Dell Inspiron 1720 problem

[tinks79]

Hi all,

 

Bought a dell inspiron 1720 from pcworld 14th august this year and have had 3 problems with it already.

 

After 3 weeks, whenever i started it up i got 7 beeps and was then sent to the boot page to chose which os i wanted to boot uo with, i only have vista on it!.... a friend fixed this this, but i rang dell to make them aware of the issue, they told me they would not do anything about it seeing as i had the problem fixed.

 

Then this week, about 7 weeks after buying it, i am now getting either 8 beeps or 10 beep when i power it up and then being sent to the boot page to chose which os to start with.

 

The laoptop also has problems responding to me using the left mouse button which has only started yesterday, it seems to be one thing after another with it now!

 

I find these problems hard ot take with a brand new laptop, and will be taking it back to pcworld this week as i need a working pc so i can study for my masters at university.... what would be a realistic outcome from this?

 

I bought it on a debit card and still have the receipt, can i request a refund so i can buy a laptop from a different company? or shall i allow them to repair the problems first? Tbh i am not sure i have much faith in the company and would like a refund.. can i request this on a laptop thats not even 2 months old that has problemns such as this?

 

Thanks in advance

[SharpmanTF1]

I think, if you'd taken it back when the first issue arose - if it was less than 28 days, the retailer would be inclined to exchange it. But as you've left it after that you need to take it back to the retailer under warranty repair.

 

What bios is in your laptop?

 

ami bios codes are at the following site

PC Hell: BIOS Error Beep Codes

 

As the codes vary and you say the cd draw pops out on its own there may be a short in the motherboard somwhere.

 

either way - if you have an ami bios then things aren't boding well for the laptop.

 

Sharpman.

[tinks79]

Cheers for the reply,

 

Wish i had taken it back when the first error occured as it was within the 28 days.

 

I take it from what you say that the best tnig is to take it back to get repaired? But if i have an ami bios would it be best to argue that errors are likely to keep reoccurring until the laptop dies?

I really need a trouble free laptop as i start a new degree on wednesday, could i argue for a replacement if they won't do a refund, or will i have to give them chance to repair it first?

[SharpmanTF1]

7 Short Beeps Your CPU broke overnight. Its no good. Either replace the CPU, or buy another motherboard.

8 Short Beeps Your video card isn't working. Make sure it is seated well in the bus. If it still beeps, either the whole card is bad or the memory on it is. Best bet is to install another video card.

9 Short Beeps Your BIOS is bad. Reseat or Replace the BIOS.

10 Short Beeps Your problem lies deep inside the CMOS. All chips associated with the CMOS will likely have to be replaced. Your best bet is to get a new motherboard.

11 Short Beeps Your problem is in the Cache Memory chips on the motherboard. Reseat or Replace these chips.

 

So, if you do have ami bios the according to beeps it ranges from a cpu failure to graphics to cmos failure, so it appears it could be stuffed.

 

Sharpman

[SharpmanTF1]

is there a sequence that these beeps are going in.

ie

DELL BEEP CODES

Beep Codes Possible Causes Corrective Action

1 - 2 No video card detected Reseat the video card

1 - 2 - 2 - 3 BIOS ROM checksum error

1 - 3 - 1 - 1 DRAM refresh error Reseat the memory modules

1 - 3 - 1 - 3 8742 Keyboard Controller error Reseat the keyboard connector

1 - 3 - 3 - 1 Memory defective or not present Reseat the memory modules

1 - 3 - 4 - 1 RAM failure on line xxx Reseat the memory modules

1 - 3 - 4 - 3 RAM failure on data bits xxx of low byte on memory bus Reseat the memory modules

1 - 4 - 1 - 1 RAM failure on data bits xxx of high byte on memory bus

[aj84]

Well I think given that it is under warranty (minimum 1 year) it will be honoured with a repair or replacement

I dont know their in-store warranty procedures and on the website, I can only see the online proc.

 

Knowing PCW I dont think they would refund you but rather replace if they couldnt repair. I know with experience, they just replace if its not been too long (but beyond their returns policy)

In that replacement, you could generally ask for a credit note to spend in-store which I have done a few times especially if I did not want the same item again.

 

I'm sure someone will have a proper answer though!

 

As for brand, I work with repairs on a regular basis (hobby) and I find Dell's one of the more reliable brands. Bearing in mind I get 20-30+ laptops a month for repair.

 

Again with experience, 7 beeps is almost always a motherboard fault with Dells. If this is the case, PCW might just bite the bullet and call it a beyond economical repair giving you the chance to get something else.

