M1330: Left-hinge gap, who doesn't have it?

I hear ya, "oh nooo, not another one of Traveller's *who doesn't* posts", but I just had an idea regarding this relatively common left hinge gap

So here it is; the reason (read: my theory) for that oversized gap, as well as the slight gap between battery and NB housing on the right side is due to a mistake when they made the plastic mold(s) for the Central Control Cover. If one were able to shift the cover over by what, 1.5mm, you'd get rid of the gaps all together. the reason I mention molds and not screw-hole locations is that I noted the cover almost "snaps" into place (and stays in place) even without screws*.

Furthermore, the fact that the (well... at least my) left hinge-cover is crooked is only because the Central Control Cover is literally pulling on it (the hinge-cover's snaps are more towards the top).

What can I say... a slow day at the office = excuse to cook up conspiracy theories...

*Discovered this when I attempted to improve the cable management of my particular unit...

[edit] P.S. FYI, the speaker-grill cover and control cover is a one-piece item.
Also, Rachuk suggested pics would be helpful, so you can either look at mine here (third row, first col.) or I would even say the pics from this member are even better examples!

 

Hi,

you may not get alot of replies if you're looking for people without the Left-Hinge Gap.

I've just requested a replacement because of this exact problem. (among other things!)

 

Hmm.. I was considering ordering one of these.. today in fact. Perhaps I should wait until they resolve the manufacturing defects. Any idea whether new ones are still shipping with all these gaps? Looking over my MacBook Pro I can't say that I see any defects at all..

 

The loose battery is not normal i don't have that.
That teeth showing i don't have.
I don't have the wear that you describe.
I have a tiny gap where the battery slot in the side but none at the front. What i have i think maybe within spec.
Also, i have a gap slightly on the left hand side and one slightly one ever so slightly on the right hand side but i don't find this an issue. It maybe less than a gap that you have but it could just be the angle of your pictures.
I also think that it maybe within spec.
Here are some pictures i took with my mobile phone so of course the quality is not the best.

 

2mm gap on the left side, maybe 0.8mm on the right. I would put it this way; it's within industry-standard manufacturing tolerences IFF it doesn't cause the adjacent "edge cap" to be pulled out of alignment. So if your unit happens to have one gap slightly wider than the other side - but, there is no influence on the edge cap(s) then I am in agreement with you - it's not a problem, otherwise, it's a not a question of acceptable tolerences.

As for the other items you listed, I'm assuming you've compiled problems from other posts (eg. I didn't mention anything wearing, etc) but if the point you're trying to make is that ymmv, I agree. It's just interesting (if not useful) to know what are issues based on simple, "bad luck" and which issues are associated with manufacturing problems affecting entire runs if not every instance of the component(s) since their inception...

 

There's bigger gap on the left side because of all the wireless antenas are hooked through the left side. Don't worry about it too much.

 

Huh? What does that mean and why would it make the gap bigger on the left side?

 

I have a small gap on the left cover (on top of the power jack).

Not a big issue with me. The Top cover (buttons panel) is putting some tension on the side trim cover.

 

There are 3 atenna (I think) wires in the led panel. I didn't design the sytem myself, but it makes perfect sense to me to route the wire through the hinge especially if it isn't that noticeable.

Sure, Dell would've been able to route the wires through other places, but if they did, I'm pretty sure some people would've said "why are the wires route through there?".

 

It wouldn't. I've taken the control cover off and the wiring is not in the way. The control cover easily clears the cables...

 

Yeah, that's what I'm "complaining" about...

 

the OS considered a manufacturing defect, however.

 

If you have a unit that is out of alignment then no that does not sound normal.
Remember i suggested a replacement or compensation to you when you got your notebook? I don't know how you still feel about that.
As for the wearing i read that in a previous post that you posted yesterday i was just summarising that i don't have this issue and also not some of the other issues that i have read on this board.
What i described i believe maybe within spec.
I also don't have a bump were the power buttons are and i don't believe that to be normal either.

 

lol, the description's just a tad overkill - after all, I'm (we're) only talking about the little plastic "cap" (or cover) on the top left & right-hand corners

Thx for adding the pics in you earlier post; you also have a bigger gap on the left - that's plain as day to see, but unfortunately I can't really tell if the cap is straight or not (but you mentioned elsewhere that yours was straight) leading me to believe that some are a little better than others, but none are perfect...

