Vibration on M11x palm rest?

Anyone else get a vibration on their M11x palm rest? Mine is slight, but while using it when typing my hand goes numb. Anyone else have this problem?

 

Hmm, that's a new one. Any idea where it's coming from? If not the fan the only other moving part is the HDD, which is at your palm area.

 

I noticed it today as well- BEFORE seeing this post. Strange....

 

For me it's more on the left side. It's not like you notice it, like the machine is shaking or anything, just a very slight vibration, but enough to put my hand to sleep. Wonder if its the HDD? Or just the combination of components in general? If this continues, it's a significant issue for me. Can't quite type with a numb hand, lol.

I guess I have until March 17 to return it (21 days) if it really becomes an issue.

 

The only moving parts I could think of would be the HDD or fan. Maybe it is SSD time!

 

Well, if Dell wants to swap my 320GB HDD for a free 256GB SSD I'm game. Otherwise I'm not shelling out $500+ for a storage drive on a $700 laptop.

 

I've noticed it on my 2 m11x's.........Its the hard drive, fan isn't as strong.

 

i dont know what yall are talking about

 

My 2nd m11x does this, not sure why. It is definitely not the fan, I'm guessing the HD is vibrating a bit. Maybe removing / adding it back will make it fit right.

 

I notice this sometimes, but I don't care very much. I'll get a solid state drive for my M11x once the price goes down though.

 

It's definitely the HDD - I had the same minor, slight, yet noticeable vibration on mine before I placed my aftermarket SSD in.

Another reason SSDs rock..

And - you can get pretty good deals on the 100GB range models now for anywhere between 250-300. Yes it's still a bit of a hefty price - but the overall improvement in system responsiveness is WELL worth it IMHO.

 

I swapped mine for the disk in my non vibrating one, vibration gone, so it is the HD - but not every HD. likely a bad one.

 

I bought an Intel 80GB G2 for my desktop real cheap as a system drive. It is nice, but IMHO definitely not worth the hefty price. Things are more responsive, but not 5x the cost responsive.

 

Yeah - it really depends on the person's opinion.... IMHO it's the best possible upgrade that you can make to the M11x over *any* other upgrade - period..

I have a Core i7 desktop rig - and, with the upgrade of the SSD - the M11x holds it's own with regards to overall responsiveness/quickness (heck at times it feels alot faster even)...

Another example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKuiJcZvtow

Though boot times aren't really a benchmark, it's still an interesting indicator that the m11x (at least appears to) boots faster (just slightly) than the M15x - i7920XM sitting next to it with an SSD.... and the m11x boots around 16 seconds faster than the 7200RPM 500gb HDD sitting next to it..

IMHO - if you're entertaining purchasing one of these.. save the $100 from the processor upgrade, and put it towards an SSD upgrade.

 

Hi all

Sorry to wake up an older thread, but I can't find any other discussions of this phenomenon... I got my m11x on Tuesday last week and have noticed, since the first boot, a really powerful vibration (not shaking, but it definitely puts my hands to sleep and really irritates me). I can also hear the HDD ticking, which is something I never heard on my previous laptop. I can't help but think this is going to do real damage to my computer, shortening the life of my CPU and GPU... plus it's nigh unusable.

What do you guys suggest? I have already contacted Dell asking for assistance, but I know they are... hit and miss at best. My other option is just buying a new HDD (I can't really afford a SSD at the moment), and hoping the problem goes away... Does that sound like a reasonable solution? Is the m11x HDD easy to replace, and will I have trouble with Windows 7 minus all the preinstalled stuff (alienware fx etc)?

Any help would be most appreciated...

Cheers

Dan

 

Is it a Seagate HDD? On my desktop, I had clicking and chirping issues, and someone pointed me to a firware update that fixed it. Check out this NBR post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-seagate-momentus-500gb-7200rpm-now-loud.html

 

Thanks, I checked that thread and updated my drivers... The clicking noise seems to be gone so far, and the vibration might be slightly less intense (perhaps a result of the drive not clicking any more).

I wonder if I should just buy a 500gb WD drive.

 

The driver won't install for some reason.. In DOS i get a small message above a borderline stating that it failed to install. Am i missing something?

 

Make sure your hard drive is a Seagate first! They won't necessarily use all same brand drives.

 

Yeah, it's a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm HDD and one which is supported by the drivers. Do you remember having to type anything into DOS to get it working? Is there a probability that the ticking is somehow damaging the HDD? I wouldn't want to suddenly lose all of my stored data.

 

It installs automatically - just mount it in Daemon tools (or equivalent), restart, enter bios, switch boot-to-cd, it does it's work, then restarts...

 

Strange, I've tried once more to boot the disk only to be met with another installation failure. The error message is - Model matched, no firmware match! Will not download!

Is it possible that i've already for a more up to date firmware installed?

 

HD Tune or SeaTools will tell you what firmware your drive has.

 

Hmmm.. I was wondering if firmware is up to date too.

I got the same message on a friendly green screen.

I've downloaded SeaTools and investigated further.

Current firmware I have is D004SDM1 which is what Dells download says it's version is.

Doh!

My Seagate 500GB does vibrate the hand rest ever so slightly.

If typing for ages I can see/feel that your hand could begin to feel numb.

 

Yeah, the numbing sensation is very slight and the ticking can only be heard with ear pressed on to the palm rest.

To those who have successfully installed the update - Is it normal for the HDD to tick quietly but almost constantly when under no stress? Does the palm rest still give off a slight vibration?

 

My new Momentus XT is a vibrating monster and it's not just the left hand side. The vibration i strong enough that it's felt just as strongly on the right.

I can't rest my palms on the rest for more than a few minutes before my hands get numb enough to be uncomfortable. Going to have to return it.

 

The vibration originiates from the right. Something clearly isn't right with yours, haven't you attempted to install the new drivers? There seems to be varying degrees of vibration/ticking with this HDD.

 

Got my replacement 500GB Momentus XT in last night and slapped it in this morning. Still enough vibration that it's not pleasant to rest my hands on the palmrests. Not as bad as the first one, but enough to where I'm probably going to return it for a refund.

There are no firmware updates for the XT. I wonder if it can be an issue with the drive bracket? Perhaps some rubber shims could be used in order to isolate the bracket from the chassis.

 

I could notice some vibration on mine too, specially when i play music with the integrated speakers.

 

I had this problem too with previous laptops...especially with 7200RPM laptop drives.

Get a SSD, you will feel and hear nothing.

They are worth it =)

 

I dont want to open my m11x ... or well at least no atm, I dont feel confortable to open it. Maybe if I get a nice SSD it will be worth to open it ...also I dont know exactly what SSD buy and that fit with the m11x...Any recomendation ?

 

It's actually becoming less noticeable today, so that's promising.