How long has your Dell laptop lasted without repair?

I'm concerned about the reliability that Dell laptops offer. So my question is, How long do they last and are you satisfied with them?

 

My Dell Inspiron 8200 still runs fairly well after almost 10 years. Battery lasts a bit over an hour, one key doesn't work, and some of the keys letter are faded, but other than that functioning well enough for my kitchen, especially if I need to look up anything on the fly. Have a corporate Dell Precision M4400 that is a little over 2 years old and it's working flawless and still fast enough for anything I throw at it, though I usually keep it in my office. But my main computer at home is my personal Acer in my sig though, been using it for 3 years now.

 

I have a Dell Vostro 1500 and 1700 and they are tanks. I have abused the 1500 and it's still going strong. Good thing cause i'm not making the switch to a 15.6" screen.

 

We have five E6400s in service right now; the oldest is about 3 years and the newest about 1.5 years. Prior to that we were running a number of 3 to 4 year old D600s. Never actually had any of these break down.

That being said, I've seen a lot of broken Dells, but the only I've ever had one break on was at work: we had one of the Nvidia-based D620s and I had the GPU kick the bucket on me while I was using it.

 

First repair didn't happen till 3 years in, and of course it was on the failed GPU's that Nvidia became famous for. However, 3 replacement GPU's later, it is finally working ok, and it has managed to last quite a few years so yes I'm satisfied.

Be sure to get a warranty period you expect it to last for and then you are covered. First repair for me was 3 years out, but it was covered. 1 year is not enough imo.

 

My Vostro 1500 hasn't really had a hiccup. The original Hitachi 160 GB 5400 rpm started to fail which was quickly replaced by an SSD. It was dropped in a backpack from the top of my car, only cracked some plastic. The Vostro 1500 keyboard also had half a can of Pepsi spilled on it, the original keyboard still works but I replaced it because it was missing like 4 keys.

My Latitude 13 hasn't had any issues.

My D600 has a loose charger port, but now it is on the D series dock permanently so nothing major.

My brother's Inspiron M5030 has been going good, even swapping out a 20 watt Sempron for a 35 watt Phenom dual core. Does run hot.

My dad's Studio 1558 still doing well, though it really isn't used that often.

The Inspiron 6000 had the RAM upgraded, might upgrade the IDE HDD to a modern 5400 rpm to bring it back to life.

I sold my D620/D630 due to paranoia of the Nvidia defects, but if they had the Intel chips I would have kept them.

My mom's E6400 from work has lasted 2+ years. Surprising as when she gets frustrated, she likes hitting the laptop's palmrest and throwing crap at it lol.

 

I bought 2 Dell 8600's over 8 yrs ago, both are still running

My kids have 2 dimension 1100's both 6 yrs old, still running

 

Well I guess I should post my results too since I started it and forgot to

I've had a vostro 1000 for 4 years now and the only problem that I had was the keyboard. I think it was about 2 years in, though.

 

My XPS 1647...nearly a year w/out any problems that required repair...

(I probably just jinxed myself)...

 

^^ lol ya. Given the XPS track record...1 year is good.

Thank goodness I bought the Vostro 1500 for college and not the XPS M1330 (I was considered it). But during the summer of 2007 everything was Vista or wanted extra money for XP, but then launched their Vostro line so I picked up my Vostro 1500.

 

If you take care of it, then you shouldn't have any problem keeping it for a while. I've owned quite a few Dell laptops and I'm happy with their reliability.

 

My personal history with dell laptops (note: all work done by a dell technician if under warranty, and by me if not under warranty) (Also note: I am not a heavy gamer, maybe a couple hours a week)

XPS M170: Purchased around July of 2006.
January 2007:

• Motherboard replaced (headphone jack and power jack issues)
• Video Card Replacement

August 2007

• Motherboard replacement (overheating issues)
• Videocard Replacement (overheating issues)
• Fans Replaced

October 2007

• Laptop replacement with XPS M1710, more overheating issues and dell was out of videocards.

