Strange problem with my E6400

I received my E6400 yesterday, about a week earlier than the estimated ship date (yay!).

I open the packaging, take out the notebook, and set it on my desk. I'm surprised to see that it is unstable and rocks around, much like most chairs in a high school or college! I quickly guess that it must be missing one of those rubber feet on the bottom, but as I turn it over, I realize that the bottom plate hasn't been inserted and fastened correctly. Here is a picture of how it looked:



I was a little annoyed, but fixing it was simply a matter of opening a screw and sliding the panel out and back in properly, which I proceeded to do. I thought this would naturally solve the instability problem, but it turns out I was wrong. Flipping the notebook back over, I saw that my original problem was still there. I realized what's causing was the little protrusion in the center of the bottom panel, between the grills next to the screw. Here's a picture of the culprit:



Thinking that I have deformed part, I call customer service, and after a lot of explaining, they agree to send me a replacement bottom panel (it should be delivered tuesday). Then I remembered John's review, and I checked to see if his picture of the underneath of the notebook showed any difference from mine. Turns out his looks exactly the same, so now I'm simply confused about what the problem might be. Seems like the replacement part is not going to solve anything. I'm wondering if I should just file off that protrusion!

Here's a picture that should help clarify what I'm dealing with:



Notice the gap between the rubber foot and the desk surface? (Sorry about the quality of the images, I had to take them with my old camera phone.) It's actually about 3 millimeters, making it impossible to type on without continually rocking the thing back and forth.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

The chassis itself is somehow bent. I've seen it happen before, with other notebooks.

I suggest you return it. Do not exchange it. Just return it, and reorder.

 

Can I ask why you're recommending to not exchange it? Won't they send a brand new one in any case??

 

As I mentioned in this thread...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3947056&postcount=25

 

I know that complaints on forums might not be representative of Dell's quality control, but it is rather unnerving. It makes me want to just stick with my current laptop instead of trying to exchange or return it. Btw, the little protrusion did not cause any balance problems for me. The little rubber nubs should have been thick enough to counter that protursion. I think the whole bottom of your laptop is somehow bent.

 

I did some more experiments and measurements and the whole base does in fact seem to be slightly bent. I just requested a return and ordered a new one.

 

I'm using a glass-topped table at the moment and I can see that the small protrusion in the bottom cover is slightly clear of the surface. Maybe 1/16" clearance.

I would hope that testing for wobble on a flat table would be the last step in the production line, but it's evidently not.

John

 

My notebook's bottom "protrusion" does not clear the table. It acts as a 5th foot, my notebook isn't wobbly, but the paint has already come off.

 

wow, I would not have expected such faulty notebooks coming from the new & more "DURABLE" Latitude series. Now I'm having second thoughts on buying the E4300

 

To be fair...most of these aren't common cases. The vast majority of laptops are fine.

Most of the time, people post because they have a complaint. So it isn't necessarily representative of the entire group.