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14 Posts
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190967
New XPS 13 (9333) Constant Noise - relaunch
I'm posting this to re-open the debate around the electrical coil whine found in all new dell xps 13 model. The last thread was shut down because of breach of rules but it was an important place for people to keep an eye on when Dell would be releasing the updated board which promises to fix the problem.
Please tell us what you know about what's going on so everyone can be up to speed on what Dell is doing to fix the issue
Centman
59 Posts
0
November 7th, 2014 10:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwR4CWzDtfQ#t=47
Check this :emotion-60:
bhm777
4 Posts
0
November 13th, 2014 14:00
I bought a Dell XPS 13 (Ubuntu version) a few months back and have the same coil whine problem. At first I would just turn off the keyboard back light (Fn + F6) and that seemed to fix it, but then I started to notice the whine even when the back light wasn't on. I also notice the same whining sound whenever I plug a USB device into the left USB port. This problem, in addition to the random wireless disconnect issues, is really making me think I should return it for a refund.
soultrnoic
7 Posts
0
November 18th, 2014 01:00
I just want to add, that those who are hoping this issue is fixed maybe out of luck. I bought one a week ago, and have tried everything underneath the sun since I absolutely loved the design, size, weight, keyboard travel since I do alot of coding and so forth as I wanted to keep it if I could.
Despite the slight screen burns, *** battery life, highest I seen was 4.5 hours with nothing running except desktop view?? Not sure what the problem was there but I'd be able to live with that, but what i couldnt live with was the constant whine noise in a quiet background where I spend most of my time.
This is after updating BIOS, drivers, engineer visit with a motherboard replacement, screen replacement few days ago.
Did it solve the problem? No! Still whine pitch when keyboard is on, whine pitch when using left USB port, random whine pitch when processor is doing something. Stick the keyboard light half way and the sound gets worse.
It does really depend who you are and how good your hearing is, whilst the engineer first stuggled to hear it, after creating a dead silence background he could barely make it out until I stuck the USB in and turned the keyboard light half way down, it got really loud and he agreed that's loud and shouldn't be doing that.
Funny thing was, it was already loud for me and could hear it crystal clear before putting the USB in. Whilst my wife, she can hear it, but it doesn't bother her. So depends how good your hearing is, but the problem is most definetely not fixed and will not be for this generation XPS 13's until maybe when Broadwell comes out
leeroy jenkins
14 Posts
0
November 18th, 2014 11:00
Thanks for your comments
I wonder if the Broadwell model solves the issue whether Dell will replace models under guarantee with them?
Any thoughts?
zer0n
1 Message
0
November 22nd, 2014 23:00
I'm also experiencing the problem. I just purchased an XPS 13 Developer Edition. The noise is constant, whether the lighting is on or not.
I'm thinking about returning this laptop, which would be flawless if not for this critical problem.
green002
1 Message
1
December 21st, 2014 08:00
After reading these forums I was really concerned about getting the XPS 13, but given the spec's and wanting to stay with windows I decided to give it a try. In Sweden we have 14 days right-of-return so I figured that I can always return it if it has noise issues (I had decided that I wouldn't even bother to try and see if it can be fixed).
I got it a few days ago and after a very strange start (I'll explain later) it has been working perfectly. There may be a very small noise but I have got 3 different people to see if they can hear anything and and nobody had any issues. I have tried it in all sorts of conditions and everything is great. Keyboard lights are very nice and USB works fine and neither creates any noise at all.
I really like the touch screen with the ability to use like my iPad and then jump to typing (the keyboard is very nice. . apart from the small enter key. . but that may be impacted by the additional letter keys in the Scandinavian keyboard).
I haven't had a chance to test the battery but seems OK so far so I would expect 9 + hours of normal use ??
The truly bizarre thing that happened right out of the box was when I fist turned it on. The fan took-off on high and every time I typed there was a strange beeping (sounded like a kid's toy). My first thought was 'oh no, this is really bad'.
Then I started thinking. . why is the fan on high and why can't I turn off the keyboard sounds in windows. After about 30 minutes I came across another post where someone who had a different Dell laptop that was in 'Engineering mode' and if you hit Fn+X it will toggle it back into normal mode. Sure enough it worked !
Unbelievable that it can leave the factory in Ireland with this mistake (maybe it turned itself on) and just about caused me to put it back in the box !!
My other complaint is with Dell tech service in this part of the world who have failed to respond to 2 calls so far about my T1500 (needs a new cmos battery), so not very good service and way too many layers on their phone system (too many choices and numbers to push).