XPS M1710 (replacement from XPS M170) November 2007
September 2008

• LCD Replacement (started having flickering issues)

August 2009

• Overheating issues. Laptop replaced with XPS m1730 because Dell had no stock of video card.

XPS M1730 (replacement from XPS M1710) September 2009
September 2010

• Motherboard replaced (Headphone jack and USB Issues)
• Videocards replaced (overheating issues)

No other Issues with my current laptop.


XPS M1530: Purchased June 2008 for my Fiancee
March 2009

• Motherboard replacement (USB and SD card reader issues)
• New power cord (no longer charged)
• New Keyboard
• New palmrest assembly (touchpad stopped functioning)

Warranty Expired June 2009
February 2010

• Palmrest assembly replaced (Touch pad issues)

April 2011

• Palmrest Assembly replaced (Touch pad issues)
• Keyboard replaced (keys not working)

I'll get into my my family members dell laptops at a later date .

Overall, I would say that I am fairly satisfied with my dell laptops. The service has been top notch. I just wish my XPS laptops lasted longer than they do. I am afraid to do any upgrading because I feel like they are on lease and I'll need to send them back when another issue arises.

 

Oh forgot to mention my Vostro 1500 accidentally fell off my laptop stand and did a 4ft back flip and still no issues.

 

My dell 1520 has performed very well over the years. Its almost 4 years old and the only thing i had to replace was the ac Adapter at about 2 years (power surge or something burnt it out) then right at the 3 year mark my hard drive was failing and had to get it replaced. Other then that it has worked perfectly fine even with the few minor drops it has had over the years.

Going to upgrade to a new one tho because i need more power for games these days.

 

Jeez. Looks like You've had a rough time with the XPS. Did you get the 3 year warranty on your first one?

 

I'm actually still under warranty. Dell allows you to extend the warranty every time you receive a replacement, so I just keep doing that. Got my first xps in 2006, and the warranty is not going to expire until 2013 . I know I'm probably going to get one more replacement because it's only a matter of time before the XPS 1730 is completely end of life. My next replacement I'm selling, and I'm going with an Asus G series gaming laptop.

 

I accidentally stepped on my Vostro 1500 twice last week. Forgot it was in my backpack. Screen wasn't cracked, no signs of any damage.

 

Is the Vostro 1500 similar to the Vostro 1000? Mine is still working , and just a random question, should I consider repasting if my temps are around 59C on idle?

 

Uhh the 1000 came out the same time period as the 1500, but the Vostro 1500 was basically a clone of the Inspiron 1520, (Vostro 1400 and Inspiron 1420, Vostro 1700 and Inspiron 1720). After the 1st gen Vostros, they completely branched off from the Inspiron line (1525 then the Studio line came out)

 

I have a C640 in the house, used by the kids and totally original apart one new battery a couple of years back and a memory upgrade from 512MB to 1.5GB (Spec says max of 512 or 1GB, but I got hold of an engineering sample of a dual stacker 1GB memory module and was stunned when it worked without any problems!). I have not had a single problem with it (and yes it is used daily).

I think I bought it in 2002 but not totally sure. Certainly >8 years old....

P4M 2.2GHz, 1.5GB DDR-1 memory, 1400x1050 screen, 40GB 5400RPM PATA HDD, Intel 2200BG mini PCI WIFI, ATI Radeon Pro graphics, DVD/CD burner and XP Pro w/SP3.
It does run hot but appears to be able to handle it - those old P4M's were real hogs and angry birds is only just about playable, but flash based websites are surprisingly OK still.

When I use it I have mixed feelings about how many real-world gains we have made in computing. Sure, in a new notebook CPU performance is significantly better but in everyday tasks that isn't really an issue, HDD's are a bit quicker (yes SSD's are a lot better but still price prohibitive), graphics a bit better, yes I have WIFI N on my D630, battery life of my Lenovo U150 is superb.

