Anyone else having constant issues with the M1330?

I bought a refurb XPS m1330 back in December that was fairly loaded with a c2d, 4gb ram (upgraded), 120gb hd, and the Nvidia graphics card.

Although I felt that I was making the right decision at the time, it's been pretty much a nightmare so far.

After receiving the unit, the touch sensitive buttons NEVER worked so I had to get that replaced.

Next, the left and right mouse buttons stopped working - so I had to deal with ANOTHER service call.

Finally, the XPS insignia on the back of the notebook fell off like it was being held on by a feather. The tech replaced the back panel of my screen, but totally broke off the two hinges on the top left and top right corners of the keyboard. He said he would send me the parts and I could just "pop them in" myself - He also dislogged the button bar on the top of the screen so it's poking out and not flush with the rest of the scren

Software wise: My wifi will cut out from time to time and the only way to restore it is to restart. I'll be browsing the internet and then all of a sudden the wifi indicator will disapper, dropping all connections.

In addition, I have experienced a critical error (BSOD) about once in every 10 uses - which is a complete pain.

At this point, I wrote dell a lengthy email requesting a replacement notebook. I seriously think that this system has to be a lemon - I have never experienced these types of difficulties with a system before and i've built/owned many in my time.

To be honest, I expected better service and quality from dell's end than I received. To sell a customer a system whose buttons aren't functioning from the time you receive it is awful. Coordinating the constant service calls and tech support sessions is becoming a full time job and i'm sick of it. I want to enjoy my $1000 notebook, not constantly be worried about it breaking or ensure that it's repaired properly. I would never own an Apple again, but Dell has a long way to go if they want to offer a competing premium product such as the XPS systems. Their constant repair philosophy instead of doing it right the first time is really wearing on me.

So guys: I ask you - have you experienced any of these problems so far? How has your XPS m1330 been?

 

Mine had the keyboard bulge but I fixed that myself. It's been a great system so far and I'm glad I purchased it

 

I bought my first m1330 system from Best Buy, but the system would get really hot on the surface by the touchpad, the dvd drive sounded like a jet starting, and the fingerprint reader would not work sometimes when I booted the system. While these problems by themselves did not make the laptop a bad choice for me, I thought these problems would make it a lemon which I don't want to deal with Best Buy in the future about so I returned it. They charged me a restocking fee because "newer laptops tend to get hot especially when they are thin", "dvd drives on laptops tend to be loud", and "the fingerprint reader problem is probably due to some software being installed on it".

However, I ordered the same laptop from Dell after that because they've always given me good support and were fair with warranties. The one they sent me had no problems except for a minor dip in elevation around the 4 and 5 keys on the keyboard so far. The problem with heat isn't there, the dvd drive isn't so loud, I've had no problems with the fingerprint reader, and it has worked perfectly otherwise.

 

It sounds like you got a lemon and an inexperienced tech, not a good combination. Call Dell and ask them to take care of you - I'm sure there are other comparably-equipped refurbs that they could swap yours for.

 

Out of curiousity how did you fix this? It is easy for non-experts to do?

 

my optical drive is really loud but other than that its fine

 

bump for more opinions. thanks guys

 

I just ordered an M1330 and this thread is making me nervous.

 

Yes it is quite straight-forward and certainly an "easy fix". Consult your service manual on how to access the area underneath the keyboard. The only tough part with this fix is getting the antenna wires to stay in their groove (which is why so many m1330s have the infamous keyboard bulge).

Good Luck!

 

No kidding, I hear ya!