I have HAD IT with this Studio 1535

I have just about had it with all the issues piling on top of each other with this Studio 1535, which has not worked 100% properly since the day I opened its box in September, and I've also had it with the bullsh!t I've been dealing with from Dell support and service personnel. For several weeks now they've been telling me they can't replace my DVD drive or motherboard, which this thing desperately needs, because it's "a software issue that Dell cannot do anything about".

I should not have to pay hundreds of dollars extra for support people that a) speak proper English, and b) have a f!cking clue what they're talking about!

The first chance I get tomorrow, I am calling Dell customer support, and I am not going to hang up or stop calling back until I get them to replace my DVD drive or motherboard, preferably both. I just re-installed Windows Vista again last night, and on the very first boot, my eject button and the Fn+F10 shortcut both refused to eject my DVD drive, and of course, there is no firmware update for my Optiarc DVD drive, whether from Dell or from Sony themselves.

And to top it all off, I've had no less than 4 Blue Screens of Death just today, after installing all of the official Dell drivers from their site. Just to double-check it's not a hardware issue, I changed my RAM modules back to the original no-name Dell sticks, and even put my old T5750 back in, and it didn't change a thing.

I swear to god, if Dell tells me one more time that they can't replace this sh!t under warranty, some f!cking heads are going to fly tomorrow.

Sorry if this post seems like an unnecessary rant, but I really have to get this off of my chest. And you guys are the only people on the Internet I know will understand.

 

Wooooo! Adrenaline rush!

I really hope they decide to replace your drive and or mobo. All this eject button and media control button crap is getting really old, (I'm sure it has been old for most of you.) Dell needs to realize that there is a problem and assess it accordingly. Releasing the Studio 1555 does not solve the problem for THOSE WHO STILL HAVE THE STUDIO 1535, 1536, AND 1537!!

Given that your system is still under warranty they should definitely replace the defective parts. It can't possibly be a software issue after all you have done. Of course, they won't understand that because they can hardly read.
I hope you get your parts. Good luck from California.

 

Words of wisdom, my friend.

If you want to argue semantics, it doesn't really fix anything, whether or not you have a previous Studio 15 model. Noticing that their current touch panel design just doesn't work is one thing, and a good start in the right direction, but that direction is not abandoning the whole concept and slapping everything on the F-keys.

It's all I'm hoping for.

And thanks, from the other side of the country.

 

Hey, it's ok....we all understand..and have seen all the prob's you have been having...

Call first thing tomorrow...have your called escalated to a Resolution Specialist..and you know what to do if that doesn't work...The Unresolved Issues form

I know your at your wit's end right now...but, when you call tomorrow..try and remain calm...and be firm..but polite to whomever you have on the other end of the phone. (I know complete *ack* on that)

But, that may help get you thru to the *Gatekeeper* (Rep) per se, and to the Resolution Specialist, a lot quicker

Also...be sure to get everything documented..Case Numbers, contact information.

Good luck to you!

Cin

 

Mastershroom, good luck, man.. your informative and hopeful posts regarding your Studio 15 definitely helped me look into getting a Dell Studio 15.. sadly, your informative posts also helped me to realize that the touch-sensitive button issue wasnt going to go away..

Based on all the helpful posts from you, and other members of this forum, I decided to give up on the Studio 1537 (I was still within my 21 day return period) and take advantage of the 15% off Outlet coupon last week.

Comparing the Studio 15 to the XPS 16, I still think the Studio 15 is a great value and looks great.. but following the eject button issue on the Dell Forums shows that its been an issue since last August.. so to me, it didnt seem like it was ever going to go away. (strangely, after I got my return authorization for my 1537, the eject button issue has not re-appeared)

Again, good luck and I hope you get it all sorted out.

 

I'll be sure to remember that. I don't usually write down any case numbers or contact info.

I do keep my head on my shoulders when dealing with these people, though. Losing it mid-conversation doesn't really get either of us anywhere.

And thanks!

Haha, that's just how hard I'm gonna hit 'em. The head will be severed from the neck and projectiled from the force.

 

Im tired of new laptops. Im going to stick to this good old reliable zd8000. Its pretty weak pentium 4 2.8ghz ( not even 64 bit ) and a radeon x600 but hey it dosent give me problems and its ran for this long.

 

Hah, I'm glad I could help.

Yeah, the Studio XPS 16 doesn't really offer too much more than the Studio 15 other than better graphics, an inch of screen, and DDR3, which really doesn't justify costing twice as much.

Thanks!