Overall as I said, it is a mixed bag, small incremental improvements as opposed to siesmic gains like I saw in the 1980's.

I still have a computer (BBC Model B) that has a 2MHz 6502 CPU and 32KB of RAM and 16K of ROM. It runs BASIC and still works and I can still program it in assembler - a 64 point integer FFT takes 60 seconds....Oh and it was made in 1983!

 

Dell Latitude D830, 6000 cycles, 15,000 hours, <4 years old:

2 new HDDs, first one Hitachi, second one Fujitsu
New LCD backlight, original Samsung, second = LED retrofit @ 6000/15k hours
2 new batteries

And that's all.

The HDDs were not even made by Dell, nor was the backlight. All of the Dell hardware has been impeccable in its reliability. Dell cannot be blamed for a HDD failure or a backlight failing after exceeding its design life.

The above laptop has been through airport security 300+ times for nearly 400 flights, been operated in extremities of conditions (ie: -40C to +50C). And dropped numerous times on carpet and even twice on tiled floor and concrete tarmac.

 

While i love my studio 14z to death here are some of the issues i had with it:

1. within 2 days, got a replacement at best buy for faulty memory

2. hard drive replacement 2 months in

3. charger replacement 5 months in

4. keyboard replacement 6 months in

5. motherboard replacement 9 months in

yup no problems since, but it was a hectic year especially since i needed it for school

 

Uhh all those problems and Dell didn't ask you for a replacement? And your months in are you referring to the original purchase date or from the previous repair?

 

Bought my XPS 15z on launch day. Then at day 27 of ownership had to have the motherboard replaced....then the LCD screen....then 4 days after that the speakers went out.....Returned it for a refund and bought the MBP in my sig...will not buy another Dell laptop...the tech support and customer service was horrible...no sense of ownership for my problems. They just didn't seem to care at all...

 

I don't know if replacing a keyboard button that I accidentally snapped off counts.

My Dell Inspiron 1525 is still living with its original parts except for the battery. Currently working off its 4th year.

 

My old dell vostro 1500 is still in daily use (it's my bookeeper's now). It's in its 5th trouble free year. Only have had to replace a battery in year 4. The vostro 1500 seems to have been a really durable and reliable unit.

Been using my Acer 3820TG as primary notebook for the last year and it is very reliable as well (and 5 lbs lighter than the vostro 1500).

Bronsky

 

My touchpad has started to go crazy, So i had a word with dell and he just said replace it. Im going to check when i have some freetime then have it done.

 

My Inspiron 1525 is still working. I dropped it once from my desk which made a small crack on the body and one usb port not working. Other than that it works flawlessly without any issues for 3 years. The only problem is that the battery now is less than an hour, but it's not Dell's fault

 

My battery only lasts a few minutes now. Lucky you.

 

Yeah I second the Vostro 1500 reliability, it's a beast.

 

Thirded on the Vostro 1500? I think spilling half a can of Pepsi on the keyboard, dropping off my car, and surviving being stepped on twice qualifies it near ThinkPad toughness.

 

In my family we all have Dells:

Mom: Dell Inspiron 1525. No problems at all, upgraded to a T4300 and WD1600BEKT.

Dad: Dell Vostro 3750. No problems either. Running stock config.

Brother: Dell Inspiron E1505. Around a month ago the screen started turning off, replaced video card and it's running strong.

Sister: Dell Inspiron 6000. I think one memory slot is bad, but it runs Windows 7 like a netbook.

Myself: i6000, i6400, i1501, i1521, i1525, i1545, E1405, SXPS 1647, SXPS 1340, XPS 13, XPS M1710, i5000, i5150, XPS Gen 1, C640, C610, C510, and a few others(I owned these over a period of 2 years, when I was 14-16)

All mine were solid machines.

 

I got my Inspiron 1520 almost 4 years ago! It's been through a lot too.

Only thing I've ever had to replace was the hard drive that got noisy.

