2016 AW 15 entirely dead, power plug sparks/short?

My brand new alienware 15 I've had less then 5 months entirely stopped functioning. I tried the battery unplug/drain, nothing. I realized when I plug in the power plug it shorts out, and kicks off the power adapter. I've done this on 3 different adapters. Absolutely zero lights come on the laptop. There is a burnt smell coming from the charging port. This was an entirely random occurrence, has anyone else encountered this and what could the scope of damage be? I have full 4 year warranty/accidental damage but I really don't want to have a "repaired" $2500 laptop that is not even 6 months old after seeing how ****ty the techs work. Broken clips, etc. What could I have on my hands here?

 

Get it repaired that is what the warranty is for.
I could understand you feeling this way a few weeks after you got it but at this point its been around for a bit.
Make sure they do on site and hover over the tech. If you are tech savy just ask for a part only service and fix it yourself; Thats what I would do.

 

A few week old system and nothing should be breaking period for the price of these systems, quality should reflect, so I disagree. Regardless mine is 5 months old but I've used it a total of 15 hours tops. Shouldn't be this ****ty quality, even if it cost half the price, its had no abuse or daily wear and tear to break. If I sound bitter its because I've already griped with the screen bleed etc amongst other issues and reluctantly kept the laptop, I've had these laptops for years and all I have unfortunately witnessed is a slow downwards spiral in service and quality/ innovation... and everytime a tech gets called out regardless if I hover over him or not 99% of the time they are morons or not trained to even dissassemble the product and break more **** then fix or come out with incorrect part (not always their fault) but it's always just a cluster **** and huge waste of time for all parties involved that I don't ever look forward to. This is first hand experience over a decade or so.

Ive ended up having 3 systems replaced after techs tried to repair them, which is basically why I'm prodding around to see if this is a known issue or if anyone can tell to what extent she is fried. Some times it is less of a hassle for everyone involved if I straight up demand a replacement after the first tech botches the initial repair.

 

You said you had it for 5 months. 5 months is 5 months regardless of how many times you have used it.
The point is there are too many variables in play here. How long did you leave it plugged in. Any power surges? Whats the humidity like. You have physically had it for 5 months.
Had it broken like this a week after your purchase Dell would have just sent you a brand new one. Now since 5 months have passed now its time to use your warranty.

Just curious; What answer are you looking for? If you are that upset you could complain so much that they refund you. Is that what you want?

Or do you want a working system? Aside from opinions of Alienware or any other manfucaturer; All companies that mass produce tech have a decent DOA rate even with nice QC.
Look up reviews on NEWEGG / Amazon for any popular product from ASUS, CISCO, Dell, HP. If you look at the one star ratings for those products you will see tons of failures and DOA(s). It happens, its just the way things are.

To answer your question more direct to the point. No this is not a common issue that one could refer to it as a known issue.

I agree with you about the techs. The depot is worse.
However for situations where I don't feel like replacing the part its nice.
For people that cannot do the work themselves its nice.
Its also much better then shipping your laptop somewhere for several weeks like you would have to do with HP, Clevo, ASUS, ACER, MSI, Razer, etc etc etc.

I have had good experience with Dell resolving issues when I point out blatant wrongs on their part.
i.e. additional warranty time. Refunds a year after purchase because of design flaws the list goes on.
No company is perfect.

 

something weird going on with the forums.. this thread says it has N/A for replies...
My sales threads and some WTB threads missing, and other threads of mine completely disappeared, not all but some.
I can not even start a convo with someone. Functionality seems limited.

Anyone else having issues ?

call DELL up, tell them everything that you do not like about it, convince them you are unsatisfied. Ask for your money back, take no compromise.

 

No problems here...
Tried a different browser / computer?
Tried a different internet connection?

 

Just call Alienware and have a on-site technician come to your house.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk

 

I don't think you quite understand how the world works, so let me explain it to you. EVERYTHING breaks....just because you paid a lot of money for something DOES NOT mean that it will never break or have something fail. If you don't want to deal with it any more then quit buying Alienware. Go buy another brand and have fun dealing with their warranty departments when your toy breaks.

 

When I first received my maxed out Alienware 17R2 it arrived with a dead pixel on the screen. It was brand new. They sent out a tech to replace said screen. He struggled so much to get the laptop open (particularly the left side) where the power cord plugs into the laptop to charge it. After 25 minutes of struggling with it, finally he opened it forcefully and cracked the bottom chassi of the laptop while doing so, exactly where the power plug to charge it is. He replaced the screen successfully, but caused more damage to the laptop bottom chassi. Alienware said I now had to send my laptop in to be serviced because an onsite technician cannot replace the bottom chassi. I was not able to send it in anytime soon as it was working and I rely on it daily for school. After a week my power supply started falling out of the laptop it just wouldn't stay plugged into it. Had to tape it in place because the crack on the chassi the onsite tech made; made the hole too wide now where the power plugs in. It widend and cracked more over time. I sow sparks fly a couple of times while plugging it in.

