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53911
Please HELP Permanent Fingerprints atop of my PINK STUDIO 1535
Last August I bought a totally upgraded, with all the bells and whistles, extended 3 warranty PINK Dell Studio 1535. When I received it in the mail “another nightmare to long to mention” I noticed it had like a Pink rubbery top. At first though oh how cool this will be easy to grip and lesson the accuracy of slipping from your hand if you go and move it. That part I guess is good but the HUGE downfall to that is that the rubber DELL used was extremely pores’. So, when you are normally opening and closing the laptop your fingerprints go right through to that pink top leaving a NASTY looking computer top. I mean you can look at the top of my computer and tell how I open and close it. When I started to notice this I thought I might be able to clean it off “not knowing that would never come off.” When it would not come off I contacted DELL with that and another problem my computer was having at the time. When I spoke with the guy he basically told me that is was my fault because when I was ordering my computer on the phone I should had told them I wanted to hard plastic top. Ummmm, excuse me! ! I guess I was supposed to look into my magic ball and know this was going to happen?? Besides, you think the sales tech could have mentioned this BEFORE I paid out the ying yang for it. I let this go for a bit. Today I thought I would try chatting with tech support online about it. The man gave me a link to how to clean my LCD screen. When I mentioned that he might have misunderstood my question he assured me this would work too. BIG SURPRISE it didn’t!! I’m really frustrated because I have an expensive computer that I love to use but HATE to look at because it looks so nasty, and it’s not even a year old. I try to hide it when people come over because it that gross. Also I would like to say. I have no kids and I’m the only one who uses this computer. I do not take roll my fingers around in grease this is just from day to day use. I need to know how I fix this! Shouldn’t my warranty cover this? Maybe the rubber that was used was defective? I have bought a desktop, 2 cameras, a video camera, and many accessories to go with them all, and NEVER have I had this much trouble with a dell product or had a problem blamed on me for my ordering skills!!! I guess it was my fault for not asking should I wear gloves when I open and shut my laptop while I was ordering it!! My bad!
Bukket
59 Posts
0
March 21st, 2010 11:00
Yesterday I sprayed mine with a kitchen cleaner and scrubbed it with a nail brush. It looks much better. But mine is only a few months old so it didn't have many prints on it yet. I'll have to see how it does over time. I think it is going to need cleaned about once a month to keep it looking decent. If that doesn't work I'll buy a new cover.
Good idea on the Armor All. I'll have to give it a try. I've tried using an eye glass cleaner on it that contains isopropyl alcohol. It doesn't do a thing.
I have 2 other pink laptops. My 1720 is flamingo pink and the cover of it is awesome. I thought it was the same material as this one but it doesn't get any fingerprints at all. It is 2 years old and looks brand new. The mini 10 has a plastic lid. Why in the world did Dell decide to use this material?
Another option would be to get a custom skin from skinit. Would probably have to contact them to make sure it would stick to this cover material.
Bukket
Mr._Pseudonym
315 Posts
0
March 21st, 2010 11:00
;^) If a slightly damp cloth with a touch of detergent doesn't do the job, perhaps a different solution is in order.
:^/ First, though, a great big ol' warning: I haven't tried this myself. My own laptop has a hard black cover, and so I haven't had to. Therefore, I cannot say for sure whether it'll work. On the other hand, Dell has already refused to help, and the original poster has described her laptop as so gross to look at that she effectively has nothing to lose, so this may be worth a shot.
My theory/strategy is to use a liquid that dissolves oil, such as isopropyl alcohol. I work in a cleanroom at work and we use alcohol to remove ink from whatever surface gets accidentally marked, even rubber.
If alcohol doesn't do the trick, perhaps another cleaner/protector meant for rubber would do it. For cars there is a product called Armor All, and it's great for tires, dashboards, vinyl upholstery, etc.
Do not spray directly onto the laptop. Instead, spray a small amount onto a clean cloth, and then gently wipe the surface in question. Start in a small area to determine whether there is any effect, and whether the effect is favorable. If removing the stains completely proves impossible, perhaps merely reducing them and blending the edges of the stains with the less discolored areas will at least make the effect less noticeable.
Again, I would not recommend this experiment if it weren't a nothing-left-to-lose situation. If anyone is brave enough to give it a whirl, please post back with your results.
;^) Thanks!
alexh09
2 Posts
0
August 17th, 2010 17:00
Hi i know its been a while since you posted this but noticed that you wrote that you might be trying to buy a new cover for your laptop. Ive got a pink Inspiron 1525 laptop and HATE all the fingerprints on it, i think its really bad that they have sold so many of these with a material that is not suitable for a cover at all. at first i loved the cover but it quickly became covered in fingerprints and looks horrible. not what you expect when you have saved up to buy a new laptop!
I just wanted to ask if you knew where i could buy a new cover/lid for my laptop as this problem is driving me mad!
Thanks
alexh09
perla2wdw
4 Posts
0
August 17th, 2010 18:00
Skinit.com is the website. My daughter 's laptop still looks terrible and we have tried EVERYTHING! Lestoil, spray and wash, shampoo for oily hair, screencleaner, Dawn dishwasing detergent, cascade dishwasher liquid, Oxiclean, Mr Clean magic erasers, Armorall wheel cleaner. Everthing we could think of , applied with a small dot of the cleaner on a cotton cloth. NOTHING removes them. I called Dell 3 times with much frustration! Absolutely no help. Replacing the cover would have been over 150 dollars they told me. I was furious that they act like they have never heard about the problem from anyone else. However, we did just order a skin from Skinit.com for 29.99. She decided to get one with her college logo on it for this fall semester. I will let you know how it adheres to the surface. I'm not getting my hopes up. Wishing we would have went with anything but this pink (that almost has a brushed surface like suede.) It's the worst she's seen at campus, when looking at other students' laptops. No other colors seem to have that problem.
Folkmonster
1 Message
1
August 5th, 2015 20:00
This is an old thread now but this answer might still be useful as many Dell laptops suffer from this.
I recently acquired a 1525 (pink) laptop on which the rubberized coating had broken down, leaving a sticky residue (I've seen many Dell laptops like this).
Anyhow, after much experimentation, I've (literally) hit on a solution: Furniture Polish. I used an aerosol can of furniture polish (the sort that contains beeswax). Spray on, leave for a couple of minutes and then scrape off the coating with an old credit card or similar using a left-right sawing action.
This method does work, but needs lots of "elbow grease". Any discoloration left over can be removed by further applications of polish and a kitchen cleaning pad (light abrasive pad).
Mine came up like new.