Fed up with the Studio 15? Me too.

First off, let me say I'm in the process of trying to return my SECOND dell studio fifteen. that includes the first one -- that had a million problems -- and the second one I'm typing on now -- which has a million and one.

-second off- let me just edit this and say that I wouldn't even be so upset if I didn't love this thing. if it were in proper working order, it'd be the perfect laptop.

I bought a Dell studio 15 from Dell.com a little more than a month ago, after researching the pros and cons,understanding about the poor soudn issue and deciding it was still a really good deal.


And now everything that could have possibly gone wrong has gone wrong.
It worked fine until I Tried to restart it, I'm starting ot think i should just leave it on >_< . The first laptop, on its second boot, cut the sound, the media buttons not only stopped lighting up but stopped working all together, and the touchpad lagged so bad it seemed like it was turning on and off at will.

basically the thing had a mind of its own. Dell's laptop tech support has to be some of the worst I"ev ever experienced on phone and online. after calling 8 continuous timies and realizing I was never going to get a person in the States, I tried going online. I'd talked to at least 10 different people who all asked me the same questions, told me the exact same thing that I told them wasn't working. It was as if they were reading from a script. FINALLY, by chance of calling the wrong number my mom got somenoe in ohio who marginally helped and got them to sned us a replacement.

Let me just say, I'm a senior in highschool with college applications to finish, I dont have TIME to deal with this, I was so confident dell would be the most reliable laptop to buy, positive something like this wouldn't happen. Oh how wrong Iwas.

the second laptop is worse than the first one. not only am I having the widespread fingerprint issue, but it seems the touchpad is..inverted? sometimes, when i move down, it moves up. Its frustrating but it doesn't happen that often.

I thought I'd deal with it until my webcam broke.....and now I'm fed up.

at this moment on a sunday afternoon I"m wating for dlel to call me back, because they're refusing to exchange the thing because its already been exchanged once. I wasn't..aware it was my fault they've sent me two faulty computers.

is anyone else having similar problems?

 

Wow I'm sorry your experience has been so bad

Dell Tech Support is usually really easy to deal with for me. They usually replace any part with just as much as asking them to.

What OS are you running? As my Studio 15 isn't having half those problems, but the touchpad is a bit insane.

 

Which model do you have? The 1535 or 1537? I bought one 1535 from the Outlet in August and the screen wouldn't adjust in brightness. The second one that I currently have I couldn't be happier with.

How exactly did you webcam break? Have you done a fresh install of Windows like recommended?

 

I have to deal with the dell tech support on a semi-regular basis with my job and I've never had much issue in getting things fixed. Sometimes I have to jump through hoops while they go through a list of possible solutions but they usually get it solved either by repairing, replacing or telling me what part needs to be purchased.

I usually just use chat so not sure where they're from but they all have done a good job typing the English language to the point it looks like it's their native language (no way of verifying that of course).

 

Are you dealing with Dell Business or Dell Home through your job? There seems to be quite a difference between the support from both sides.

 

I generally deal with Dell Business as my account is considered a Small Business account. I'm not sure how as I purchased it via my School's EPP website for the discount, but it could be because my computer's registration includes my company name?

If that's the case (not sure if it is though) I'd recommend just adding a company name to your registration information... As it didn't affect my costs or anything. I just notice whenever I use chat or anything else it says "Dell Small Business Support"

It def. isn't my school that is considered a Small Business either as I go to Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. It boasts over 60K students worldwide and is one of the largest schools in my state.

 

Your school probably has a SLA with Dell to provide its students with the best support. I've ordered from the Small Business side before and they are very helpful. They even call me from time to time to see how everything is going with my purchases.

 

bought dell 1735 phoned to say there was a problem taken ages to get through made big mistake should have asked for refund instead they said they would fix the problem has been back twice now (cooloing issue)
phoned again told them not happy with it, been palmed off wont give me a refund and now say this is how the laptop should perform (why didn't they say that in the first place and why did they ask me to send it back twice)
now stuck with it, will never buy mail order again will go to shop which will give refund/exchange. made big mistake buying a dell

 

Might be right as I've had support the same way you mentioned. I rem. when I was doing the battery issue I got a call from the technicians asking about it.

I will test it on my next purchase (to see if all I need is to add my company name to my system or not). As the support I get is what keeps my smiling Dell. But it should be something we all get, but at the costs most people spend on their laptops it is hard to expect fantastic support.

 

I have a studio 1535, the 3 gig model. I'm starting to think I should have bought it from a store instead of ordering it from Dell, but I thought it'd be better..=/

anyway, I digress. the first one I did the fresh vista install and(oh btw its running on vista home premium, which I'm pretty much sure is the source of half my problems, we all know how vista likes to ..glitch) i still had most of the problems.

but this new one..I dont want to lose all my information, so i dont want to full restore, we're trying to get them to send me another one before I give up on dell all together..

I'm pretty much sure the dell support I've been dealing with is Dell Home...

the chat was okay, but after a while the just started telling me the same thing over and over and I got upset, because it was the exact same words like they were reading from a script.

I'm sure they have some great tech support people, I've met a few myself, but it just seems I've had horrible luck with it all..


As for the webcam...well. It might very well be the program. everytime I open it "an error has occured, shutting down the program"


The repair and replace thing, not to sound unreasonable, really isn't appealing to me at this point, its way too early for that, I've only had the thing maybe a few days... -sigh-

so all the touchpads are crazy,eh? I guess that I can deal with.

and at least the sound works on this one..has anyone experienced the screen going out? to the point where the computer's still on but you really can''t see anything.

 

I returned a Studio 17 recently b/c it was so messed up. Anyhow the screen went out regularly. It would go all black but the cursor would be the only thing visible and it was doing that little circle thing it does when its loading something. That laptop went back. The screen went out today on the new Studio 17 I have and it did the same thing. Hopefully this doesn't happen again.
Hope you can resolve your issues with Dell. I would just keep calling and hanging up until you get someone that sounds as though they might be willing to help you. Then get their info and try and reach them exclusively in the future.

 

thanks

I think their maint hing is they dont want you to be persistant. they think if they transfer you and put yo uon hold enouhg you'll hang up.

wellll guess what. I don't plan to.

I also found out when we finally did get a person with english as tehir first language on the phone that their entire laptop department for tech support is in another country...so theres no chance getting someone from tehre unless you pay for the extra service, which i think is bull..

 

so your new Studio 17 works fine??

hopefully my next studio 15 will..

 

Yeah it seems to be working well minus a few random glitches (I'm not savvy enough to know if its vista, the computer, etc but its nothing major). I had originally asked for an exchange but when I found out I wouldn't have any recourse should something be wrong with the new one, I decided to do a full return and buy another one. Bought a new one with upgrades, so it worked out pretty well.
Definitely stay persistent. I must have called 20 times before getting the answer I wanted.