XPS M1210 - Fading wrist rests.

hey all, im just a bit concerned because the wrist rests (around the touch pad) have faded DRASTICALLY over the past 6 months. im just wondering if i could probably get it replaced or get a new one somehow because it looks really ugly.

is this something a lot of people have noticed on their laptops? my friend has his m1210 for under 2 months and he is already seeing some huge fading...

 

It's what happens when you rest your hands on the computer for months and months. Sweat and dirt make the palmrests fade. Best way to get rid of it is to either replace them or take them out and repaint them yourself.

It happens to all laptops, except maybe like thinkpads.

 

hmm thanks for the idea of painting it, that didn't even occure to me. i think maybe painting just the wrist rest part matte black would be kinda cool...it would match with the shell cover of the laptop.

 

Easily replacable, but will void your warranty.
http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=3308&prevaction=category&previd=143&prevstart=0

Painting is also a good idea.

 

Why does replacing the palmrest void your warranty? How would they even know you changed it? Do manufacturers actually check every single component in the notebook before doing any warranty work to make sure the user didn't change anything?

 

I would not say the palm rest is easy to replace on the M1210. When I got my 1210 from the Outlet it had a scratch on the palm rest so dell replaced it for me. The technician had to take the entire laptop apart to get the palm rest off. I would not want to do this myself.

 

Well yes, you pretty much have to take the laptop apart to get the palmrest off. When I said easy, I mean that people who are technically inclined and are comfortable working with computers shouldn't have any problems at all, since Dell puts detailed step by step instructions on their website. The first time I took apart my laptop to apply AS5 to the GPU, it only took me about 1.5 hours, and that involved removing pretty much everything, including the palmrest on my e1705, and I had never taken apart a laptop before. Dell's service manual makes it easier than most, that's all.

 

damn...looks like it will be a big job to do it.

 

Fading wrist rests are unfortunately. Here is the assembly guide for the 1210's palmrest from the service manual. http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1210/en/SM/palmrest.htm#wp1000139

 

this happens to all laptop and it is unavoidable.

 

Well not really...just do not touch your laptop and use an external keyboard 24/7

 

which actually defeats the sole purpose of a laptop which is portability

 

Ive seen the fading on a lot of silver notebooks, but surely this doesn't affect black notebooks?

 

Just Put some cool stickers on it.....

 

the fading is most prominent in the silver notebooks due to the colour changes which are quite dramatic
it does take place in black otebooks too but is not that prominent
it also comes down to how well you take care of you laptop but mostly is unavoidable sue to the sweat and dirt o your hands aas mentioned above

 

They should cover the wrist area with a thin layer of silicone, like that spatulas are made of, which would act as padding for the top of the screen and silicone does not react to other "chemicals", especially sweat and heat.

 

yes black does it too, they get a shiny look and feel to them...

 

this happens to most laptops... my suitemate has a macbook that has wrist rests that are slowly fading black and my dell is losing silver on the left side.