Slightly dated hardware, sure, but hey - it works, and that's what matters. My uncle has an ancient IBM Thinkpad that's still ticking along as well as it was the day it was bought.

Once again, thanks for the support and advice, all of you!

 

Yeah, you got a good *head on your shoulders* per se....so I think you will do fine...Now...if they can just keep their own heads on their shoulders!

The Case Numbers are always good to get, and in fact...each time you call with a problem that you are having, the rep is supposed to give you one verbally, or e-mail one to you with their contact information. The Case Number is documentation of what the call/conversation entailed regarding your issue on your lappy!

Cin

 

I see. Usually when I talk to support, it's via the online chat instead of the phone, and that automatically sends me an email containing a log of the chat. Similar concept, I s'pose.

 

Yeah, it's pretty similar! The Case Number is supposed follow you until the *conclusion* of your existing issue!

Cin

 

Duly noted. I'll keep a notepad and some carbons handy.

 

You better have more than that!
Or, just make it easy on yourself, and have a scanner right there.

That way...you wont need the notepad or carbons..
Unless, you want to do it *old school*!

Awww, I'm just playing!
Maybe, depends on my mood! hee hee
Cin.

 

Funny thing is, I have a scanner/printer, but no physical space in my room to put it. >_<

 

Wow, that sucks, I would have thrown it out the window by now-It's totally unacceptable that you must fight tooth and nail over this....

Like Cin mentioned, make sure you document everything, your chat's should also have a case number so you might want to dig those out as well.

Also, like she mentioned, try escalating to unresolved issues either online ( https://support.dell.com/support/to...ellcare/en/outstanding_issues?c=us&l=en&s=gen ) or by phone. If and only if doing that gets you no results, your next step is to try this, a little friend known as the EECB : http://consumerist.com/259713/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb

Ways to get the address format:

http://consumerist.com/5135832/executivebomb-makes-finding-executive-contact-info-easy

http://consumerist.com/5132426/verify+email-checks-if-email-addresses-work

http://consumerist.com/365494/use-wildcards-in-google-to-uncover-company-email-address-formats

http://consumerist.com/321353/email-addresses-for-19-dell-executives

I know it sounds far fetched but it does work and many success stories are on Consumerist. Keep in mind the following:

Make it succinct and to the point-people don't have time to read a long, angry rant.

Keep your emotions in check (e.g. don't swear, etc.)


Good Luck, keep us posted

Ricky

 

I will certainly keep that in mind, booboo. Hopefully it won't have to escalate that far, though.

If I had any more rep to give in this 24 hours, I'd give you some. You'll get it later.

 

don,t be surprised to see acer pass dell on the #2 spot this year...they allmost did it on the first quarter,,,just one tenth point from being #2.

the outsourcing really sucks,,,the things our government does ,,,its like they stab americans in the back....corporate and stockholder greed. our country is going down because of actions by our government...we out to revolt, and take our country back .

 

If Dell Escalation Department/Unresolved Issues Department don't work. You can also try the BBB. I did that and they quickly swapped laptops after realizing the issues and troubleshooting steps I went through. Unfortunately, swapped laptop has the same problem.

Anyways, give BBB a try if all else fails. PM me if you need specific help.
Good luck.

 

I'll keep the BBB in mind as well. Do you know which BBB branch Dell is a member of?

 

I think it's the Austin, TX one. That was the one I sent my complaint to anyways. Dell responded within 2 weeks.

 

I don't have time to read the whole thing
but when question comes to ejection or DVD problem, Dell Bulgaria knows his stuff and replace it only with one call ( I don't have ejection problem till now, but I know many cases and Dell don't have clue)
Mastershroom seems to be nice guy, so I hope Dell will make him happy costumer.

 

Haha, thanks. And I know it's quite a wall of text, I don't blame ya for not reading it all.

Maybe I'll have to try mailing to Bulgaria.

 

ive only had my 1537* a few weeks. What kinda problems do i have to look forward to?

 

Hopefully nothing as bad as mine; I suspect a faulty motherboard or DVD drive is the root of my problems.

The most common common complaints are the sticky eject button on startup, which is more of an annoyance than a problem, and can be worked around by discharging your capacitors regularly.

Another grievance is the low volume and poor quality of the speakers. You can fix the volume by deleting the IDT audio drivers that Dell provides and letting Vista install its own drivers. Unfortunately, not much can be done about the speakers, themselves, but I mainly use this thing with headphones or my Logitech Z-2300's, which more than makes up for it.

