that there's nothing that can be done. You need to go through a supervisor and explain the issue at hand, and most importantly, stay firm.

I hope everything works out for you.

-Edit-

I sent a message to Streetmagnus, who has a Studio 1555 with a Midnight Blue cover to see if he has the same issue.

 

Okay, I took the video. I am uploading it to youtube right now so it'll be a few minutes.

 

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asPsYquXyO4

Let me know what you think.

 

My screen is also flimsy, but I wouldn't say it is as bad as yours. I have the flex on the lid and it's about the same as yours, maybe not quite as bad. I couldn't see that last smudge you were showing.

I would say that smudge/defect that showed up when flexing the lid was the worst and should get you a replacement.

Also, I'm not sure if it's just the angle of the camera, but for some reason your screen doesn't seem nearly as wide as mine.

Sorry that your laptop arrived with problems. Hopefully you can get it replaced, let us know how it goes.

 

Wow that is terrible. I have the Midnight blue with edge to edge and it is nothing near that flexible. Its pretty sturdy. The lid is made of a matte rubber material and it is pretty sturdy. With the edge to edge, which is another screen covering the whole front side on top of the bezel makes it even more sturdier.

I would definitely have that replaced. For some reason, I don't know if its the video or not, but that does not look like the Studio 1555. The screen doesn't look like its a 15.6?

 

That is weird - I think a replacement screen would be the easiest thing that could fix it.

 

That's the most rediculous thing I've ever seen on a laptop. It looks as if they left parts out and just put on the plastic case. I've seen some video reviews and it's hard to tell because they don't really try and demonstrate what you did, but they look like they're sturdier then that.

 

Yes mine is nowhere near as bad as that. I certainly can't flex my display like that, and although the lid does have some flex, I can't see my fingers on the display unless I really apply pressure, more than the laptop would typically get in my backpack. I'd get dell to replace the whole display / lid assembly.

 

Could you give us measurements of your screen? It doesn't seem wide enough to be 15.6 inches. I'm sort of concerned maybe Dell shipped the wrong machine.

I'll post a YouTube video of mine later when I'm back from class. I'll try to demonstrate the ammount of flex I get and try to show the edge
to edge.

 

Hullo. ^_^

Yeah, I think something's definitely not right with your lid, Jen. Mine doesn't flex nearly to that degree. It gives slightly if you lift it up by one corner, but no more than you would expect. Pressing on the center of the lid also makes it give just a little, but certainly not enough to cause ripples on the actual display while it's open.

Definitely get Dell to replace that. Sorry to see you're having trouble with an otherwise nice machine.

Streetmagus...I'm fairly certain that's just a video formatting issue of some sort. The entire video looks a little narrower than it should. That computer is definitely a Studio 1555, though.

 

Hey guys,
Well I called Dell returns and they authorized a return without restocking fees. I just went to UPS and shipped it off so I can't measure it. The lid looked like it was made by Mattel or something! So now I am left without a laptop (typing on my much sturdier iPod Touch). Back to the drawing board I guess. Now I am not sure what brand or model to get. I doubt I will be buying another Studio or Inspiron any time soon. Maybe I should get a Latitude or XPS, IF I get another Dell. Thank you everyone for your comments and advice.

 

This makes me wonder if the problem is the black chainlink top or if I just received a dud. I have the worst luck! Thanks for the information about the rubber tops and edge to edge display. I will keep that in mind for my next purchase.

 

I got my Studio 1555 with the Black Chainlink today the the screen has almost 0 flex.

 

Bummer, the Studio 1555 is a great laptop. Unfortunate that you received a lemon -_-

I have no idea why or how you received one with a lid that flexible. Surely the person assembling it together would've noticed the ammount of flex on it. Very poor quality...

 

Agreed. Would you still mind to post a video of your laptop? I'm really curious to see how much of a difference there is between the two.

@Jen: Although it seems you just recieved a lemon (shame on Dell for not catching this before it shipped), atleast you were able to get a full refund.

 

If you do decide to trust Dell again, I recommend a Latitude or Studio XPS model. Again, sorry to hear it didn't work out for you this time.

 

I agree, although I had to speak with many reps and demand a full refund before I finally got someone to help me. In the next week or so I am going to check out some laptops in the stores so I can see the build quality. My husband has a Latitude which is really nice so I may go in that direction.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I am going to check both of them out. I'm not going to write Dell off just yet. I am just really disappointed in their lack of quality control.

 

Man, that screen flex was horrible! Not even the POS inspiron b130 that I have taken apart 50 times (and didn't even put the screws back in) flexes like that.

Get a studio 17. I can vouch for the screen being sturdy - I sometimes pick mine up by the lid!

