5 ms·

I've had problems with every XPS 13 I've owned. I keep buying them only because there aren't many other options. My XPS 13 9350's USB-C port died after a few m

I've had problems with every XPS 13 I've owned. I keep buying them only because there aren't many other options. My XPS 13 9350's USB-C port died after a few months, the battery went bad after about 11 months, and it had graphics glitches. I sent it in for warranty repairs, they sent it back with a note that said "mainboard replaced", but had actually done no work on it: it had the same dusty board as when I sent it in, with the same dead USB-C port. By the time it was returned to me, it was out of warranty. My XPS 13 9370 has terrible wifi and audio drivers that need to be restarted or reinstalled constantly, and it's got its own set of graphics glitches, along with a stuck pixel on the screen.

wslh 8y ago
Similar experience. We have even a 9350 at our company which only crashes when we run geth (the Ethereum node). My 9365 cannot recover the native audio if I don't "gently" disconnect other audio devices like a USB headphone or a bluetooth earphone (when it works). Sadly, I cannot find an alternative form factor notebook. Nowadays, I am amazed by how well my mobile phone works (Android) and sometimes I imagine that it is better to extend Android to the desktop than the reverse. I am saying this with frustration by the way.
Fomite 8y ago
Dell is really frustrating - they seem to have a computer-wise bimodal distribution between "Works Great" and "Utter and Complete Lemon" with nothing in between.
DreamSpinner 8y ago
I recall my now ancient XPS M1330 was known for severe problems with overheating and motherboard failures (I had one replaced) - I also had 2 x HDD failures, and one CardBus slot failure. I knew about this though, so bought the maximum warranty and insurance - which came in handy when I tripped carrying it and smashed the screen. So far I'm very happy with my XPS 15 9650 4K - but I do find that some apps still don't scale properly.
OnlyLys 8y ago
I have an XPS 13 9360 that has had so many issues. I shall list them out: - The WiFi was terrible for a long while until I managed to find a stable driver version from Killer instead of from Dell's website. - There is no way to remove the 'Waves' audio software that comes preinstalled. Even if you just use plain Realtek audio drivers from Realtek's website, Waves will be automatically installed along with the Realtek drivers. I guess Waves is packaged along with Realtek's drivers and will force an install when it detects that the system is a Dell XPS 13. While I don't mind having an extra equalization software, if I plug in a webcam and then remove the webcam, Waves would go into a state where it consistently consumes 30% of CPU as it keeps checking for a missing registry key. It was only fixed months after I got the laptop. - The coil whine is annoying. It's loud enough to hear over mild chatter. And this is coming from someone with some hearing damage. - The touch screen developed this strange white spot in the middle of the screen. I got my screen replaced only to have the second one do the same thing at the very same spot. I suspect it's one of the keyboard keys putting pressure on the screen when the laptop is closed and sandwiched between items within a bag. The replacement screen also has a stuck pixel on it. -------------------- On a separate note, right now I'm trying to convince Dell's customer service in my country to let me exchange my 5 month old U3415W monitor because it has developed small grey spots on one side of the screen. Initially I got told that they cannot do a replacement for those. So I offered to pay to have it repaired only to get told that Dell here doesn't do repairs for monitors, only warranty exchanges. So I'm shit out of luck. I'm trying to reason with them further but it doesn't look like it's going to go anywhere.
- nl 8y ago
  convince Dell's customer service in my country to let me exchange my 5 month old U3415W monitor What country do you live where you don't have consumer protection laws for this kind of thing?
  - OnlyLys 8y ago
    I'm in Malaysia. We do have consumer protection laws, but it's not heavily enforced. Meaning unless a fuss is made, no one is going to bother to follow it. But on a positive note, I've heard that once you make a complaint, the government's consumer protection agency will take action, and they shown many times that they can be fair and are very willing to side against corporations. That said, there's quite some procedure involved and I would have to represent myself (no lawyers allowed) in an informal tribunal. Honestly that sounds intimidating and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort over a monitor. But perhaps that is the reason why Dell has been able to get away with it. However if Dell doesn't help me rectify my issue, I'm sure I'll find the motivation to power through the proceedings. --------- Edit: And this isn't the first country Dell where has been caught with anti consumer practices. See: https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/talking-points/story/one-big-reason-why-you-should-not-buy-dell-monitors-in-india-317972-2016-04-14 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/talking-points/story/on... But what I'm experiencing is slightly worse. They're not just refusing me any form of aftersales service after warranty period, they're refusing me even paid aftersales service during the warranty period.
baybal2 8y ago
>My XPS 13 9350's USB-C port died after a few months, There are very few USB-C port manufacturers that sell on open marker. One big one is notorious for using an alloy with zink (corrosion even in mildly humid climate). My Asus died the same way (short in type-c port caused cascading ldo failure) >I keep buying them only because there aren't many other options That's unfortunate... Indeed, the only real option for a professional oriented ~13 incher other than XPS is Panasonic, which can be twice as expensive. If I can get Chuwi on board with the idea. I might convince their product people to consider making an "XPS killer" for their planned professional market laptop. As I know, the company's decision making is a non-stop tug of war in between excellent engineering team, and company's "money people." So far, the engineering there was surprisingly good for Chinese at pushing back against "can we save $5 per 100 units if we switch to crap plastic?" proposals from beancounters.

