1555 power button problem

hey...my studio 1555 is around 3 weeks old and I already have a problem..the power button turns on only after 3-4 attempts of pressing it...sometimes more...sometimes less....any idea wat i shud do?

 

I'm not sure, but have you tried pressing it once and waiting like 5 seconds? Otherwise it might be broken..

 

well yea i have tried tht...i guess ill have to wait for the customer care with their stupid accents to reply...will running the diagnostics help in any way>?

 

Power the laptop off unplug the power adapter and take the battery out, leave the laptop for an hour then try again.

If that does not solve it give dell a ring, they will go through some diagnostics with you but may well have to change your power switch. I have taken my studio apart a few times and the power switch seems to mate well with the motherboard so I doubt it will have come loose.

Edit - just seen your reply, you could try the diagnostics yourself, press the function and power button at the same time

 

yea i am currently doin tht...so if its a power button prob then wat parts do they normally replace?

 

It would depend if the fault is on the switch (most likely) or motherboard (unlikely).
If you have onsite warranty an engineer would probably try the switch first as it is the easiest and cheapest job and the most likely

 

i am not sure wat the onsite warranty means...i just have the regular standard warranty for a yr...but they say they will send an engineer once they r completely sure they have to replace it...
also i saw in the 1555's service manual tht to remove the power button u need to remove the hinges, display and the front panel...seems like a tedious procedure,,

 

I don't understand why this would have any impact at all?

Call Dell first of all. It's not a problem that has been raised on these boards, so you likely either have a faulty power switch or motherboard. Dell can ask you to run some diagnostics, but I doubt they'd pick up on a faulty power switch to be honest.

EDIT: to find out what warranty you have, take a look on the dell website, go to support (top right) / Warranty status (left hand side) / Type in your service tag (which is on the bottom of your notebook) and it should tell you what service you have. If you do not have something that says next business day or 5 business day or something like that, then you probably just have one that says CAR. This is collect and return, which means an engineer will not fix it on site unless you pay them for it. Dell may offer this for free, but it is not normally the case. Instead you typically have to send it back to Dell to fix.

 

yea the first i did was i called dell...they didnt say wat the problem cud be...they just said tht they'll b sending an engineer over in 2 days...since i was already asking them to resolve a problem i thought I shud include another minor problem...which was the slight "buzzing" sound from the power brick...they told me to flash the bios(though i told them tht i already had the latest ones) and also to go into the F2 setup options to check the serial number of the adapter as well as the battery health info(which I am not able to find)...so the engineers visit has been delayed because of the adapter problem and I havent got a reply since the one and only phone call..

 

and my Warranty status is-- NBD(Next Business day on site), Limited Telephone Technical Support, POW(parts only warranty)...
so this means i dont have to pay the engineer if he comes right?

 

I would say that is correct. The fact that Dell offered to send an engineer told me that you most likely had onsite warranty anyway - they don't tend to offer in the first place if you don't have it.

 

is there any kid of test/thing i can do to help detect the problem with the power button?..or shud i just wait for Dell's response...
they didnt ask me to do any kind of diagnostics which I guess means they r sure about which part to replace??

 

I seriously doubt there are any diagnostics that can be done over the telephone. If it's a problem with the power switch, then the boot diagnostics don't test for that. If it's a problem with the motherboard, again, I'm not sure the boot diagnostics will test the part that is faulty. I think the engineer will come out and it will be trial and error.

 

Fragile, surprising as it is, very often this will cure a low level BIOS/ACPI problems that will remain with a powered shutdown/reboot.

And yes taking the studio apart is a very tedious job. I changed the CPU and had to take the whole thing apart

 

thnks for the info...ill just have to wait till I get a response from Dell...

 

Maybe, but I don't understand why it would change anything.

I mean if the ACPI settings still thought the machine was asleep and you're pressing the power button and it doesn't wake up, sure I guess removing the battery might help; it was the "leave it for an hour" bit which I think is not going to make one shred of difference

 

Dell called up and told me tht they'll be sending an engineer over in a few days...with the a new Adapter and a power button(watevr tht means)..

 

I have had this question in my mind with all the laptops I have had...here in this case its the 1555...how long will the keyboard last?..I am worried because i have to keep this laptop for a minimum of 2 yrs and I have been playing keyboard intensive games(like guitar hero which involves continuous tapping) on it...

I think I posted this in the wrong place..anyways hopefully someone can reply..

 

You'll be able to pick up a new keyboard on eBay for hardly anything if it is damaged after your warranty expires so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

I wasnt talking abt it getting damaged...i meant on general usage..wear and tear kind of stuff...and supposing I extend my warranty for another 2 yrs, will the keyboard be included in it.?
also the backlit keyboard will cost more right..?

 

Wear & tear surely doesn't matter if it still works? Surely it would only need replacing if it was broken?

Dell will cover the keyboard if it is broken within the warranty period. I doubt they would cover it if was not broken - i.e. just some letters were rubbed off or something.

The backlit keyboards do not cost much more.

You could always buy something like a keyboard cover like this:

eBay link

and the price of a new backlit keyboard, just the first one I found on eBay was $30; but that is right now. In a year or so that will be cheaper no doubt, but here is an example listing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-DELL-STUDIO-1555-Laptop-Keyboard-Backlit-Original_W0QQitemZ390076267339QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item5ad25b7b4b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

hmmm..ya true...by wear and tear I actually meant tht supposing few keys work and few dont..
the keyboard cover is nice option but I wont get it here...unless I really search for it..
Backlit keyboards pretty reasonable..
watever it is I dont think I shud be too worried..

 

did you ever get this fixed? I just received my Studio 1745 yesterday, and am suffering the identical problem, right out of the box ... pita

Tapping or holding the power button only powers up the laptop _very_ rarely - not even 1 out of 10 times ... total crapshoot. Add to this that I purchased the laptop as a refurb, which doesn't come with onsite warranty. Sigh.

So, if you have any info on how your problem was resolved, please do lmk - thank you!