Had my 1520 for only 15 minutes ...

My 1520 finally came in this morning. Since DHL delivers to commercial before residential, I had Dell simply ship it to my office. I was kinda worried about the 1520 after reading about how others have had problems with various annoyances and bonafide problems, but I had ordered it already and really wanted to judge for myself.

So anyway I was delighted to see the DHL guy pull up first thing this morning. I signed off for the package and took the big Dell box back to my desk where I proceeded to carefully open. The laptop was well packaged, that was good. The Midnight Blue lid was fantastic looking, much better than what the pictures online show. That's about the jist of anything good for the remainder of my short time with the notebook. I removed the notebook from the styrofoam where I first notice one of the front media buttons was missing! WTF... Anyway, I called our local DHL dispatch (and subsequently Dell) and asked if they could have the guy come pick up the package to return.

As I awaited for him to return, I wanted to see how the screen looked, so I proceeded to open the lid. Some of my co-workers are now starting to gather to see the new laptop I've been eagerly waiting for the past month - Ooooo, ahhhhh! As everyone watched, I pressed the power button and it collasped into the case. ??? My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe it but I couldn't help but laughing either at this point, they too join in on the laughter, at my expense, though I was laughing with them, I guess. Anyway, the power button fell into the case about 1/3", but the notebook powered on anyway.

I got off the phone will Dell just as the DHL guy came in to take the parcel away. Though, before I could package it back up, I had to figure out how to turn the darn thing off - The power button which fell into the case would no longer respond, I had to remove the battery to power it off. Btw, the screen did look like ass, as described by others (order list said it was an AOU or AUO screen), and the buzzing sound from my headphones through the headphone jack was awful (using decent pair of Sony headphones, not earbuds). Over a month wait for this POS, what a waste of time and money. Bah! At least my old PIII 733Mhz Gateway notebook is still chugging along.

 

I want to call BS on your little story here, but thats just me. First you go from 15 minutes of having it to buttons falling in and out and than you have time to grab headphones before you turn it off?

I know if it was me, and my laptop came OUT OF THE BOX with missing buttons, i would have immediately took pictures to prove this. Than my power button caves in? At that point I would have made a video. Since you seem to have headphones and other things lying around, you should have a cam or a phone cam somewhere.

the screen looked like ass..you waited this long ect ect..the hilarity. Good luck with your new HP or compaq lol.

 

That's sad, I can't imagine who has been hired to assemble notebooks in such a terrible way. Even still, it should never leave the factory.

 

It's dell quality!. That's what will happen to some notebooks when they have a very high volume sales.

 

Most of us don't have digital camers on hand at the office to take pictures with. I'm suspicious by nature, but nothing in this story strikes me as unbelievable. He had the machine on already, so while waiting for the DHL guy, wanted to play with it. Sounds reasonable.

If you wanted to find out why he didn't take the picture or why he plugged in the headphones, you could have just asked him instead of accusing him.

 

Agreed. I don't know anyone who has a digital camera on hand at work. Of course that can depend on "where" you work, but either way, there does not seem to be a basis to call BS on this story. I've seen my fair share of defective builds from all OEMs.

 

Why do someone want to lie about his/her much anticipated new laptop?

 

This is the first time I’ve ever had any negative quality-control issues with Dell. We have about 400 Dell Optiplex and Dimension PCs in our company, we also have about 12 Dell Latitude notebooks (which are great btw, it’s what I use at the office and what I’m currently using now to type this). As far as the notebook screen, the Latitude screen which is a 1280x800 glossy, looked light years ahead of the Inspirons. (I understand Latitudes are business class though, but still.) The only other problem I’ve had with Dell is in several of our Optiplex GX260/70/80 desktops. They have a known motherboard issue with leaky and bulging capacitors. However, Dell ALWAYS has shipped us next biz day new motherboards, no questions asked, even with a couple desktops that were out of warranty.

At the time I wasn’t thinking of proving a case with pictures to anyone about my faulty Inspiron – a real lemon. I’m still going to order Dell desktop PCs and notebooks for the company, they have had nothing but wonderful service for us in the past, and personally with my personal use Inspiron, they have been good too (free next day shipping, and $100 credit for the nVIDIA GDDR2/GDDR3 flop).

 

LOL...I bet 75% of the peeps here have digital cameras with then in the office....its called:
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........... A Cell Phone.

