RE: New order of XPS 13 (Confirm Coil Whine Fixed)

I would wait, new xps 13 with a broadwell CPU coming out in q3 2014 so no point in buying this laptop now

@Dk2132,

I have confirmation from Dell engineering. Any XPS 13 systems manufactured on or after September 5th will have the revised motherboard. This applies to XPS 12 (9Q33), XPS 13 (9333), XPS 15 (9530) and Precision M3800.

For systems purchased before September 5th that have the noise, customers can call Dell Tech Support and advise of internal document ID SLN293550.

Here's how to contact Dell technical support:http://www.dell.com/support/incidents/us/en/19/Phone/Phonetagentry?tnt=1

I encourage feedback, discussion or questions posted on this thread.

Thanks for clarifying. Hopefully this post will address some other peoples concerns also.

Let's see, waiting for my replacement board right now.

Have been trying to get a resolution on my XPS 13 since May. I've had them replace the motherboard (as they insisted) to no avail. After hours upon hours on support, they finally conceded and offered to replace my unit with an entirely new one. They assured me it would be the new one with the new motherboard and the i7-4510U processor (vs the 4505U that I have in my current machine).

I just received the new unit today. Turned it on -- and instant whine. I'm baffled. Either their entire engineering group has hearing loss & doesn't hear it, they collectively work in an extremely loud working environment where it could be heard, or they simply don't know how to resolve this issue.

My money is on the third. I give up. Great machine, but with a huge engineering flaw that means I have no option but to recommend to everyone NOT to buy this unit.

Mine arrived today.

Frustratingly, it too still has the issue.

It would be good to hear from Dell as there was an assurance in my case that it has been fixed.

I had the same assurances. Sadly, it is clear that the engineering folks building the units don't know how to resolve the issue in this footprint/design, and the customer support folks are just given a line to tow.

Dell technician replaced my motherboard, charging port and adapter earlier today because the laptop stopped charging. I had specifically quoted the internal document number above and asked for the new replacement board that fixes the coil whining.

I am also somewhat disappointed that the whining is still there when the keyboard backlight LED is dimmed, but it seems like the whining has been reduced, which is good enough for me.

IMHO, the new board is still worth getting.

I got mine a few days ago (UK) and am experiencing a strange problem compared to the rest of you...

For me, the coil whine is ONLY there if the backlighting is OFF. Even with the backlit at 50% it makes a quieter whine, but if the backlighting is off the whine is quite loud and can definitely be heard in my room right on the road when I'm doing work late at night.

Is it possible Dell's new replacements removed the coil whine when the backlight is on but added it to when the backlight is off?

Further to this, can someone from Dell or anybody else advise if there's a way to keep on the keyboard backlighting on permanently and not auto turn off after 30 seconds or so - When i work at home I connect to a bluetooth keyboard to type so the backlight goes off regularly. Any way to keep it on permanently?

Ordered my Dell XPS 13 (9333) on the 28th of September and I can confirm that it still has the coil whine, I'm pretty disappointed because I bought this machine because of Dell-Terry B's post about the coil whine being fixed.  

It is, unfortunately, clear that they cannot fix this issue. Prospective XPS 13 consumers should avoid this unit since this is an issue that will NOT be fixed. Over a year of consumer complaints, and despite the assurances of Dell that the problem is fixed, new units manufactured today are still emitting the same coil whine (in fact, I'd argue that the new replacement machine I received a few weeks ago, which was manufactured at the end of September was marginally LOUDER than my previous unit). Nice unit but has a major engineering flaw that is beyond Dell's capabilities to resolve with a revised motherboard in the same footprint, sadly.

I do have this exact same problem on my m3800 delivered in February 2014.

I’ve tried to contact technical support as you instructed and advised of the mentioned internal document ID.
All I go was an even older mainboard produced in September 2013 where the noise is louder than with my previous board.

Thank you Dell “Next Business Day” support. This is ridiculous.

I also replaced the main board with "new updated main board", but the coil whine problem is worse than before. Don't even think about replacing a main board. Dell is trying to make you sick and tired until you give up. I have never heard that any xps 13 owner successfully fixed noise issues with a new updated main board. I think that Dell doesn't have any willingness and ability to solve the problem at all. Terry-B's new main board thing is one of Dell's deceiving sales tactics. Don't fall for it.

Terry-B

Be responsible for your words.

I ordered the Dell XPS 13 in October and also encountered the coil whine issue.

When I turn the backlight off then the whine goes away.

Please fix soon Dell! Very nice ultrabook but with an annoying coil whine! Only purchased this ultrabook because of Terry-B's post throughout the discussion board saying that the problem was fixed, when in fact it clearly isn't.