[slick132]

Hi Tinks,

 

If it is showing these faults so soon after purchase, you should return it and demand a full refund or an new machine. You have protection under the SOGA.

 

I would not tell them you had a friend fix the machine as they could try and wriggle out of their responsibilites. Say you fixed the problem and it was ok for a while but is now showing more faults

[SharpmanTF1]

Erik said:

 

I had a Dell Inspiron 1720 notebook in production and about a week before the estimated delivery Dell called me saying that the order could not be completed because they were not using the Nvidia Card anymore.. actually I think if I remember correctly they discontinued the Inspiron 1720 notebook completely? Anyway, they ended up suggesting the Studio 17 notebook which had all the same features but a different vid card that still was at 256mb. I chose all my upgrades and it came out to about the same price ($1700) but with buying the Studio series I got a free Dell V305w wireless printer which I love but goes through ink to fast. Also I got a free wireless Logitech mouse that matches my notebook. All in all I almost feel like this Nvidia ordeal worked out good for me. I would suggest anyone looking into getting a similar laptop look into the Studio 17 (or 15 or whatever). In conclusion, I am very disappointed in Nvidia but more so in Dell for this wacked out "fix" to the temp problem. Making the fan run all the time is no fix! Its a germ infested bandaid! The wound will never completely heal! Dell needs to suck it up and take responsibility for this even if it is Nvidias fault for this all happening with they're faulty cards.

September 15, 2008 9:15 PM

 

This was a quote taken from the following site :

NVIDIA GPU Update for Dell Laptop Owners - Direct2Dell - The Official Dell Blog

 

It suggests that Nvidia were producing a duff batch of graphics cards of which some were fitted in dell laptops.

 

Check to see which graphics processor you have in your machine. if it's Nvidia then this could be an issue..

 

Sharpman

[curofone]

Hi Tinks,

 

If it is showing these faults so soon after purchase, you should return it and demand a full refund or an new machine. You have protection under the SOGA.

 

I would not tell them you had a friend fix the machine as they could try and wriggle out of their responsibilites. Say you fixed the problem and it was ok for a while but is now showing more faults

 

I am no expert on the SOGA but surely you are offering duff advise there.

 

The customer should have returned it as soon as the fault became apparent and if they had done then they would have been entilted to the a full refund or if the choose an exchange but the customer waited and now the period that PCW specify for a refund has expired so the customer is entitled to a repair of the machine. Now i know the SOGA states that your entilted to your money back with in a reasonable time but that time is different for all item and the time you have gone to court to argue the point over time you could have your laptop back and working fine for quite a few months.

 

Now again under the SOGA you could argue that the machine was not not of satisfactory standard or had an inherentl fault but again by the time you have argued this out with PC world you could have had the machine repaired.

 

So i ask what is the point of going to the store and demanding your money back when they will just say no and to book it in for repair and if you choose to fight it, it will take that long to get a result you would be out a laptop for a lot longer that the week it would take to fix.

[slick132]

Hi Curofone,

 

I agree that the faulty machine should have been returned when it first showed faults but not everyone is aware of their rights, or of PCW's refunds policy.

 

PCW's policy is not law and the consumer has rights under SoGA and CPUTR 2008.

 

If Tinks is not happy with a remedy suggested by PCW, Tinks has every right to challenge their policy and to have a machine which doesn't have faults referred to by Sharpman in post #8 above.

[curofone]

Hi Curofone,

 

I agree that the faulty machine should have been returned when it first showed faults but not everyone is aware of their rights, or of PCW's refunds policy.

 

PCW's policy is not law and the consumer has rights under SoGA and CPUTR 2008.

 

If Tinks is not happy with a remedy suggested by PCW, Tinks has every right to challenge their policy and to have a machine which doesn't have faults referred to by Sharpman in post #8 above.

 

I know that pcw policy is not the law nor did i suggest it was but all pcw will tell him to do is ring the call centre and tell him to get the machine booked in or repair.

 

If he was to challenge pcw policy on this he would have to take them to take them to small claims court which could take months and be quite costly and therefore as Tinks said that he needs the machine for his masters i am assuming he does not have the time or money to do this and therefore as i said before surely your advice on this issue is duff

[tinks79]

 

The customer should have returned it as soon as t

So i ask what is the point of going to the store and demanding your money back when they will just say no and to book it in for repair and if you choose to fight it, it will take that long to get a result you would be out a laptop for a lot longer that the week it would take to fix.