 

Wow... Thats so sad that its funny.
mine is coming this week. I hope that I will not have problems with it...

 

I also have to admit, this is so bad, it's just about unbelievable. Start button falling in on top of a missing media button??

My 1720 is solid as a rock (at least so far ). Something's fishy here...

 

I also heard from a lot of people who got theirs that the build quality stands out

 

I think somebody is trying to have a little fun with this story. Honesty, Dell doesnt put out notebooks that just fall apart. Some things slip by, but nothing to what you describe. If your story was true, Im sure you would have found a camera and taken some pics.

I dont believe it one bit. I received my e1705 more then a year ago and its still as solid as a rock and shows only little signs of wear. It has been a solid notebook and should continue to work fine until I upgrade.

 

Lol. Thanks to all with common sense. Even the over-exaggerated "ooh-ahhs" from his co workers was a joke. It's a laptop, not a Lamborghini.

 

maybe he/she is a hp seller ( or sony seller or etc.) !!

 

if it were THIS bad, I would have RAN to the store, bought a kodak..hell, I would have bought a new digital camera to take pics. Something like that Dell would probably hook him up with a SWEET coupon/money off. To receive your laptop with buttons caving in ect? nah..

Than again, the camera he grabbed might have been a Dell..and the lens probably extended and fell out of the camera.

 

I dont know. I never had a dell, so I dont know the build quality myself. For all I know, it could be true. But then again... How would that go unnoticed during the testing stage of production?

 

it wouldn't, it could have been a shipping damage..BUT..the styrofoam the laptop is shipped in can take a decent hit, not to mention he would have NOTED damage to the box to back up the broken buttons.

maybe in his anger of waiting and seeing a button fell off, he pushed the button so hard it broke.

 

It's not nice to call people liars based on their story telling abilities, you have to have something more solid than that sir!

 

I apologize. Lol.

 

Which is exactly why this is a load of BS. I have always been pleased with every aspect of Dell. Of course, this adds to my unbelievability of the matter.

Now...if we were talking HP, Compaq, or Sony. I would believe it.

 

But Wait!!!
THAT is a GREAT thread starter story. I am starting to understand now...

 

yep, and the 'big Dell box reference'?? They don't ship in the large boxes anymore like they used to. My larger 1720 was in a notably small box.

What gives?

 

WOOHOO guys!!! my laptop just arrived.

I took it out of the box while the DHL driver was still here..and my laptop was not in there..

The tape was untouched..I think dell boxed everything but the laptop.

**UPDATE: Dell sent my laptop in 4 different boxes that the DHL courier found in his truck. I don't remember seeing "some assembly required" but what can ya do? gonna bust out my screwdriver. brb.

 

Lol.. is really worth it? Spending 200 dollars to get a digital camera to get 200 dollars back from dell? How much are you actually saving?

Plus, we're just assuming that everyone has a cellphone with a camera. Now I know most of us as technies prolly wouldn't fall behind so far with cell phones more than 3-4 years old but I know my mom still uses the first polymorphic Nokia cell phone. so... there you go, perhaps he/she didn't have a cellphone with a camera, how surprising can that be?

I don't know how believable a story like this can be, but things like this can happen and that's why they need quality control. Maybe he/she just wasn't lucky and got the crapped up notebook. However, I would try to get a picture of it (if possible) to see if I can get some discounts off the notebook or some sort of benefit from such a defect.

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My 2 cents

 

Please...oh please b0r tell me that you have media buttons! I will be ticked off if they are starting to make a habit out of this!

 

Is that story making fun of the first one? Showing how easy it is to believe BS?

 

Man, the "ooh-ahhs" was used to exemplify my co-workers who were watching me play with my toy. A toy that I had been verbally excited about around the office for weeks since ordering. Not only did I get a turd shipped to me from Dell, I'm already the butt of all jokes around the office - "Hey Garrett, the Help Desk is reporting calls from users who are unable to turn on their PCs, you might wanna check out the power button."

 

I agree, but this is 2007. SOMEONE in that office HAD to have a cell phone with a camera..less of course he lives in Amish country where they don't use stuff like that..but than why does he have a laptop? Either way, you don't post something like this without pictures or it didn't happen. It's like a story where I say I slept with britney spears..not really believeable..but plausible, right?

if "anything" can happen..you guys gotta believe me.