I swapped motherboards to upgrade the video card, but never had anything fail on me.

I do have tons of extra parts for it though as I bought a dead one online..

 

I have a dell d820, now i use a clevo, and for what i paid for it, it was a rip off. i got the t7200, a 120gb hdd, 2gb ddr2 ram, and the nvs 120m, it cost me 1600 dollars, and that was after a major dell epp discount. the original cost was $2400. All of the other components were fine except the nvs 120m, that thing burnt out 4 times, and unfortunately it was integrated, even though it says it s dedicated, and the whole mother board had to be replaced every time. the dell service techs who came to my house performed that swap quickly, but one time they forgot to put the thermal paste on my cpu, and when i called back they didn't own up to it. then after 1 year and 2 days my battery completely died. and of course warranty was only one year, so i had to buy a new $175 battery for it. in addition they said the gpu had 512mb of ram, but in reality it was only 256mb, and it shared the rest of the memory. the gpu honestly wasn't able to play any games, not even battlefield 2 on minimum settings and resolution. the gpu could barely play hd videos on youtube, 720p not 1080p

some of things i did like about it was the excelent battery life, and i found a 50 dollar agptek module bay battery which added 2 hours to the battery life. also i never felt like it ran out of ram which was good. and the screen 1920x1200 was excellent for multitasking as well, but useless for gaming. also the case quality was really solid, no flexing whatsoever, and its slim, for a 15.4".

 

so i guess in conclusion not very long as no one else posted after me

 

I have the Inspiron 1545 that I bought in July 2009. So far so good (knock on wood), no issues at all despite the constant travel/commuting. I'm now looking to upgrade it with an XPS 15.

Dell has a lot of models so obviously glitches are to be expected. Generally speaking Dells are pretty good in terms of durability. I have an Dimension 4700 desktop that I just gave my sister. It's over 6 years old and still works well with mostly stock components. The only thing I changed was the hard drive and sound card.

 

I have had my laptop for at least,... 4 years.. and the only item that went out was the gpu. i tried the oven trick and when that failed, i was able to locate one online. it works now!

 

My old Dell Inspiron 8600 from early 2004 is still going strong, and is a sort of multimedia machine for my mom in her office. The keyboard is missing a key, and is slightly bent, and the machine itself is very clearly worn after about 6 years of heavy use by me, but it still runs remarkably well.

My main machine is a D630 I bought secondhand last year; unfortunately, it has the Nvidia defect, but it was still under warranty then and I got the motherboard replaced quite easily after talking to Dell. It's been going pretty strong ever since (over a year now), although I don't know how long that will last. I also have an E6400 thats been wonderful to me, but I don't use it as much so its quite new looking. My mom bought a refurbed E6410 for work earlier this year, and it has been running flawless thus far.

All in all, all the dell laptops I've purchased have lasted quite well, with the exception of the D630. But even then, its because of a faulty graphics chip, so its not Dell's fault, and the machine itself is so wonderful to use I haven't been willing to sell it.

 

My hard drive failed within the first seven months. My battery failed within 12. My GPU heatsink broke away from the motherboard within 18 months. The replacement hard drive failed within a year.

Finally, the death blow was when I dropped it and the backlight wouldn't come on, not even after screen and cable and inverter replacements.

so now, I have a low powered desktop.

 

It's Dells fault you dropped your laptop and it stopped functioning correctly? I think dropping just about laptop will hurt it in some way.

 

No, it's my fault.

But, the question asked how long before it needed repair. My first problem was the faulty hard drive - and it was manufactured by Toshiba, not by Dell.

Furthermore, it still needed repair because I dropped it - regardless of the reason, it needed repair. It was a two foot drop, and the fact that it broke indicates the quality and strength of Dell computers too.

 

Are you serious? You didn't buy a Panasonic Toughbook or a ThinkPad, you expect your non-business grade Dell to survive a drop? Dropping from any distance significantly increases the chance of cracked motherboard, broken internal components, broken screen, hinges, defective drives.