wslh 8y ago

Similar experience. We have even a 9350 at our company which only crashes when we run geth (the Ethereum node). My 9365 cannot recover the native audio if I don't "gently" disconnect other audio devices like a USB headphone or a bluetooth earphone (when it works). Sadly, I cannot find an alternative form factor notebook. Nowadays, I am amazed by how well my mobile phone works (Android) and sometimes I imagine that it is better to extend Android to the desktop than the reverse. I am saying this with frustration by the way.

Fomite 8y ago

Dell is really frustrating - they seem to have a computer-wise bimodal distribution between "Works Great" and "Utter and Complete Lemon" with nothing in between.

DreamSpinner 8y ago

I recall my now ancient XPS M1330 was known for severe problems with overheating and motherboard failures (I had one replaced) - I also had 2 x HDD failures, and one CardBus slot failure. I knew about this though, so bought the maximum warranty and insurance - which came in handy when I tripped carrying it and smashed the screen. So far I'm very happy with my XPS 15 9650 4K - but I do find that some apps still don't scale properly.

OnlyLys 8y ago

I have an XPS 13 9360 that has had so many issues. I shall list them out: - The WiFi was terrible for a long while until I managed to find a stable driver version from Killer instead of from Dell's website. - There is no way to remove the 'Waves' audio software that comes preinstalled. Even if you just use plain Realtek audio drivers from Realtek's website, Waves will be automatically installed along with the Realtek drivers. I guess Waves is packaged along with Realtek's drivers and will force an install when it detects that the system is a Dell XPS 13. While I don't mind having an extra equalization software, if I plug in a webcam and then remove the webcam, Waves would go into a state where it consistently consumes 30% of CPU as it keeps checking for a missing registry key. It was only fixed months after I got the laptop. - The coil whine is annoying. It's loud enough to hear over mild chatter. And this is coming from someone with some hearing damage. - The touch screen developed this strange white spot in the middle of the screen. I got my screen replaced only to have the second one do the same thing at the very same spot. I suspect it's one of the keyboard keys putting pressure on the screen when the laptop is closed and sandwiched between items within a bag. The replacement screen also has a stuck pixel on it. -------------------- On a separate note, right now I'm trying to convince Dell's customer service in my country to let me exchange my 5 month old U3415W monitor because it has developed small grey spots on one side of the screen. Initially I got told that they cannot do a replacement for those. So I offered to pay to have it repaired only to get told that Dell here doesn't do repairs for monitors, only warranty exchanges. So I'm shit out of luck. I'm trying to reason with them further but it doesn't look like it's going to go anywhere.

nl 8y ago
convince Dell's customer service in my country to let me exchange my 5 month old U3415W monitor What country do you live where you don't have consumer protection laws for this kind of thing?
- OnlyLys 8y ago
  I'm in Malaysia. We do have consumer protection laws, but it's not heavily enforced. Meaning unless a fuss is made, no one is going to bother to follow it. But on a positive note, I've heard that once you make a complaint, the government's consumer protection agency will take action, and they shown many times that they can be fair and are very willing to side against corporations. That said, there's quite some procedure involved and I would have to represent myself (no lawyers allowed) in an informal tribunal. Honestly that sounds intimidating and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort over a monitor. But perhaps that is the reason why Dell has been able to get away with it. However if Dell doesn't help me rectify my issue, I'm sure I'll find the motivation to power through the proceedings. --------- Edit: And this isn't the first country Dell where has been caught with anti consumer practices. See: https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/talking-points/story/one-big-reason-why-you-should-not-buy-dell-monitors-in-india-317972-2016-04-14 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/talking-points/story/on... But what I'm experiencing is slightly worse. They're not just refusing me any form of aftersales service after warranty period, they're refusing me even paid aftersales service during the warranty period.

baybal2 8y ago

>My XPS 13 9350's USB-C port died after a few months, There are very few USB-C port manufacturers that sell on open marker. One big one is notorious for using an alloy with zink (corrosion even in mildly humid climate). My Asus died the same way (short in type-c port caused cascading ldo failure) >I keep buying them only because there aren't many other options That's unfortunate... Indeed, the only real option for a professional oriented ~13 incher other than XPS is Panasonic, which can be twice as expensive. If I can get Chuwi on board with the idea. I might convince their product people to consider making an "XPS killer" for their planned professional market laptop. As I know, the company's decision making is a non-stop tug of war in between excellent engineering team, and company's "money people." So far, the engineering there was surprisingly good for Chinese at pushing back against "can we save $5 per 100 units if we switch to crap plastic?" proposals from beancounters.