 

Hmm I have the slightly crooked left cover and loose right corner as well... is there a solution.. does XPS support help? It's not really bothering me.. unless it comes off :S

 

Hello Everyone;

i just got a m1330 with the LED Screen. I have the infamous left hinge gap. Before contacting Dell, i went to best buy ( that now sells them ) and checked out there display units, they have both even hinges.

So with some investigation, 3/4 down from the top of the screen on the left hand side, the "paint" ( silver) is beveled, after calling dell and getting a replacement authorization, i slightly sanded the area in question of the beveled area, and just as i thought "Repaired". So during the production of the screen bezel i am sure some have broken. Who ever re-glues the break does not care that it is out of alignment, i am guessing that the break in the bezel happens during the molding process ( when molds get too old, they tend to break the product due to not being able to cool quickly enough etc.

So lets say the factories makes 50,000 bezels and 10% crack and break;

Averge for a factory is 3- 5% defective rate, so that would put us at 2500 min on 50,000 bezels.

Lets do the math;

Cost to produce the Bezel, 0.15 USD Including Paint.

0.15 x 2500 units = 375 USD


10 % Margins - 750 USD

Total Malaysia Dollars;

375USD= 2625


750 USD = 5250


Labour Cost per month on floor factory worker $130.00 USD Per Month.

So they can pay 2 employees there full wage by saving parts that break;

Seeing there is alot of issues with this, i am guessing this is higher then 10% which is all the more reason to re-glue and try and replace them close to the spec they were designed to meet.

Do i agree with this? No, i suggest stronger implementation on development and moulding costs to ensure higher quality control. Will it happen? ..... Maybe.

The problem is the factory pays 0.15 during production, Wants to sell to dell for 0.30 USD per unit, Dell however wants to pay only 0.18USD As the factory will make money based on volume due to the entire deal of all plastic mouldings.

@0.30 Cents USD they would ensure higher quality as that is factored into there profit line.

However when big North Americian Corperations put pressure on them, they still do not want to say "No" to the deal, money; but they still want to make a profit. So something gives, Cheaper Plastic, Using the moulds as much as they can, even if that means repairing and re-glueing **** to make there profit.

So why does Dell not stand up and demand higher quality.


Well lets say 50,000 get built and sold, and only 2% Complain, and the rest deal with, add 3% for seriously defective units and hardware, oh 5%, which then go back and get reburbished and sold at dell outlets etc.

The bottom line is profit, if more people noticed and did not accept it, dell would have solved it due to lack of profits. However since most buyers have accepted the condition of the notebook and there profit percentage is acceptable, why bother?.

Customer Loyalty you say? Customer Retention? Of course, so they have a 5% complaint ratio but a 14% increase in sales and every year these numbers climb and expand dells business. 5 - 14% = 9% increase over all year to year on quarterly reports, they are well with in there margins, business is a gamble, and those who gamble in business work on percentages, we are only a number and we are in the lower percentile of the buyers.

This sound like bull**** to you? Go read Dells Financial Reports and current stock values and company quartly reports for the last 4 years and then see why they could really care less. If they sorta whine, give them as little as possable, if they really complain in 21 days, solve the problem, after 21 days, take our time, i mean 1,2,3 % sure adds up in profit margins.

So how do we fix it? Those of you who buy the "Well this is a design flaw" This was our plan, blah blah, DO NOT ACCEPT IT, demand the value you paid for, you paid for it, get what you deserve, the more who do this, will lower there profit projection and dell then has no choice to offer better quality to ensure they continue to make there base profits and ensure customers retain.

I paid 2K and i want a 2K notebook, i am not going to fund there 000.5% increase in the second quarter of this year, you can, however i will not.

 

Wow, that's not cool, is it. But just to make things clear, the bezel has nothing to do with the hinge gap issue but I guess your point is really on the general quality of parts Dell uses and I agree with you that the quality and tolerances could be a lot better!

Let's just hope that Dell's Chinese business partners are located no where near Beijing 'cause those factories are about to suffer serious production delays pre & post-Olympics, lol...

 

So XPS tech just yelled at me saying they'd never heard of such a thing as this problem...

Or CPU whine...(which I can workaround by disabling pop-up/down mode)

 

Nice to have found this thread I just posted about this here > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=251992.

Agreed op.