What's Happening to My Daughter's Laptop

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Does the palmrest include the front edge of the laptop also?  I sent a text to my daughter who is in school so hopefully she will respond to me tonite.  I'll let you know.

I see the spot you are talking about. That is where the front part of the battery is located. It looks like it could be dirty as well, so have your daughter clean the laptop with rubbing alcohol to see if it is dirty. If the spot does not come off, ask her to see if the laptop gets hot in that spot. If it does, stop using the laptop immediately, disconnect it from the charger, and contact Dell support to get the battery replaced as well as the palmrest. 

The palmrest should be the entire piece of plastic covering the keyboard area, touchpad area, and it should wrap around to meet the bottom part of the laptop. You should see a line separating the two piece of plastic.

She said that it doesn't seems to get hot at the spot but I told her to pay attention.  She's in college now so it may take her awhile to actually try cleaning it. I know she doesn't have rubbing alcohol so she might have to find someone to drive her to the store to get some.if no in her dorm has any.  I'll let you know as soon as I hear from her.

Thanks for your help.

OK, my daughter said that the rubbing alcohol didn't do anything.  Also, the temp on the laptop is normal.  Another guy who knows computers confirmed this also.  Any other thoughts?

My daughter posted to another forum and they said that the discoloring is probably from sweat and it won't come off.  Does this make sense to you?

Yes that does make sense. If it was burning it would be hot to the touch.