Unsolved
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
10
January 13th, 2025 20:25
Random XPS 13 9370 issues with trackpad, performance, and ports. Too old?
XPS 13 9370
Hi everyone. I've had an xps 13 9370 since 2018. I sent it to dell for a drop in 2022 but I believe they sent me back the same laptop. My warranty expired and I'm wondering if there's any saving this thing from the issues I've endured for the past year or so. My main issues are: a fickle trackpad that sometimes refuses to let me drag with two fingers, charging ports that seem to have a short and don't consistently work, and constant freezing with when I have 13+GB of storage available. I use the Adobe Creative Cloud system almost daily but it even freezes while just having a few tabs open in Chrome. At some point, the audio stopped working unless I used headphones but that leveled itself out. Is this like an Apple situation where they're trying to get me to purchase a new product or can these problems be fixed? Nothing shows up on diagnostic scans.
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
27.1K Posts
0
January 13th, 2025 20:39
Any repairs should be evaluated in light of the value of the system, which is $150 plus or minus $50 depending on CPU and RAM, and the time you expect to use the system, which isn't ideally suited for that workload, even if it has the maximum RAM the system had available (16G) at purchase. If it has less than that in memory, part of the performance issue will be the limited amount of RAM (which in turn cannot be upgraded without a mainboard replacement).
Having just the palmrest assembly replaced with labor will approach the value of the system.
Translation: it's sound advice to consider a new system (and preferably a 15" or larger model that has the ability to handle heavy workloads like this with reduced chance of throttling).
kadolo12
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
January 13th, 2025 21:05
I'm not sure what you mean by palmresr assembly but I do have 16G of RAM and agree that a larger laptop will definitely be helpful. Do you have any recommendations under 1k for video/photo editing that isnt Apple? Honestly, this is a bit demoralizing because I researched for a long time and seen numerous claims that the XPS 13 would be great for that but it feels like the laptop hasn't measured up for a long time though.
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
27.1K Posts
0
January 13th, 2025 21:11
Anything under $1,000 in a notebook will be a consumer-grade system such as an Inspiron, Vostro, etc. and probably good for 2-3 years at most.
If that's your budget, consider a desktop system -- you get twice the hardware for the same money. If you must have a notebook, look for a 14 or 15" used Latitude system (or the equivalent Thinkpad, Probook,etc.). You'll come in well under $1,000 and have a much better system than a sub-$1,000 consumer-grade throwaway.
The touchpad is part of the palmrest assembly -- which would need to be replaced to fix the touchpad issue.
(edited)