Other than the eject button and audio, there's really nothing more to say. The Studio 15 is a pretty well-built machine, if slightly flexible due to the primarily plastic construction. If you can live with the eject button and you have decent headphones (or don't care about sound quality), then you'll be happy.

 

In case you have not read somewhere else already, to avoid your eject button staying on when booting up from shut down/hibernation, do the following:
1. Take out the battery
2. Open the the laptop lid
3. Press and hold the power button for 30+ seconds. This (according to Dell) discharges the capacitors in the system, thus preventing residual charge/voltage from making the eject button stick.
->To me, this suggests that the buttons/the cable are not properly shielded or grounded, as a stray charge is building up in them.<-
4. Close laptop lid
5. Insert battery
6. Power on

I do this everytime I do a cold boot, or are coming out of hibernation, my eject button does not stick. Note that you do not want to do this if your laptop is only in sleep mode, as the battery is required to maintain your session that is saved in RAM.

Good luck with everything!

 

You could enable hybrid sleep mode, which saves your current state to the hard drive, not just RAM, so it will basically hibernate in the event of total power cutoff. Slightly slower than standard sleep, but I always use it when I'm away from AC power for a while.

 

I feel for ya man...that truely sucks.
Dell's customer service leaves much to be desired at times...very inconsistant.
All my possible solutions to your problem would probably be considered slightly illegal & immoral so I won't say anything here .
BTW, did you ever get the Facial Recognition software working?!?

 

Ive noticed the eject button problem(i think). When i boot up it makes a sound like its trying to eject the CD over and over until it randomly stops. This is extremely annoying when you are in a quiet class room.

Also what does using windows drivers over dell drivers do for the speakers? Ive noticed they are a little quiet for my taste, even compared to my 5 year old laptop.

 

Honestly, I haven't tried reinstalling the VeriFace software since the original install didn't work. I'll try again sometime soon, when I have some time.

Yeah, it's pretty distracting in quiet environments.

Try this the next time you're about to turn your laptop on: Unplug it and remove the battery, open it and hold the power button like you normally would when you turn it on, and hold the power button for 30 seconds or so. This discharges the capacitors, which seems to be the root of the problem. Pop the battery back in and/or plug in the AC adapter, and power on. It shouldn't stick, at least not for that particular session.

The Vista drivers make the speakers significantly louder and clearer. You'll lose the functionality of the center headphone jack, but unless you have two audio devices plugged in simultaneously very often, then it's not much of a loss.

Anyway, I had a chat with Dell today. I told them my issues, and after the initial standard procedures (told the TSR I was speaking with that I already have the latest BIOS and fresh install of Windows), he says he'll send me another replacement media panel.

>_<

I asked why that was, since I had already had the panel replaced, and the rep ended up redirecting the chat to his supervisor. Interestingly, the supervisor seemed to have a less firm grasp on the English language, although he did seem to know what he was talking about, more so than the original rep. I assume his English was just faulty because he was actually conveying his own thoughts and opinions, rather than reading from his manual, which I give him credit for.

Anyway, this supervisor explained that it was likely that I received a faulty replacement media panel, which was not uncommon in March when I received it. He felt that a brand new media panel would solve the non-functioning eject issue, and that I should call him back at his direct number if the new panel doesn't fix it.

So, I figure I'll trust this supervisor for now. I've got a fresh media panel and cable on the way, and hopefully he's right and it actually does work properly.

Once again, thank you all for your advice and support (and thanks to Dell for not making me resort to Unresolved Issues...yet! ). Still waiting for my rep to recharge for this 24 hours for all of you who haven't gotten it yet.

 

It's good to hear that they agreed to send you something at all. Lets hope the "built in March" BS is actually the problem.

 

I can only hope so.

Either way, it was nice of the supervisor to give me his personal contact info, so I can get back to him directly if this fails.

 

oh ya! im having some problems with my touch panel. most of the time when i start up. i cant use any of the keys. Most noteable the mute and volume up and down(cause i always forget to mute before class)

 

That's a slightly different issue, and that happens while your eject button is stuck. Once the eject button stops, you should be able to use all the touch sensitive buttons normally.

 

Good news....

I hope, and trust that it all works out for you, this final time.



Cin

 

Agreed, this is good news. Glad to hear you got somewhere this time. Hopefully, you won't have any trouble with the new media control panel. (although, IMO, having to discharge a laptop's capicitors upon every startup is absolutely unacceptable )

 

I agree, discharging before every cold boot is something of a nuisance, but I've grown to accept it as an inevitability on the Studio 15. The eject button not functioning at all, though, is something I intend to fix, as it seems that the majority don't have this issue, so it's something fixable.

