A11 on Inspiron 1525 incompatible w/ Vista SP1?

This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm sure I don't have to make a detailed summary of the issue's events, as many have thankfully done already, but how are we (the customers) expected to respond to all of this? This is a very big deal, as much as it's been ignored by Dell. Knowingly defective laptops are being shipped out to unsuspecting customers, who are paying for the quality and customer service that is known to come with the Dell name. Dell is aware of this major issue because of this very forum, and is responsible for doing something about it. Defective laptops are still being shipped, no fixes are in sight, no official statements or apologies are being made, and the only workaround that has been found was discovered by helpless customers in this forum. The only example of responsibility for this issue that I see is coming from Bill, who has very kindly kept us up to date, and from the engineers, who, as we are told, are working hard to figure this issue out.

Unfortunately though, the engineers need our laptops to determine where the issue is coming from, but I don't think they need to search further than any factory assembly line squeezing out a Dell Inspiron 1525 with Vista and Service Pack 1. It's completely unnecessary to put the customers through the trouble and hassle of sending out our current laptops... and for what in return? New ones that will have the exact same problems. Furthermore, I simply don't feel comfortable sending out my hard drive that may hold sensitive data in places I don't even know of.

Everyone's passing the buck, going from every source of Dell support to the next, and now that the problem has been persisting for about four months, I think it's time someone does something. We Inspiron 1525 owners are very disgruntled customers, and are deserving of some true customer satisfaction, because after all... we did pay for laptops that actually work.

And I can't stress enough, this is nothing against Bill. He's truly been an effective liaison. All I want is a laptop consisting of the quality that I paid for. I should not have to compromise battery life for the ability to turn my laptop on and off. I want a laptop that works to its potential and one that I paid for as advertised. I am getting neither.

I am aware that Dell has had major issues with customer service in the recent past, which has even been taken to the point of litigation by disgruntled customers, ones very reminiscent of ourselves. I would not want this to happen, and neither would Dell, so I can't help but feel like the lack of a wide-spread acknowledgement of this issue by Dell reflects Dell's fear of making an implicit confession to a failure in its pledge to satisfy its paying customers... and more importantly, a failure in the product that is sent to the doorsteps of these paying customers.

I want a laptop that works right out of the box, and one that functions to the potential that I paid for. If that means that I send my laptop back and receive an XPS with the same specifications, then let it be. I'm a long time Dell customer, and I would love to be satisfied with Dell's products, but I currently am not in the least.

Some might say, "Why make such a big deal when all you have to do is change one setting on the wireless card?" What I say to that is, "Why should I lower my standards for a product and a company that I just paid top dollar for, when all that I would be doing is making it easier on the company?" That is not how a successful company functions, and Dell will not be a successful company for very much longer if it continues to reflect this attitude of business.

I am pleading for Dell to give me a laptop that I will be satisfied with, even if it requires Dell to dig into its multibillion dollar-deep pockets to give me an XPS with the same specifications as my current machine.

I am remiss in not apologizing previously. I am very sorry for the frustration you are all experiencing over this issue. I hope to have some kind of solution other than the workaround at some point. I have a 1525 with a Dell factory image in my hands right now. It has an Intel wireless card, and does not exhibit the same symptoms. I am going to try a Dell card and see what happens.

If I am unable to reproduce the problem with the Dell card, I will have to dig a little deeper to find root cause. If I am able to reproduce the problem with a Dell card installed but not an Intel card, I will be happy to overnight anyone in need an Intel card.

Let's not jump the gun, though. Give me until tomorrow to do some testing. If the Intel card works reliably, and the Dell does not, I will post back information on how to reach me about having an Intel card shipped.

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@Anonymous-Bill B wrote:

Let's not jump the gun, though. Give me until tomorrow to do some testing. If the Intel card works reliably, and the Dell does not, I will post back information on how to reach me about having an Intel card shipped.

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Hi

Thank you very much, Bill.

If only the Intel card does work reliably (i think so), it will be shipped only in USA, or worldwide?

If only the Intel card does work reliably (i think so), it will be shipped only in USA, or worldwide?

Now that's a sticky question. I can only dispatch within the US and Canada. If you are outside those regions, then you would have to call tech support in your region and make your case. I doubt it will be easy, though. Let's wait and see what the Intel card does first, and cross that bridge when we come to it.