 

i think you should look up "gullible" in the dictionary lol

 

Where were the pictures bro? you don't make an accusation like that without proof to give to other Dell consumers.

Next to Sony, HP/Compaq and Toshiba, I'd say Dell is like..the Chevy of the laptop world. You don't buy a new chevy where you go to pull the handle on the door and it falls off the car. Than get in and when you turn the key the whole ignition falls out of the car. Just not believeable.

 

Well, the no pictures argument isnt really a good one. It is so easy not to think of taking pictures in your amazement. But I still dont believe the story- either one

 

Pictures would have made me lol. Unfortunately..it just does NOT happen this way. Dell REALLY puts their laptops through all tests..and no way did he get one that was falling apart like a 99 cent store toy. They put quality in there laptops, and to go on a forum full of people who are turning away from Dell to see a post like this only Aides them in talking more **** about dell that just isn't plausible.

Damage to the box~>buttons falling off. No damage..didn't happen.

 

grudkin, now you are the butt of the jokes on a website!
Hang in there. I am sure that Dell will make this right for you.

 

I got an idea, give me the # to your office..I'm going to call you up right now and we can talk about this with the other reps.

Since they have time to ooh and ahh over a notebook, they have time to tell me it really happened.

 

40+ posts in an hour. wow. lol.

 

If they put their laptops through all the test, how could they send me a inspiron 1520 that had an unbelievably loud high pitch noise coming from the CPU? Maby their really starting to slack off over there in dell country

 

Dude, people get lemons - It happens. You hear unbelievable stories of people with brand new cars that seem to never work, with the weirdest stuff happening, the car is in the shop more often than driving on the road, we even have state "Lemon Laws" for these exact cars. You never ever imagine it happening it to you, "Oh, that only happens to other people," but low and behold what I found in my Dell box this morning, it happened to me.

Go diving deeper into other threads here, someone else also got a DOA 1520 recently.

 

zagnut...you need to call dell and let them know. Getting on a forum and whining is stupid and accomplishes nothing.

 

Grudkin- We all really want to give you the benefit of the doubt here, so here's a little credibility test:

Pls describe how the laptop was packed when you opened the box. You mentioned it was packed in styrofoam. Describe whether it was sandwiched between 2 pieces top / bottom, with end caps or something else. Was it in any sleeve within or outside of the styrofoam?

And the final mini-test so we can determine if you're legit or just a pathetic Dell basher, was there any picture or symbol on the packaging in direct contact with the laptop itself? If so, describe what it was...

 

i think a key piece of his story that has been overlooked is this:

so in that timeframe of 15 minutes as you say, you called both DHL and Dell and arranged for a pickup to take place 15 min after you received the laptop? i am calling bull.

 

Since i'm not complete idiot I called dell the day i recieved it and had it returned, and might i add that when i opened it the whole family gathered around just like on christmas and "ooohed" and "aaaahed" for at least 40 minutes. But silly me i didn't get out my camera to document the occasion.

 

The funny thing is, that I did not get my laptop yet, and I could answer all those questions from the top of my head.
you all know the internet is a vast resource

 

I can't believe this guy wasted our time with this fake story.

 

I don't think it's fake. But I sure am gonna be pissed if it turns out it is.

 

Dude. The story was a great thread starter. I think that was his only point. He just saw the hype around the new __20/21 and wanted to make a long thread. As you can see, he succeeded

 

Latitudes are much better than inspirons in quality and everything else. But latitudes don't have glossy/truelife screen. That's is the only reason I went with vostro. BTW you had mentioned latitudes with glossy screen. I don't see any glossy screen option in the latitude customization page.

 

I think someone should write an equally fake story about how when they opened their box an "inspiron 1520 genie" appeared and offered to grant three wishes, and how that person then was able to have his three greatest dreams fulfilled: Meeting george lucas, learning klingon fluently, and getting magic dice that always rolled 20's

 

i think everyone needs to drop this and move on..... if this guy is lying... WHO CARES????

 

This thread is HILARIOUS .... Monday mornings are supposed to be the busiest day at work and yet people have time for threads like this (including me)...

Off to a good Monday, I still can't stop laughing at this story. Maybe HP hired this guy to do negative publicity for the new Vostro!!!!

Over and Out.