New M1530 With Wobbly Base

Hi all,

This is my first post. I just bought an M1530 after being unable to resist Dell's large promotional discount. The minute I unboxed the machine, I noticed that it doesn't sit flat on my desk (or any other flat surface). The left front footpad doesn't contact the desk. All the pads are there. I've got the 9 cell battery, and I can't determine whether that's the culprit since it has its own footpads. The wobble is more pronounced when the screen is open, but nothing is noticeably out of alignment.

Otherwise, the machine seems fine. I think I've got an LG screen (1440 x 900), and no dead pixels and pretty uniform brightness. Dell is going to send me another machine and I'll see whether it's the battery that's causing the wobble. I've seen a few posts about this problem with the M1330 and I don't know if this is a common issue with the XPS design. Anyway, if it's a warped base, I hope the replacement is better (and the screen is just as good)!

 

If you take out the battery does the base still wobble?

 

Ive heard of others removing the affected rubber and putting two sided tape under it or gluing under it to give it just a bit more height.

 

I tried that. The battery supplies the supporting foot on the right rear, so removing the battery doesn't help me determine if the base is misaligned.

 

The height difference is substantial enough that it would take a lot of tape!

 

You might try giving the chassis a little twist (display open).

 

I'm a Canadian and I'm having the same problem with my new XPS 1530...
What should I do? I really like everything else. I even got a good screen for petes sake.

 

First try a different battery. That'll save the hassle of wipe/return/reinstall.

 

Do you have the nine cell battery or the six cell battery?

 

That's the first thing I'll do when the replacement comes from Dell. I'll swap the batteries. I pulled the battery out of mine and the feet on the battery line up with a straight edge, so I think it's less likely that the battery is the problem. But we'll see. Dell offered to exchange the computer without any fuss.

 

I have the 9 cell battery. This is getting really frustrating.

 

Will the 6 cell battery be a greater improvement? I am noticing how oddly the 9 cell battery is designed.
Should I return my 1530?
I'm planning on calling dell to complain. If they don't offer me some kind of financial compensation I'm returning it. I didn't pay 1800 for the base to be wobbly.

 

I don't think the 9 cell battery is necessarily the problem. Lots of people have ordered this computer with the 9 cell battery and haven't complained about it being wobbly. I think the problem may be in the assembly of the base. It's possible that some screws were torqued too tightly so that the chassis is slightly warped. This is just speculation on my part for now. I'll know more when my replacement computer arrives from Dell.

 

I think your suggestion may have fixed the problem. I placed the computer on the edge of my desk at a 45 degree angle with only the left rear and the right front contacting the desk (i.e., the computer was rotated about 45 degrees counterclockwise so the front wasn't parallel to the front of the desk). I pressed down on the left front (which was previously not contacting the desk) and the right rear. It didn't take much force, but after I tried this, the computer sits flat on the desk! I'll see if it reverts back after using it for awhile, but so far so good. I guess this doesn't say much for the rigidity of the chassis! If you try this, make sure you open the display first.

 

I actually noticed something of the sort with my Vostro some time ago, although it was barely noticeable. I held down the edge opposite the afflicted edge, and pushed down on the afflicted edge. It seemed to fix it completely.