Inspiron 1520 TouchPad Troubles :\ Please Help!

Message Edited by wingnut843 on 01-10-2008 07:41 AM

I am having the same exact problem with my Vosto 1500 - core 2 duo, 9 cell battery, nvidia 128mb graphics card.

I to am experiencing the same problems. At first I was having trouble finding others on the internet with this problem, but it seems to becoming more widespread. I recently bought the 1520 in December. I have only owned it for about a month. I just sent it out to the repair center and it came back to me in the same condition it left. Luckly, I downloaded the new driver that was released a day after I sent out my laptop to the repair center. I downloaded and installed it yesterday and was so excited that everything was working fine. However, after my battery died tonight I put the laptop on the charger and continued to work on my laptop, and started experiencing problems. I found this forum and it made so much sense! The night I downloaded the driver, I was using the battery all night and plugged it in before I went to bed. Again, today I used the laptop on the battery, until it died - then I began experiencing the same problems. It is a very strange problem. I'm conflicted as to call dell and order a replacement laptop. I'm afraid I'm going to experience the same problems. Right now, while the laptop is charging I have disabled "tapping" in the touchpad settings. This seems to have made the problem go away while charging. I also tested it and enabled "tapping" with the laptop using battery. Exactly as the last poster stated, it worked fine. So, I suppose I will call dell again and see what they can do. But for now, I will deal with the inconvenience of not being able to use the tap feature while charging. It seems like for the money I spent, I should be able to use ALL the features on my laptop! Dell 1520, 4gb ram, 320gb 5200 rpm hd, NVIDA GForce 8600 GT 256mb, 1650x1050.

Exactly as Hanna said, this is the same thing I am experiencing. The tech on the phone said they would replace the motherboard and the touchpad - but if everything else is working, maybe this is a hardware conflict type of issue...I really don't want to lose my laptop for another two weeks just to get it back and see that it's the same as the way I shipped it out. Hanna, do you know what they replaced on yours the last time you sent it in for service? At least we have 1 year warranties where we won't have to pay to repair it in case we do go that route.

Please keep me informed, because I am in the same boat. I might try talking to a different tech, now that I have a case number.

I called dell last night. They updated my bios and the tech fiddled with my touchpad settings. Unfortunately, I think because he was connected remotely, the touchpad was not experiencing the same problem. The tech stated that when my laptop was sent out that they did replace the touchpad. At this point, I'm still having the same problem. When the laptop is on battery all is fine, but when I plug it in (and its charging) I have to disable the tapping function in order for it to work properly. I guess its not that big of a deal, it's just an inconvenience; especially since I spent $1500! I called the tech's manager again today and left a message as well as emailed the tech about the continuing problem. We will see if anyone responds today; if not they will be getting a call from me tomorrow. I'm just not sure what to do from here. If I ask them to replace the laptop, whats to say the new one won't have the same problem? So I'm at a loss. I could possibly be as you said a conflict between the hardware, because everything else on mine works fine.

That sounds almost dead on - same issue I'm experiencing. I think it could be a power issue as well. I have Windows XP - I didn't want Vista because it eats more RAM and personally, XP does everything I need it to. It's very stable. I wonder what they are going to do in order to fix yours? I really don't want to get mine repaired just to get it back and have it do the same thing. If it is a hardware configuration conflict, more might need to be replaced besides the motherboard and touchpad. Last night I used it while it was charging, with the brightness almost all the way up - and only a few times it did it to me. The problem seems to be intermittent. It seems that when the battery is more than 50-60 percent charged it doesn't do it as much. Is this true for you guys?

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&thread.id=268320 I have another thread about my Vostro 1500 issues over here, for any Vostro owners.

After a week of on/off chats with dell tech and customer service reps; I finally was able to get through to one of them! They are sending me a new system, which hopefully will be free of this problem. I actually had one dell tech manager tell my mother (she purchased the laptop and began to get involved) that if the touchpad didn't work, that I could get a mouse! Seriously, for so-called "award winning service" I certainly did not see it! My advice, if your touchpad is continuing to act up call dell immediately. Do not waste your time with technical support if you have already tried that route; go to customer service and explain the problem. I tried to save dell money by just asking for someone to come out to my home and fix it and they wanted me to pay $90 extra to upgrade my warranty. Hopefully, the new system will not have the same problems. I'm thinking is isolated to a few, since not everyone that has a 1520 has reported the problem. We will see. Good luck to anyone else having this same problem. If you wanted it fixed be prepared for hours on the phone with dell. I love the laptop (great price; superb components for the price)! I only wish it was with another company and not dell. -Heather

That makes sense. I wonder if Dell sent me a different wattage AC adapter, if this would go away. Mine clicks all over the place when it's charging. I'm tired of having to disable the tap-clicking every time I'm using it with the AC adapter charging the battery.