 

Good idea, that would work too.
I actually have this feature enabled, but only for when my 1537 is on battery. I'd rather have a quick resume if I'm on A/C power

 

That's what I do too...hybrid sleep on battery, normal sleep on AC.

 

Good to hear Mastershroom, I really hope It will not only fix your not working eject problems but the sticky glitch as well.

I wish Hungary had official Dell customer support. They don't even have a phone number here. All I have is a service phone number. I was already calling them with the sticky issue, and after I told them my story, they were like "Wut!?!??".. Best they could suggest me to send my notebook to them, and they will try to repair it. They couldn't even tell me if they can fix this glitch for sure or not, I'm working with my computer all day, it's simply just impossible to leave it for 1-2 month (they said it can take that long), and its not even sure it will work..

 

Let us know when you get the new panel, shroom, and if it actually fixes anything or not. We're all waiting for some good news for you (and the rest of us as well)...

Best of luck...
--Eric

 

Hah, I'm waiting for good news as well. The part should be here today or tomorrow. That's actually one good thing I have to say about Dell support...if I ever need a replacement part or even software disks, they always ship it overnight. Last time I had some replacement disks ordered at around 9PM, and they were in my mailbox the following day, not even 24 hours later.

adrianu: Have you tried using the online chat?

 

Pretty impressive. At least you won't have to wait long to know...

Thx
Eric

 

Used it before I bought the computer itself, but they couldn't help much. I used the US chat, they said things are totally different here, in Hungary. Since then I didn't even try because I can hardly see any reports on working panel after repair.

 

UPDATE

So, FedEx dropped off my replacement media panel today. Upon unboxing it, I immediately noticed that it was almost certainly a refurbished part. The stickers on the underside of the panel looked old, and some had greasy stains. Not to mention the manufacturing date was even older than the one on my previous replacement panel. :/

So, I figured, what the hell. If it works, it works. The top side wasn't too badly scratched, although there was a noticeable dent.

I plugged in the new ribbon cable to the motherboard and the new panel, and reassembled everything. I powered on and booted into Windows. No eject button sticking so far, but I imagine that it's pretty well discharged, being fresh out of the box.

So, Windows starts up and things appear to be going normal. The buttons all light up when I press them, and the eject button actually ejects the DVD slot. The WiFi lamp appears to be dying; it's about half as bright as the Bluetooth lamp and the button lamps. But since it seems to be working properly, I'll overlook that.

Of course, 5 minutes later, the eject button stops functioning, and has not worked again since then, an hour later.

So, I think it's pretty safe to assume that this has nothing to do with the media panel itself, nor the ribbon cable that connects it to the motherboard, as the issue has been consistently present with three different media panels and three different ribbon cables.

Time to get Dell support back on the line... >_<

 

Ouch. That really stinks. I guess we can assume it's either the DVD drive or its firmware?

 

How lame that they sent you a refurbished one, after the person you spoke with specified that ones produced after XX date were the better ones. It really does seem that Dell's right arm has no clue what its left arm is doing. Its a shame that consumer support is just so bad, when it sounds like business support is just so good. *shakes head*

Keep up the fight, shroom!
--Eric

 

What warranty do you have through Dell?
Get the highest one next time, they replace anything and everything. All you need to say is that its broken.
The 1535 seemed like a well made system when I built one for a friend. The only problem I saw was that the optical drive should have a metal panel underneath it. Any pressure on the bottom of the optical drive causes these problems on slot loading drives. It happens across the boards, regardless of the manufacturer of the slot loading drive.
On my D900K, i had the problem all of the time. I noticed when I pick it up, the weight would force the bottom of the optical drive to bend in. I installed a 1/16" thick metal sheet underneath, and it no longer flexes. I no longer have any problems with the drive.

K-TRON

 

Technically, the rep I spoke with never specified any particular good or bad ranges of dates for these panels, but I do agree it's a bit odd that the one they send me is even older than the last replacement, and looks way more heavily used.

I have the standard 1-year warranty. I couldn't justify spending over $100 extra on better or longer support.

That's interesting about the bottom of the optical drive. I've never disassembled this thing that far (to get to the optical drive you have to take off the entire palmrest among other things), but if things persist I may have to look at it.

 

That is interesting indeed. When I replaced my motherboard I did notice that the DVD drive only has one screw holding it in place. The SATA bracket acts as the second supporting item. It has a lot of room to flex, but I never thought it could lead to ejecting problems. As you can see in this diagram, the whole left side of the drive has room to flex.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/1535/en/SM/optical.htm#wp1179928