 

Well i would just like to point out that nowhere on here has it been implied that i would be going to the store and demanding a refund, what i did however say was that i start a masters degree this week and NEED a fully working laptop.... i asked if i would be able to get a refund, that was all.

 

Thankyou everyone who has given me advice on this matter, i am going to the store tomorrow to see if i can get a refund or a new laptop.

 

I made dell & pcw aware of the first fault which occured within 3 weeks of purchase, but as i was not in the uk at the time to be able to get the fault fixed, i got a friend who owes me a favour to fix it, he fixes laptops for a living so it was not some amatuer doing the repair.

 

All of this will be explained, and if offered a repair then i will decline and ask for a replacement, as these laptops are known to have problems with the graphics card amongst others!

 

Once again thankyou everyone for your replies, it has helped greatly.

[curofone]

Well i would just like to point out that nowhere on here has it been implied that i would be going to the store and demanding a refund, what i did however say was that i start a masters degree this week and NEED a fully working laptop.... i asked if i would be able to get a refund, that was all.

 

If you read my post you will see that i never suggested that you would be going in to store and demanding your money back, i was responding to slick that said you should

 

Hi Tinks,

If it is showing these faults so soon after purchase, you should return it and demand a full refund or an new machine. You have protection under the SOGA.

 

What i would say now is if you rang the call centre when it first happened and they have a record of faults developing with in the first 28 days then you should easily get your money back on the machine.

Edited September 30, 2008 by curofone

[slick132]

Hi Tinks,

 

Hope you get the result you want and please let us know how you get on with this.

 

[Papa Lazarouis]

Hi I posted this on another forum within this site. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Hi All,

I bought my son a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop in January 2008. Cost- £350. In December they sent a new ac power charger under the 1 year warranty. l Have just had to purchase a new charger for him as the laptop would not power up, my son has spoken to their technical support team and they have said it is the 'motherboard' which needs replacing. Quoted £300 and eventually dropped it to £204. I have spoken to Dell tonight and they have offered to repair the laptop for a charge of £130 which is the cost of me purchasing a 3year warranty -"under exceptional circumstances".

I have said that Under the Sale of Goods Act that I consider 17months not to be a reasonable length of time for a £350 laptop to work, hence their attitude went cold and said that someone from 'their legal team' will ring me on Monday.

 

I'm desperately seeking some advice on what to say to them, am I being unreasonable insisiting that I shouldn't have to pay for goods that although out of the period of warranty (1yr warranty - expired Jan '09) or is it something that I'm just not going to win?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

PL

[dx100uk]

no you are quite correct.

warranty as such having expired means little

this 'resonable life' thing should certainly cover you.

 

TBH: i work in the trade and we have loads of dell lappys.

3 yrs is the typical cutoff for warranty repair, but not sure how that relates to joe public.

 

i'd certainly push the issue.

 

ofcourse the other method is to prove 'unfit for purpose' under SOGA, if there were multiple failings of that motherboard, then they might well fold also.

 

dx

[Renzokuken]

Just a thaught, but when your friend fixed it, did he just use a software fix, or did he open the machine up and repair it.

 

If he opened the machine up, it'll probably have voided your warantee.

[labrat]

hmm dubious on that ren, if he can show there was no phsyical damage from him opening it then it shouldnt invalidate the warrenty on any parts, in my view the "warrenty void if removed" stickers are ussually a get out cause for the maker

[Renzokuken]

True, but I'm just making him aware that if someone opened the machine up it may cause problems with the manufacturer, irrelevant of the legalities of "void if removed" stickers. ;D

[labrat]

i tend to ignore them when repairing computers, unless theres obvious hammer marks on the mainboard

[dx100uk]

yea must agree

we've got something like 560+ lappies of varying types, and i've never known one to be not repaired b manu even after us in house techies have tried.

dx

[Papa Lazarouis]

Hi All,

Thought I'd give an update. Dell rang me on Monday morning and after a short conversation agreed to repair the laptop free of charge as a 'gesture of goodwill'. They added that if it broke again then they would not repair it unless it was covered under an extended warranty, available exclusively to me at a cost of £90 for 1 year, £109 for 2 years or £139 for 3 years.

Laptop was collected by an inept courier (the packaging was comical) on Tuesday afternoon.

Dell suggested 10-12 working days for repair and that they would have to formatt the hard drive (their way of payback I guess )

Many thanks for all your help.

Regards

PL

[dx100uk]

they always say that [HDD's]

it'll comeback ok.

 

dx