What separates Toughbooks and similar laptops to consumer laptops is an internal roll cage (disperses force through the entire roll cage) so your motherboard doesn't take all the force. Also business grade notebooks use higher quality plastics/metal alloys to ensure it is more durable than a normal consumer laptop. It only takes a little force to cause micro-cracks on your motherboard. There's a reason why normal warranty does NOT cover physical damage, it can be impossible to tell the extent of the damage without replacing all internal components.

Next time, buy a business grade laptop and hopefully you'll have better luck at a higher quality computer.

 

I went ahead about bought the 3 year warranty with my Dell e1505/6400 6 years ago and only used it the first year for a faulty display and also used it to replace a couple of faulty adapters. That was the major expense with the Dell, adapters dying not because they stopped working, but because they became frayed at the point that they connected to the head that connects to the laptop. The power port is on the back and that wouldn't be an issue if it was used on a table, but it was always in my lap. Still, it has no hardware defects after the first year and would still be alive and kicking if I hadn't thought of a brilliant idea a couple of months ago to take it apart and see if a lot of dust had accumulated inside. Nope, not much dust, but I did crack the hinges.

Per the whole dropping thing, I'm not easy on technology and dropped the e1505 several times with no ill effect. It would always fall off the side of the couch to the ground :shakes head: I probably shouldn't admit that.

 

I never dropped my Inspiron 1520, however, when running some program preventing suspend to RAM, I put my closed yet still running notebook into my bag, in mid summer and it didn't complain about it, even though it was too hot to touch and smelled funny. Actually I did this twice.

It runs like 16h a day, and is used for programming, writing and sometimes heavy duty computing. No hick-up whatsoever, that's why I personally will stick with dell.

 

In 5 years I have had to replace the keyboard twice and the palmrest once.

 

I have the 700m that had the speaker wires snap when you open/close the lid enough. I think that took 1 year to happen. I have my XPS 15 (LX502) for 4 months and the power supply died. I was suprised by how fast they ship a new power supply to me. They fedex overnight the part.

 

I have had my E1505 (same as 6400) for over five years with absolutely no problems. My mother bought one just after me and I maintain it and she has had no problems, either. I used a Latitude (D630, I think) for over two years at work and had no problems with it. I even dropped that one and cracked the case but it kept working, just fine.

I have just upgraded my E1505 with a T7200 CPU and a larger hard drive. I am hoping it hangs in there for a few more years.

Walter

p.s. I am typing this on a nearly ten-year old Dell Dimension 8200 desktop that I bought from their outlet center. I have upgraded it over the years and have no complaints.

 

I bought a Dell Latitude D820 in 2006, and 5 years later, it still works great. I'm on my third battery, but I don't think that counts as a repair.

I just got a Dell Precision M6600 less than a month ago, and I'm hoping to get a new screen shortly.

 

Dell LS400 (Bought used) 2004-2008. Worked perfectly throughout despite being used constantly - albeit for relatively light tasks. Those 11 inch non-wide screens are still, for me, the ideal for the kind of work I do. Screen hinge became a little loose, and the keyboard got a little beaten up.

Dell XPSM1330 - with the *dreaded* nvidia card. 2008-present. White lines of death after thirteen months; motherboard replaced on warrant; copper mod done to keep temps down; since then...perfection. Run problem free last two and a half years.

Have recently changed keyboard for vostro black version, and changed to ram drive. Running undemanding version of linux keeps temps down, fan runs rarely. Most impressed that I'm still getting 5-6 hours battery life from the original 9-cell battery. Hope to get another 2 years out of it.

One of the rare happy bunnies with the xps.

 

4 years and 5 months on a dell xps m1710.

All i did was upgrade the gpu to the 7950gtx (i wanted a rig) and i just changed the HDD from 160gb to 500gb for windows 8, but the original parts are still fully functional.