Long story short, a few months down the road after my semester was over, I sent the laptop in for service. They replaced the bottom chassi and power supply issue, but my laptop came back to me with hardened hot glue all over the top lid!! I was in utter disbelief! There was also a loose part making noise inside the laptop, not sure if it was a screw or a piece of plastic. It made me so nervous to turn it on and test it, but luckily it worked. They replaced my screen for some reason and the one they put in had horrible backlight bleed!! I insisted that they replace the screen with an onsite tech, and for said tech to remove whatever is flying around inside the laptop. After sending them photos they agreed. Tech shows up, removes the piece of plastic that was flying around, replaces the screen, and the 'new' screen had a dead pixel and even worse backlight bleed than the one it was replacing! Just in different locations. I was fed up!

Now, I am waiting on a brand new maxed out 17R3 replacement with the 4K screen hoping to God it just arrives and works properly, with a good screen. Their quality control needs a massive improvement if they want repeat business. Can't stress that enough.

I'd rather have my original purchase work properly than to have to go through all of this. Glad the R2 is finally being replaced with an R3.

 

My 2 month old 17r3 has just died with the same symptoms.

Last month it shut down and wouldnt restart, power plug wasnt shorting out, just wouldnt start. Dell sent a tech who replaced the MB and fixed the problem

2 nights ago, mid game it froze, adapter shorted out and burning smell from computer. Spoke to support and they immediately suggested a replacement system. Im just waiting for them to get back to me with the specs so i can accept it.

 

I've had a couple of friends complain of sparks when they plug in the laptop. So far no damage. I always make sure the AC adapter is plugged into the wall before I connect it to the laptop.

Also, very hot, humid climates can cause issues as well as people near large bodies of seawater. Higher electronic component failure rates.

Cheers,

 

I'm sorry you had to go through that.

They have had a large number of the new Alienware laptops die in the exact same way.

It is pretty clear that the manufacturer released a bad batch of motherboards because they stopped production for 3 weeks due to shortage of motherboards. When I asked the rep responsible for my system exchange if the reason for the shortage was because a number of us have been experiencing the exact same issues, he didn't deny it at all.

The problem has to do with the motherboard and USB plugs.. Something isn't right with how it distributes power to the USB ports. There is static noise coming from the left USB ports, which is even louder if anything is plugged in. They have been aware of this for a while. Fingers crossed the new batch of motherboards that will be released July 4th will finally have all these issues resolved. I have been waiting for my R3 replacement far too long, as have many others who placed brand new orders in the last 3-5 weeks.

 

Where did you get that information from?

I dont hear any static noise from the left usb ports and there both constantly plugged in with something.

The alienwares not powering up is due to a faulty bios.

 

There are a few threads on here about the static noise issue, also a few more on the Alienware Arena forum. Also had their phone tech support guys talk about a number of the same complaints coming through.

Also a few posts about the 17R3 burnt smell and machine not working after. Even a YouTube video someone made about it that I posted on here. This isn't new news by any means. Just lemons doing what they do best.

 

So when an usb device is plugged in you hear a static noise? COming from the USB ports? Now I am intrigued.

 

A shortage of motherboards might explain why my rep was quite evasive about my replacement when i called tonight.

He insists it has 100% been approved, but he has to get it in writing from his manager before the replacement team get in touch with me. I think he is probably just stalling for time rather than admitting there is a supply issue.

 

Brand new 17R3 out of the box had static noise the moment I first started it. The noise happens any time the mouse trackpad is used or the keyboard. The noise also manifests whenever you maximize or minimize an open window. It is coming from the left side very close to where the two USB ports are. I re-installed the OS a number of times, updated all drivers, flashed the latest BIOS in hopes that the noise would go away. Didn't work. I have also noticed that when I plug in a USB device on the left side, the static noise becomes louder. The top left USB port doesn't read data, it keeps connecting and disconnecting very fast whenever data is plugged in, tried different USB drives, same thing and all of them work fine on another machine. The other two USB 3 ports on the 17R3 read data just fine, only the top left does not. Oddly enough, it works fine with a Bluetooth dongle for my mouse, just not data. The replacement should have been here 3 weeks ago, but due to shortage of motherboards I should be receiving it sometime after July 4th, which is when my system exchange rep informed me the motherboards will be back in stock.

 

Some of the static yoi describe sound like coil noise which a lot of pc's have. Especiallya loy of desktops have it. Sounds like some low frequency buzzing.

 

I have owned MANY laptops before (including Alienware) none have had this annoying static sound or anything even close to it.

 

I've got my ear to mine and all I can hear is the mechanical hdd.

Still don't hear anything on plugging or unplugging devices.

Agreed

 

Why would you assume that every one of them would have the static noise/USB issues? A bad batch doesn't mean all.. And if you had the issue you wouldn't need to put your ear near the machine to hear it.. You'd hear it.