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Dell Inspiron 3520
The Dell laptop my mom bought for my daughter (who is 20, so we're not talking about a little kid here) has developed a bizarre problem with the screen. As soon as it turns on, the screen begins to flicker significantly, and it goes through a cycle in which the flickering ranges from a nuisance that makes viewing the screen annoying to a catastrophic situation in which it is impossible to see anything on the screen at all other than colored, flickering lines. The sole exception to this situation is a small area in the upper right corner of the screen in which there is no visible activity at all — a large blotch of black that is unchanging during the cycle of flickering. It looks almost as if someone struck the screen there with a blunt object, but there is no physical damage visible on the surface of the screen or on the casing to suggest that this happened — it's more as though a subset of the pixels just went dead.
I was able to start a diagnostic (F12) by working only during the "nuisance" phase to input the correct responses. The initial diagnostic reported that the computer was working fine, so I asked it to run the 30-minute diagnostic on the computer's memory (which just started a few minutes ago). Just from what I was able to accomplish, it seems as though the track pad and the basic functions of the machine are not impaired. So based on its behavior, I do not think the problem is in the computer itself; I think it is something to do with the screen. Can anyone offer any hints on how we might address this? Other than taking it in for repair, that is?
ejn63
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February 5th, 2014 09:00
What does the image look like on an external screen when the internal one shows the fault?
PlattHamblin
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February 5th, 2014 11:00
I haven't tried that — will do so and get back to you.
Mj10
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April 3rd, 2014 20:00
I am having the same issue. I have two Dell 3520s and both have this issue. They are only a year and a few months old. very disappointed in the lack of quality with these laptops.
PlattHamblin
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April 4th, 2014 09:00
We finally took ours to BestBuy and they told us that the problem was inherent in the materials used by Dell -- that the plastic casing is so flimsy that the mere act of opening and closing the machine put stresses on it such that sometimes they broke in such a way as to damage the screen. And OF COURSE this happens two weeks after the end of the warranty. I will not be buying Dell's products again if they can't give halfway decent quality for the price.
mrsdressup
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April 28th, 2014 16:00
Mj10
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May 1st, 2014 09:00
I spent the last week trying to get this to work. I upgraded to windows 8.1.1. And updated about 10 different drivers. doesnt happen as often but still happens. I think its a driver issue. the video drivers were not compatible with 8.1.1
I think the best option is to wipe the drive and go back to windows 8.0. Seems like dell cant keep up to date with current drivers. I plan on doing that and selling the machine used on ebay. Im tired of using the laptop in 4 minute increments before the scramble starts. I just purchased a mac book and moving on.
mag91
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October 4th, 2014 09:00
i am having the same issue, i upgraded, downgraded, i dont wanna use the windows 8 , as it kinda annoying to use, am still loooking for answers
Mj10
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October 4th, 2014 11:00
Ive since given up on dell and windows and bought a macbook air. No problems since. Although it is much more expensive, at least it it a useable machine. All of my windows machines sit in a dark dusty corner now. The long term problem is dell is not putting out a sufficient driver to solve this. That being the case, the upcoming windows 10 will likely cause the same problems. So this laptop is basically no longer useful since i can only use it in 2-3 minute increments between the screen scrambling.