 

What about this:

Studio XSP 16

SYSTEM COLOR Merlot Red with Leather Accent (Hoping that by "upgrading" the base system color it won't be super cheap/thin this time!)

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (3MB cache/2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit

OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Work

WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis edit

HD DISPLAY Edge-to-Edge FHD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP edit

MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms) edit

HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/- RW(DVD/CD read/write) Slot Load Drive edit

VIDEO CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 - 512MB edit

WIRELESS CARDS Intel® 5100 WLAN Wireless-N (1x2) Half Mini Card edit

BATTERY Additional 9-Cell Battery

SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0 edit

BLUETOOTH Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR) edit
My Accessories

SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months edit

DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year edit
My Software & Accessories

ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
BATTERY OPTIONS 6-cell Battery (Like that it comes with an extra battery)

Integrated NETWORK ADAPTERS (NICS) Integrated Gigabit (10/100/1000) Network Card
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
LCD and Camera 15.6 FHD WLED Display in Merlot Red with leather and 2.0 MP Webcam
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Processor Branding Intel® Centrino™ 2

TOTAL: $1,259

I'm a bit apprehensive to get anything "Studio" again. Does anyone have this or has anyone seen it up close? We don't really have any stores here that sell computers, I have to drive at least an hour to find a place that does. Does the price seem high?

 

I've played with a few Studio XPS 16s in retail stores. They are quite sturdy from what I've seen so far. They're basically designed to do the same stuff the Studio series does, but the XPS suffix designates them as premium models.

If you're getting that laptop, though, I suggest you make whatever budget cuts you can and upgrade the display to the RGB-LED display; it's widely regarded as THE reason to get the Studio XPS laptop.

And as for the lid colors, the Merlot Red and Obsidian Black with leather accents are the same material.

 

Looks like a good build. However, I doubt the 512 video memory is necessary and I've seen numerous people complain about the edge to edge display in regards to the Studio 15 because it picks up dirt and fingerprints from the keyboard. Not sure if this is the case with the XPS 16.

 

Thanks for the advice Mastershroom. I'll check out the RGB-LED display for sure. There are 3 choices for the lid, one is without the leather (default choice). I wasn't sure if that was as good as the other 2 or not. I'd prefer to go without the leather..I don't see why you'd even have it on a laptop?

Sonarav: The 512 was my lowest option so that's why I chose it. I was reading about the edge to edge display in the XPS forum and it looked like some people had issues with dust. Definitely something to think about.

Next weekend I'm going to go shopping in a few stores and get a feel (literally) for what I want.

 

The 512MB video card is standard; the only other option is the ATi 4670 with 1GB VRAM. And I've also heard a few stories of dust getting trapped behind the edge-to-edge glass panel.

Glad to be of service.

I have not seen the lid option without leather in person yet; Dell only added that option a couple of weeks ago. I do enjoy the leather, however. It's not terribly kitschy or out of place. If you're going to stores next week, stop by Best Buy if there's one on your way; they should have a Studio XPS 16 on display.

 

Thanks, I was wondering where I would be able to see one in person. I'll have to drive 1.5 hours to get to Best Buy but there are a lot of other major stores in that area. Just another excuse to do some shopping.

ETA: Do you really think the RGB-LED is necessary? I'd hate to spend $250 on the upgrade. I won't have blu-ray on it, if that makes any difference.

 

I did a video for my laptop aswell. Its not too bad, but its does flex/bend.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5203394#post5203394

 

I bought a Studio XPS 1640 today. I hope the build is better than the last laptop I received!

Mastershroom: Thanks again for mentioning the RGBLED screen, I ended up going with that. I found a great deal that was still in my (new) budget.

 

Wow, that is quite the build you have there!

Hope you have better luck with this one!

 

Thank you Sonarav. I priced it many different ways and this was the best price and had better specs than my other choices. EPP was more expensive and the outlet (even with the 15% off) ended up being the same price. With Ebates I got 4% cash-back plus a $25 Dell gift card.

 

There's currently a 25% off coupon for the XPS models if configured over $1699. Out of curiosity, I configured an XPS model and it came to be within the same price (with alot better specs) than my Studio 1555. Slightly dissapointed, but oh well.

Link

 

I strongly recommend you get a large microfibre cloth to put between the display and the keyboard for this machine when closing the lid; the grease from your fingers transfers to the keys, which can then transfer to the display.

Regards

 

I saw that offer too before I bought my laptop. It was an awesome deal but there wasn't a RGBLED option to choose and with the offer I found it was only $120 more for that option. Still an awesome deal, thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you for the advice Fragilexx. Where did you buy your microfiber cloth from?

 

eBay, but that was just because I wanted one large enough. It was for an old machine I had, but after seeing the SXPS 16, I can tell it would also have the same issues.