But aside from that, I am very happy that I decided to try it (it was no real risk for me) and even though I may have been lucky have ended up with a very nice little machine, which is exactly what I wanted.
Thanks for all of the other posts, they really helped in knowing what to check out and especially jacosta76 for the post about the beeping (really saved me). Hope this post helps someone as well. Maybe Dell has sorted it out or are on the right track at least ??
XPS 13" 9333
i7 HSW
8GB dual channel DDR3
512GB msata SSD
mfulkrod
4 Posts
0
April 3rd, 2015 18:00
I'm also having the same issue with the high pitch noise. It only happens when the keyboard back light is on. Has there been a solution to this problem?
mfulkrod
4 Posts
0
April 8th, 2015 10:00
Dell XPS 13 - 9333.
When my keyboard back-light is on I hear a high pitch electrical noise. The sound seems to emanate from the right side around the enter key. When the back-light is off the noise changes pitch but it is still present. In an office environment while working on the laptop it is very distracting. The back-light is one of the selling points of this laptop. The other reason I went with this laptop was that it was a higher end ultrabook. I wouldn't expect a higher end model to have such a blatant problem.
Someone had posted a youtube video of my exact symptoms:
www.youtube.com/watch
I called Dell tech support and explained that I was having similar issues as everyone in this thread. I was on the phone with them for about 90 minutes, most of it on hold. They instructed me to run diagnostics (F12 at boot). The diagnostics passed without any problems. After that they suggested updating the bios which I had already done (to version A06). After that I was told that there is no solution to this problem and that they would call me back when they find one. In the final minutes of the phone call while they explained there was no solution they sounded very unsure of themselves (not the typical scripted tech support you normally hear). They could not provide me with a reference or case number, said to call back with service tag.
Has anyone else had success getting this resolved?
antmir
13 Posts
0
April 10th, 2015 19:00
Ask Dell to swap boards... Ask for the "December 2014 rev A.05" like mine...
Does it has the noise? Yes, it does, but its way more low than before. I dont know if I will tell Dell the problem it's fixed (it's not) or claim that still has the noise and new board or goes into the lab and comes like it was or even worse...
mfulkrod
4 Posts
0
April 14th, 2015 11:00
I got the motherboard swapped. They instructed me to update to the A07 BIOS. Noise is still present but low enough that I can't hear it unless I stick my ear right on it. Much better now.
A07 BIOS: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=4N4NN&fileId=3445984575&osCode=WB64A&productCode=xps-13-9333&languageCode=EN&categoryId=BI
antmir
13 Posts
0
April 14th, 2015 12:00
Still ***.
I'm sorry, it's better, but I can hear the f***** coil whine even with A07 + December board. It's horrible, I can have the keyboard turn off/automatic or it gets worse.
It's like "tzzzzz tzzzz", don't hear? Load a video on youtube, put CPU on full, play a game or use Linux, enjoy the coil whine again, this time from cpu.
I use my Dell on very queit enviroments. This is a "premium" laptop.
mfulkrod
4 Posts
0
April 21st, 2015 09:00
I've been using the laptop at home and unfortunately the noise is still there. It seems to come and go, when I wrote my previous reply it wasn't making the noise. It does sound different with the different motherboard but it's just loud enough to make me not want to use the laptop. Even with the keyboard back-light off the noise is still present.
nickc933
4 Posts
0
June 19th, 2015 00:00
I updated the BIOS and this issue is still here. I heard something about using superglue to fix the coil whine. Has anyone had any luck with that?
jscs
3 Posts
0
November 6th, 2015 14:00
I'd be happy to glue mine as well, has anyone tried that so far?
Is there a known fix that Dell has for this issue or is all the component swapping not helping anything?
I just got off the phone with escalated support and after having him mailed this and other dell community forums threads on this issue he flatout denied that this issue is know to Dell. Multiple times. No matter what I said, he denied this is a thing and as long as I pay for the support ticket they'll fix it and I will have 90 days warranty on the swapped components, huh?
Oh yeah I have to pay for the support ticket. Even though I first called Dell and reported this issue while I had still warranty they played endless phone forwarding loop leaving me for hours on hold with reps that were clueless as how to help me. Not knowing what to do Dell took its sweet time to let my warranty expire instead of helping me fix it, following up or anything. Last time I called I was an hour on hold and never made it through to a person.
Now should I pay the support ticket, will they be able to fix it? I love this computer (9333) but the noise is making me crazy, and the way Dell handles this issue even more ..
I looked at MacBooks and they weren't quite the right thing for me, what alternatives are out there? (portable, powerful, running linux without too much hassle)
Thank you all!