7506 2 in 1, memory error, reboot issue

Question

Who do I contact to get my money back without going through legal means? I bought a high dollar Inspirion 7506 2 in 1 laptop that, I believe, has a intrinsic defect in the system. It's a known issue by Dell because I've read many forums where people are having the identical problem on the exact same model that I have. When it's in sleep mode, the memory errors and goes through a diagnostic cycle and there have never been any error codes that come back because of it. The fan keeps running at high speed and it overheats the laptop. I always have the laptop on a hard surface in order to get unrestricted airflow. I've updated all the drivers and even tried changing the settings to make the PC hibernate as opposed to sleep mode.  Dell sent a tech rep to my home to replace the mother board and fan and the unit seemed to work fine...for 2 or 3 weeks and then the memory error'd out while I was on it! Then it did the memory scan and rebooted. So I contacted them again and again, after an hour or so of them remotely running diagnostics, they said it needed a mother board and fan! They said it was past 30 days so they could not refund or replace it, but they can sure replace the mother board over and over and the fan. I paid a premium thinking this would be a strong, reliable laptop that I could count on for data analytics, which is why I bought it. Now I have a $1500 lemon that may or may not die on me when I'm in the middle of a critical project.  When the laptop works the way it should, it does great, but then the memory burps and kicks off and restarts and I lose my work. I do not want to go through any protracted, drawn out, legal action to try and recoup my expense on this laptop. I really wish it would work as advertised and sold to me. I get the feeling Dell will try and replace as many components as they can until the one year manufacturing warranty expires and then I have no recourse at that point. I sure hope I can find a solution here because I will not accept buying an expensive lemon of a laptop that does not work as advertised. Thank you!

ejn63 · Answer

Start with the Dell diagnostics, and in particular run an extended memory test. If an error starting with 2000- arises, record it together with the validation code and contact Dell support for repair.

If the memory test produces no errors, start by using something like WhoCrashed (the free edition works fine) to inspect the memory dump log. That should point you to the software that's causing the problem.

While it could be a hardware problem, you may ultimately have to face the fact that a $1,500 mid-level consumer grade notebook is not suitable as a "strong, reliable laptop that I could count on for data analytics". That job may very well require a workstation-class system, which your Inspiron emphatically is not designed to be.

As for the rest, carefully read the terms of sale to which you agreed in making your purchase.

https://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/terms-of-sale-consumer?c=us&l=en&s=corp&cs=uscorp1

DaneFrancis5 · Answer

I do not process large volumes of data.

If my 6 year old Toshiba laptop can process spread sheet data, then this system should be able to.

I didn't buy this unit to play games. I bought this unit as a business machine. It has a lot more processing power and memory than my work laptop that I have been working from home with for over a year and that is a much older laptop.

So what you're telling me is tough....buyer beware?????

Inspiron

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