Bill, please remeber that this problem doesn't exhibit itself until after SP1 is installed on top of Vista. (At least that's what happened to me, and many in the forum).

In my case sleep seems to work correctly most of the time, it's hibernation that causes the reboot. (Although sleep causes reboots as well, just not as often).

I tried f/w versions A11, A13 and A09, and the problem is there in all these versions.

Also, make sure the laptop is plugged in to the wall. In my experience, the problem is less likely to happen if the laptop is running on batteries..

Thanks for the support, Bill!!

Raf.

"What avenues do we users have, that did not buy directly from Dell? Is that offer going to extend to us as well? I would sure hope so."

Me too. I bought this machine for my son from Future Shop. I'm sure we'll be included along with those who bought directly from Dell.

Bill said "The workaround that seems the most successful is disabling power management for the wireless card"

What about those of us (me!) that are having the exact same problem as described, (my new Inspiron laptops sometimes reboots when going  to sleep) but the workaround DID NOT fix the problem??  I returned my last Inspiron last week for this issue and got a new one.  I tried the workaround on it, and it STILL sometimes reboots when going into sleep mode.  I really like the Inspiron and want to keep it, but don't know how to fix this problem, even with a workaround :-(

Sharon

mindtrix,

We are still trying to find root cause on this one. The workaround that seems the most successful is disabling power management for the wireless card (or switching the wifi catcher off before hibernating). Disabling power management will shave a few minutes off your battery charge life, but it is a workaround until we get a solution in place.

Update on my issue replication:

I got a 1525 with Vista SP1 installed and an Intel wireless card. The issue seems to be with Dell wireless cards and SP1. The system I have has an evaluation copy of Vista installed, so it's not a Dell image, and I can't get Windows updates. Still, I pressed on for now.

I can not replicate the issue at this point. I swapped in a Dell card from my Latitude, and still could not reproduce on battery or AC power. I checked Quickset, and could find no settings enabled for the wireless card that I could change. Must be a version issue there.

So, now I am going to install a Dell factory image on the box, swap out to the Dell card again and test.

Hi, Sharon.

I am still trying to replicate the issue. So far, no luck. Are you sure you are clearing all the checkboxes on the power management of the wireless card? What  happens when you switch the wifi catcher off before hibernating?

I actually bought the studio 15 and hoped it didn't have a similar problem.  I already own the 1525 (purchased from Best Buy) and have applied the work around.

The studio 15 (which has the dell wireless card) purchased from Staples.  Would restart sporatically when I closed the lid instead of going into standby.   I returned it the next day.

The sad thing is the Studio 15 is a newly designed laptop and it exhibits the same problems.

If only I could return the 1525.

I have returned the laptop to Bestbuy, but didn't decide which one I should buy, I was looking at the new Studio, however, I wanted to ask you guys if anyone had same problems with this machine and what is your advice.

I also had trouble with "the workaround" at first but I double-checked and found the power management had not stayed disabled.  It seemed to me like it came back on after I was sure I turned it off.  This could have been due to the hibernate function.  I recommend doing a complete shutdown after turning off the power management and then after rebooting check the setting again to make sure it still turned off.

I have been running mine with "the workaround" for a couple weeks and it is working when I use the power button.  Mine shuts down if I hit the power button on battery and sleeps if I hit the power button on AC power. This is how I have it configured.

I am still having trouble with the sleep button [FN F1].  I just tried it and it wouldn't work (no response) the first few times, but then it appeard to hibernate the computer.  maybe this is a seperate issues.. I am not sure.

Bill asked:

"Are you sure you are clearing all the checkboxes on the power management of the wireless card? What  happens when you switch the wifi catcher off before hibernating?"

Yes, I had cleared all the checkboxes on the power management of the Dell wireless card.  (And thanks, Mk3, but they were staying cleared.  I checked that the first time it rebooted.)  Just to be thorough, I just went ahead and cleared all the boxes for the power management of the ethernet card, too. I'l see if that maks any difference . . . 

I haven't yet tried switching off the wifi catcher before attempting to go into sleep mode.  I guess I can try that next.  Since I use the wifi network so often,  I wasn't wild about the idea of having to remember to turn it off and on each time I used the computer.  But I guess I should try it at least once to see if it maks a difference.

Thanks,

Sharon