Variety of Precision 5510 issues after three repairs - what should I do (UK)?

Hi all,

This is my first post to this forum, but seeing as you've helped other Dell users in the past, I wonder if you can help me?

I purchased a Precision 5510 back in November from Dell's Outlet store (the model with the Xeon, 16GB RAM and UHD touchscreen). It was problem-free for the first couple of weeks until the laptop started waking up randomly from sleep (found this out when my bag got really warm). Therefore, Dell sent out a technician to replace the motherboard. This didn't fix the problem, so I had a second motherboard replacement, which did fix the problem.

However, after a few weeks, the performance went downhill significantly, with moving windows being really choppy, and a general feeling of slowness (35-40 sec boot times, as well as feeling slower than the desktop it was supposed to replace with an i5-4460 and Intel 530 SSD). I therefore called Dell again and had a third motherboard replacement. However, while the slowness has subsided a little (it becomes slow after a few minutes of use), the touchscreen now doesn't work.

I now have a feeling my laptop is a proverbial "lemon", and thus I really don't want to have another repair. I contacted Dell about the possibility of a replacement or refund around 4 pm on Friday, and they said they would get back to me within 24-48 business hours. I haven't heard anything since however (as of 2 pm the following Tuesday). This is annoying as I use the laptop a lot for school work and the like (virtually every day), and it's a huge pain to be without it (I don't want to use it in case the problems worsen). Should I call Dell today, and if so, what would be the best resolution to ask for?

Sorry for the extremely long post, and I thank you for your help in advance!

 

You might want to first do a little more troubleshooting. Is the BIOS up to date (the latest was issued yesterday) and also the Thunderbolt firmware and driver? Dell doesn't try to make sure replacement boards are up to date before sending them out. You can get all the updates by putting the servive tag into the Dell support site.

Also, which SSD do you have? The NVMe SSDs have had numerous driver problems which are well documented in the XPS forum (the XPS15 9550 is basically the same as the Precision 5510). You need to exclude a corrupted Windows / software installation, ideally by doing a complete reinstallation using Dell's image which you then update with the latest drivers.

John

 

I've updated everything to the latest version using Dell's website and the Command Update utility to no avail. I have the Samsung PM951 SSD, and I have reinstalled Windows very recently (after the mobo replacement using Dell image and clean Windows install) - all to no avail.

I've contacted Dell about this and they have authorised a replacement. I will let you know how this goes.

 

OK. Thanks for the clarification. I had raised the software aspect as it would not be addressed by a mainboard replacement. Perhaps the underlying problem is with another component which wasn't changed. Please update this thread as the saga develops. There are a couple of nicely specificed 5510s in Dell UK Outlet at this moment but neither have the exact specs of your 5510.

John

 

Just been onto live chat, and the answer they gave was the following:

Processing time takes 7 - 10 days. Yes, you will also be receiving specficiation via email once processed.
You will receive the new system within 7 - 10 days. In case there will be some delay, you will be informed.

This seems contradictory to the person I spoke to on the phone, who said that I could ask for the specification soon (if not today), and it would take 3 weeks to arrive. It is frustrating that no one seems to know what is going on with this replacement. Would it be worth phoning again tomorrow?

Many thanks for your help!

 

Contact them as often as you feel necessary. No sense waiting by the phone wondering what is happening only to find out they are waiting for parts or something is backordered.

 

@ygohome I'll probably do that. I actually rang them a second time, and they said it would take 2-3 days for them to give me a configuration so if I don't hear anything by mid-Friday I will call them.

What they said as well as I am entitled to the same configuration as before or a better-specced laptop. If I was able to haggle, would it be worth asking for an XPS 15 (9550/9560) or a Precision 5520? What alternatives within the Dell lineup would you suggest - I will be going to college to study Math/CS, and the heaviest CAD work I do is SketchUp (I bought the 5510 due to it having good enough performance to last for the duration of college)?

 

A complete replacement is good news. Just know it is not really a negotiation but more about Dell honoring the sale when they say "as good or better-specced". You paid money for a product and if it is not working they will replace it with same or better specced laptop. They'd probably agree to move you up to a 5520 if they didn't have any more 5510s matching your specs and if they didn't expect anymore 5510s being built.

I'm not as familiar with the XPS line or your requirements for college. But the 5510 I think should be great once they resolve the issues you are having.

 

Agreed, you paid for a 5510 and you should expect a 5510 as your replacement. If you want something different, you'll have to try for a refund and then buy it. They do not grand much wiggle room for "negotiation" here. If you get something "better" because they don't have an appropriate 5510 available, count yourself lucky.

Last year at my company, we got a 7510 as a replacement for a M4800 because they couldn't fix the fingerprint reader in it and no longer had new M4800s available. The new 7510 came with 32GB of RAM as four 8GB modules --- same configuration that the M4800 had. I suggested to them that I would prefer to get it as two 16GB modules to allow for future upgradeability, and pointed out that the 4x8 and 2x16 configurations were the same cost on their web site, but they wouldn't even grant me that. Can't complain, the 7510 was technically just as good as the M4800. (They did make it clear that I was losing the optical drive and made sure that I was OK with that.)

 

@Aaron44126 - I'd be fine with another 5510 to be honest, as it is a decent laptop and will still serve me well (although it would be nice to get an upgrade). I tried asking for a refund, but in the UK I am more entitled to a replacement if repairs have not worked, as there is a 30-day window upon receipt of the laptop to refund. I in some ways wish that I claimed a refund within 30 days (as the sleep issue occurred two weeks after), but didn't want to go through the hassle of buying a new laptop again.

I still haven't received an email confirming which spec I am to receive (Dell said it would come most likely today or tomorrow at the absolute latest), so it will be interesting to see what I get. Also, Dell said that the laptop will arrive within 10-15 days which leaves me to guess whether it is a new model I will receive or one from Dell Outlet. The reason I'm asking is that the Outlet does not have any models with the same or better specification in stock, so I wonder whether they've reserved me one or whether I'll get a new one (that would be too good to be true, though). Would it be worth calling them today to check progress (I just don't want to annoy the support technicians)?

Many thanks again!