Problems with Dell Studios and Inspirons?

I was just about to buy a Dell Studio 15 at Staples here in Canada ($699 for T5800, 4GB, 250GB HDD) when the salesman strongly recommended against it. He said that they have had 7 Dell laptops returned in the last 40 days and that none of them were booting up. He also said Dell wouldn't take them back so Staples was at a loss.

Are the newer Dells problematic? Or perhaps just the off-the-shelf models?

BTW he doesn't work on commission.

 

well....i can't speak for off the shelf users....but my studio seems to have been working fine...except for a few driver glitches which occured thanks to a full reformat......

 

I'm definitely the kind of guy that will reformat if things seem to get slow and annoying. I like a clean start every once in a while. Is that a red flag for prospective Dell users?

 

Just use the recovery partition on your hard drive........you can reformat, but it'll keep the stock dell crapware. Not that there's that much to begin with anyway....

 

Katner, I can't speak for the Studios, but I have an Inspiron 1420 and can point out some issues that I have come across myself or read about here on the forum. "buyer bewares":
1. Grainy or excessively sparkly screen
2. Defective Nvidia GPU
3. Problems with some HDD (I lost one on month 2)
4. Crackling audio (a problem with WiFi interfering with audio - somewhat correctable with current drivers and / or purchasing WiFi card that allows you to shut off certain bands)

As far as I know, some of these issues extend to the 15 inch models also. I have personally experienced all three issues, and given my regular good luck with computers, consider them all higher risk possibilities. Some people may not agree with me, but while I otherwise really like this computer, I am questioning its quality enough to know that I will be switching brands for the next one!

 

I bought a Studio 17 and an Inspiron 1525 last month and both have been fine for me. I know of a few people that said Dells were no good but I ignored them as I've worked with them before and prefered their build quality.
If Staples are having so many issues then perhaps the problem is Staples. Personally I bought mine direct and didn't even consider buying them from somewhere else.

 

My Studio 17 is working perfectly, I've had it for a few months now, and have not had a single problem as far as it's functionality. I personally would have liked to have a good solid plastic glossy top rather than the rubberized coating, but thats just minor cosmetics. No flex in my keyboard either and its backlit which is really nice in dim lighting or at night, and the WLED display is so crisp and bright I have to keep it turned all the way down on the number 3 setting, ( it goes to 16)..
The Studio 17 runs so cool you dont even realize its on, compared to other laptops that need to have a cooler put under them or they toast your lap.


This is my first Dell, and my first laptop, but I've been building my own desktops of many years, so Im not new to computing. But overall I'm pleased with this Dell. I looked at HP, Acer, and Gateway, and they all have their good points and bad, but I thought I'd try the Dell, and so far its been very good.