Inspiron 16 Plus 7620, Touchpad Issue (same as 7610)

Yes, same problem here. Took a bet it's gonna be fixed in the new model and lost. I mean.. what company does this?! 
They clearly knew of the widespread issue with the previous model and went with the same faulty component? For what? A couple of cents?
This just goes to show the focus of Dell lately. They have rampant quality issues for years now and their way to fix it is still to with quantity over quality.

Anyways... looking for a solution too if someone comes across one.

For me right now the touchpad is just working intermitently. Works for a couple of seconds, then stops for half a minute then works again for a couple of seconds. 

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...

No, I agree it's not the same. After some more time there are some clear differences. On the 7610 it would often move erratically, you would move in a straight line and it would jitter, and responsiveness was in and out at a faster frequency. The 7620, when it stops responding, it will stop for occasionally as long as 30-60 seconds and never jitters. Swiping from the extreme ends of the touchpad often revives it.

I have a similar problem. I do not think it is the same issue as the 7610 model (i don't owe one but read very often about that problem) since the touchpad seems to be completely different. Anyway in my case the touchpad works flawlessly (and is a very good touchpad!) almost always but then it starts responding in a weird way. It still works but multitouch doesn't work anymore, nor does scrolling, even the single pressure sometimes makes the cursor jump around the screen and it is difficult to control. Then it usually fixes by itself after few minutes, but it is still very annoying especially for such an expensive laptop. I really have no idea what is going on, i don't understand if it's a hardware or software problem, but I really hope someone can find the solution! Any suggestion is appreciated!

I wondering if maybe the Touchpad ribbon cable is not completely connected if at all, and that is causing the issue?

I don't know if you guys know the reason of the touchpad failure in the 7610 model, in any case someone found out it depended on the groundig, the touchpad is grounded using conductive foam that does not work very well and can cause the problem since without grounding there is some charge accumulation that makes the touchpad fail (here  a video that shows how to fix it). In the 7620 model the touchpad is different but they used again the same conductive foam to ground, I have no idea if this is causing the touchpad problem as in the previous model, in any case this morning I put some folded aluminum strip (no soldering or other irreversible action in order to not void the warranty) between the touchpad and the ground plate to improve the connection. I will let you know if something changes.

P.S. I am not suggesting anyone to open their laptop and do the same thing, I assume no responsibility for what you do on your laptop.

Update after 10 days: after putting the folded aluminum strip between the touchpad and the ground plate the problem seems to be fixed. It occured only twice in ten days and only for about one second (maybe it wasn't even the same problem? I just noticed a failure using multitouch and associated with the erratic touchpad).

After only 10 days I can't say for sure the problem is the same as in the previous model and it can be fixed in the same way, but so far this solution seems to work, I will let you know if the problem comes back or not. If someone tries the same solution please let us know if it works for you, thank you.

P.S. I am not suggesting anyone to open their laptop and do the same thing, I assume no responsibility for what you do on your laptop.

Just to add a follow up.

It's become clear this is NOT the same as the 7610. The 7610 issue was very erratic. This feels like a simple disabling of the touchpad for an unknown reason and for a random length of time.

It's more akin to what I've seen happened with the 7430 2-in-1. It seems software related. Uninstalling the drivers is a temporary fix but can reoccur within minutes. Had the odd week where it didn't occur after reinstalling a driver but often the same fix won't work twice. Dell are pushing to replace the touchpad and I'm reluctant to be without my laptop whilst they replace hardware to fix a software issue, especially given when they took my 7610 to fix they sent it back with a huge dent.

If you want the best results with Dell Tech Support, do the following:

1. Next time your trackpad glitches out, use your smart phone to take a video with your finger on the touchpad and the cursor on the screen in the shot - demonstrate the cursor's behavior.

2. Bonus points if you do the above step in the BIOS setup. If you can get it to glitch out in BIOS setup, it completely rules out any software issue.

3. Be prepared to upload the VIDEO file to Dell Tech Support when you open the ticket.

4. Make sure to verify with the Tech Support representative that the replacement parts are properly grounded before making the appointment to come out.

Video is irrefutable evidence that will get your case escalated quickly with little drama. Good luck.

I fixed the erratic touchpad on my Inspiron 16 7620 by installing a grounding wire from the back of the touchpad to a ground point.  Dell should be doing this themselves but it would require that the unit be returned for a factory-level update.  The problem is that the installed grounding plate behind the touchpad is not at ground potential so the touchpad is not properly grounded.  I measured a 1 ohm difference between this grounding plate and the negative power lead.  Since I installed the grounding wire (I'm a technician) the TP has worked perfectly.  I was reluctant to make this modification due to warranty issues, but I'm glad I did because this is a great computer now; before my fix, it was very frustrating to use.  I'm surprised that Dell hasn't fixed this problem.

Thank you very much for your answer! As I said I'm just waiting for the warranty to expire and then I will solder a wire from the touchpad to a ground point. For now I just put a folded aluminum strip between the touchpad and the ground plate that apparently didn't fix the problem completely but improved very much the usability of the laptop, I'm glad to know there is a definitive solution, again, thank you very much!

Would you happen to have a photo of your fix so we can try on our system with the same issue ? Regards 

Others have used 1/4 " copper tape to ground the track pad to the bracket. This seems to work on the 7610. I may go that way if this problem becomes a big enough issue.

Hey can you share a snap which part to be grounded or upload a video. Please...

I know your exact problem. It's that the laptop touch pad just stop working after a random period of time for like one minute, then start working again as if nothing happened. It's so annoying. I have the same laptop too.